The Two Channel Advice Thread

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

  1. ogodei

    ogodei MOT: Austin AudioWorks

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    "System sensitivity is around 87 dB"

    You'll need something beefy.
     
  2. ergopower

    ergopower Friend

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  3. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    Check out the Emotiva BasX stuff. I have been very satisfied with my PT-100 and A-150, no problem driving my 4ohm KEFs with 91db efficiency.
     
  4. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

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    Are Jamo any good as budget bookshelf speakers? I see deals on them constantly at slickdeals.net.
     
  5. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    They used to be "good" - I dated a girl a while back and her British father had a stereo in the house that had big monkey coffin Jamos with a matching subwoofer from the 70's or 80's. I thought it sounded crazy good (and it was even cooler that the girl I was dating was a bit of an audiophile, too. The moment she said, "you have to hear my dad's Marantz stereo!" it was like, wait, what? You know what Marantz is???), but I was only 16 or 17 at the time so I probably just thought it "got loud good". Jamo was bought by Klipsch, who was bought by a Chinese conglomerate that focuses on mobile audio and tier 2 OEM automotive stuff, AudioVox. I doubt they offer any better value than stuff like Wharfedale, but that's just a guess.
     
  6. Garns

    Garns Friend

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    Looking into getting a 45 power amp. Is there any reason I can't parallel the speaker outs to a line-level sub input (bare wires on the speaker terminals to RCA plug)? 2W at 8ohms is only 4V RMS which seems close enough to line level to me.
     
  7. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    So I am looking for a pre amp/maybe streamer.
    I have a power Amp, need pre. Most of my music is streamed through Spotify (probably going to switch to tidal or something soon), I was thinking an all in one streamer/pre would be good.
    Probably going to look used, looking to keep it somewhere around $400 or less ish.

    Any thoughts?
     
  8. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Only thing I can think of that provides streamer, DAC and preamp functionality in one box at a price remotely close to that budget would be a Bluesound Node 2i. Might be able to find one used for $400-450. The DAC leaves much to be desired based on my experience at my local dealer.
     
  9. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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  10. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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  11. dBel84

    dBel84 Friend

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    have you considered a headphone amp / modi / pi = maybe too clunky with too many pieces ?
     
  12. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

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  13. Qildail

    Qildail Friend

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    CXN-v2 owner here. The CXN-v1 will do Spotify and Tidal Connect, but not Chromecast or Roon natively. The DACs are identical in both models. I think it's the same implementation as the older DacMagic Plus, but don't hold me to that. It's an all-digital gig though -- you're on your own for any analog inputs.

    I was going to go the same used v1 route when the v2 came out, but I kept getting sniped/shutout on the sales. I only ended up with the v2 because my kids bought it for me. I have pretty cool kids, I guess.

    The StreamMagic app is a bit meh, but the gear itself is solid for me, even if the DACs are a bit dated by now. If you can get a good price on a used v1, it's a great one-box solution.
     
  14. spwath

    spwath Hijinks master cum laudle

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    Think I lowballed the guy too much on the stream magic...
    Screenshot_20210831-130248_Gmail.jpg

    Yeah I could go to that, but I was hoping I could find something a little simpler and that looks a little better. If I can't, then I might go that route.
    Maybe, I'll look into that, thanks
     
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  15. mitochondrium

    mitochondrium Friend

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    Honest feedback is always appreciated, sometimes expectations just don’t match, no harm done.
     
  16. aamefford

    aamefford Nothing like chamberpot coffee

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    I had the og dac magic several years ago. My ears weren’t (aren’t) all that good, but it was not a good dac imho. I’m sure I bragged it up on HF when I first got it. I was kind like that then. Anyway, if what you are looking at has the OG dac magic implication, maybe listen first. If it is something newer or different, please disregard. Good hunting!

    edit - another vote for the Pi2AES or similar and a modi, maybe a used mb one. I have an Allo sig pro, which is reported to be similar to the Pi2AES, and a modi mb or mostly BF2. I like the pi+hat boxes.
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2021
  17. Azimuth

    Azimuth FKA rtaylor76, Friend

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    Yes, I think Cambridge had bad cap supplier and almost ruined things as they grew. The DAC's were BurrBrown PCM chips from what I recall.

    I had a phono pre, and beat out most stuff in the same price range and comparable to the Mani.
     
  18. nishan99

    nishan99 Friend

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    Can someone please help me find a good tube preamp below $2k? remote control is a must but not the balanced in/out. @schiit still (unfairly) not shipping to my country "because of covid" so the Freya is not an option unfortunately.
     
  19. EagleWings

    EagleWings Friend

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  20. dericchan1

    dericchan1 Facebook Friend

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    Hi everyone, seeking your expert advice here.

    I have a power sound audio S15 power subwoofer that I would like to use for both my 2.1 music system and my Anthem receiver (both systems are in the same room and I will never use both at the same time other than leaving the other system in standby mode while the other system is in use)

    Tried using a beresford RCA amp switch box, worked fine except there seemed to have some power interference that sometimes the subwoofer would not go back into standby mode even not in use after the external amp or the receiver gone back to standby. It kept on sending hums to the subwoofer keeping it awake and sometimes even waking the external amp. The subwoofer never had this issue when it was solely used in my Anthem receiver.

    Inquired the owner of power sound audio, his response was “1) you can use both inputs on the subwoofer as a left and a right. They function identically.
    OR
    2) you can connect two systems to the sub. One system per input.”

    I am kinda hesitant to try that even though the owner who makes the sub is obviously extremely knowledgeable.

    Does anyone here have any experiences you can share or perhaps suggest an alternative to try?

    Thanks

    Deric
     

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