paulaelliott
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Posts posted by paulaelliott
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Hey Doug,
If you havent seen it yet, get over to Ubid.com....KLF-30 for, are you ready, $772 FOR THE PAIR! Sheez, I'm sooooo tempted...Even if they are too big...so what....What a price!
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I currently have the SB-3s on stands, with the matching SS1s and SC1 surrounds and centers...I like the SB3s very much...But I was wondering, if I were to upgrade, I'd go to a floor model, and would consider either the Reference RF-5 or the Legacy KLF-20...That could probably stir a debate on its own about which would be the better speaker for the same price...Does 3-way alway win hands down? Not necessarily...Anyway, I think one has an efficiency rating of 99db and the other, 100...My current Synergy set has a 94db rating...Yet, the receiver has a 10db level match lattitude for surrounds and center, so I'm not sure I would be REQUIRED to buy matching center and surrounds from the reference or legacy line....Music is more important to me than HT, yet I would want to be able to have all speakers at the same level, and I would want my center to be at least sonically close to my fronts....So, 2 questions: RF-5 or KLF-20, and, can I live decently with my current center and surronds...
Thanks.
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see Doug, this is where I'm having one of my bigger problems....I can see the KLF speakers as an upgrade...And it doesnt even have to be the 30s...But, I would probably go for the RF-3s instead...The KLF30s are pretty intimidating speakers for a 1 bedroom hirise condo! But, I'm wondering about your RB-5 recommendation....The question is, how big a difference is their really between the Synergy speakers and the Reference speakers...Specs wise, the SB3 and the RB5 are almost identical. If you did a blind test between the two, I think you'd be hard pressed to continually pick one over the other. I may be wrong, but I'd be surprised.
Regardless, the msg seems to be that, given my current system, the biggest single improvement would be in the area of the speakers...Which on the one hand, seems obvious, but on the other, seems confusing...For, I really like the way my SB-3s sound. You should hear how they picked up when I added the external amp! I dont know...If adding big, 90 lb towers is the next logical move, maybe I should wait til I get into a bigger residence...Listening room now is about 12 X 26, and my HT/Audio is located along one of the long walls and, because the room is only about 12' wide, I have to sit within about 8' of the speakers, triangulated between them.
Thanks...
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No Spider, its a 2 channel amp...The other channels, ie, cntr, surrounds, and sub are still driven by receiver....The reason I like using the receiver as preamp is first, its got an analog direct mode...Meaning, the signal is converted once from digital to analog in the CD player, and it stays in that mode til it hits the speakers....Totally bypassing the entire digital circuitry...Which gives me a cleaner signal than Id get in most aV receivers with preouts. However, if I do want to apply some digital processing, then I also have the CD player wired to the receiver with an optical connection, so that I have the option of using either analog direct or any soundmode I like...The receiver doubles as a dsp, if I dont want to use Analog Direct on a given recording.
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So far, I have Klipsch SB-3s on 21" stands with matching center and surrounds....These are driven by an Audiosource Amp3 150wpc amp, which is driven by a Sony STR-V333ES av receiver. DVD/CD player is a Sony DVP-660. Sub is Sony SAWM40. Stock powercord, Monster interconnects.
If I had up to $1000 to spend at this point, which of these components would you upgrade for the biggest sonic difference? Adding the Audiosource Amp3 driven by the preouts of the ES receiver has made the biggest difference so far, and it makes the SB-3s sound truely incredible.
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NIghtcrawler,
I went with the Audiosource Amp3, driven by the front r&l preouts on my Sony STR-V333ES receiver, and connected my SB-3s up to the Amp3...The results are sensational...It seems that if anyone has a hometheater receiver, be it a cheaper model, or a Sony ES model like mine, or even a flagship or near flagship receiver like yours, they can all benefit and leverage their receiver at the same time by purchasing an external stereo amp, or monoblocks, to drive the r&l speakers. It just seems that no matter the price, the mfgs compromise somewhere, and that area is musicality. No matter how good their HT sounds, their music can be improved with an external stereo amp.
Before I got the amp, I knew that the music I play (mostly classical and very demanding of the hardware) didnt sound as good as it should/could...And I didnt know whether it was the receiver or the speakers....Now I know...it was the receiver...The SB3s sound really excellent now...As you noted, when driven by a good amp, they sound incredible. Their freq response is naturally not as full as your KLFs are, but that's what subwoofers are for...They are rated down to 52 hz though, and I dont think there's too much musical information below that...Cept maybe the 16hz organ note in Zarathustra!
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Receiver: Sony STR-V333ES
Speakers: SB-3 monitors
Goal: Mid priced stereo amp, driven by my receiver via preouts, to drive my front L&R speakers, for better classical music quality.
I've been looking at 100 - 150 wpc stereo amps by Nad, Rotel, Parasound, and Acurus. Most of these are in the $500 - $700 price range...
Then yesterday, I come across a $349 amp (called amp3) at J and R from a company called Audiosource...Apparently, this is a Phoenix Gold company, and the reviews on Audioreview are phenomenal....reviewers are regularly saying that this amp sounds every bit as good as amps costing up to $2000! Then, I went to the web site and saw they use Torroidal transformer, and have excellent specs. Then I read a review on the hometheater web site which says about the same thing....Can all these people be wrong? Or, have I found a diamond in the rough?? If anybody knows of it, please advise...Thanks.
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>>. I also suggest trying NAD. NAD offers almost the same performance for slightly more money and greater snob appeal<<
Really? Lets see, Nad has the 2 channel C-270, 120 W/c for about $600 - $700. Are you telling me that HK has a similar amp at a similar price with similar power? I'd be very surprised if this were true, as my research has shown me that it costs considerably more to get a 100 wpc amp from HK. If youre right, please reply with model number...thanks ..
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John, its not that I'm trying to 'correct' anything.. If youre ever a fan of classical music, you'll know that the amount of dynamics the music brings to the hardware is huge. From what I've been reading, good HT receivers may do an excellent job in that area...But if they tend to fall down in any area, its in the musicality side of things, and particularly with classical music, and the demands it makes on the components. So, I'm trying to improve the overall soundquality of classical music. I want the piano notes to be sharper. I want the tone to feel 'warmer'. I want the strings to sound more 'individual' and less 'shrill', etc, etc...Its a general improvement in SQ I'm looking for...And I've read that the amps I referred to in the heading, driven by the preamp in my Sony ES receiver might provide me with this....Its through threads like these, hopefully from people who have made similar upgrades, that I hope to learn whether or not this is a good thing to persue....Thanks.
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Ok, I think I'm getting it...Question: On a HT receiver, is it on the Amp or the Preamp side where true hifi musicality suffers the most?
Assuming its on the amp side, and I do what is suggested above, ie, buying either a 2 or 3 channel amp, and running the front stage from the receiver preouts to the amp, can anybody suggest a good amp in the moderate price range, which would improve my classical music listening, over what I now have with my Sony STR-V333ES receiver?
Also, it was suggested I get a 3 channel rather than 2 channel amp and run the entire front stage off the amp...Since the center has no impact in true hifi musiclistening, is it so that when playing HT, the center channel isnt sonically different from the fronts?
Thanks.
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So, if I have a Sony ES 5.1 DD/DTS receiver, I could run my front rt and front lt preouts to a 2 channel amp, and connect up my front rt and front lt speakers to this amp, while at the same time running my center, rear rt, rear lt, and sub directly from my receiver as I do now? The idea being that I could improve the quality of my classical music listening, which is obviously most important via the front speakers, even though the musical digital modes do play ambient effects via the cntr and rears....And, when I listen to broadcast tv, this hybrid setup would still blend ok with the above setup?? thanks...
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Ok Ray, its clear that when comparing my Analog Direct mode, when listening to music, which in the sony es receiver is strictly a 2 channel mode, to any one of the better digital soundfields, its the latter which provides more bass....Its also the latter which uses the Sub.
My fronts, SB3s are rated at 52 hz, not exactly 'full range'. So my question is where would you cross them over? My Es receiver will allow me to cross anywhere from 40 hz to 200 hz, in 10 hz increments. I thougtht that since the speakers rate to 52 hz, that crossing them over at 60 hz is the right thing to do....If I cross at 80, I definitely hear more bass coming from the sub...What I cant quite tell is am I hearing more bass overall crossing at 80 vs 60...Thats the question I need to answer, and the one I cant quite discern when listening. BTW, the sub is a sony SAWM40 12", 120W. I can low pass that from 50 hz to 170 hz...I find that setting lowpass at around 120 or even a little higher works best.
Given my SB3s and their freq response, please advise where you would cross them for best bass effect... thanks.
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Logik,
Its not a 440w powered sub.....That's PEAK wattage youre seeing....I dont know the RMS value, but that's the value you need to use when making comparisons, not PEAK value.
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quote:Originally posted by htxpert:How bout when you are playing say...the Matrix at near reference level with all channelsdriven with your receiver or amp?Would it not make more sense for the receiver or amp to drive the 5 speakers while still having enough headroom to not introduce distortion and let theactive subwoofer do the hard work at the bottom end?Cheers Ray
Ray,
I agree with you when it comes to movies...But, really, I'm speaking more about music...This is where I'm having trouble....Do you feel your comments apply equally to music? Some of my receiver's soundfields do send bass in varying degrees to the subs...I listen to alot of classical, and I prefer to have the subs just round out the bottom fullness of notes. I find that if I set the fronts to small, and receiver's crossover to above 80 hz, since the speakers spec is down to 52 hz (klipsh SB-3), why waste 30 hz of their useful range....True, a fair amount of bass in music goes to the sub if I do this, but the bass much above 80 is directional, and in stereo music, I want to hear it in stereo if possible...Setting the crossover to 60 would seem to be correct for the 52hz bottom freq response of the speaker, and would listen the chance of the sub bass being directional...Comments for music??
Which component upgrade for biggest bang for buck improvement
in 2-Channel Home Audio
Posted
How bout this...I dont want to open a can of worms or anything, but, I've heard Speakers first, then maybe electronics....But, what of those people who say you can get noticable and signficant improvement by replacing your stock, regular old AC power cable with one of those fancy, $100+ ones...Like the Lat AC-2? Has anybody reading this thread actually made noticable improvement this way?