The Two Channel Advice Thread

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

  1. zerodeefex

    zerodeefex SBAF's Imelda Marcos

    Staff Member Pyrate BWC
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    Parasound is a mistake. I dumped my A21 when I heard the rag and then a $100 crown amp.

    I picked up a few TA2020 implementations and a Sola 12V LPS. I'll report back on the way to go.
     
  2. JoshMorr

    JoshMorr Friend

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    Ok, so I have a Krell KAV300i integrated amp from the 90's. I am finding it to be a bit dry for my tastes. Will something like Freya allow me to add a bit of positive coloration, or should I start thinking of a more traditional pre and power amp combo (like freya / vidar).
     
  3. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    looks like your krell has a preamp bypass rca input.. S3.. you enable bypass via a jumper or something inside.. so you could definitely try a tube preamp to add warmth
     
  4. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    For all their gear, or only some of it? I recall reading somewhere only a couple of their amps were actually designed/vetted by their head guy, and the rest are just derivatives or someone else's work buy they slapped his name on it.

    I've never actually heard any Parasound gear, so have no personal comments on their stuff.
     
  5. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    I've noticed that electrostatic headphones use specialized amps but electrostatic speakers can use basically anything. Is there a particular reason why it's like this? Do all electrostatic speakers tend to come with something equivalent to a Woo WEE incorporated into the speaker?
     
  6. Thad E Ginathom

    Thad E Ginathom Friend

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    I think they are powered devices, yes. The only one I got close up to (which was rather a hybrid thingie with electrostatic for the highs) certainly did. Led to a rather funny situation in a comparative listening session which was not turning out how we expected... until the owner realised he had forgotten to plug them in :)
     
  7. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Martin Logans do at least:
    http://www.martinlogan.com/learn/electrostatic-speakers.php
    fifth paragraph down
     
  8. Cspirou

    Cspirou They call me Sparky

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    Looks like it's a step-up transformer to get those voltages. Does this mean I can just use a transformer with any amp to power Stax? Is this what a Woo WEE basically is?
     
  9. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    Yeah, the WEE is basically just a pair of step-up transformers and a power supply for the bias. If you've got a crazy power amp that can swing the voltages on its own, you don't even need the transformers. I tried this for fun by modding a WEE. I left one jack as normal, and modded the other other one to have a direct pass through from the speaker amp (I also added a resistor to the bias pin on both jacks while I was in there). Running with a Yamaha P7000s power amp maxxed out, I could just barely get a quiet listening level from the SR-007. It seemed cleaner, but impossible to volume match with the other side without too much fiddling.
     
  10. msommers

    msommers High on Epipens

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    Have heard a LOT of good things about the Parasound Halo. Also the Sudgen A21(SE).
     
  11. Dino

    Dino Friend

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  12. uncola

    uncola Friend

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  13. Koth Ganesh

    Koth Ganesh Friend

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    Just reading this. I bought the Odyssey Stratos Extreme off the 'Gon for $400 and sent it to Klaus for an upgrade to the Kismet board. I am pairing this with the Sys to listen to the HE 6 (i know...). Got to hook up a pair of speakers.
     
  14. uncola

    uncola Friend

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    $400 was such a good deal. I still haven't heard any amp better than my kismets
     
  15. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    i'm looking for temp replacement for my jbl 2245h 18'' subwoofer. i blew it awhile ago. it make a buzz/scraping sound so i know i fried the voice coil a bit and now the cone mis-align scrapping againist the motor/magnet. recone kits are uber expensive for them and believe they're like over 3-400 bucks or somethingso, for now i was just gonna buy another 18'' as temp replacement and to give a try. so far my top pick canidate is the eminence kiliomax pro which is rated for 1250w continuous. it's should give me plenty of power handling and with tiny bit of eq can be easily flatten from 20hz and below to work well with games and movies as well.

    was looking at the peavey low rider 18'' but, seems the kilomax pro is the overall better driver to me. i do plan on eventually getting the 2245h reconed but, as of now the price it'll cost i'll just hold off and try a new bass driver instead.
     
  16. Rex Aeterna

    Rex Aeterna Friend

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    the crown ce2000 is one of my favorite from crown since it gives both power and what i consider more signal purity cause the ce2000 is one of the most simplest circuit designs in the crown line-up. very simple design amp with very little amount of parts used and doesn't use any of the fancy op-amp input and output tracking like the macro-techs and some of the other crowns. it will easily out perform the crest ca2 price to performance and lot of the other parasound and emotiva stuff. i use to own a ce2000 and kinda wish now that i never should of traded it up in the past. one other thing i love too is the monster uses banks and banks of metal die t-03 transistors perfectly matched(crown always made sure to use matching parts).
     
  17. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Friends! I need some advice to know what direction I should move in - I currently have a pair of Dynaudio X12 speakers connected to a Marantz PM5004 via a GOV2A.

    Right now everything seems fine since my room is pretty small (so no lack of amp headroom issues), but looking forward I'd like to check if I have things right in my head.
    From what I understand, the 4-ohm speakers would benefit from a power amp (along with better room treatment and speaker stands, which is planned - all when I move in a couple months). Problem is, the Marantz does not have pre outs so it wont work with a power amp.. and since the GOV2A is always left at maximum volume I'd have to add a control freak/sys/some other volume knob along the way when I get a power amp.

    Now considering most power amps you guys have been discussing are not so easy to come by in Holland/Germany, are there some other brands and models I could look out for? Also, it is possible to go balanced with the GOV but should I? I also plan to add a turntable along with the power amp upgrade.

    If i knew what to look for and what to ignore, it would help me look out for good deals on sale forums in my spare time! And what better place to ask than here :)
     
  18. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    I'd hold on until you can get a pre and power amp setup together. Schiits 2 channel gear is likely worth a wait to see how it pans out. You could take GO2A into Saga into Vidar for not too much money. With Freya you'd add some headroom ability (balanced input and the option to add a second Vidar to run them balanced as monoblocks). Watch this space as Marv puts gear through its paces.
     
  19. JayC

    JayC Resident Crash Test Dummy

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    Yeah this was a route I looked at last night, but it does work out expensive enough that I'd have choose between this and the turntable when the upgrade happens (Saga plus Vidar would be about 1000 euros). I figured I'd try keep it cheap(ish) to begin with by sticking to stuff i'd find on the used market and then slowly build my way up there..

    I'll definitely keep watching to see the new stuff being cross bred with each other though (sagadar, freyadar, Yggdrasil-freya-dar and what not, this is starting to sound very ridiculous haha!)

    Edit: By the way, stupid question maybe but would running the GOV2A in High gain be recommended for this setup? the output is higher than line level at that gain setting, and Low would be lower than line level. I havent been able to do a volume matched test between the two so I cant say if there are sonic differences
     
    Last edited: Jan 16, 2017
  20. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    If the amp isn't clipping with GO2A volume wide open I'd run high gain. However I would expect a consumer RCA input to clip - my Marantz Melody Media clips and distorts over 2V RMS and GO2A will be 4V RMS on high gain.
     

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