Should I consider tube amp for my K-horns?

[AaronB123]

20 minutes ago, Khornukopia said:

How about these McIntosh home theater processors? http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Products/pages/ProductListingVertical.aspx?CatId=hometheaterprocessors

Wow that thing is nice! I wonder how it would pair with my Emotiva. I can't find any options to buy or any pricing though. I bet that thing costs at least 10k..

[jason str]

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_745T777/NAD-T-777.html

 

 

[AaronB123]

Just now, jason str said:

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_745T777/NAD-T-777.html

 

 

Ya the problem with that one is it doesnt support 4k

[jimjimbo]

55 minutes ago, AaronB123 said:

Wow that thing is nice! I wonder how it would pair with my Emotiva. I can't find any options to buy or any pricing though. I bet that thing costs at least 10k..

Find a dealer near you, and call them....

[AaronB123]

1 hour ago, jimjimbo said:

Find a dealer near you, and call them....

Yup lol I just called, the thing costs 14,000 and the amp they would want to pair with it is 8,000 that's absolutely insane! Now in all honesty do you guys really think those things could possibly be worth that much? Is McIntosh really that good?

[Chris A]

Umm, definitely not that good...

 

I'd recommend some of the other suggestions in this thread.  If you can find used McIntosh and still want it (and can afford it), then it's a fairly good investment--the value probably will not decrease over time.  The transformer-coupled outputs used in all of their amplifiers have a certain "dark" sound to it that some people like. I prefer a lighter more accurate and crisper sound myself--sort of like First Watt amplifiers...and perhaps good Class D.

 

Other than that, I'd put that money into better loudspeakers and a better treated room acoustically.  The comments about acquiring a good digital crossover really aren't "just by the way": there's a qualitative difference in sound once you get everything dialed in.  That's $1.3K of money much better spent, IMHO, plus an $100 USB calibration microphone (UMIK-1).

 

Chris

[Dawson's Ridge]

2 hours ago, AaronB123 said:

Now in all honesty do you guys really think those things could possibly be worth that much? 

If you don't think that McIntosh gear is made better, will perform better, will last longer, will look better, and will provide better overall satisfaction then no. 

[AaronB123]

16 minutes ago, Dawson's Ridge said:

If you don't think that McIntosh gear is made better, will perform better, will last longer, will look better, and will provide better overall satisfaction then no. 

Oh, I'm sure it would but a AVP that cost's 14k now idk if I can justify that kind of money, I mean that's more than I spent on the K-horns. One thing I have to say though when I was talking to the guy at the local dealership he asked what kind of speakers are you trying to run with the Mac and I told him K-horns and he paused for a second and said well those are very efficient you really don't need something this extravagant to push them, but then he of course went on to say how no other AVP will provide me with as much detail and refined sound and all that. 

 

I have to say I certainly can't justify spending that kind of money. I think I would be best off like other's have stated to just stick with what I have because honestly it does sound very good to me. Lol I think i'm just looking for a new piece of audio gear to play with to be honest! 

[Chris A]

The prices that you quoted were at least 4x too much if I were the buyer.  Sinking that kind of money into electronics, or worse, A/V electronics that are subject to obsolescence issues, isn't where I'd put my money.  I'd put the money into something that will actually improve the sound or vision performance by a proportional factor to the money. 

 

A/V will continue to progress in order to assure income for the hardware, software, and digital rights (movie) industries, such as 3D, 4K, Atmos, etc.  I personally don't buy into that obsolescence cycle but rather make purchases that will work for perhaps 10 years or less, but at 1/10th the cost...and with gear that works flawlessly and with sound quality that you can't pick out from the astronomically expensive gear.  (Trust me on this.)  But the loudspeakers and room acoustics do make a huge difference in sound.

 

There was a time when everyone was doing two-channel and investing in amplifiers that would last a lifetime.  But for HT folks, that business model just doesn't fit very well nowadays. 

 

Chris

[ricktate]

If those K-horns are sitting on tile you should put Grippers on the bottom. I first got this from Andy HDBR and tried it. Not sure what they are called now,

  That NAD cost 3000 and you don't even get a phono input ...come on NAD. Some AVRs are including Phono inputs now. McIntosh should just be ashamed no Phono inputs on their stuff.

[jason str]

8 minutes ago, ricktate said:

If those K-horns are sitting on tile you should put Grippers on the bottom. I first got this from Andy HDBR and tried it. Not sure what they are called now,

  That NAD cost 3000 and you don't even get a phono input ...come on NAD. Some AVRs are including Phono inputs now. McIntosh should just be ashamed no Phono inputs on their stuff.

 

I agree it should have one, my NAD preamp has MM & MC option.

 

Probably trying to sell more phono preamps i guess.

[USNRET]

I plan on staying in a Holiday Inn Express sometime in the future so therefore I am (or then will be an expert). No, not even close but I have been down the rabbit warren.

My last man cave was not perfect by any means but it sure was (is I guess since I still own the house) better than the living room / dinning area / dining room / kitchen / entryway I have now. Been thru numerous AVRs. pre-pros, 2 channel solid state pre / amp combos including McIntosh, 2 channel tubes including Juicy Music, NBS/VRDs.

If I were you (and I am not), I would beg, borrow or steal a decent 2 channel pre & amp and then pay someone to come treat the room to satisfy the wife and acoustics. Once that is done you will have a test bed (baseline)  to try out electronics and I dare say all will sound better than with the room untreated.

[AaronB123]

1 hour ago, Chris A said:

The prices that you quoted were at least 4x too much if I were the buyer.  Sinking that kind of money into electronics, or worse, A/V electronics that are subject to obsolescence issues, isn't where I'd put my money.  I'd put the money into something that will actually improve the sound or vision performance by a proportional factor to the money. 

 

A/V will continue to progress in order to assure income for the hardware, software, and digital rights (movie) industries, such as 3D, 4K, Atmos, etc.  I personally don't buy into that obsolescence cycle but rather make purchases that will work for perhaps 10 years or less, but at 1/10th the cost...and with gear that works flawlessly and with sound quality that you can't pick out from the astronomically expensive gear.  (Trust me on this.)  But the loudspeakers and room acoustics do make a huge difference in sound.

 

There was a time when everyone was doing two-channel and investing in amplifiers that would last a lifetime.  But for HT folks, that business model just doesn't fit very well nowadays. 

 

Chris

I know that's a big reason why I wouldn't do it because they are always coming out with new format's and all that. Amazingly the Mcintosh MX151 doesn't even support 4k @60hz and the guy wanted 12,500 for it. The MX160 does but it's 14,000 so then a year later they come out with a new audio format that makes that thing obselete. One thing I have to say though Emotiva has modular inputs on their AVP so they say can be upgraded down the line to accommodate changes in the future. I thought that was extremely cool. 

[mikebse2a3]

 B&W Loudspeakers , McIntosh electronics and Acoustical Treatment of the room all costing well over $60,000

 

Listened to this system several times over the last couple of months and to look at it many people I believe would say this should sound awesome..!!!!

 

 

 

That isn't what I experienced and the main reason is the room treatments haven't addressed the modal issues of this room correctly masking what this system should be capable of..!!!

 

The Martin Logan and Sonus Faber loudspeaker systems were also not reaching their full potential in this room because of set-up and room issues..!!!

 

The "Only" system I could have listened to for hours with the most engaging sound reproduction in this room was produced by The Audeze EL-8 Headphones and Deckard Headphone Amplifier.

 

 

 

 

Even with some of the best loudspeakers, electronics and room treatments the "magic gets lost" if they aren't implemented correctly..!!!!

 

miketn

[AaronB123]

Ya, when I spoke to the guy on the phone about the McIntosh he was telling me to come down he said he had it set up hooked to some B&W speakers and some velodyne subwoofers said he guarentees I've never heard anything like it. In all honesty I bet it doesn't even sound as good as my Klipschorns. I remember (and I know this was no McIntosh but it was B&W) at bestbuy once when I had first purchased those chorus's the guy was telling me how Klipsch was no good and they are so over rated. He had me come in and try out his top of the line B&W's and honestly I wasn't impressed at all. I personally thought the Chorus's walked all over them with ease. 

[jason str]

3 minutes ago, AaronB123 said:

Ya, when I spoke to the guy on the phone about the McIntosh he was telling me to come down he said he had it set up hooked to some B&W speakers and some velodyne subwoofers said he guarentees I've never heard anything like it. In all honesty I bet it doesn't even sound as good as my Klipschorns. I remember (and I know this was no McIntosh but it was B&W) at bestbuy once when I had first purchased those chorus's the guy was telling me how Klipsch was no good and they are so over rated. He had me come in and try out his top of the line B&W's and honestly I wasn't impressed at all. I personally thought the Chorus's walked all over them with ease. 

 

Had a huge high end audio store right down the street from me close down, it was fun listening to all of the outrageously overpriced high end components that could not even hold their own against my modest systems.

 

Beauty is in the ear of the beholder and others are mostly tone deaf.

[Schu]

you've spent a lot of money on some beautiful stuff... why are you trying to mix 2 channel and Home Theater?

you can still use the same monitors.

[J M O N]

14 hours ago, AaronB123 said:

You think that multi channel would be better than the Emotiva I already have? That's one thing that's got me confused here though. When I made a thread about wanting a seperate amp the majority of people here recommended the Emotiva now it seems like they don't really think Emotiva is that good. 

 

Also since someone mentioned it Mark Levinson, I didn't even realize they made home audio. Before seeing them in my brother's car I had never even heard of them. My brother just recently bought a Lexus with Mark Levinson audio and it is hands down the best I have ever heard in a car. Better than the 3000 dollar custom system I had in my old car (which was a hyundai sonata) so car acoustics could have played a huge roll which I am sure was the case. 

 

Is Mark Levinson known to play well with heritage? 

 

I don't know about Emotiva as I've never heard (or seen one) in person.  I do feel that Classé Audio is among the very best solid-state gear that is available from what I have heard.  The CAV-75 is the exact same one I currently have and what I was running in my comment above.  I have it for HT duty, but was listening to music on it in 2-channel mode with a tube preamp on Khorns and it's performance was impressive.

 

Yes, Mark Levinson is a home audio company that started making car audio for one or more of the auto manufacturers but home audio is what they are famous for.  I haven't heard Mark Levinson with Klipsch but I"m sure they would do fine.  Just be prepared to spend a bit as Mark Levinson is one of the most expensive brands out there.

[J M O N]

15 hours ago, Chris A said:

For home theater, I'd say you probably would want a bit more than 5W/channel if mono-amping Khorns in order to have some reserve margin for reproducing "reference level transients".

 

If you are going for home theater only, I would agree that you probably don't want to go that low in power.  However, I have in the past run 3.5 Watt SET amps (Wright Sound) on my front speakers (Khorns) with an AVR powering the other channels and the results were fantastic -- better than any movie theater I've been to.  With that amp, when turned up about as loud as it could reasonably go, I could go outside to the street and still hear music (2-channel only) even with all the doors and windows closed.  If high volume is your goal then there are probably better amplifiers for the job, but a 3.5 Watt amp can still perform better than most would think when running very efficient speakers such as the Khorn.

[J M O N]

14 hours ago, AaronB123 said:

If you guys could choose any preamp/processor and amp to run my system with money not being an issue what would you guys choose? 

I haven't heard every single amp out there but of those that I have, if money was no object and you wanted to go solid-state with Klipsch Heritage, I would probably look at Jeff Rowland.  They are expensive, large, and heavy.  If money was an object, but there was still a lot available, Classé Audio would probably be the next choice for me with Heritage speakers.  I have not heard the newer Nelson Pass amps so those should also be considered.  I have owned older Threshold amps in the past (Designed by Nelson Pass) but with Klipsch Heritage I preferred both Rowland and Classé.  If tubes are in play, I would very seriously look at the Juicy Music pCAT (pCAT stands for Pure Class A Triode) mono amps that Davis419b has for sale.  They may very well be the best sounding amps I have heard and at about 20 wpc (or was it 25) will have plenty of power for Khorns.  There were few made and I think most if not all were sold to forum members but they don't come up for sale often.

 

As for a pre/pro, again, I like Classé Audio and they do make them but if money was no object I would also take a look at Theta Digital.  I'm sure there are many others that are very good here as well and there are lost of options.  Anthem would be another one I would look into.  I do believe Bryston also makes them so that would be another brand to consider.