nick89rs
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Posts posted by nick89rs
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I'm wondering what the opinion is of using heritage speakers as the left and right fronts of a AV setup are. I ask because I'm in dire need of an upgrade for my setup (currently using some entry level Polk floorstanders) and there's a set of RF7s and Chorus IIs for sale both in 9/10 shape and the chorus set is $300 cheaper.
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1 hour ago, Islander said:
Keep in mind that you’re assembling a premium system. Don’t bother with the cheap players, because they’ll contain cheaper components, like DACs, that are important for good sound. Unless you’re a lottery winner, you build your system like most of us, one or two pieces at a time. Choose each purchase well, and you’ll improve your sound every time, with no weak links you wasted any money on. Good luck on your quest for excellent sound.
Yeah my partner also pointed that out. Ill shop around some.
Right now the plan is just to take everyones advice and just live with them for a while. We are starting to notice some peculiarities. Having the speakers make us feel like we are ON a rooftop with the beatles or shake the room with bass on a flowrida track is incredible but somehow Freddie Mercury sounds like hes is singing to us through a tin can with a string (an exaggeration but it was not good). All from recordings that are of equal quality according to the app so that makes me feel like im excited for the crossovers to come so i can see if that makes a difference or if i need to start tracking down possible issues. -
31 minutes ago, Islander said:
A turntable is not essential, it's just one more source of music. You might want to pick up a good Blu-ray player so you can hear your CDs properly. I've got a 2005 vintage DVD player and a 2017 vintage Blu-ray player, and my CDs sound very noticeably clearer and better on the newer unit. Electronic improvements are happening all the time, so newer gear definitely sounds better in most cases. There are dedicated CD players, but the multi-format players don't give anything up to them, unless you're talking really big bucks. And you can watch movies and concerts on them.
Ill do just that this weekend. Thank you for the advice, i truly appreciate it!
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Half of the first floor is open room design. The ceilings are also exposed joist and almost 20 feet tall at the center. If anything it seems like a sort of ideal room for speakers of this nature to breathe and fill the space. I suspect the seating is a little off from the sweet spot and could used to be backed up another 2-3 feet but theres a kitchen island in the way and im not sure i know the difference anyway. Like i said this is truly a first foray into quality sounding music.
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6 minutes ago, Islander said:
He just sold me one 30 foot length and i cut and installed the wires myself.
The streamer and amp sit right next to the left speaker and the other speaker sits about 22 feet away. Id just take a picture but with the room layout its impossible to get both speakers in frame.
My partner owns some vinyl inherited from her parents but the only turn table we have is a all in one unit with the speaker built in and no outputs. Both of us are aged of the CD generation and have extensive collections of those though no CD player exists in the house at this point either and a Alexa in the kitchen has been the sole provider of music for the last 5-6 years. Currently we just stream amazon HD.-
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15 minutes ago, Islander said:
There are a couple of details you can check on. First, when you said you have them jammed into the corners of your room, is the baseboard in the way, keeping the speakers from making actual contact with the walls? If so, you can get pipe insulation to fill that gap, because the better the fit to the walls, the better the bass response will be. That’s how Klipschorns are designed to work. That’s a beginning bit of fine tuning that will be very inexpensive.
As to a more specific description of pipe insulation, hopefully one of our Khorn owners will respond with more info and where to get it. I’m not familiar with the material because I’m using La Scala IIs, which work a bit differently, and are not tightly in the corners of my room.
In regards to your spam cans, my 1974 La Scalas came with them, too, stacked triple high in one spot. They do deteriorate over the decades, while the rest of the crossovers do not, so once you get your new crossovers installed, you should be good for quite a few decades. Before you install them, play a very familiar tune, and then play it through the new crossovers, and let us know what you hear, if it's different, and how.
Another inexpensive upgrade is speaker cables. Although you can spend big money on cables, like nearly anything audio-related, it’s not necessary, especially at this stage. Simply bigger is better, enabling the power amplifier to have better control over the drivers, especially the woofers. As well, the damping factor of the amp is reduced by the resistance from the speaker cables, so the shorter and bigger they are, the less this will occur. Don’t go to extremes, of course, because a few extra feet of speaker cable can make it easier to pull your speakers out, for whatever reason, without needing to disconnect them.
As I mentioned, there’s no need to go to extremes, especially with such sensitive/efficient speakers as Klipschorns. As a minimum, 14 AWG wire will get the job done, and 12 gauge will do it a bit better. Beyond that, the improvements are less noticeable. I recommend, and use myself, Karma Kable, from Knukonceptz. It’s made of high quality tinned copper wire, which should never turn green, like some cheap wires will, and it’s in a twisted pair configuration, which rejects interference. Lastly, it’s not too expensive, which is good.
I have a pretty good seal right now, someone at some point of the speakers journey had the side grills customized to their baseboard and mine are not an exact match but the cutouts are pretty darn close so the only gaps that exist are in those cuts. Bass was surprising to say the least in how low and hard it hits from speakers that look like they should be much more comfortable playing Bach than Biggy. The only issue ive been able to hear really is on modern tracks if theres a bunch of very low but fast bass hits it sounds like maybe its not keeping up like they wash together? not really my type of music anyway but weve been playing everything just to see.
The speaker wire im using is whatever the local shop had. Its 14ga "tributaries" brand and was what he recommended. One run is 3 feet the other is 25 feet. I wasnt sure if having the wires equal distance was important in some way and the wire was not the cheapest at between 2 and 3 bucks a foot so they currently arent equal lengths, is that something i should change? -
1 hour ago, KT88 said:
Welcome Nick, I think your questions are very valid from your point of view as a newcomer to the hi-fi scene. And I don't think it's about you not being very happy and satisfied with what you have, but you just don't want to do anything wrong that could break or you don't want to listen to a combination of amp and speaker when everyone would say it can only sound terrible.
But neither is the case and all the reposts so far are very good from my point of view.
Please forgive me for the comparison, but your situation sounds a bit (in a funny way) like saying, "I bought a 30-year-old Porsche cheap at a house clearance. It drove kind of ok, but I've never driven a car before. Besides, I don't know the Porsche brand, never heard of it. Do I have to change anything on the engine soon?“
I'll say I really appreciate your comment. It's pure naivety on my part honestly.
After hearing the speakers and starting to ask around online about them I was promptly informed that my original AA crossovers were well past their expiration date (if I'm reading the serial number right my khorns are from '76) and that left me in a weird place because to me they sounded absolutely stunning but I believed it because I've never even seen capacitors that look like miniature spam cans before.
The price of those replacements that I'm waiting on was more than I had paid for the amp and streamer combined, both chosen simply because a YouTube channel (cheapaudioman) had highly recommended them.
Tube amps were continually brought up as a good pairing and the only local sound shop pointed me in the direction of a mc275, that while being absolutely stunning is very out of the question from a price perspective right now and at the same time convinced me that my wonderful little AXR must not be up to snuff.
The truth is I love the setup how it is, after hearing Eric Clapton 4000 days straight on construction jobsite radios I feel like I actually heard him for the first time last week. I sat in stunned silence for an hour last night while my partner played the nutcracker.
I'm thankful to you all for casting my concerns aside where they belong, for decent advice from YouTube and for 50 year old miniature spam cans still doing their best for the time being.
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Thank you all for what im sure is the best actual advice of just enjoying what i have for a while.
Im enjoying all my music in a new and fantastic way and probably just got ahead of myself a bit.
I appreciate all of the replies, enthusiasm and support. Thanks for the welcome to the community!-
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So long story short, id never really been into Hifi till a few weeks ago when i got a pair of Klipschorns at a estate sale. I had planned on just flipping them but after jamming them into the corners of my living room room and listening to them fill the walls and high ceilings with such incredible music i was totally hooked.
I nabbed a bluesound 2i and a Cambridge AXR100 off marketplace for a steal and got a pair of rebuilt AA crossovers on the way.
My question is is it criminal to push these amazing speakers with such an entry level amp? Can i see another jump in performance with a budget of maybe 2k? where do i start and are there any recommendations?-
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Front channel advice.
in Home Theater
Posted · Edited by nick89rs
I'm not really sure, I'm really new to good sounding audio. I posted my tale in the 2 channel section but long story short I stumbled into some used khorns and I'm hooked on great sound now. The movie room doesn't have the corners for them so they are staying in the living room
I currently have a probably 10 year old Yamaha rx-v375 receiver, a entry level Polk package 5.1 setup and a 70 inch QLED Samsung that we stream to using a Chromecast.
My plans were to probably stick with 5.1 for the time being and start to pick away at the components individually. I'd like to go for broke (broke in my case being under $2000) center channel speaker because I'm tired of voices getting lost in the mix. Then find some nice floor standing front channels, then get a much nicer receiver.
It just so happens that a set of chorus's and RF7s have come up on marketplace near me this week for less than I see either for on eBay and much much less than new.
The sub goes woof and the rear channels don't seem to contribute a lot so they are of lesser importance to me right now.
Edit: for clarity