MeloManiac

Welcome to the forum! I'm very happy with my entry level Marantz CD5005, which is entry level. Marantz has a rep to produce a slightly warm sound. With a budget like yours, I would go the Marantz ND8006, which combines a cd player with an advanced network streamer: https://www.whathifi.com/reviews/marantz-nd8006 Note: no SACD. Another path to follow could be a high end blu-ray player (with multi-channel capabilities). I have no personel experience with that, though.

It could be that the radiator in the back, which is massive too, adds sufficient base, like with the quartets.

To me, the tweeters look massive compared to the woofers, so I think that for a balanced sound, the new subwoofer will be required. I love the looks, BTW, and the connections are very complete.

Welcome to this forum! Even with Reison's 6W, both speaker sets will play really loud. You'll have better bass with the floorstanders. Warning: with both speakers sets, you'll never want to revert back to solid state... (unless very high end...)

I've used these tubes in a home made, tesla coil based tube amplifier of my own design. These tubes will draw all the attention and visitors will never notice my nice Klipsch speakers. Don't know if that's a good thing, though... ;-))

This article is not about taxes, but it does shine a light on Ebay's 'business ethos'...: "Two former top eBay security executives and four other ex-employees face federal conspiracy charges of stalking the staff of an e-commerce newsletter by sending them live cockroaches and a funeral wreath." https://fortune.com/2020/06/15/ex-ebay-executives-charged-with-stalking-campaign/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workers-protest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-workers-across-europe-and-us-protest-prime-day-2019-7?r=US&IR=T https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/4/1/21201162/amazon-delivery-delays-coronavirus-worker-strikes At least in Europe, there is a high number of corona-victims among Amazon personel, mostly because they are economic refugees living together in small rooms (ten people sleeping in one room), earning minimum wage... That's what I call modern slavery. I'll stop here, because I know that this topic is very sensitive and the situation of Europe compared to the US is very different and therefore impossible to compare. Taxes give Europeans schools, medical care, roads etc. When multinationals shamelessly use every trick of the book to evade taxes, we have the right to speak up!

I understand the annoyance and irriation of the OP. Still I think it is a good thing that governments all over the world are cracking down on these online selling platforms. Most of the time, they serve the grey market and up to now have propagated tax evasion on a very large scale. These 'behemoths' at the same time are killing small retailers. I'm not thinking of the individual seller who's selling a piece of clothing his kids grew out off, or someone trying to sell a cd player he no longer uses. I'm thinking of behemoths like aliexpress.com and Amazon and whatever, and the thousands of smaller businesses who built a business model on tax evasion schemes. Very often, they also are the 'clean' front of modern slavery and human traficking: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-49372809 They are even paying 'fake ambassadors' to spread positive news about the company! Amazon and the like, companies who have a reputation of paying less than 3% taxes, while the European average is more like 33%, have thrived on the misery of others, their workers and their clients. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/09/amazon-europe-received-241m-in-tax-credits-in-2018 While the world economy is going into recession, Amazon's ceo Jeff Bezos added 24 billion thanks to corona (while paying almost no taxes): https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52289657 Rather than hunting for the best bargain, or going for the highest profit, why don't you buy local?

My Dell XPS 8930 would not even detect my earphones when I plugged them in. I thought it was a hardware malfunction. I even broke open the pc to have a look. Then, after much research, I installed the Realtek drivers (not from Dell!) from Realtek.com and presto, the earphones were back... These Audio HD drivers seem to creep into every corner of your OS and mess things up if you install the wrong ones. I think it has to do with security issues among other things. You also may want to try this solution: 1. Open the Device Manager (find it in the Control Panel, or type device manager into the Windows search box). 2. Expand the "Sound, video & game controllers" and right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio". 3. Select to "Update Driver Software". 4. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software". 5. Click "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer". 6. Put a check in the box "Show compatible hardware" if not already checked. 7. In the list of devices, click "High Definition Audio" (the native driver). 8. Click "Next". 9. On the Update Driver Warning box, click "Yes" (install the driver). 10. Restart the computer if prompted. If not prompted, sometimes you have to restart, sometimes not.

This is a Longshot but may help you. There are issues with the Realtek audio drivers, typically after automated updates. Do not download the driver from the proprietary websites like Dell, but instead go to www.realtek.com and look for the correct driver here. https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/pc-audio-codecs-high-definition-audio-codecs-software

A nice set of Heresy speakers placed in two corners is a life long, future proof investment. Great deals can be done with the excellent Heresy IIIs.

Like many here, my first incline is towards Echoes, but then there is that other brilliant joke of a song, Seamus, which kind of redefines what Blues is, while at the same time it is excellent to test your low frequencies and L/R-channels. And it drives my dog crazy...

Some time ago this review caused quite a bit of a stir on this forum, because it dared to sceptical towards Klispch' flagship. Reading it again, it is actually very favourable, but Klipsch fans seem to magnify the negative passages and are blind for the positive conclusion. https://www.stereophile.com/content/klipsch-klipschorn-ak6-loudspeaker The 2019 Klipschorn also offers its own combination of those qualities, one that delights and surprises in some respects (uncolored vocals, surprisingly good spatial performance, much better senses of touch and impact than the average loudspeaker) while disappointing in others (less than the tightest bottom octaves, a trace of grain under strain).

In digital photography, you have the option to select all brands of analog film (Kodak 'tmax, velvia, formapan etc) I see a great future for an app allowing tube rolling on your smartphone: in the free version with adds, you get the China tubes and Russians, in the paid version you get no ads and the jj' s, the Siemens, Philips and rare NOS tubes.... You can make big bucks with the hipsters!!!!

I had to look up 'enamo(u)red' - "en amour" (= in love). For non native speakers of English, this is a non-transparent word. I guess the word is appropriate here: music and gear evoke very strong feelings, and this is why discussions often turn emotional...

I don't know about you, guys, but comparing or A/B-ing as it is sometimes called around here, messes with my brain big time, so I gave up on that a while ago and now just enjoy listening to the music instead, and depending on the situation/moment, I use a different setup: I have two listening rooms: my living space, where I placed my RP160Ms with the Denon microsystem, and what I call my 'den', where my 1972 Hs are. In my den, I have the marantz 5005 amp and my 3.5 watt TubeCube upgraded with Sovtek EL84M tubes. My living room is quite large (for European standards), but the RP160Ms fill the volume nicely, even with only a 35W Denon amp. I can play it loud, like when I'm doing the dishes (!) or I can play it soft when 'nearby listening', like when I'm working on my laptop. In my den, upstairs, I use the tube amp for delicate late evening sessions at low volume and I use the Marantz for loud music (turning volume to 35% is like an earthquake). I've learned to accept that the same recording can sound very different, depending on the place, moment and setup I listen to it. I've learned to accept that some music must be played loud, and some can be played soft. I've also learned to accept that my only 'frame of reference' is my own enjoyment. Last year, I was at a friend's bbq and he'd put a small Bose table speaker on the table, I think it was mono, but I'm not sure. It sounded amazing, with great lows in the open air. For that place and moment in time, it was the best speaker to put there on that table. Going into an argument about Klipsch being much better than Bose, would have been completely ridiculous... Boys and their toys... mine is bigger/better/whatever than yours... I say: live and let live...

If woofer gasket is paper and it needs little break in, imo. If the gasket of the H4 woofer is rubber or foam, imo the low frequencies may evolve as the rubber comes to room temperature, and is stretched for the first time for, with elasticity setting in. Depending on ambient factors like temp and air humidity this may take one up to several hours. Anyway, here is Klipsch official view on break in: https://www.klipsch.com/blog/how-and-why-to-break-in-your-new-speakers

Love this real life test. My guess is the 4s need some more burn-in time to completely open up, esp for the low frequencies. The video is good medicine for Gas or gear acquisition syndrome. It makes me appreciate my 1972 Hs. Taking into account the substantial price upgrade of the 4s, critical and sceptical listening is appreciated and welcomed.

I would try another usb slot. Usb slots get a lot of abuse (forcing to plug in upsidedown). Also the usb connector on the mouse side could be damaged.

Nice, clean and compact setup! Congrats!

If you really want to support an artist, buy their music from them directly, not via Amazon and other mainstream distribution.The same applies for books/authors. Certainly in these dire times. If you buy music after a concert, make sure to buy from the official stand, not from pirates.

Have you tried this: http://www.sonicstudio.com/amarra/amarra_play.php (iOS only)

Welcome to the forum. Look for the 'old' RP160M speakers, they are almost the same as teh RP600M and can be found new at discount prices (I saw them in Europe for €299, while they used to be €560). Keep the Pioneer amp. You'll be pleasantly surprised, I think. The Pioneer is pretty advanced (with DLNA), so I don't see a reason to upgrade. As for the choice between RP-600M or RP260F: the RP260F are floorstanders and they 'll sound fuller in the low frequencies. The RP600M/160M speakers are bookshelf speakers and you will have to place them on stands or on a shelf. If you are short on floorspace, go for the bookshelf speakers. If you have enough floorspace, go foor the floorstanders. Kind regards,

Same story with mine: I have a Dell XPS 8930 with a powerfull nvidia graphics card for video editing. After updating Realtek driver from Dell website, audio was a complete nightmare. Took me until 1.30 pm to repair it. All the official Dell support (flashy videos included) blame Windows 10 for it, but like you, I downloaded Dell's own Realtek driver from Dell's website....

I recently had problems on my desktop with a set of earphones with mic on Windows 10: first undetectable, then all noise, no sound. Once you start researching, you'll find tons of amateur youtube videos on how to set it right, all clickbait, non work. One of the issues is simply that the the earphone/mic set is not being detected in the front panel of a desktop. The reason being that the Realtek drivers come in many varients, most designed for laptops, which have one plug both for mic and earphones, so it basically allows to use your smartphone earplugs. Install this driver on a desktop pc, and your bound for problems. In short, even if the Realtek driver is omnipresent, it doesn't mean it is good quality. It is actually really bad. One of the things I discovered is that the standard sensitivity of the speakers is 50, while the slider goes up to 100. It is called 'microphonematrix'. Then there is 'microphone boost': you can further increase the microphone's sensitivity with 10 up to 30 dB! So I think they are messing with 'gain' beyond the capacity of the hardware. I guess they do this to be able to deal with all kinds of mics (built in laptop mic, earplugs, conference mic etc.) They don't do this for those with audiophile interests. Now, if they are messing with mics like that, I can imagine this Realtek driver is doing the same with speaker settings. Add to that the layers above the driver, eg Nvida comes with its own hdmi audio drivers, and some exotic Wavexxx with a fancy skins for the teens, which all tap into the audio stream of the pc system. For me, the solution for the mic/earphone combo being undetectable, was reverting to the native HD Audio driver (see steps below) and then setting the mic sensitivity at (50) and mic boost at 0. 1. Open the Device Manager (find it in the Control Panel, or type device manager into the Windows search box). 2. Expand the "Sound, video & game controllers" and right click on "Realtek High Definition Audio". 3. Select to "Update Driver Software". 4. Click on "Browse my computer for driver software". 5. Click "Let me pick from a list of drivers on my computer". 6. Put a check in the box "Show compatible hardware" if not already checked. 7. In the list of devices, click "High Definition Audio" (the native driver). 8. Click "Next". 9. On the Update Driver Warning box, click "Yes" (install the driver). 10. Restart the computer if prompted. If not prompted, sometimes you have to restart, sometimes not.