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Sputnik-of-Bass

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Posts posted by Sputnik-of-Bass

  1. I live just a few miles from MultiWave in Southern CA and have ordered from them online and picked up via their "will-call" desk....not a pleasant experience ("ummm....what was your order number???....duh....I can't find it....hang on a sec while I find somebody that knows how to count on their fingers..."). The next time I order, I will simply have them ship it to my work address (even if I do live just a few miles away). Anyways, I could gather a bunch of goons together and drive over and ruffle up some feathers over there on your behalf... biggrin.gif

  2. There is no "set in stone" rule when it comes to the markings on the wires. However, I've always used the marked wire as positive. It doesn't matter if you use the marked wire as positive or negative since the conductors in the wires themselves are identical. The only rule to follow is to stay consistent with your wiring....if you use the marked wire as positive, use the same throughout the entire wiring or you'll be hooking up some of the satellites out of phase.

    As for the connector plugs, the tip or end is positive and the sleeve or longer section is negative...this is pretty much set as the industry standard.

  3. Using the v.2-400's preamp (and my previous Cambridge MicroWorks/SoundWorks setup), I had my SBLive's main volume at approx 90%. Using the CP-1 that has replaced my v.2-400's preamp, main volume is backed off to approx 50% (because of the CP-1's increased sensitivity), bass is set to 65% and treble is down to 90% to help cut some of the high-end "sizzle" inherent in the v.2-400's satellites. Main volume is adjusted only from the v.2-400's main volume control...I don't fiddle with the soundcard's volume settings once these levels are set. One advantage in lowering the soundcard's main volume is that you pick up much less of the soundcard's noise...the SBLive is not famous for it's low noise level. biggrin.gif I have the original SBLive full version (the first release).

  4. In addition to the headphone jack, you get an AUX input jack for an external audio source (which will only play through the front speakers), a speaker disengage switch (NOT a power on/off switch) with an LED that changes color to show the status of the speakers (red-off, green-on). The build quality is also improved with better and more solid feeling knobs that should eliminate the "scratchy" sounding knobs that some people have experienced with the v.2-400 preamp. Whether or not this is worth the money to you is of course up to you.

  5. Dman155,

    The switch simply turns off the signal output to the satellites and the sub. With the switch engaged, the LED glows green and the speakers and sub are all active. With the switch disengaged, the LED glows red and all speakers are essentially turned off...no hiss is heard in the off position but the amplifier is still on (I can tell by the heat coming off of it). The switch is mainly there to use the headphone output jack without the speakers being active. The headphone jack is active regardless of what position the switch is in.

    The CP-1's bulid quality is much better than the original preamp...the volume controls all have a much tighter and more solid feel to them (I'm pretty sure they upgraded the pots to help eliminate the "scratchy volume knob" problems). The gain is more sensitive on the CP-1 so you have to turn your soundcard's volume down to compensate for this difference. The only drawback I can think of is that the CP-1's noise level/hiss is greater than the original preamp. This doesn't really bother me though since I turn off the v.2-400's along with the PC and don't use them with the PC turned off. The greater noise level is indeed bothering some people that have the speakers on regardless of their PC's on or off status...this can easily be "fixed" by using the CP-1's on/off speaker switch, although I do admit that it can be a pain in the butt to do this every time you don't want to hear the hiss... biggrin.gif

  6. Dman155 wrote:

    quote:

    The new CP-1 preamp has an on/off switch if you really want that.


    I own the CP-1 preamp and the "on/off switch" that was mentioned on the CP-1 preamp is simply an on/off speaker switch. It does not power down any part of the v.2-400...the built-in power-down feature remains the same, with or without the CP-1.

  7. Baz wrote:

    quote:

    I 've got sblive x-gamer, and i just started to lower my pc volume to 50% and bumping up the pro's to 75/80%.

    SOUNDS FANTASTIC, NO HISS


    I have the original SBLive full version and along with the CP-1 preamp on my v.2-400's and I pretty much have to run the sound card at under 75% volume. This card is pretty noisy and turning it's volume level down helps alot with the hiss level (I do have all unused inputs muted) and gives you more control when adjusting the volume on the CP-1.

    Baz wrote:

    quote:

    My printer's paper tray was making a lot of noise, maybee i should contact HP and ask for a quieter tray


    Hehe....maybe you should ask them for a whole new printer instead....free upgrades for life (or even when your paper tray starts acting up)! biggrin.gif

  8. I agree with FooF...with the original preamp that came with my v.2-400's, I had to lower the volume down to approx 3/4 of max. With the CP-1 and it's more sensitive gain, I had to lower my volume even more down to approx 1/2 of max. This is a system dependant setting and one level isn't necessarily the best for everyone.

  9. Just curious since it's been quite a while since I've used PowerDVD but does it have a bookmark option? I use WinDVD and you can set multiple "bookmarks" for any point in any DVD and instanly jump to that bookmark without fast-forwarding or searching for that favorite point. Comes in mighty handy.

  10. Psycho_Wolf:

    Is the DMA setting for your DVD-ROM drive set correctly? Go to start/settings/control panel/system/device manager/CDROM, then select your DVD-ROM drive, hit the "properties" button and select the "settings" tab. If the "DMA" option box is unchecked, check it and hit OK. You will be propted to reboot which you should do. If the "DMA" option box is already selected, uncheck it and reboot. In most cases, the DMA option should be selected. This is a frequent cause of problems like you are describing when using software DVD decoding. If this doesn't help, your CPU may indeed be not enough to handle software DVD decoding.

  11. Before you order the CP-1, try this...turn up the Klipsch's fairly high so that you can definitely hear the hiss. Open up your soundcard's volume level control and move the main volume slider down all the way. Does the hiss go away? If it does, then your soundcard is the source of the hiss. Now try muting some of the devices attached to the soundcard like your CD-ROM's audio output to the soundcard, etc. Does some of the hiss go away? Chances are that your soundcard is the main culprit of hiss in the system, followed by the devices attached to it. I have a SoundBlaster Live (full version) and in doing this same test, I get plenty of hiss...and it's almost all soundcard related. If I bring the main volume down to zero, the Klipsch's are much quieter. Another thing to try is to plug the Klipsch's into a different audio source like a portable CD player/walkman/MP3 player or even your stereo system's CD player using the correct adapter. No system is absolutely free of hiss, especially in the electrically noisy environment of the PC. Try to rule out all possible sources of noise before you dish out $50 for the CP-1 which won't even help if you have a noisy soundcard.

    Here's the link to order the CP-1: http://www.klipsch.com/store/product.asp?dept%5Fid=1&pf%5Fid=018

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