The Two Channel Advice Thread

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

  1. supertransformingdhruv

    supertransformingdhruv Almost "Made"

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    Great ideas that don't always work when your cat has a tendency to act maliciously when he wants attention. This guy coexisted peacefully with my subwoofer grills for a bit over a year before shredding them both in a bid for attention. He also thinks double-sided tape tastes great, so that kind of thing doesn't stop him for long.

    And so my Maggies live behind a closed door in the no-cat zone.
     
  2. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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  3. k4rstar

    k4rstar Britney fan club president

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    I have heard a SV2A3 and owned a clone. They are good because of their simplicity. Tamura transformers have a certain sound that you may or may not like depending on your taste and experience.

    the problem with that ad is the price is pretty whack. Sun kits have become increasingly difficult to source in the West for some time, in the East they are a more modest value proposition. for that kind of coin you could get a much better 2A3 amp.

    lastly, I am 95% sure that amp is 100V AC input only.
     
  4. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    Yeah, I thought for a moment about grabbing one from VKMusic, but perhaps better to wait for some of his Sun imports to come up used. There's still some confusion as to whether he'll sell kits vs. completed units, if I recall.
     
  5. laevi

    laevi Friend

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    I was wondering if anyone could share their opinions on the Klipsch RP-8000f versus Madisound's BK-16 or BK-20 kit?

    I understand there are quite a bit of differences between them, most obvious being the Madisound kits are DIY.

    I was thinking of feeding either the Klipsch or BK-16/20 off the speaker taps of my Eddie Current Aficionado.

    I have read here at SBAF that the Fostex drivers, especially the upgraded Sigma ones, are quite good. So I'm wondering if I should just resist the sale price of the Klipsch speakers (please see Deals thread) and go for the Madisound speakers instead?

    I have somewhat old ears, so my listening preference would be something like a UERM but with more bass body and extension. Thanks!
     
  6. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Asking a question for my cousin as I don't deal with vinyl:

    Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
     
  7. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

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    It doesn't tick every single box, but maybe a Pro-Ject Pre Box DS2 Digital? At a cost conscious price point going integrated rather than pre/power might be a better solution; maybe something like the Audiolab 6000a Play? However, for more $$ the Peachtree preDAC is the only other thing that comes to mind immediately.
     
  8. scblock

    scblock Friend

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    Definitely sounds like a bit of a niche, with the MC phono input. We're likely going to end up looking at more "mainstream" brands. Maybe the Parasound P6? It's somewhat expensive and I haven't heard it, but it checks the boxes
     
  9. rlow

    rlow A happy woofer

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    You didn’t mention budget. If he’s looking for something in that price range, not sure there’s any other choice. If he wants to go pricier and better quality, and throw in streaming with an excellent streaming app (BluOS) as well, Nad I think has the C 658.
     
  10. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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  11. LetMeBeFrank

    LetMeBeFrank Won't tell anyone my name is actually Francis

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    Just saw this. I've been using a PT1 for the last 3 years and it has been great.
     
  12. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    Just wanted to confirm something, i'm using the iloud micro active speakers which has 2 inputs, a 3.5 and an RCA, i can connect 2 separate sources to it and i should be ok right? Obviously i wont be playing music to it at the same time, but even if i did I assume it should work like a turntable mixer and shouldnt damage anything right?
     
  13. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    It should be fine. Maybe you'll get some ground loops, but if it's not loud/noticeable at your sitting position then who cares.
     
  14. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    A moderator on the iLoud forum uses it exactly that way: https://cgi.ikmultimedia.com/ikforum/viewtopic.php?f=40&t=27181
     
  15. Noodlz

    Noodlz Almost "Made"

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    thanks guys. though, maybe its nervosa. but i realized there's juuuust a bit of noise when im connected to the PC (ieven if its by itself). So to minimize polluting the noise floor, i'm gonna just switch the sources and feed just one at a time for now (until i can afford like a goldpoint switch or something)
     
  16. Greg121986

    Greg121986 Almost "Made"

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    *EDIT* Confirmed this is due to the fact that the Kinki EX-M7 is single-ended topology. Pin 3 (NEG) drains to ground through a resistor so it is effectively cutting the voltage input to less than half I guess? So, I just need to use the RCA in/out.

    I need some help understanding a mismatch of pre-amp and power-amp in/out levels. I just got a used Kinki EX-M7 power amp. I know the balanced inputs work because I listened to it for 2 hours with the previous owner's system. He had a Kinki pre-amp in the chain so clearly the levels there are properly matched.

    My preamp is an Audia Flight FLS-1. I typically use it with an FLS-4 power amp, but it is crated up and I am not going to use it until I move into a more permanent space. When I run the FLS-1 into the EX-M7 using balanced in/out, the preamp cannot drive the power amp to reasonable levels until I am maxed out on +10db volume. The preamp has a gain adjustment of +6dB which I have also added, and that still drives the power amp to barely audible levels with the balanced output. If I use RCA single-ended from the FLS-1 to the EX-M7 it works as expected. The EX-M7 is single-ended and the FLS-1 is fully balanced internally. Would this result in a mismatch of input voltage for the EX-M7?

    The Kinki EX-M7 seems to have a low input sensitivity of 1.45V RMS. My FLS-4 power amp has an input sensitivity of 1.41V so that shouldn't be an issue. As far as I can tell the FLS-1 and EX-M7 both have the typical XLR pinout where 1 = GND 2 = POS 3 = NEG.

    What else am I missing here? I have a couple other devices I can use to test to be sure the pre-amp is working properly. I don't have any major concerns for it being broken or malfunctioning, but later this week I will go deeper.

    fls-1-xlr.jpg
    kinki-exm7-xlr.png
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2022
  17. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    So, I would appreciate some advice on equipment pairing for the Dynaudio Special 40 that I purchased recently. Unfortunately, I am facing a bunch of limitations and trying to solve for a couple of use cases (TV/music).

    Although, I bought the speakers with music in mind, the reality is that they will probably be used 90+% of the time for TV and I need a setup the rest of the family can deal with without to much fuss or difficulty. My Samsung Q80 is wall mounted across from our living room sofa. Under it is a very long cabinet (actually two connected cabinets that are four feet long each) and the speakers sit on that (close to the wall on which the TV is mounted) and flank the TV (but sitting under it). Actually, just see pic below for setup:

    Issue 1 is that cabinet doors are opaque so no line of sight for IR remotes. Issue 2 is that depth of cabinets is really shallow at only 15". For example, I planned on using my very modest Marantz slimline AVR as a stop gap until I purchased a new integrated amp. It currently sits in the leftmost cabinet unplugged. At 14.5" it is fine like that. However, when I plug in the power cord and cables it will no longer fit in the cabinet; it sticks out the front and the door will not close.

    My original plan was to purchase a more traditional intergraded amp and use it with my RME ADI-2-DAC and original Sonos zone player (which while no longer supported still works). When I realized the depth issue probably half the candidates I had been considering went out the window. Among the remaining ones, I am considering the following: Rega Brio or Elex; NaimNait 5si or one of less expensive models; Audiolab 6000A; and Hegel H95 or 120. In this category, my preference would be for a model that has at least an optical input so I can run my TV optical out directly to the amp. That would leave me between the Audiolab or Hegel. Those Hegel models are 13.75" depth so I am concerned it may still not fit in the cabinet once all the cabling is in. The others are 13" or less so I am assuming any of those would work.

    The next problem though is lack of line of sight. Things looks pretty clean when the cabinet doors are closed but it is a mess inside when opened and I do not want to leave the door opened every time we want to use the speakers. None of us want a large amp sitting on top of the shelf so we started looking into the smaller all-in-one boxes. In that category, I am considering the NAD M10, Lyngdorf TDAI 1120 and Naim Uniti Atom. My wife prefers the NAD on basis of looks. I would be inclined towards the Naim but for price. But for these smaller products, we are both OK with it sitting on top of the cabinet next to one of the speakers. I think this approach solves a lot of our issues in terms of simplicity and ease of use (and are supposed to sound at least decent). Issue for me is that I am paying for redundant features (I already have a decent DAC which may well be better than any of the DACs in the aforementioned units, and while my Sonos streamer is out of date and probably bested by BlueSound OS, it actually does Apple Music natively, which none of the others do). With a max $3,000 budget I tend to think I would get better sound if that money all went into amplification and I could use my existing units to handle streaming and conversion.

    OTOH, the NAD does have Dirac. As you can see the SP 40s are way too close to the wall. I have experimented with foam plugs in and out and it really depends on the album and I find myself taking them out and putting them in back and forth depending on the music, which is kind of annoying. Maybe a feature like Dirac can help with this and be a good value in my particular setup.

    If anyone has opinions on any of the equipment mentioned above, I would appreciate hearing it. Also, if I am missing something in terms of setup that would allow me to address some of these issues without resorting to the all-in-one approach, I would love to hear it. At the end of the day, if I have to sacrifice some SQ for sake of aesthetics and simplicity so be it. But if I can figure out how to make a more traditional integrated amp sitting in that cabinet with my other current gear work, then I would love to make that happen. For example, an amp that used a RF remote would e great, but all of the ones that I am looking at seem to be IR only. Apologies for the long post, but any input is appreciated.
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2022
  18. fastfwd

    fastfwd Friend

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    Pics don't show.
    Buy an IR repeater: a small IR receiver that you mount outside the cabinet, wired to an IR transmitter that you mount inside.
    Right-angle power cord and interconnects will help. Search for "90 degree iec" and "90 degree rca".
    Like I said, I can't see your pics. So I don't know why you're so attached to that particular cabinet. But it seems to be the cause of all the issues you've identified, and it'll probably also be responsible for at least one (inadequate airflow for cooling) that you haven't yet mentioned.

    $3000 is a lot of money. It seems a shame to spend it on products that you don't really want, just because the ones that you do want won't fit in the cabinet that already happens to be in your room. If I were in your position I'd be considering other furniture.
     
  19. Colgin

    Colgin Friend

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    I tried to fix the photo and hopefully it shows now. Appreciate the suggestions in terms of connectors and IR blaster to maybe make the interior cabinet space work. The cabinet is a very long piece that extends past the photo and was bought when we did a gut renovation of our apartment. We like it and its cost is more than my entire audio system will be, so it is not going anywhere. Unfortunately I was not focused on the audio system when we picked that out. I had originally wanted to replace my existing floorstanders with new ones, but the cabinetry extends so far that I could not use those as they would be placed too far apart and the stereo image would not hold. Hence, placing monitors on the cabinet itself under the TV. Frankly, that was the biggest compromise from this setup. Eventually I may add a sub to get closer to full range, but for now I need to work out the amp situation.
     
  20. Metro

    Metro Friend

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    Unfortunately still doesn't show. You're a Friend and you should have upload privileges. On a computer, you can simply drag the image file onto the post editor.
     

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