Foolish bi-amping discontinued

[timbley]

Strange, I noticed the sound seeming to get duller and duller over the days with my RF-7s bi-amped, fools style. The bass sounded boomier and, the highs seemed to be fading away. Something really seems to have changed.

I moved the speakers further away from the side and backwalls to reduce the boom. I tried this position before and the speakers sounded too thin. Now they sound great here.

The highs were still lacking, and there's no way to turn them up. So I went back to using a single amp. Would you believe it? I think it sounds better now. The bass is tighter and the highs are back to what sounds appropriate, but I swear much less edgy than last time I tried running this Parasound amp by itself.

Next, I bipassed the pre-amp gain stage, and now running the tape record jacks out straight to the amp, which has it's own volume controls, one on each channel.

I tried this before, and it sounded terribly etched and dry. Now it sounds very nice, smooth and natural, yet very detailed.

Are my ears changing, or are these speakers breaking in and sounding different?

I tried to listen to the record player in this configuration, since it's the best sounding source I have. But the needle broke off when I tried to clean it!

[3dzapper]

timbley, Things just get "curiouser and curiouser" don't they?

Rick

[BigBusa]

I think you need to lay off the mary-ju-ana

[MrMcGoo]

timbly,

The easiest way to get better sound from a solid state setup and RF-7s is to use a good subwoofer like the RSW-15 with the processor's crossover set from 60 to 80 Hz. The bass frequencies below 80 Hz require more current than most folks realize.

Most pre-amp/processors are able to send these frequencies directly to a subwoofer thereby relieving the load on the amp. With a crossover of 80 Hz, there will still be a limited amount of bass below 80 Hz going to the RF-7s to blend the sub and mains.

The other alternative for 2 channel is to try a tube amp. Good bass extension requires good amplifiaction. It may only be the first 4 watts that do most of the work, but transient responses require higher output be available IMO.

Bill

PS: I would also suggest that you carefully measure the voltage available to your system at various times. When I have full voltage available from my power company, the dynamics are slightly better. When everone turns on all of their appliances at dinner time, my voltage may sag by 5 volts or more. Dynamis are off a tiny amount. I have a 20 amp circuit for my HT room and it helps. B

[timbley]

Thanks for the suggestions Bill. I am interested in tube amps. I bought Bruce Rozenblit's "Audio Reality." I've been studying the diagrams for his designs. I'm starting to get a grasp on how a tube amp works. I may try one of his kits someday in the not too distant future.

I'm also interested in Loe K's crossover upgrade with the Jensen PIO caps.

As for the previous suggestion that I lay off the Marijuanna, all I can say is I consumed part of a hash laden cookie a few years ago. It may still be affecting me. But if the stuff will make my stereo sound better...

I should note that my amps aren't running at 100%, there's some hum in my Creek integrated, and the channels sound a little out of balance, not just levels wise but also tone wise. The Parasound has a fault protect circuit that won't stay green, but wobbles back and forth between red and green.

Add to that my needle just broke off the cartridge.

I'm definitely going to need new gear sooner or later, or get this stuff refurbed.

[stream]

The RF-7's definitely break in and sound better as they age. You're definitely on the right track by looking into tube amps for them. I recently dove into the tube amp world, and my Cayin makes the RF-7's sound in a different dimension than they did with the Onkyo.

-Jesse

[timbley]

That looks like an interesting integrated. There are so many delicious decisions available.

Did you try the single ended option with your amp? What about the focus control mod?

[stream]

Why I'm awake at 4am, God only knows.

The "focus control" mod is really just a mid-range level adjustment, from what I can tell. I set it at about halfway, and that seems to make my 7's sound the best.

I can't try the so-called single-ended mode (although Craig and others tell me it isn't *really* single-ended...I'm still confused about that) because I don't have the bias adjustment mod, which you apparently need if you want to try the amp in SE mode.

-Jesse

[timbley]

That's interesting. I wonder how they employed a midrange volume control. Some were suggesting that it's a negative feedback control.

I read that you don't need the bias adjustment mod. You just have to turn the amp on it's side and measure and adjust the bias on the bottom of the amp. The mod lets you do it from the top, which is convenient.

And here I am talking about all this stuff and I don't even know what adjusting the bias is exactly.

[leok]

timbley,

RF-7s definately 'break in" with use. I suspect the biggest culprit is the caps. I am working on a procedure for RF-7 owners by which they can condition the caps by applying higher voltages to various crossover leads. Short of doing that, you might consider applying white noise (tune between FM stations with mute off), at higher volume than you would normally listen and go away for 8 hours.

As for using separate amps, or even bi-wiring. My findings are similar to yours. I now use a single high quality cable. I think it presents the most reasonable load to the amp.

Leo