NetMagi

also, forgot to mention. . . fan in QSC amp always always bugged me as I could hear it during low passages, or at low listening volumes. Replaced the stock fan with this one a few days ago: http://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/3110SB-05W-B20-E00/P14751-ND/2615564 . . .and it's completely quiet now. Temp still seems to be good, even under hard use. The stock fan MOVES A LOT OF AIR, which is probably important if this amp is stuffed in a hot case in the sun driven at 100% during a summer concert. The above-linked fan probably moves less than half the air over the stock fan, but it's still plenty of air to keep it cool under even harsh "home" conditions. -Rich H.

Received it. One word: EPIC. Full story: Unboxed it, and impressed with weight and build. It's no more than it needs to be, but it's no less than it *should* be. You can tell no corners were cut. Came with a USB cable, but I was too lazy to open the package and used one I had on my desk already. Connected the analog outputs to PLX1802 with a good set of shielded RCA cables. Sound was bleh. Seemed to be missing something and it had a constant hum (ground loop?), as well as a cyclic noise tied to variations in my video output. For ex, scrolling around would yield audible garbage through both channels. I tried various outlets, running everything on the same strip, etc. I could attenuate the noise somewhat by changing up the ground source, but it was still there. . and the sound was still bleh. I was dissapointed to say the least. I figured, ok, maybe their included USB cable does something magic, so I tried swapping it in. Zero difference. I retreated to my bottomless box of "probably never to be used again" A/V cables, and dug out a single balanced XLR MIC cable from circa 1980. Swapped that in place for one of the channels and voila! A single channel of clear delicious sound with zero hum/noise. So, I stopped at guitar center the next day on my way home from work and picked up two new matched balanced XLR cables, swapped them in and it's just pure epic audio bliss now. Sooooooooo clear, sooooo clean. It's hard to describe. Every permutation of past systems I've had together just sounded like they were trying too hard on many tracks. There'd be a handful of tracks that sounded stellar, and the rest just sounded like they were missing something. Not so on this setup. Any decent recording I've thrown at it just comes across crystal and effortless. For those that just starting reading down here, the final setup for me is: [Computer] ----USB Cable----> [Emotiva DC1] ----Balanced XLR cables----> [QSC PLX 1802] ----14ga landscape lighting wire----> [RF7's] I have no doubt if I spent 100k on gear it would sound better than this, but based on any other high-end systems I've auditioned, this is a solid 99/100. I'm not selling my house to buy the last point. The DAC is rock solid and presently under $500, the PLX1802 is a little under $1000, the interconnects from guitar center are well made and cheap (livewire brand, ~$35/each), and 14ga landscape lighting wire for the speakers is dirt cheap at Lowe's by the foot. -Rich H.

I wonder why it censored the word l i k e ? it's the future of hi-fi, no opinions, facts only, and our ears will be replaced with signal processors that tell us how good something would sound, if we could hear it :P

I /fail at patience. I read 3 positive reviews in a row on the DC-1 and just ordered it before I started to overthink it. Fingers crossed it's a winner -Rich H.

Thank you all for your replies. The Bel Canto looks great, but is more than I *think* I need to spend to get to where I want to be. The DC-1 really has my interest. It's less than what I thought I'd be spending, and seems to check all the boxes. Does anyone here own one? I'll be searching for reviews after this reply. . . I think I'm drawn to it because it's targeted to a different audience, but seems to fit very well for highi-end audio (yet lacks the high-end audio tax), much like the QSC PLX I run Any other QSC PLX users still out there by the way?? -Rich H.

For years I've had no good place to listen to 2-ch audio. Now, we've moved, and I've got an entire room all to myself where I can make as much noise as I want What I've got: RF7's QSC PLX1802 ENTECH 203.2 DAC Source will be PC w/FLAC, WAV, high-bitrate MP3's, etc. I used to have a conrad-johnson tube pre last time I had things setup, but I sold it a while ago, and now I've temporarly got the PC's sound card output (analog) going to a harmon kardon AVR5 I had laying around, with the RF-7's plugged right into that. The sound is "ok", but the AVR5 is underpowered for the RF7's, and the analog audio from the sound card sounds muddy and imprecise. I also have a PS3 hooked up to the AVR5 with a flat screen, but I'm not interested in any kind of surround sound. I have a whole other setup for that elsewhere. The Vision: I'd like to be able to use the RF7's and the PLX1802, as I think those two items are keepers. They sound great togther. I need a pre, and while I could use the entech DAC, I'm not opposed to acquiring a new DAC as well. A DAC/pre combo with inputs that could accomodate the PC (via USB?), the PS3, and an AUX source would be great. I'd love to have something that looked sexy on my desk with a usable volume knob. I liked the tube sound of the conrad pre, but I'm certainly not married to it being a tube pre. I found this: http://www.essenceelectrostatic.com/product/high-def-audio-control-center/ It looks like it would do everything I want, plus more. However, it's way too new to have any real reviews out there. I'm interested in hearing some suggestions for both things similar to what I have in mind, or something different. I'd love to hear from folks with a similar list of desires, and what you did and how you like it. I'm not afraid to spend money, but within reason. For all the great 3-5k pre's out there, I know there's also plenty for far less with wonderful reviews. I don't need to spend more to "feel" like it sounds better The HDACC linked above is ~$700. -Rich H.

sometimes it's not all about the soundstage and it's just amusing to shake the floors and make your ears bleed I guess I'm too young and just haven't outgrown it yet. . . Btw, I actually rattled the screw loose on a wall outet plate near my right-channel speaker and the cover fell off. It was incredibly satisfying. .

lol, I was afraid someone would ask what I was playing. . Lipps Inc. - Funky Town Gotta try it. . makes the RF-7's sing and the recording is surprisingly good!

So I had some friends over and was pushin the volume higher and higher. . I actually managed to get my QSC plx-1802 (330w/ch) to blink on the clip lights repeatedly. I turned it down after a few seconds, but how much juice can these RF-7's handle realistically??? With the amp driven into clipping (soft clipping, the plx regulates the input to prevent 'actual clipping'), the sound still SEEMED crystal. . Hope I didn't do any damage to my beloved RF-7's feeding them a solid 330w -Rich

phase. . So, apparentely (and everyone else probably already knows this), most of the CJ preamps are not phase-correct. You have to reverse your speaker leads to correct the phase . . I read this and mostly dissmissed it since the majority of people claim you can't discern phase difference, but I tried dropping a track to mono, reversing the leads on just ONE speaker and using the balance to switch between the phase incorrect left, and the phase correct right. Big difference . . . beats sound 'correct' on the reversed channel and 'wierd' on the other. Since all my listening is mp3's, I'm wondering if something in the encoding or decoding process makes correct phase more important. . . The difference is obvious. . unlike very subtle as most people describe. Insights? -Rich

You know it's hard to say. .. I really wish I had something to A/B it with. Some tracks sound soo full and amazing. . and others sound like they've just run out of steam. I guess it could be more of the recording quality showing through on the higher-quality of my components . . . I've noticed in general that live or acoustic stuff sounds really full and realistic, and a good portion of studio-recorded stuff that I liked before almost sounds harsh now. . Maybe i do have mismatch problems. . I dunno It's hard to describe. . . Again, really wish I had more equip to A/B with.

btw, did you notice the original QSC amps had an input impedance of 6k ohms unbalanced, and the new ones (plx2) are 10k ohms From what I understand, a higher input impedance is easier to drive. . . i could be COMPLETELY wrong though. ..

actually. . I walked into the shop armed with the spec sheet for the PLX. . . They have an in-house tech who has a personal contact at CJ. He called CJ for me and they said that "it's good all the way to 500" and should be a good match. I'm not quite sure what he meant by that to be honest lol. . . but I was very clear that the input impedance on the amp was 10k ohms. I'm still messing with speaker placement, but acoustic stuff shines amazingly. Soo rich and realistic. I've gotten nothing done since I got home with the thing. I've been listening to track after track. .

yes, in fact this is my first venture into separates actually. . I'm fairly pleased with my choices thus far. . .

Recently picked up a QSC PLX1802 and I've been toying with the idea of a tube preamp since. Was in a local shop today and they had a PV11 preamp on consignment. It has just been completely re-tubed and gone over, and it's a 10/10. . absolutely MINTY. They even had the box and original packaging. Asking 700, and they called the guy and he took the 600 i was offering. It's only been plugged in for about an hour or so, so it's not even fully warm but it's sooo tubey and nice