The Two Channel Advice Thread

Discussion in 'Advice Threads' started by purr1n, Nov 10, 2016.

  1. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Just trying to get my head around an eight meters cable run and nearfield set up ;)
    I do not want to sabotage Kattefjaes plans of flogging something, I would go with Freya (Aswynn?):

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Riotvan

    Riotvan Snoofer in the Woofer

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    Hehe well my nearfield setup is in a dedicated listening room upstairs and the Yggdrasil is in the living room. Anyways @Kattefjaes offered a fair deal so i went with that. Selling saga and then buying freya is too much hassle.
     
  3. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Auditioned Focal Aria 906s recently and kinda fell in love with them.

    Can anyone suggest a not-bright amp? The Arias are slightly bright themselves I feel.

    Vidar is just way too much, in my room I'd only need 50wpc, tops, and probably get away with 25.

    This is also the system that plays music while I sleep, so tubes are out for sanity/heat reasons (sadly, as the icon audio SE stuff is just right at 30wpc)
     
  4. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    SS with only 25 W might be hard to find, what is your budget?

    My recommendations:

    Vincent sv-400 599 Euros @ hifi.regler.de ships EU wide

    Rega brio-r around 599 Euros

    The Vincent drives my fathers Isostatic 200 with Fostex FT7RP and FS21RP does not sound too bright. Even has usb digital input

    Rega makes typical UK amplifiers never too bright.

    Probably best buy:

    Creek Evolution 50A on Audiomarkt for 575 Euros 8 months old probably beats the other two hands down also offers headphone out
    If the guy is willing to ship abroad

    All of them with remote
     
  5. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    Focal house sound is bright, no way around it. I wouldn't get a pair of speakers only to try and doctor their sound with upstream equipment.

    There's no such thing as too much power. You can have too much gain, so you get no wiggle room on the knob, but extra power never hurts. If you feel that Vidar is a good deal, then go for it!
     
  6. Pocomo

    Pocomo Friend

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    I’ve been using a 20 wpc DIY chip amp (fronted by a Saga) for the last few months and have found that my itch for tubes has substantially subsided. I had a Raggy for much of last year and never really liked it all that much. I tried a modded Decware Zen and dug it but not enough power for my 91db speakers. I was thinking about going back to a 300B SET but since putting this SS amp into service in September I’m feeling relatively satisfied (amplification-wise).

    The amp design is by Jeremy Hood (Folsom Audio), based on the TDA-7297. He sells 2 boards (power supply + stereo amp) for something like $30; these can be populated for maybe $150 and then you need a transformer, connectors and a case. The final cost varies but you can build a nice one for $500. The finished amp has great detail and dynamics yet runs cool to the touch - I leave mine powered up all the time with no ill effects.

    Here’s a link to the main AudioCircle thread and a well-written review:
    http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=138229.msg1471758#msg1471758

    And here is the DIYaudio thread where the boards are sold and discussed:
    http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/group-buys/309860-folsom-diy7297-amp-antipole-psu-3.html

    I have an extra set of boards I’d be willing to donate to anyone serious about trying out this design. I can also recommend a talented amp builder (based in CT) for anyone who doesn’t have enough of an electronic background to feel comfortable attempting this project on their own.

    In terms of overall value I believe this amp is hard to beat and I’m hoping a few Friends will try it out and become converts.
     
  7. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    They felt like the Clears, as in "if I put anything bright upstream these will be to much".

    FRs confirm this as they're basically ruler flat from 200Hz to 18kHz @1m.

    Probably my nervosa talking, and I'll likely end up going Bifrost Multibit into saga into vidar after all.
     
  8. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    @Hrodulf
    What would you call digital room correction or digital headphone correction?
    I would call it doctoring.
    In terms of speakers as I have no experience with headphones I would call this the doctoring necessary to get the last percentages out of your system (after proper room treatment if possible)
    @Taverius
    Sorry for the off topic had not grasped that you were looking for a power amp
     
  9. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    I'm fine with integrated too, ain't fussy :)

    The rega looks interesting!
     
  10. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    "Warm" SS, the only things that comes to mind are older Pass Labs stuff like the Aleph series or Sudgen A21 (SE version for you would be great). Of course the M-22 is popular on this forum or vintage Marantz stuff.

    In my opinion one of the few ways to get "warm" sounding SS is Class A (which equals heat).
     
  11. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    If the highs are slightly too much, why not throw Loki in there and turn the treble knob to your liking?

    I generally tend to agree the Focals are simply bright generally, which is one reason I got rid of my 906s (that and mushy bass), but if you're simply looking to tame the highs slightly, use Loki - that's what it was built for.
     
  12. Taverius

    Taverius Smells like sausages

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    Yep, that's also an option.

    The Arias are certainly not perfect transducers.

    Thanks all, I think I'll sit on it a few days and go audition again - Amphion Helium 510 is also a contender, so I'm not mated to the Focals by any stretch :)
     
  13. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Sorry but being a strong believer in active loudspeakers and seeing that you havn’t decided yet I would like to mention active monitors. No amp needed. If you had a balanced preamp I would recommend K&H 120. Lovely speakers incredible value for money but only balanced input. I have also heard Dynaudio BM5 which sound nice better than KS digital B88 at double the price. I have not heard them but they got praise from people I trust Mackie XR624 or XR824 depending on how deep you want to dig. All of them available through Thomann with 30 days free trial. The Mackies even as B-stock a little cheaper. Mackies and Dynaudio with Cinch in.
     
  14. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Just had another look the XR824 seems well worth the extra spend, the XR624 are not completely silent with no signal. Mackies and Dynaudio have useful filters in order to adjust them to positioning, room acoustics or simply your liking and you can choose sensitivity. Mackies have grounded power Dynaudio don’t.
     
    Last edited: Mar 6, 2018
  15. Hrodulf

    Hrodulf Prohibited from acting as an MOT until year 2050

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    The difference is that digital headphone/room correction is designed to counter measured effects with a known signal change. Perceived brightness can come from many effects, ranging from non-linearities to excessively reflective room. Find out what exactly are you dealing with and see what's the best counter. Using high even order distortion designs (SE) sacrifices fidelity even further to make a speaker problem bearable.
     
  16. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    I am with you on that. DRC is the icing on the cake in my 2 channel set up. It is a doctor with a scientific approach. But avoiding a bright amp if the speakers are on the limit of being too bright is a valid solution, too in my opinion.
    If I got it right @Taverius has not listened to the speakers at home yet like you said they may sound different there.
    I do dislike K2 as much as K3 at least if it gets audible. My preamp is passive so no vacuum no silicon either.
     
  17. AdvanTech

    AdvanTech Friend

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    My external computer monitor used to always sit on the desk between my stand-mount speakers, but in the name of soundstage, I now usually put it away. There is a great improvement in imaging/depth, but now there is only a bare flat wall between and behind my speakers. Should I be looking into absorption or diffusion if I was looking to treat that surface between them? Thanks for the help.
     
  18. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    You can use both, absortion makes the sound dryer because well it absorbs the energy, diffusion doesn't but breaks up the reflections, so that they become diffuser. Here is a link to a site which demonstrates the differences:

    https://hofa-akustik.de/en/audio-samples/

    In order for diffusion to work at its best level the distance between the diffusor and your ear should be at least 1.5 m (5 ft). Looking at he picture of your listening space you might be borderline (not in personality but in terms of choice diffusor/absorber o_O). You already have absorbers you could try it out placing one where your monitor used to stand. As for diffusors @Forza AudioWorks has some nice ones but there are smaller modells.
    I also know people who leave the monitor in place and put something like a duvet or a quilt over it, not my personal choice but they say it works for them.
    Personally I like very dry acoustics, I got 19 absorbers and 6 bass traps in my room and I still do not think it sounds too dry. So I would go for an absorber.

    Bye the way good decision to do something abou the monitor I hate early reflections, I like mushy peas but I dislike mushy sound.

    Edit: Now it makes more sense
     
    Last edited: Mar 8, 2018
  19. Forza AudioWorks

    Forza AudioWorks MOT: Forza AudioWorks

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    Yup, QRD diffusers, two 100 x 100 cm pieces one next to another, on the wall behind my setup. Along with a carpet on the floor, that's the most audible improvement with no questions asked.
     
  20. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    Wasn't sure which thread to throw this question out in, but this one seems appropriate.

    I've got a set of decent speaker cables that I like (Audioquest Rocket 44) and they are bi-wire, with single set of bananas on the single-end, and 2 sets of spades on the bi-wire end.

    These work great with my current speakers that have bi-wire speaker terminals, but I recently picked up a new pair of speakers to compare to, which only have a single pair of terminals.

    So the question is, if I keep the new speakers, can I do one of the following with my current speaker cables (and would any one be preferred?):
    1. Let the pair of unused bi-wire ends simply dangle behind the new speaker (not touching)
    2. Combine both pair of spades under each of their respective binding posts (i.e. 2 black spades pressed against each other under the black binding post, and vice versa with the red)
    3. Flip the cable around and do the one of the same of the above at the amp end (the amp is Vidar which doesn't have bi-wire output terminals)
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2018

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