The Two Channel Advice Thread

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

  1. SofaSamuraiX

    SofaSamuraiX Almost "Made"

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  2. Beefy

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    This exact sort of setup is where I ended up with the KEF LS50 Meta. The concentric driver is great for giving you a huge sweet spot at a desk, and dynamic enough for me at moderate volumes. Can play to 'the room' when needed, but a sub would be valuable for this.

    In terms of size, same height as the Harbeth, a little wider, but a lot deeper. Considerably bigger than the T&F @artur9 noted, but much smaller than the ATC SCM11 mentioned by @zonto.
     
  3. SofaSamuraiX

    SofaSamuraiX Almost "Made"

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    @Beefy , I would never have considered LS50 as near field! Are the Meta worlds different from the original in some way? I have never really thought about that sort of listening before. Going to play with things today!!
     
  4. Beefy

    Beefy Friend

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    Never heard the 'standard', but the Meta certainly work for the job.

    As room bookshelf speakers they were easily the best I auditioned in the price range (Harbeth is WAY too rich for me!), but they definitely work *great* as nearfield. I'm pretty sure it's the concentric drivers, because no matter how high/low/forward/back I sit in my chair, they sound pretty much the same, with no weird horizontal or vertical off-axis effects.

    [EDIT] Here are my audition notes from earlier in the thread, and setup as nearfield. They are now a tiny bit further apart, a touch more toed-in, and sitting on sorbothane pads, but the principle is the same.
     
    Last edited: Dec 25, 2024
  5. SofaSamuraiX

    SofaSamuraiX Almost "Made"

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    HAHAHA, now that I looked at that pic, I remember seeing it already.Looked and brain didn't comprehend. I always assumed that nearfield needed crazy stuff like that Sony thing I linked. Will reread your audition notes!
     
  6. zonto

    zonto Friend

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    Yeah the Harbeths mentioned here are much closer in size to the ATC SCM7 than the 11/19 models I originally mentioned. I really liked the ATC SCM40v2 I heard at a dealer last year and was considering a smaller pair for the WFH desk setup…
     
  7. artur9

    artur9 Almost "Made"

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  8. Beefy

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    Yep, the '7' rings a louder bell. I recall not being able to easily audition any ATC locally....
     
  9. Armaegis

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    Harbeth kinda has a floatier sound, not quite enough that I'd call it airy though. ATC on the other hand is meatier and more mid centric. The SCM7 is probably a more apt size comparison though. If this is ultra nearfield, you'll want the smaller model. If a larger desk or occasionally filling a room, bigger is better.
     
  10. colloquiallyjust

    colloquiallyjust New

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    So it's been about a year now... time for an update.

    I did try the USB out and it did do the job, for sure. But then I got a little itch and built a Plex streamer using Ian Canada components and Ropieee. I like it a lot more than the Chromecast I was using before. Even had a little case made. Not sure it was worth the expense but it was fun putting the whole thing together and I still use it. Still a whole lot cheaper than the streamers available offering Plex, which are very few in 2025 as far as I can tell.
     
  11. SofaSamuraiX

    SofaSamuraiX Almost "Made"

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    Do you use it for streaming movies and music?
     
  12. colloquiallyjust

    colloquiallyjust New

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    No, just music. It's a music streamer -- a Plexamp endpoint. It does Roon, Spotify Connect and AirPlay as well but I'm pretty invested in Plex at the moment.
     
  13. colloquiallyjust

    colloquiallyjust New

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    Hello Friends.

    I have a Rotel RA-1072 integrated amp that I am currently using as a preamp. It sounds just fine but of course was curious about swapping in a straight up preamp in its place. There seems to be a few usual suspects the internet/youtube raves about (Benchmark LA4, Holo Serene, Bryston BP-??) but those are a little out of my comfort zone price-wise if I want to experiment. I don't see much in the budget category that has 3 analog input either.

    I'm looking for a remote, a volume without channel imbalance (my Rotel is every so slightly unbalanced at low volumes) and at least 3 analog inputs, although 2 analogs and a digital would do.

    I guess preamps are becoming less of a thing? Any recommendations?
     
  14. SofaSamuraiX

    SofaSamuraiX Almost "Made"

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    I was going to quit Plex a while back, until they came out with Plexamp, I love it. Thinking about a headless Plexamp pi.
     
  15. SofaSamuraiX

    SofaSamuraiX Almost "Made"

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    Schiit Kara.
     
  16. bixby

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    My friend who had the pi4 and allo above also has a Schiit Kara that he likes a lot when he wants a ss pre to feed his 2A3 monoblocks. He noted it is very quiet.

    Not sure what amp you will be using but it is worthy in his very good setup.
     
  17. decompositions

    decompositions Facebook Friend

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    when you say analog inputs do you just mean unbalanced inputs (i.e. rca)? schiit saga 2 checks all those boxes and is a fair bit cheaper than a kara if you don't need balanced inputs and just want to experiment, if you're in canada you might be better off just looking for what you can find used though I'm not sure how expensive it is to get stuff across the border. The kara would probably have better volume matching at low levels since it's an attenuator and I think the saga 2 is a different scheme, but I'd be really surprised if it's an issue.
     

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