The Two Channel Advice Thread

I'm definitely open to not getting the sub! I think I'm just used to having one, so it feels like a downgrade to go without.

You know, that sounds pretty appealing. Are there SBAF-endorsed budget rfriendly speaker stands and foam diffusers?

 

I have these powered monitors and I love them:

https://www.chanemusiccinema.com/m200mkiii

I don't feel the need for more bass with them but I am not a gamer.

 

spending money:
isoacoustics stands
some cheap pack of acoustic foam tiles off ebay, maybe in two colours so you can make a pattern on the wall so it looks like you're decorating rather than trying to build a studio like a wannabe studio wanker

spending no money:
a stack of textbooks works just as well to bring your speakers up
and shove a soft pillow or whatever behind the speakers

the home depot special:
bricks and lumber and rockwool insulation



edit: will you be putting the speakers right up against the wall? The JBL's have a rear port so that could potentially get a bit wonky (though you only need a couple inches, particularly if you'll be angling them)

 

I have my current one just a couple inches away. If that's all it takes then it will be alright.

Thanks for the awesome suggestions! I'll probably pick up some foam tiles. As for the stands I might go DIY.

edit: Are those foam dampener stands that they sell useful at all? eg something like this : https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B...-e4bb-5365-8783-36de62247096&pf_rd_i=11975721

 

It's all fine for isolating from your desk, but what you really need is to raise them up higher which is why I mentioned isoacoustics since they have long risers on them. Or just use bricks and cinderblocks.

 

Does anybody know of a preamp or an integrated amp on the market that has XLR loop outputs (bypasses the internal volume control)? I know that Pass Labs and Audio Research both offer this on their top-end models, but they also cost like $15,000. I'm open to both active and passive preamps. I would use the XLR loop output to connect a headphone amp with a balanced input.

 

thank god for DIY imo

 

Haha yes indeed! The only problem is that I couldn't build an amp if my life depended on it. Do you know any good builders who can be commissioned for something like this?

 

You can get a Goldpoint SW2X-O switch for a preposterous $400. You'd still need a preamp as well, though.

 

Yeah, those seem crazy expensive for what you get. And on top of that, they're pretty limited in the overall number of inputs and outputs, and you have to choose either all XLR or all RCA.

 

I can only think of a few models that have a balanced tape loop. The Pass Labs X-1 has one, and here's a link to one that's sitting at ~$2500 on eBay right now. The Audio Research LS-27 also has it (here's one used at $3800). Outside of that, I'm struggling to come up with ideas where even the used price is below $10,000.

The vast majority of preamplifiers only ever offer SE options for tape loops or HT bypass, so it's probably time to ask why it needs to be balanced? What are the sources you're planning to use, and what is the headphone amp you're planning to use out of the tape output? It could very well be that your best bet would be finding the best sounding preamp you can find for your budget and then using an Isomax or something to convert the SE tape output to balanced if your headphone amp really has a significantly better presentation from the balanced inputs.

 

Any recommendations for a high quality Class A or AB solid state power amp up to $700-$800? Ideally looking for something in the 30watt to 50watt per channel range. (I should clarify that this would mostly be used to drive headphones with a DIY resistor network between the amp and headphones).

 

I'm a fan of the Bryston 2B. The models with a headphone jack in front already have resistors in series to drop the power output.

 

Sudgen A21

 

Are you willing to spend less? The Parasound Zamp V3 is the compact, good-looking, and as good as anything else in the power class for your task.

 

Folks,

I am putting together the following 2 channel setup:

DAC: Yggdrasil
Preamp: Freya
Amps: Vidar x 2 in monoblock mode
Speakers: TektonDesign Double Impact x 2 (60 day eval)

One speaker will be about 14 feet from the amp and the other will be about 4 feet from the amp.

My questions are about speaker wire. First, should the speaker wires for each speaker be the same length or should the runs be as short as is practical? Second, is Canare 4S11 or 4S6 "Star Quad" cable better, worse, or the same as Mogami W3103. I am leaning toward the Mogami cable but I am certainly open to opinions and thoughts.

Thanks!

 

I think electricity travels at or somewhere near the speed of light. I doubt you'll notice

Regarding cables i don't think you can go wrong with any reputable studio brand. I generally pick what's cheapest and easiest to work with.

 

Get speaker cables of the same length, a bit longer than you need so there's enough for slack on the line and for potential adjustments. You never know when your room arrangements will need to change.

 

What I would do personally would be to get/make short runs of speaker wire (~1m) and longer balanced interconnects to run from the Freya to the Vidar. It's just the way I've usually set up mono amps.

I'd also generally recommend against buying two different length single runs of any cable. That has nothing to do with the sound quality and is mainly just trying to keep in mind that a future move or re-position would possibly require more symmetrical lengths.

Also, I'm looking forward to hearing your impressions when you do get the Tektons. There's a dearth of real opinions on them. I'd buy them myself, but they're ridiculously oversized for my current needs.

 

Actually at the speed of the shock wave caused by charge interaction (speed of light) and electron drift velocity (much less than the speed of light). The result is about 1/3 the speed of light, though, which is still plenty fast enough.

I'd be more worried about the different resistance and capacitance of different-length cables. Whether or not that would matter, I couldn't say.