Erukian

This is interesting. Since computer's are a major driving force for music aficionado's it only makes sense that it's spawning a new generation of audiophiles. http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=getarticle&articID=904 I'd be interested in what it sounds like on some high efficiency klipsch equipment.

Wow, diverse opinions, lol.

So I have a sub (HSU STF-2) that I'm happy with, a Receiver (Onkyo TX-SR605) that I'm pleased with, and now I just need 5 speakers to do the job. I have a new 50" Plasma that has hd-dvd/bluray/xbox and OTA HDTV running into it. Music listening is for my separate 2 channel setup (but yes i realize games/movies do play music so i want something that sounds good doing music as well) Given a budget of 2-2.5k, working with a room that's 15x25 or so, what would you guys go with. I'm also open to the wall mounting speakers but I'm not sure what sort of compromises I'm making by leaving floor-standers and going to those... Honest feedback please. Thanks, -Joe

I'm demoing the Parasound HCA-1000A right now, i notice a lot more instrumental seperation, a lot more spaciousness and a lot more stereo seperation over my teac tripath, but the highs are very solid state like, they give me a headache! the mids arent as smooth as the teac but i think they're more realistic now. my low sensitive speakers love the extra wattage and that really shows with the bass control now. Overall it's definitely an upgrade in most regards. The seller also raised the price from $220 to $280, is this still worth it? my budget is $500 so that leaves about $220 for a pre. Assuming i kept this amp, what pre's would you guys recommend? I'm still open to other amplifier options, i haven't committed yet to the Parasound. Thanks, Joe

I have two offers i've come across today. First is a Parasound HCA-1000A for $220 from a coworker. Second is a Carver Pro ZR1600 from audiogon for $540 shipped. The biggest difference being the Parasound is rated 200WPC @4ohms (John Curl designed), the Carver Pro is 600WPC @4ohms, but the carver is tripath based which has it's own positives. Ahh decisions decisions, why is it deciding on electronics is so damn hard for me ;( I have no reason to really buy a multichannel setup because if i go multichannel, i'm definitely not going to use these speakers in that setup, buying a multichannel amp is a decision for later, when i get a house. I do indeed do serious listening in my bedroom. -Joe

I'm running 4ohm 88db sensitive bookshelf speakers, so they're not exactly easy to drive, but i respect the expertise of people in this forum to give me an honest recommendation despite them not being klipsch's and all.. The speakers are for a bedroom setting and as far as I can tell, if I want something good I have to buy used. If anyone has something they believe will match up with my speakers, please let me know, i'm considering everything at this point. Tubes, SS, Tripath, integrated or power amps... The impedance curve on the speakers makes it somewhat easy to drive for a 4ohm speaker, the bass/mids are smooth and detailed, the bass is somewhat tipped up around 40-55hz (where it starts to roll off just a bit) so integrating with a sub is somewhat hard. The highs are bright and detailed for a typical soft dome tweeter, but definitely not klipschs' sharp detail. I'd say sonically, they're closest to the Polk LSi9's, but with a bit more brightness. Thanks, -Joe

just these pair of bookshelves for my bedroom. http://www.av123.com/products_product.php?section=speakers&product=23.1 -Joe

I'm looking to spend no more than $700 on a integrated tube amp, i was considering this one right here. http://onix.pbwiki.com/SP3 I found a friend who's offering $550 for it almost brand new (retails $1k), local pickup. I'm curious what other options I should think about. The thing is I no longer have Klipsch speakers so realisticaly my sensitivity is around 88dB which sort of means a SET amp is out of the picture... So i'm really just asking for advice or suggestions when deciding on a 25+W tube amp that can handle a 4ohm load. -Joe

These guys are right, a 5.1/7.1 receiver is the way to go if since a value-priced one does roughly cost the same as the DDTS-100. The disadvantage is that the ultra's subs xover is locked at 120, so find a receiver that can xover around there (because that's where the ultra sattelites roll off) and buy some ratshack converters to conver the RCA sub-out to 1/8". -Joe

the Creative DDTS-100 is a excellent choice. It can output 1/8" plugs directly to your Ultra sub amp, and can take in Coax/Optical/RCA 6-channel from any receiver/dvd player you might have. It's definitely worth the money (the device) since you can use it anywhere and hook it up to anything really. I used to have one (sold it along with my Ultras) -Joe

Klipsch's horns will give you teh resolution you want at lower listening levels that a dome tweeter can't. comon you know this by now pick up any klipsch bookshelf speaker and be happy -Joe

Heya guys, feels like around a year since i've last used this forum to converse with you guys, but I came across this gem and I _have_ to share it with you. You guys will love it. Download the audio interview here. http://www.boston-audio.com/podcast/srajan_ebaen_interview.mp3 It's an hour long, but the last half hour is golden, he covers a ton of different topics, CD being replaced by online music (ipods), high efficiency speakers, preamps, class D amplifiers, music enjoyment, audiophile mentality. It's definitely worth a half hour of your time. Enjoy, -Joe

I simply Love B&W speakers, I just never spoke up because it feels like i'd get knocked around with all the fandom in here. B&W is known in the speaker industry as the 'University of Sound' because a lot of the modern breakthroughs come from them. -- Like them using kevlar to stop resonance in the driver material, perforated ports limit port farting, and reverse horns help stop internal resonance and totally cleans up the output on the 8xx series to give you the most undistorted output possible. Oh and don't forget the diamond drivers, the only material that's been proven to give completely flat, like not even +-1dB variance to 20khz, but we can't hear above 15kHz realistically so I guess only kids would notice. They have I believe some of the most brilliant engineers alive today. My two cents. -Joe

Hey Folks, long time. Even though I left the klipsch camp last summer, I found myself looking back and thinking "what if" I went with some Heresy's instead of the decision I made. I now think I have a good grasp on what part of the industry Klipsch holds and why you guys and geezers are so loco over them. PWK really brought the horn out of crappy PA systems and made them capable for high fidelity, so we all look to him as a true pioneer in the audio scene. A no-nonsense, no-bullshit kind of guy, the kind which everyone appreciates. His speaker designs are so efficient as a result of horns that you can drive them at normal and even loud listening volumes with a 1-5W tube amp, SET amp, t-amp, or any low powered amp that would power a 4ohm-sub 90dB efficient speaker horribly. Please keep in mind here that there are great speaker brands that are designed from fantastic engineers that learned from the best, including PWK. PWK's patents aren't the 'end all be all' of hi-fi audio and you'd be a fool for thinking so. It's been around 50+ years since the heritage designs and while there is a lot of bad cheap crap out there, there is some good stuff from other manuf's that sound as good if not better than Klipsch. So I ask that just keep in mind that while you may not care about learning about all the interesting developments in the audio world over the past 50 years, the hi-fi scene in some areas has changed for the better and it shouldnt be dismissed as whole. -Joe

Go in, and ask for them to order it from their catalog, that's what i did, waited a few days, now it's mine -Joe

As much as I liked reading dragonfyr's pretty informative posts, and I will miss his posts. I have to side with Amy. Here's how I look at this forum. It's like a club. Amy, Trey, whoever are the bouncers walking around making sure nobody's getting into a fights or acting too obscene. If someone gets in a fight they'll be talked down, but if someone swings at the bouncer, your *** is out the door. Klipsch owns this club, it's their rules, free speach etc don't apply in a private establishment. It's not like were the one's paying for klipsch's bandwith bills to host these forums and all our pictures on it. -Joe

the only audio file on a PC that acts like a zip file are lossless codecs. They compress the data in much the same way as a zip file and uncompression is handled on the fly. Any media file on your PC, if your using digital out on the PC, will be converted (not transcoded) to raw 2-channel PCM which the DAC1 should decode just fine. So there's nothing you can do to your current files to increase sound quality, just try to replace low bitrate mp3's with either lossless or a higher bitrate (i suggest 192-256 to be safe .. 320 is overkill) -Joe

there's no way to "uncompress" the mp3's. Once you go MP3 you lose information in the audio and it's gone forever. There's computer PCI cards like the Soundblaster X-FI that use multiband compression and 24/96bit conversion to do what a radio station does to your music, compress it so the softer details become louder and you get a perceived increase in quality. Other than playing from a lossless format like FLAC or straight off your cd-rom, there's no way to get the original quality back, and if you do, it's artifically re-created in a well marketed but not so technically elegant way. Just thought i'd point that out, -Joe

mobile homeless, my tube distortion + DAC1 combo suggestion is actually a commonly used one on the Benchmark forums. I'm not trying to say that one way is the best, because honestly I don't know. It seems the synergy (i hate using that word) to achieve a desired sound is important in this hobby. I do agree with your 'totally unfettered, natural detail' opinion. I think audio is meant to be enjoyed, not overanalyzed to find every nuance in a recording. .. I was at a local speaker-hobbyist's house who's been doing this hobby for many many years, he has a pair of speakers that he absolutely adores. The thing is their as bright/forward as hell. Were listening to a jazz peice and he'd lean foward and say "do you hear that? the edge on the sax? it's not supposed to sound smooth, it's supposed to sound sharp like that, you never hear about a speaker being too smooth in an audio review". I spent some time thinking about that. Can we stack too much distortion gear, like equalizers, tubes, what have you in our systems and then make a smooth, organic, warm sound and lose the 'real' sound? Sure. As a musician it turns me off when i hear a system with a warm coat over everything, a nice warm smooth coat, because you limit the ability for a recording to sound harsh when it needs to. So it's all about balance. Which in turn goes back to the Tube + DAC1 suggestion. IMHO, "ruthlessly revealing" isnt what were after, we just want stuff to sound real. You're not the only one. When you hear a system that's all solid state, low THD numbers, DAC1, etc, you can easily be turned off because it's so analytical and it pulls out so much detail. I think a lot of people have discovered that with the TEAC Tripath amp floating around here, if you pair it up with a good tube pre, your in for some major satisfaction, it's good synergy (there's that word again). Maybe i'm talking out of my ***, but i'd like to think i know what i'm talking about -Joe PS, the sig is just good fun poking at the audio industry, it's not even "my view" on it, i even disagree with it a little, but it's still funny nevertheless

colterphoto1 I get what your saying. Peer pressure, your sitting in a crowd of self-proclaimed golden ears, so you want to hear the differences they do, so then there's a good change placebo will kick in altering your decision. I still think that without these blind tests were completely lost. Next, i wanna see a interconnect test, then a speaker wire test, then a power cable test! -Joe

okay so i get why you chose 1st order crossovers. With klipsch speakers you also don't really have to worry about damage from using a 1st order because the driver in the squaker doesnt do enough excursion like a dome tweet. have you tried your extreme slope xover for the tweeter, and a 4th order for the bass like the Zu Definition in that other active thread? Just curious. -Joe

Rivendell61, thanks for pointing that out, i remember reading that here http://www.soundstage.com/revequip/benchmark_dac1.htm -Joe

i think 3dzapper means that it resamples to 24/192 on the DAC1 when it converts the digital to analog. It takes your 16bit 44.1kHz cd-audio (or 24 bit / 96kHz dvd-a/sacd) and then resamples it to 24/192. Going from digital to analog to digital then back to analog is _bad_. you want to keep the signal digital as long as you can, then once you use the DAC1 to make it analog, keep it analog. If you convert it back to digital after the DAC1 then back to analog again, the DAC1 is almost useless because you'll lose all the good characteristics of the DAC1. basically your system is as good as it's weakest link in your case. Try to have it go digital out > dac1 (now analog) > eq > amp Is it possible your EQ can take in digital and then output digital? or take in analog and output analog? There's a whole lot of factors when you convert to digital that a recording studio worries about. going from Analog to digital is a must because the CD/DVD medium requires it, so you use the DAC1 to make the most out of what's left of the conversion and save what quality is left after the conversion. So yeah, conversions = bad but a necessary evil, so if you can avoid it - AVOID IT! Hope that helps. -joe

Yeah, i've heard this (and experienced it) time and time and time again. With the DAC-1, it's all about what you feed it. It absolutely EATS UP good recordings, it makes them sound awesome, but any hint of a bad recording, bad mic placement, bad mixing, it'll show you that too. And in spades. So yeah, garbage in garbage out was never so true than it is with the DAC1. The only reason Benchmark said they get returns on the DAC-1 is because it's "too revealing". For example, someone's 80's CD's that they still love might sound worse, like you can hear all the artifacting and noise that's in the recording that was sort of hidden before.. So you have to judge, do you want the fidelity? I bet tube distortion + the DAC1 is a very popular combo. You might want to consider it. -Joe

well he has to be excruciatingly long-winded in order to support his argument. it's just another example of my theory that subjectivists need to invent ever more contrived explanations for why they see what they believe