The ask Tin about audio thread

jhilla68 said:
Bob - I'm thinking of bringing one of my turntables up from the basement to hook up to my surround sound receiver. Any reasonably priced phone phono pre-amps you'd recommend?
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Oh shit sorry I didnt even catch this post. The Rolls phono pres are good low cost units. If you wanna sling some solder theres some nice tubed phono pres out there you could build for under $100. Check out the DIYTube Budgie.
 
Tin, I've been looking for some floor-standing speakers for a home audio set-up. Something that is easily driven as I'm not going for audiophile quality but rather "enthusiast" quality I suppose. I won't be running lossless files and the majority of work would be TV/Blu Ray/Music (MP3). Budget of around $300. It's hard to tell what to look into, especially looking at older speakers as I don't know anything. I already have a polk audio sub and pair of polk bookshelfs to go with that I've had for some time, and I'm on the verge of just getting a pair of polk's M70's if I can't make up my mind as to what would be better.
Any advice/recommendations?
 
Klipsch KG4s would be very good. Very efficient, great price, and they have that classic Klipsch sound. I had their bigger brothers, the Fortes, and they were some of the best speakers I had. Theyre pretty darn close to audiophile quality, and a bargain :). Klipsch is in a whole different league compared to Polk. The Klipsch will definitely be easier to drive, theyll sound cleaner, and theyll put out more bass. I tend to avoid subwoofers, as they dont integrate well unless youre using more than one. Besides, KG4s will go lower than nearly any subwoofer youd find for under $300, you wouldnt even need one. Theres lots of good stuff out there cheap, just gotta look for it. Ill say, I only have about $150 into my big Electro Voices, they sound great, and to my ears sound better than anything Ive owned thus far. For me to get speakers of this sound and quality new, Id be out many times that amount. :spend:
 
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I'll have to work on pictures, I actually have more in this box than I thought.

I've got a couple that say RCA Victor. One has the number 5U4 and the letter G under it. Another two have 6F6 with a G. Some without glass that are 6SQ7, 6SA7, 6SG7 and 6R7. Another glass one that is 6SK7. Two brand new ones from westinghouse that are 6En4 and 6KM6.

There are probably about 20 more smaller ones that I'll have to try and inventory if you think there's a reason to do so. They're all loose, the only ones in the boxes are the westinghouse ones. Most of them are marked made in the USA.

Thanks for any help you can provide!
 
Tin said:
Ive always loved Grado headphones. Theyre very easy to drive, whereas most other headphones are more a difficult load and really benefit from a headphone amp. Grados will benefit from a standalone amp as well, but the end result wont be as apparent as it would with your Sennheisers. Grados are all hand made in America, and the prices are very reasonable. You can get a pair of SR-60s for somehting like $70, which sound quite nice even though theyre the budget headphone out of their line. If you have a few hundred to spend, the SR-325is is hard to beat. http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GRSR325IS Grados arent closed headphones, so the people around will definitely hear what youre listening to. The benefit is that open-back headphones offer a much more realistic sound, as the drivers inside the cans have more room to breathe. In your budget, the SR-80i is very nice http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GRSR80I. I buy from Audio Advisor alot, theyre right up in Grand Rapids....so you know youll get it fast. As far as the EQ settings go, presets never quite work out right. There are far too many variables involved in what the end result will be. All headphones are voiced differently, so the preset you choose will sound good through the guys headphones that set it. The key to setting an EQ is to turn all of them down to the minimum, then...starting at the treble, slowly turn it up until it starts to sound good. Work your way from the trble to the bass, slowly adjusting each one until the sound fills out and becomes balanced.
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Grados are great! I've got a pair of the SR-60's that I bought at Overture audio in Ann Arbor.
 
Tin said:
Klipsch KG4s would be very good. Very efficient, great price, and they have that classic Klipsch sound. I had their bigger brothers, the Fortes, and they were some of the best speakers I had. Theyre pretty darn close to audiophile quality, and a bargain :). Klipsch is in a whole different league compared to Polk. The Klipsch will definitely be easier to drive, theyll sound cleaner, and theyll put out more bass. I tend to avoid subwoofers, as they dont integrate well unless youre using more than one. Besides, KG4s will go lower than nearly any subwoofer youd find for under $300, you wouldnt even need one. Theres lots of good stuff out there cheap, just gotta look for it. Ill say, I only have about $150 into my big Electro Voices, they sound great, and to my ears sound better than anything Ive owned thus far. For me to get speakers of this sound and quality new, Id be out many times that amount. :spend:
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Great info. How do you feel about the Hersey speakers? I seem to keep stumbling across threads on them or seeing them for sale, but with their response range and price, I'm guessing they're more aimed at having a full set-up with multiple subs. Is this accurate thinking? Anything you could tell me about them would be appreciated.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/ele/2775671103.html
 
Tin said:
Large Advents are what you want ;). 10" high excursion woofer, sealed cabs, and a 3" fried egg tweeter. CVs are nice, but far too many people want way too much for them. Not that theyre not any good, but you dont get very much for the current asking prices. The Large Advents are where the funs at. The do have a very smooth sound, and plenty of bass. The drawback is that youre going to need some beefy power to drive them, as theyre rather inefficient. Any vintage receiver over 50WPC should be plenty good. If you see a pair with "blown woofers", pick them up, cuz they should be very cheap. Most people think the woofer is blown, when its actually the foam surrounds are dry rotted. New surrounds cost ~$15 and about an hour of your time to repair.

Heres the New Large Advent

adventspk9.jpg


and the Original Large Advent

Grills_off.JPG


I wish you wouldve posted this a couple weeks ago, just got rid of some ;).
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Have you by chance seen any of these around lately? Been keeping my eyes open but nothing even remotely affordable. Really jonesing for some new garage speakers ;)
 
Marc@AutoLavish said:
http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/ele/2775671103.html
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I personally would go with the KG4’s over the Heresy’s. I have no experience with either of these, but from what I have heard others say, seems like the Heresy’s fall short with the low end and good bass. The speakers are all really good, but I think of the Heresy’s like an old man, and the KG4’s like a younger man.
I’ve got a set of Forte II’s that I have had for a bit now, and they seem to make everything sound really good. They’re bigger than the KG4’s though, and still seems to get a decent amount of $$$. I think KG4’s can be had for a good price and you can get a lot of use from them without issue, check around for 4.2’s as well.
 
Marc@AutoLavish said:
Great info. How do you feel about the Hersey speakers? I seem to keep stumbling across threads on them or seeing them for sale, but with their response range and price, I'm guessing they're more aimed at having a full set-up with multiple subs. Is this accurate thinking? Anything you could tell me about them would be appreciated.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/ele/2775671103.html
Click to expand...

Heresys can be good, depending on what your musical tastes are. I wouldnt use them for rock or anything with deeper bass, because they dont go that low, and their horns turn to buzz saws. The Heresy is good to about 65Hz, which isnt very low. If your musical taste leans toward acoustic music, theyre awesome. Theres alot of modifications out there for them, but most are to address the mids and highs. Id pick the KG4 over them, simply because they work with a wider range of music. They also dont have the harsh highs and forward mids of the Heresy, so they wont be as in-your-face sounding. The KG4 is a fine speaker, and well worth it at the link I PMed you.
 
sofa king said:
I personally would go with the KG4’s over the Heresy’s. I have no experience with either of these, but from what I have heard others say, seems like the Heresy’s fall short with the low end and good bass. The speakers are all really good, but I think of the Heresy’s like an old man, and the KG4’s like a younger man.
I’ve got a set of Forte II’s that I have had for a bit now, and they seem to make everything sound really good. They’re bigger than the KG4’s though, and still seems to get a decent amount of $$$. I think KG4’s can be had for a good price and you can get a lot of use from them without issue, check around for 4.2’s as well.
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I miss my Fortes, they were one of my favorite speakers. Have you looked into any mods for them? The B&K crossovers, titanium mids, and titanium highs really open em em good, and really smooth out the sound. They come to the point that you could turn them up, and not realize how loud it really is.
 
I inherited a set of Herseys and don't really care for them with anything requiring any amount of bass. My impression of them mirrors what Tin said.
 
Thanks for the info guys.
It's looking more and more like it comes down to KG4's or Forte's if I can swing 'em, or something equivalent. Jim, if you're not enjoying the Herseys I know where you can donate them ;)
BTW, and not to thread jack, but how's the Chevy doing? Enjoying that Opti-coat?
 
Marc@AutoLavish said:
Thanks for the info guys.
It's looking more and more like it comes down to KG4's or Forte's if I can swing 'em, or something equivalent. Jim, if you're not enjoying the Herseys I know where you can donate them ;)
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Be patient, deals come up every so often. I look everyday, if I see something Ill let you know. My old pair of Fortes cost me $200.
 
Marc@AutoLavish said:
Thanks for the info guys.
It's looking more and more like it comes down to KG4's or Forte's if I can swing 'em, or something equivalent. Jim, if you're not enjoying the Herseys I know where you can donate them ;)
BTW, and not to thread jack, but how's the Chevy doing? Enjoying that Opti-coat?
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Haha, I'll use them someday when I have the space to use them with a subwoofer. They do get loud, I'll give them that, just lacking that "punch".

Car's doing great. Bird shit practically slides right off :lol:
 
If you wanna wait for something really good, and Michigan made, Electro Voice Aristocrats come up every once in awhile. Klipsch OEMed parts from EV up until the early/mid 1980s, when EV turned all of their resources towards commercial audio. Aristocrats are awesome for damn near anything, and come in many different configurations. You can get a 2-way coaxial driver, 2-way woofer/horn combo, or 3-way woofer/mid horn/high horn setup.

EV_Aristocrats.jpg
 
Tin said:
Oh shit sorry I didnt even catch this post. The Rolls phono pres are good low cost units. If you wanna sling some solder theres some nice tubed phono pres out there you could build for under $100. Check out the DIYTube Budgie.
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I ended up ordering a TCC-TC750 off of Amazon on a whim. It works....and for the sub $50 investment, I really can't complain. My audio equipment upstairs isn't anything like my audio equipment downstairs. But, it's nice to have a decent turntable hooked up to the HT system now. :D
 
As for speakers, I'm rather limited in my experience, but I scooped up a great pair of Klipsch Chorus I's off of Craigslist a year or so ago. If you can get over their MAMMOTH size, they're phenomenal speakers. Very efficient, nice range, and will rock your house if you want.
 
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