The Two Channel Advice Thread

Passives poorly married to an amp will sound bad, there are very nice actives out there and vice versa. It's more about what one does with components available rather than topology itself.

 

In my opinion, this passive vs. actives is kind of pointless. It's just about what matters to you and what sound you prefer - bottom line. Can you maybe get more ruler flat response, or more bass from a particular woofer diameter using an active approach? Sure. But do you prefer that sound? Does that sound work in your room? Does it allow you to tailor the sound over time with different amps, DACs etc? How about getting Class A or tube sound into your setup? Maybe not, but maybe you don't care. Or maybe you do.

No matter what people say, this is a subjective hobby. Buy what sounds best and fits your lifestyle and preferences. There is no "all things being equal, X approach is better" - things are never "equal" for everyone.

 

Passive line-level (not high level) can do it by putting a voltage divider before the amp or just increasing the amp's NFB/lowering gain (actually the best way). There isn't really a good way how to pull down woofer sensitivity after the amp, as you're messing up the electrical damping.

I had a similar idea a while back. Turns out the Soekris DAC's are pretty limited tap wise. Probably okay for crossing over stuff, but my idea would be to do the DSP on a dedicated platform. MiniDSP SHARC processors could be one way, but I'd rather prefer doing this on a computer, because pricing is similar and you get tons of extra functionality.

What kind of debate isn't pointless then?

 

For tube preamps is the amount of gain purely dependent on the tube type, or are their different topologies that will have different amounts of gain with the same tubes, or more concretely will all 6SN7 based preamps have 19db of gain like Freya?

 

KEF C75 or JBL L36?

I have the C75's. I have two matching (non-stereo) subs and a Denon 100WPC A/V receiver. I have updated the C75's with MKP crossover caps. No other speakers hooked up.Mainly for A/V, but also for vinyl and occasional CD.

Someone has listed the L36's locally and I am having a hard time keeping my hand out of my wallet.

 

I recently bought a pair of Magnepan MMGi speakers and my current amp is not cutting it for me, especially with regards to the bass and occasionally it feels like the imaging phases in and out on me. I find myself wishing it sounded more like my 6xx headphone setup as well, but probably too late for that with the speaker choice.

I've been considering a few nCore based designs because I've heard them on other speakers (and I'm a closet bright sound fan and basshead). I've also considered the Vidar based on what I've read around here so far, but I'm open to pretty much anything roughly $4k and under.

 

Why do you think it’s the amp? Magnepans would be the last speakers I’d recommend a basshead and their dipole radiation makes them very postioning dependent. Have you tried changing the positioning?

 

Maybe I should have phrased it as former basshead; I took the sacrifice for the imaging, but if there was an amp that could give me a little more (or better) bass as a bonus while i'm in the upgrade process for a more technically capable amp, I'd like to know.

I have been adjusting the position pretty much nonstop and I'm borrowing some treatments from a friend as well.

 

Panel speakers and quality bass tend to be mutually exclusive. This is why you see hybrid panel speakers with woofers like Martin Logans (not recommended) or @ohhgourami 's Sanders. Unless your current amp has a major flaw, changing amps is unlikely to give the results you desire. Those funds would be better spent addressing the root issue with different transducers or at least an external sub.

 

I do feel this discussion kind of honed in on the wrong aspects. I know a planar speaker is not going to be a dynamic speaker with regards to bass. I did ask for more of it, but I genuinely need a better amp full stop, the better speaker has revealed a lot of flaws with the current one (veil, lack of microdynamics, etc.)

 

I own a pair of Quad 2805’s. Not for bassheads at all. Positioning can be a bit tricky to get the best imaging. As to bass I had to add a subwoofer to the setup. They are transparent as hell and will pick up deficiencies in your amp. Have fun shopping.

 

Some Maggies can produce really impressive bass if they're fed some serious power (Bryston is a common combo). But they'll never give you that slam or kick in the chest like a good ol' 15"er

 

I think I'm gonna miss my 15 inchers. On the other hand I NEED speakers that make sense for my room size... god it's going to be so good to actually enjoy my favourite songs and albums again...

On another note, any ya'll heard (or perhaps even own) Harbeth speakers? If so, which ones, what kinda room was it setup in and did you enjoy the sound?

 

Be patient when working on the placement of Maggies. Over the next few weeks play with toe-in, moving them in and out from back and side walls, etc. but only after listening a good amount between changes. Like @msommers said, big power will bring out mo' bass. I'm also waiting for someone to try one (or two) of the Maggie bass panels and report back. Personally I think standard subwoofers are almost impossible to blend with Maggies, unless you just want a fun sound but willing to sacrifice coherency.

 

I'm fully aware of how finicky placement is for Maggies. I really appreciate the help, but I (somewhat) know what I got into when I decided on Maggies and would really appreciate some advice with regards to amp suggestions because it's something I've planned on upgrading for a long time and not a kneejerk reaction to "where did all my bass go?"

@msommers Thanks for the Bryston suggestion. I've heard a few on a setup with Dynaudio towers, which didn't exactly give me the best impression of the amp, but I could probably ask the dealer if they'd let me try it at home.

 

I ran a Bryston 3BST on the MG2.5s I owned 20+ years ago. Had a Bryston preamp at the time too. The synergy was great, but 120wpc was almost not enough for when I wanted to rock it a bit. Bryston prices have gotten insane since then. Maybe it's worth it but their comparable new models are about 3x what they used to be. I haven't heard any of their stuff lately. If you could find a used 4BST, that would be a great amp and plenty of power.

You could also give a pro sound amp a try. I borrowed a buddys pro Yamaha amp and ran it for a while on MMGs. I don't recall the model but it was several hundred wpc and did not use a fan. It lit the MMGs up pretty well while not losing much in quality. Not as sweet as a Bryston, but I think it was less $$ than a Vidar.

 

Yeah find some Bryston power amp from 90s honestly. They are built like tanks and I believe at one point were moreso made for commercial use where they got beat to shit continually. Anyone willing to give a 20 year warranty knows that they'll last.

 

Bryston has suffered from some very unfortunate price creep the last few years. I used to feel like they were a solid recommendation, but nowadays not so much as even their used prices have been climbing.

It's true they used to be much more in the pro side of things (even rebranded for IMAX at one point), but the pro market is very heavily invested into lighter class D now and Bryston only sees use in studios now (this directly from one of their marketing guys).

Once upon a time I had a tri-amped system with a 2B/3B/4B respectively. My favourite of the bunch was the 2B and I probably had a half dozen of them at one point, though I've sold everything now except one (a B60 which is the integrated version of the 2B, plus mine has a remote and dac).

Bryston often gets this reputation of being bright. To that I say check the age and consider recapping. As mentioned, their amps float around for decades and get beat up.

 

Bryston is a solid recommendation. How loud are you usually listening?

 

Not too loud but loud enough that a SET or pure class A SS amp may not be powerful enough.