Your Stereo

  On 12/20/2018 at 3:11 AM, jules said:

i need a new turntable. Pro Ject carbon ok to go? I def need help with that. In the room I’m replacing, I have 4 yamaha 8” in the ceiling and a 15” klipsch sub.

 

I have the Pro-Ject debut 3 carbon. I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend it. Within 2 years the pre-amp died. So I have the choice of either replacing the whole thing, or taking it apart and bypassing the pre-amp since I have a phono stage in my receiver (I don't know fuck all RE soldering or messing around with electronics...)

 

Do they sell a pro-ject without the pre-amp so you can rely on your receiver?

 

 

 

this will TRIGGER some folks but yeh: two HomePods are a pretty solid stereo system. Just one is meh, but two do render an extremely nice stereo field, using whatever is behind them to actively model their output taking reflections into account.

 

difficult to compare with the Neumann’s seen in the pic above.. the monitors have a more defined midrange.. but the Apple pods beat them easily in the high & lows and stereo field.

 

also if a friend visits u and ask for the aux, u just get to make a very smug face and say there is none. Bluetooth? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Not that I post around WATMM much anymore (so I'm not sure why anyone would care) but I've had a traditional hifi system for many years now. I started with an all Rega system and have stuck with it for many, many years because of the lovely analogue sound their kit has. It's been upgraded many times (the components hold their value quite well, so reselling to fund upgrades is an easy win).

 

Current system for living room listening is:

 

Amplifier: Rega Elicit-R

 

CD player + DAC: Rega Saturn-R

 

Turntable: Rega RP8

 

Cartridge: Rega Apheta (the original, not the 2 listed at that link)

 

Photo stage for turntable: Rega Aria

 

Digital streaming: Sonos Connect hooked up the Saturn-R's DAC

 

Speakers: Kudos X2s

 

 

Next upgrade will be to switch out the Sonos Connect for a better digital streaming transport so I can play my lovely Autechre 24 bit WAVs properly. The Sonos is incredibly outdated and sounds dreadful compared with any of those other sources.

I've heard the kudos x2 and they're solid speakers, I found especially so at mid-high volume they started to open up. edit: especially for their size I was impressed. We compared them with the Totem Rainmakers and I preferred the Kudos.

 

Nice setup. I think I'm going to go for a Rega for my next TT as well, not terrible pleased with how quick the Pro-Ject died on me...

Edited December 20, 2018 by Bulk VanderHooj

  On 12/20/2018 at 3:42 AM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

 

  On 12/20/2018 at 3:11 AM, jules said:

i need a new turntable. Pro Ject carbon ok to go? I def need help with that. In the room I’m replacing, I have 4 yamaha 8” in the ceiling and a 15” klipsch sub.

 

I have the Pro-Ject debut 3 carbon. I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend it. Within 2 years the pre-amp died. So I have the choice of either replacing the whole thing, or taking it apart and bypassing the pre-amp since I have a phono stage in my receiver (I don't know fuck all RE soldering or messing around with electronics...)

 

Do they sell a pro-ject without the pre-amp so you can rely on your receiver?

 

wow, thanks for the info! I am a little lost on getting a semi decent one. Its such a slippery slope!

It's hard for me to say for sure - almost everything I read on the pro-ject before grabbing it was positive. And when it worked, it sounded great.

 

I think if they make one without the pre-amp it would be a good choice, as that's just one less component to break. I may have gotten a bum unit too.

 

 

 

At that same price point you should take a look at the Rega RP1 perhaps, and just swap out the stock cartridge for an ortofon?

  On 12/17/2018 at 4:57 PM, auxien said:

 

  On 12/17/2018 at 4:18 PM, messiaen said:

i actually do want a bluetooth speaker for my room, ive got a wharfdale setup but im fed up of having a cable drapsed over the room into my phone. any recs for somthing that is like 150 quid? doesnt need to be remotely loud, alright quality would be nice though.

I saw a few options in bookshelf sized speakers for that price actually. I think Edifier had some good reviews, but I have zero experience with the brand or any options. You're not going to get great sound but likely better than the portable ones...unless you're looking for portable of course.

 

 

I got the Edifier R1280DB's earlier this year for my home office room and have been very happy with them. I was also looking for something that produce quality sound for mainly listening at low volumes. They're priced just slightly more ($129) than a lot of the portables. I'd never heard of Edifier either and bought them based on the strength of the reviews.  They have great instrument separation IMO. Bass response is decent as well.

  On 12/20/2018 at 4:21 PM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

I've heard the kudos x2 and they're solid speakers, I found especially so at mid-high volume they started to open up. edit: especially for their size I was impressed. We compared them with the Totem Rainmakers and I preferred the Kudos.

 

Nice setup. I think I'm going to go for a Rega for my next TT as well, not terrible pleased with how quick the Pro-Ject died on me...

Indeed! Considering they’re never going to have to fill a huge room in my case their smaller size seemed a good fit. I too was impressed at how good they sound for their size. I also auditioned some Totems at the time (along with some of Rega’s own rather dreary sounding floorstanders) and preferred these too.

 

But I would heartily recommend ANY of Rega’s turntables. No frills, sure, but it’s what they do best.

Edited December 20, 2018 by Jamesqdot

  On 12/20/2018 at 4:58 PM, Bulk VanderHooj said:

It's hard for me to say for sure - almost everything I read on the pro-ject before grabbing it was positive. And when it worked, it sounded great.

 

I think if they make one without the pre-amp it would be a good choice, as that's just one less component to break. I may have gotten a bum unit too.

 

 

 

At that same price point you should take a look at the Rega RP1 perhaps, and just swap out the stock cartridge for an ortofon?

that is on my radar too. Thanks G

This is aimed more at producers and engineers than home listeners but it's still really interesting.  Saw it lined earlier today and thought of this thread.

 

http://www.acousticsinsider.com/flat-frequency-response/

 

EDIT:  this article by the same author, linked near the end of the first one I posted, might be more generally relevant beyond just engineering and is also a great read.

 

http://www.acousticsinsider.com/frequency-response-uneven/

 

 

I'm really glad I stumbled across these.

Edited December 21, 2018 by RSP

idiotic.

 

comb filtering is an issue but definitely treatable. even relatively inexpensive modern avr do a decent job fixing many issues at multiple positions.

it's pretty amazing really, he quotes both toole and olive but simply doesn't understand the core of their arguments regarding proper sound reproduction. it seems he doesn't even understand the goal of a sound engineer.

to counter that stupidity that RSP posted: http://seanolive.blogspot.com/2009/10/audios-circle-of-confusion.html

Hey guys, I'm a little bit confused as to how I should be setting up my system here. 

 

I've got an opportunity to buy a second power amp identical to my existing one (speakers can handle and would sound better with the extra power). Confused about bridged vs running in parallel.... what do?

 

Would I simply be hooking up left channel to one amp and the right channel to the other? noob question

Edited January 17, 2019 by Bulk VanderHooj

Speaker's plug into the main bit where you put the cd's and tape's's. 'L' speaker goes on the left (you're left whilst'e facing the steroe) 'R' geos on you're right.

Plug main steroe into wall and press 'on'

Sometimes looks like this:

 

nice try MISTER

 

pretty sure what I'm looking for is mono bridged, but not sure exactly how the impedance works. 

 

I'm dumb, but I figured it out. Should be good now. 

Edited January 17, 2019 by Bulk VanderHooj

  On 12/15/2018 at 12:59 PM, eugene said:

seek out a flat measuring (on and off axis) speaker

Any database you, or anyone else for that matter, can recommend? Or should I just google for measurements?

 

I'm looking for a pair of near field monitors, to use as computer speakers for my new "study" essentially.

 

Focal Alphas seem nice but I'm worried the auto-standby on those would drive me nuts.

serious monitor manufacturers will actually provide measurements of their own (neumann for example). for non monitor "audiophile" speakers there are websites such as stereophile (though do ignore the subjective verbal diarrhea part that often contradicts their own measurements), audioholics, soundstagenetwork (the most reliable due to them having access to anechoic chamber).

some more here: https://www.reddit.com/r/audiophile/comments/6gygyx/a_list_of_speaker_measurement_sources/

I ended up getting a pair of Kali Audio LP-8. They are clearly going after the JBL 3 series, even hired the engineer who led the LSR 3 project apparently. The LP-6s seemed to measure pretty well and what I could find on YouTube points towards the LP-8s being a little flatter still.

 

Subjectively they are definitely the clearest-sounding, most "revealing" speakers I' ve had. It turns out these have the—obligatory in the EU?—auto-standby too but they provided an easy (undocumented) way to disable it. I'm impressed.

my new setup for my small living room

 

 

 

boston acoustic a60

 

 

 

and

 

pioneer sx 828

 

 

 

technics 1200 mk2

 

 

 

and

 

fiio m7

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by yek

  On 3/30/2019 at 5:53 AM, yek said:

my new setup for my small living room

 

 

 

boston acoustic a60

 

 

 

and

 

pioneer sx 828

 

 

 

technics 1200 mk2

 

 

 

and

 

fiio m7

 

damn i want a fiio m7. so expensive tho when i already have a smartphone:(

  On 3/31/2019 at 10:47 AM, MadellisTheSixth said:

 

  On 3/30/2019 at 5:53 AM, yek said:

my new setup for my small living room

 

 

 

boston acoustic a60

 

 

 

and

 

pioneer sx 828

 

 

 

technics 1200 mk2

 

 

 

and

 

fiio m7

 

damn i want a fiio m7. so expensive tho when i already have a smartphone:(

The benefit would be that it doesn't eat up your phones battery and it lasts much longer.

towards the start of this year i bought a Yamaha WXA-50 and a pair of Jamo S 803s to replace the stereo/speakers my parents got me when i was a teenager. still have some random Sony CD/DVD Player from the early 2000s hooked up to it, and a record player that needs a new needle or something (idk what's wrong with it tbh). anyway the point is that this Yamaha has MusicCast and i was pretty hesitant about the whole system at first, but it seems pretty solid from a few months of regular use. streaming via Bluetooth can be a touch janky via laptop, but streaming via phone is usually pretty stable....other than BT the Spotify/internet streaming stuff works like a dream. really nice to be in another room and use the phone app to turn on the stereo, and start playing NTS channel 1 or 2 or what have you. speakers are pretty good too, sound nice quiet as well as loud.... i do think i'll get the subwoofer for them at some point tho. bit of a bass fiend tho, don't think everyone would need it. plus they're pretty, see pic or link. 

Adam A7X monitors and Sub10 connected to two computers

 

Desktop:

Traktor A6 interface

Palmer  Monicon volume knob

iTunes

 

Laptop:

Technics SL1200-M3D

Traktor Z2 digital vinyl mixer

Question for you smart peeples.

Was playing around with my subs lately as I noticed I wasn’t getting the chest crushing bass I used to out of them. On a whim I decided to switch the phase to 180 and sure enough my walls are back to rattling. Any simple reason they would be out of phase? Only running main speakers with one sub plopped beside each of them. Intuitively Id think the subs should be set to 0.

Ultimately I’ve solved my problem since the bass is back to where it should be. But I’d like to understand why they were suddenly out of phase