frankphess
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Posts posted by frankphess
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I've used an Anthem MCA20 with RF-7's, but not with the AVM50. I found the MCA20 to be on the "warm" side, which is not a bad thing, but I used it with different pre's than you mention. I would think the AVM50 would be a fine processor, and have a larger influence on the source material than any of the pre's I've used.
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Thanks for all the responses. Interesting read and different amp options are great.
Have thought about the DeanG crossover.I sent him an email a few weeks back but have still not heard from him. Does anyone have his current email address? Do you know the price range to get this done??
dgwescott@sbcglobal.net I don't remember how much, but I can say it was well worth it.
Room acoustics? Well, the setup is in my basement. Cinderblock walls covered by new drywall with drywall ceilings and a laminate floor. I have a Monster Power conditioner.
Some use foam, acoustic panels, curtains or carpet to "deaden" a room. this stops sound from bouncing around and off of hard surfaces. See link below for more info.
Any other amps or suggestions??
If your amp is plugged into your power conditioner, you may want to try it directly plugged into the wall and see if that makes a difference.
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I have used 2 other preamps with similar results. the onkyo pre 885 is new on the market and has received great reviews so far.
OK . The next suspect I would accuse then, is your rooms' acoustics. Have you "tuned" your room to deal with reflections, etc.? Also, do you use any type of surge suppressor, power conditioner? In most cases these can be a good thing and lower the noise floor, in others (I've heard) they can restrict current draw from the amp if your amp is connected to them. Another option (as suggested previously) is to have your crossovers upgraded by Dean. This alone will result in much greater detail retreival.
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I would not think your problems would be coming from the B&K amplifier. I would try (borrow/substitute) a different preamp if you have one, and see if your problem still exists. I'm also not familiar with your pre, however I would investigate the settings in that pre. I believe B&K is a pretty good match with RF-7's.
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If you do purchase a tube amp to try, make sure it has 4 ohm taps. The 7's seem "happier" on 4.
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How the individual levels are set are a matter of preference and they would "normally" be set similarly. But if you have the left speaker 20 feet away and the right speaker 10 feet away the individual levels will allow you to get an even balance between left and right. Mark has a recommendation in the Peach manual of how to set the levels. I believe it states that the individual levels should be set so that when the volume knob is at the 2 o'clock position, that is the loudest you will be listening. Personally, I keep my levels at about the 1 o'clock position and the volume know usually stays between 8-11 o'clock position. If you set the individual levels lower you will have more range in your volume control.
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As Coyotee said, the tubes have no impact when using home theater bypass. What type of amplifier are you using with the Peach, SS or Tube? Below is a summary of the two modes provided to me from Mark when I was trying to dial in my (version one) Peach. LoZ is "usually" used for SS amps because they usually have a lower impedance, HIZ is "usually" used with higher impedance tube amps...Of course there will be exceptions depending on impedance.
Here are the plusses and minuses of the two modes:
LoZ
+ drives very low impedance loads such as 5KO
+ drives cables up to 50 feet long with no ill effect
+ drives multiple amplifiers such as main and subwoofer
+ or — has a slightly more extended (really slight) top end.
+ often perceived as having tighter bass control, (although that's not my personal opinion.)HiZ
+ Is the shortest possible signal path (passive components), and least active components between input and output
+ Has the lowest distortion
+ Has the lowest noise
+ Has (IMO) the most clarity
+ Has the least interaction with the PSU
— "Ideally" should be driving modest length cables (6ft) and into a load of about 47KO or more. Even better at 100kO
+ or — has a very slightly less extended top end.If you use LoZ mode, V2&V3 MUST be the same tube type because each tubes is fully specific to one channel. So, if you want the L&R to sound the same, you need the same tube type in each.
When using LoZ, you MIGHT find your level controls widely different from each other. Left at 2 o'clock and maybe Right at 10 o'clock. This is NOT A PROBLEM, nor should it be a concern. That's WHY we have those controls. It is making up for all the combined small differences between tubes, resistors, and even speaker placement. Don't fret over this - the controls are doing what they are meant to do.
mdKeep in mind that the (3) tubes do NOT have to be the same varietal. V2&V3 must be the same, but can be different than V1. V2&V3 are not the same "kind" of amplifier as V1 which provides all the gain. V2&V3 are compound followers with no gain which are used to greatly reduce the driving impedance. Thus, by using different tubes in V1 than in V2&V3, you can create two very different sounding preamps - more than simply the difference of Mode 1 and Mode 2. Perhaps a Jazz v. Rock sound, or horn speaker v. dynamic speaker, or tube amp v. SS amp, etc.
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You could use an adapter from parts express that will turn the female connector into a male. Link below to parts express adapter....
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=263-386
Here's what looks like some all male sub cables from parts express. They've got lots of em.....
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=186-014
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?DID=7&PartNumber=186-168
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?DID=7&PartNumber=189-300
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?DID=7&PartNumber=186-090
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Why switch to an integrated? Why not just purchase a new pre and keep the B&K's in place. Maybe try a nice tube pre with those solid state amps. Keeping the monos will keep the power the wife desires, and staying with seperarates will provide you with "better" sound than an integrated (I would think). If you really want to switch to an integrated you can search Audiogon.com for used equipment.
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Anyone here besides me ever try a pair of RC-7's as mains?
I used (1) RC-7 as a main for a while when I had an RF-7 being repaired and thought it kicked butt and sounded really good as a main. After hearing it as a main I had planned on getting two for a second system, however that has not come together yet.
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My opinion is that there's not going to be a whole lot of diffence changing from the B&K to the Musical Fidelity, that's all. He's stated he's changed amps 3 times already this year and it seems that's all that's happening again. Just giving some food for thought.
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Musical Fidelity is hardly mid-fi.
Ok agreed, but I still don't think he's going to gain much "musically"
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Deltronics fixed my A5. $50 for parts, $350 for labor, and cautioned me to "check your speaker cables" and said that if the wires got crossed it could short out again. So no more spades for me, strictly bananas from now on.
Got the MF A5 back, put it into my main system and it's a heck of a lot better. It's what I expected to hear the first time. I guess using it with small bookshelf speakers, cheesy innerconnects, and in a "bad" room was the problem. Using it with the RF-7's in a "good" room it's power now seems evident, and it sounded much better. Not as good as my B&K sperarates, and of course not as good as tubes, but certainly good enough for a second system, provided I get some "good" stuff to run with it. While it certaily wan't "bad", I personally didn't care for the sound with my RF-7's, so I'll most likely be auditioning this with wall mounts from ERA or Sonus Faber due to lack of space in the second room. Any other suggestions????
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Long story short...if you want musical, put those Fortes on some tubes. Switching from one "mid-fi" solid state amplifier to another "mid-fi" solid state amplifier using the same solid state processor isn't going to make that much of a difference IMO. It may result in a "different" sound, but I doubt it will get more "musical.
I have top of the line B&K seperates for 5.1 movies and a 2 channel tube system for music with RF-7's. I recently tried a Musical Fidelity A5 integrated with the RF-7's. I would rate tube system #1, B&K #2, Musical Fidelity #3. Now the A5 is an integrated, so while it is no slouch, it is certainly at a disadvantage being compared to separates, and I felt it was a liitle forward with Klipsch. While my B&K system is "impressive" in some folks eyes, it doesn't come close to a JM Peach and VRD amplifier musically.
Another option might be to try a tube pre amp with a solid state amplifier, I think that would make more of an improvement than switching SS amps in and out unless of course you go big dollar SS.
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I use this one in my main system and have not had any problems what so ever. It is relatively inexpensive compared to their reference series.
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=02&id=ELITE-15PFi
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I use this one in my main system and have not had any problems what so ever. I is relatively inexpensive compared to their reference series.
http://www.furmansound.com/product.php?div=02&id=ELITE-15PFi
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This was for a second system upstairs, so I'll just wait to get it back and give it another try. If it doesn't work out, I'll just start over. Thanks for the info Mark.
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I've read that description, "choke regulated" in MF's spec's and descriptions and don't really understand what that means. That's one of the things that made me think that their stuff might work better with "harder to drive" speakers.
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I can't belive it's "normal" either but that's exactly what happened. Deltronics here in Chicago that repair electronics quoted $400 or so to fix it, said "there's a bunch of blown components" and like I said, I saw the fire erupt as I was moving the speaker. I'm having them fix it and I'll give it another try, but I was pretty disapponted in it's performance even before it caught on fire, so I'm not sure if there may be other issued with it or what. The person I bought it from I would consider to be a stand up guy, and he stated that he enjoyed it for the two years he had it, so it doesn't seem like there has ever been a problem with it, but I guess you never know. I'll post on it when I get it back. Maybe Deltronics will work some magic, and bring it back to what it's supposed to be.
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I purchased a used Musical Fidelity A5 integrated. I used it with some Klipsch reference bookshelf speakers (and a MF A3 tuner) and listened for a couple of hours. I then moved the speakers out wider to try to get it to sound better, which yanked the speaker cable, which made the + & - spades touch at the amp output, which shorted out one channel. I saw fire and smelled a burning smell. That part is done, and it's in the shop getting fixed. I understand there's supposed to be a fuse to stop that sort of thing from happening, but sadly it happened.
Of the couple of hours I did get to listen, I didn't think it sounded that good. Could it be that MF gear was designed to work with "harder to drive" speakers? It also is supposed to be 250wpc. It sure didn't seem to have that kind of power.
Of the review's I've read, people love MF with B&W, Paradigm, Dynaudio, etc. I've heard the X-series with Sonus Faber Concertino's and thought it sounded wonderful, but my combo at home, not so good. Anyone have any ideas as to why?
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I take that back, I guess I can post pics.
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Frank--
Interesting progression there for sure. It would seem that the "CCa" is now the universally accepted "cat's meow" for the Peach V1 silo. May I ask, is your Peach with Hovlands, or AuriCaps?
This is one of the "first" Peaches I believe, as I purchased this unit from Dean Wescott. So I guess it would have Hovelands? It has the teal faceplate and a maple case. I'd post pictures, but am unable to post pictures for some reason.
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Besides, you get to listen to Craig on the phone.
I've spoken with Craig once (when I received the amplifier from Allan Songer) to ask some basic questions regarding the use of other tubes with this amplifier, and of course he was very helpful. Other than that, I have had no reason to bother Craig. His amp has been maintenance free, and not one lick of trouble.
Who say's tubes are high maintenance????
RF-7's and tubes
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
I enjoy both solid state and tubes. While many opinions and situations have been discussed, the largest difference for ME is the length of time spent listening. If I plan to have a long listening session (3-5 hours or more) I certainly prefer tubes and 2 channel because of the "even order harmonics". These sessions usually are at lower SPL's and more detailed. With solid state it's usually shorter sessions and higher SPL's, and usually with 5.1 speakers cranked, watching concerts or movies. Because of the even order harmonics tubes are not supposed to be as "fatigueing", and that has been my experience as well.