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Quiet_Hollow

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Posts posted by Quiet_Hollow

  1. On 1/13/2017 at 9:18 PM, Youthman said:

    The first thing I notice is they are WAY less efficient than the LaScalas or the RF-7ii. 

    Regardless of your phone volume setting...this is going to be a given, as almost everything on the market is less efficient than the La Scala or the like.

     

    They'll spoil ya' like that. :D

     

    For your zone 2 issues, I second the DAC suggestion that was already mentioned. :emotion-21: No ideas on the wiring though. :mellow2:

     

    As far as placement, it'll be all about putting the sound on target (ie. keeping it out of the neighbor's chili). Tucked up in the corners to maximize bass output, angled in and down 45 to cover the entire patio (above the flower pot and above the traditional door if there's room up there). Another option is to place the pair above and directly flanking the hot tub as that's the greatest source of noise (unless it has its own stereo).

     

    Although it's tempting to believe you might need to cover the entire back yard with audio. In reality you'll really be better off keeping an area "with sound" and an area with "little to no sound".

  2. Been using the following:

    -Deltron banana plugs. They make many types, but I purchased the basic nickel-plated kind with the crimp/solder joint (#579-0500).

    -Monoprice 14AWG 4 wire CL2  for anything bi-amped.

    -Sub cable is a mix of Monoprice, RG6 coax from CableWholesale, and 12 ga. from HD.

     

    I'll leave it to anyone else to debate whether this constitutes "the best".  However, I will say without a doubt that for this particular system, it constitutes "enough".

     

    DeltronBanana.jpg

     

  3. Bill, PM sent.

     

    I reviewed the manual for the XR70, and its bi-amp/bi-wire is only a 2 ch feature. Any multi-channel input and the amps swap back.

     

    Also, the xr70 differs from the xr57 in that the latter has MF/HF balance and delay adjustment available when in bi-amp mode. Probably had you wondering what I was talking about.

  4. With the XR you should experiment with tweaking the delay setting now. :emotion-21:

     

    My experience was similar to yours, a little louder right off the bat...but with the addition of improved detail in the crossover region and a significant improvement in stereo width / depth.

     

    Been running my system bi-amped the same way through my Pioneer SC-87 since last May. It has a setting by where I can run the front three (L,C,R) channels bi-amped...using up all the spare amplifiers same as the XR.

     

    LSbi-amp.JPG

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  5. Just not keen on the romantic view of that era, nor that only a handful of people were somehow privy to what constituted off-the-shelf automobile performance of the same. Many of the famous names were simply blessed with more capital/access/notoriety at a particular time.

     

    Tweaking IC engines has been going on since their inception. Nothing special about years past, nor what's coming down the pipeline so long as it has a piston and a crank.

     

    It's all well within the box.

  6. On 11/29/2016 at 7:19 AM, jjptkd said:

    So in another thread there is debate over whether a 3db gain is even noticeable.

    No surprise. 3 dB of what?

     

    The Decibel is a ratio, like a percent. To express anything in decibels, reference to the physical quantity must also be included. Such as:

    dB SPL

    dB W

    dB m

    dB V

     

    Otherwise, it's simply a unit with no context.

     

    If we assume SPL is the context, then yes 3 dB SPL is quite noticeable as a 0.5-1.0 dB change in SPL (at any audible frequency) is typically the threshold of perceptible change. You can experiment this with yourself using test tones and a typical stereo so long as the volume is calibrated in dB.

     

    Things get muddy in conversation when there's a failure to respect the relationships ...ie. dB SPL to dB W.   Just because a dB symbol is hanging out there, doesn't mean the quantities are the same, or ever should be. Loudness, power, volts, intensity, are all very unique. They can be expressed as a relationship to one another using the decibel, but are not the same.

     

    On 11/29/2016 at 7:19 AM, jjptkd said:

    It seems in these two instances where there is only supposed to be a 2db difference in max output the differences are quite clear, am I missing something?

    Yes. There's a lot more to hearing than just one number. Acoustics, as a topic of study, is comprehensive...too much to cover on any forum.

  7. 2 hours ago, Tasdom said:

    Ok added....

    I seriously doubt any of the regulars here are gonna click that. I've been here for 6 years, and lurked for 5 years before that...this just isn't the place it seems. :mellow:

     

    For Example:

    Mouse On Mars - Schnick Schnack Meltmade

    or Daddylonglegs - Bareback

     

    Not exactly Top 100 stuff, yet it's all I ever listen to a large percentage of the time.

  8. Technically speaking:

     

    When the density altitude of my living room is equivalent to or below the value of the day I last opened up the rear chambers of all my bass bins and subwoofer. Also, anytime after an hour or two of the system playing quietly, whereby everything has had a chance to loosen up....in particular after a night-long session of playing white noise or the like.

     

    3 hours ago, SWL said:

    Unless your listening at balls out levels....

    Booze helps my ears endure the onslaught. :emotion-14:

     

  9. 43 minutes ago, Coytee said:

    If I bought a new unit that was say, 11.?, are they backward compatible where it would recognize a 5.1 signal and process it appropriately?

    That's referred to as down mixing, and yes, it's a feature inherent to all multichannel processors.

     

    43 minutes ago, Coytee said:

    Can you get a 5.1 unit that has XLR outputs?

    Yes, they're out there.

     

    When looking at processors though, be mindful of the output hardware. The quality and execution of the amps in the output stages are hardly ever identified or discussed, but they are essentially what your system is going to sound like when you patch in a big power amp to them.

  10. On 11/7/2016 at 2:54 PM, CECAA850 said:

    This is an amp and DAC in one?

    From a hardware POV, not really, because there's no discrete D/A stage, nor is there a discrete amplifier in the classical sense. I've often seen these referred to as a Power DAC, and justifiably so.

     

    A typical component DAC's sole purpose is to drive an analog input stage. Where in the case of the type above, the analog input stage is the speaker itself and the resultant audible signal cannot exist independently of the complete output filter network.

     

    However....from an end-user POV, arguably yes. Plug it into the wall, digital signal goes in one end, and audio comes out the other.....about enough to fill an entire living room. :emotion-21:

  11. Starting a thread exclusively for those interested in discussing SOC (aka "chip" or digitally driven H bridge) amplifiers. Often the topic of solid state thread wars due to their extraordinarily rich sound when processing native PCM or I2S, when in-fact they bear no resemblance to their analog-driven, yet silicon derived brethren.

     

    I'm no expert in the design specifics, but I've got some eye-candy to kick it all off with:

     

    Vintage game-changer, turn-of-the-millennium Apogee DDX

     

    DDX2060.jpg

     

    ...to be continued

  12. Any of the front-loaded, folded horn designs sound great on a fraction of the power. BFM Tuba series , JTR OrbitShifter LFU, Klipsch MWM, 1802, cinema F20, etc. etc.

     

    Just varying shades of extension, cost, size. Nice thing about them is they can be moved from residence to residence with "relative" ease, whereas IB's are a typically a significant install item.

  13. On 10/26/2016 at 1:15 PM, mark1101 said:

    The nice thing is that someone discovered a way around this by feeding the inexpensive DAC a more digestable meal.

    Not to put too fine of a point on it, USB audio runs in isochronous or adaptive mode which is quite distinct from asynchronous mode. Where the crap hits the fan is when, in either of the two previous modes, the USB controller interlaces the channels, which it has to because of the way USB is designed to handle audio. Distortion occurs when the signal is parsed back into S-PDIF or I2S. Anyone that has experienced de-interlacing problems in video knows the result when you attempt playback of interlaced signals on hardware designed exclusively for progressive content. There is no concrete definition for this type of audio distortion, but it does occur and is easy to discern in a comparative situation.

     

    The solution is simple. Don't do it. The TubeMagic has the option to accept S-PDIF, hence the extractor to grab that off of an HDMI cable. The result is better sound.

     

    This isn't a discovery per say.  It's all about understanding and managing the hardware.

     

    FYI, the engine room of the DAC-2 (the SABRE³² ES9018) costs ~$50. Easily smoked by ST's FFX, CSR's DDFA, or the like.

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