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Integrated amps w/ tone controls and mono switch


ODS123

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I understand the OP's question. Yes, every aspect of the recording process is fraught with added distortion. There are a LOT more devices in the circuit in the recording process than the playback process.  However you end up with a product to play on your stereo, no matter how good or bad it is.

 

But, that is no reason I should add even more distortions than necessary with my playback equipment.  In fact the better your stereo the MORE you are going to notice the faults in the recording/mastering process.  I guess we all choose what deviations from neutral we will tolerate in our systems.   But if your system deviates too much from neutral, you have no standard in which to evaluate the recording you are listening to.    I mean I may HATE the recording quality of the music I am listening to, but at least I want a stereo that can well REVEAL the inadequacies of said recording. I do not want a system that homogenizes the sound so that all recordings sound mediocre and pleasant. I do not want pleasant over fidelity.     Do not compare two recordings of a saxophone, compare a recording of a saxophone to a real one being played in your living room.

 

Popular music as devolved to the point where engineers and producers have video game soundtracks, and digital sampling as their reference standard and have probably never heard a real saxophone played unamplified in a real natural space.   

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Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I try to leave all my settings flat and rarely make adjustments, just take each recording for what it is as it is, adds character. 

 

Back in my car audio days I had a mini Kenwood 5 band EQ with separate sub crossover and gain, loved the thing could really dial the sound in perfect within seconds on the fly. Problem is it got to where I was almost changing it (even if ever so slightly) with every song to get it "perfect." Too much hassle and distraction for me now a days. 

 

 

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19 minutes ago, jjptkd said:

Better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it. I try to leave all my settings flat and rarely make adjustments, just take each recording for what it is as it is, adds character. 

What he said.

 

Bill

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16 hours ago, kink56 said:

I mean I may HATE the recording quality of the music I am listening to, but at least I want a stereo that can well REVEAL the inadequacies of said recording. I do not want a system that homogenizes the sound so that all recordings sound mediocre and pleasant. I do not want pleasant over fidelity.    

 

I agree, I also want an audio system that is revealing and accurate.   But I'm also pragmatic.  ..If I sense I'd enjoy a song more by reducing the treble a tad, then I think its a good thing to be able to do so.  Or sometimes it's because I've already been listening for hours and violins and trumpets are beginning to cause a bit of listening fatigue. Rather than turn all the music down, I will just reduce treble a bit.   ..Some will say, "if your system ever causes fatigue, then change your system or room acoustics." ..But this is also nonsensical.  REAL MUSIC can cause listening fatigue.  I played clarinet for many years.  Live trumpet, violins, sax, etc...played by the best musicians in the best of venues can become a bit grating after a while.  As I've said in other posts, if your system NEVER causes fatigue, then it's not accurate.

 

And as I've already stated I adamantly believe - and I think any electrical engineer would agree - that having tone controls in the signal path does NOT audibly damage the signal.  So, with that myth debunked (in my opinion, anyway), I see no reason NOT to have them.  ..I feel the same way about mono/stereo selector.

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 3/16/2018 at 2:02 PM, babadono said:

^C'mon. When the recording/mixing/mastering engineer says it's done, it's done.:P After all they listened to it on these:D

image.png.5463d084a791698d4a97b280a637cb3a.png

 

 

This may be the smartest case for using eq I've ever witnessed. Good Job!

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On 3/10/2018 at 11:09 AM, willland said:

So do I.  Simple solution with perfectly "matched" preamp/amp and those tone controls.  Don't use mono too often but I can see how it would be useful.

 

Image result for Yamaha A-S1000

Image result for cambridge Audio 640A

 

Bill

Integrateds also are usually extremely quiet, because they handle gain-matching between the preamp and the amplfier internally.  Minimizing hiss and noise can be difficult if there are mismatches between pre-amp phonostage gain, preamp line stage gain, amplifier gain, and speaker efficiency.  Integrateds usually take care of all that with internal gain-matching.

 

 

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2 hours ago, LarryC said:

Integrateds also are usually extremely quiet, because they handle gain-matching between the preamp and the amplfier internally.  Minimizing hiss and noise can be difficult if there are mismatches between pre-amp phonostage gain, preamp line stage gain, amplifier gain, and speaker efficiency.  Integrateds usually take care of all that with internal gain-matching.

 

 

So you gave a technical explanation for what I've noticed in my own experience.  The separates I've owned (B&K, Bryston) had more noise and hum than any of my integrateds or receivers (Onkyo, NAD, Peachtree, and now McIntosh).  

 

As an aside they also both struggled w/ maintaining volume consistency b/w both channels.  For example, when you slowly turned the volume all the way down you could easily notice that one channel would go quiet before the other.  ..Very annoying. This was an issue when listening at low levels during the early am hours.  Thankfully, they both had Balance controls so I could bring the channels back in line.  Lastly, they both had cross-talk b/w inputs.  For ex. with the CD player paused, and the volume fairly loud,  I could hear FM music coming from the tuner on the adjacent input.  

 

It just seemed like the very thing separates were supposed to do better, they didn't at all. 

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---- both the above are indeed an advantage to integrated's and in particular tube integrated's vs. separates. Thats why in general I have favored an integrated however with proper matching but with a little guessing/luck separates can be every bit as quiet as a single box. My current separates are "stick your head in the horn" quiet". In practice i find higher quality SS whether it be one or two boxes provide a blacker background than tubes. And yes, tone controls in a preamp are a nice feature. 

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With K-horn efficiency, I've had to work at minimizing noise audibility.  For example, selecting a preamp with lower gain in the line-stage section, to minimize amplifying noise traveling from circuitry prior to the pre-amp volume control. (I once had a preamp with an excessive 26 db gain in the line stage, which could only exaggerate pre-VC noise from the phono stage.  My current preamp has only 4 db line stage gain!)  Or, for another example, choosing a power amplifier with a low gain figure, that does not have a very high (numerically low) "sensitivity" figure for full power out.  This means being careful NOT to select an amplifier that produces several hundred watts out for only 0.5 v. in -- a sure noise producer on K-horns IMO.  My amp eliminated one stage of gain and probably requires 2.5 v. in for 100 watts out, a very low gain that minimizes pre-amp noise

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On ‎3‎/‎13‎/‎2018 at 9:50 PM, JohnA said:

F3D05BE8916E47B4A0B0C82E691EE3BA_12073_7

Yamaha makes a little preamp, WXC 50, and it is connectable to most any amplifier or any integrated amp, and it has a menu selection item that enables anything passing through it to be changed to mono, if you wish, so that everything coming out of your amp or integrated amp is mono. It is Bluetooth and wifi capable (probably bad words?) also has the Sabre DAC. It is designed with a trigger for their above-pictured higher-end AS series. Has great specs. I have one of them.

 

They also have an integrated amp model with 55 watts per channel power, which would run a pair of efficient Klipsch speakers very nicely on its own, and it would be the only electronic box necessary to support your speakers, the  WXA 50 (same accoutrements as WXC 50); I actually have one of these as well. I don't like running wires through walls and attics, will eventually have one for every set of speakers probably...has subwoofer out too, won't break your bank to own either.

 

And they have a remote...forgot that Important little item... for all my fellow song repeaters..., skip to next and revert to previous, also volume control and mute. Probably could feed a, shudder, dare I say it...hush falls over crowd, TUBE-TYPE AMPLIFIER...I'll go off and flail myself...teehee...love my own jokes!

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21 minutes ago, ODS123 said:

 

Not to be too PC here, but I'm not a fan.  Hifi needs to be inclusive; ads like this serve only to alienate women, IMHO.  Sorry....

It's all good... I was being tongue-in-cheek anyway.  Home audio isn't one place you'd expect to see female body parts used to market products (granted that's an old ad).  Leave that in the realm of motorcycles, sports cars, and video games.

 

But I'm way off topic at this point.  :)

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13 minutes ago, kvndoom said:

It's all good... I was being tongue-in-cheek anyway.  Home audio isn't one place you'd expect to see female body parts used to market products (granted that's an old ad).  Leave that in the realm of motorcycles, sports cars, and video games.

 

But I'm way off topic at this point.  :)

I think its a little tacky personally. At least they should have had a clever tag line like, "See if you can turn her on before she figures out how to turn it on..."

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