The ask Tin about audio thread

Emotiva makes some very good stuff, and Im sure itll drive those B&Ws easily. They sell direct to consumer and are able to offer great products at reasonable prices. On top of that, theyre moving much of their manufacturing to North America, since they bought out Bob Carver. Now that Carvers crew is on board, I wouldnt expect them to release anything short of amazing.
 
Dont ask why but I was watching storage wars, and Barry bought a unit and pulled these out...... He promptly said these big old things are not worth anything......



AltecBarcelona2.jpg
 
347convert said:
Dont ask why but I was watching storage wars, and Barry bought a unit and pulled these out...... He promptly said these big old things are not worth anything......



AltecBarcelona2.jpg
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Ive seen em do that all the time. Im half tempted to shoot em my phone number so I can buy their junk speakers from them :lol:. Those Barcelonas are worth $2k easy, $3k if theyre mint.
 
Krazy-K said:
Tin, what's your take on the HK 3700. http://www.harmankardon.com/estore/hk/us/products/AVR-3700/AVR 3700_HK_US Thinking about picking this up. I have garbage speakers at this point but have to start the dream system somewhere.
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Buy the speakers first, those make the most difference out of any component, theyre the final point before your ears. With better speakers, youll be able to differentiate any improvements in what youre hearing much easier. $1000 would get you a fine pair of speakers, seriously. $1000 is where the magic starts to happen, the boundary between cool and wow. Thats if youre buying new. If youre buying used, or building your own, youre gonna have stuff that sounds well past that $1000 price point. Id start at the speakers and work from there. Even then, if you only end up with 2 speakers in the long run, 2 good ones are better than a bunch of lesser ones ;)
 
One downside of the HK receivers is that they generally run hot. If it's going to be sitting out in the open, probably not an issue. In my case, all my components are in a cabinet... and I would have needed a box fan for cooling given how much heat that receiver dissipates.
 
Killjoy said:
One downside of the HK receivers is that they generally run hot. If it's going to be sitting out in the open, probably not an issue. In my case, all my components are in a cabinet... and I would have needed a box fan for cooling given how much heat that receiver dissipates.
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Most times the amps will run hot due to Class A operation. Most newer amps/receivers will run in Class A the first 5W or so, then revert to Class A/B if more power is needed. Running in Class A, 100% of the input signal is used, and the tube/transistor/FET conducts all the time. This produces lots of heat and consumes more power than running standard Class A/B. With Class A/B, the tubes/transistors/FETs are run in pairs, and each one conducts half the time. This results in a cooler running amp with higher output power, but less sound quality due to the more complicated circuitry and greater negative feedback applied.
 
How do you tune car amplifiers and speakers? I got 3 amps in the boat with 10 speakers

55x4 - 4 ohm on 2 6x9's(100w) and 2 6.5's(100w)
30x4 - 4 ohm on 4 6.5's(65w)
150x2 - 2 ohm on 2 6x9's(200w)
 
DarkoStoj said:
How do you tune car amplifiers and speakers? I got 3 amps in the boat with 10 speakers

55x4 - 4 ohm on 2 6x9's(100w) and 2 6.5's(100w)
30x4 - 4 ohm on 4 6.5's(65w)
150x2 - 2 ohm on 2 6x9's(200w)
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Each amp will have gain adjustments, which can be used to tune the system in accordance with the gain supplied by the preamp section of the head unit. I usually start at the 0dB setting and work my way from there. 0dB is not attenuated at the amp side, so adjust those until you hear no distortion. If the preamp has higher gain itself, youll need to go attenuate the gain on the amp. Youre trying to match the output levels between all amps.
 
Tin said:
Each amp will have gain adjustments, which can be used to tune the system in accordance with the gain supplied by the preamp section of the head unit. I usually start at the 0dB setting and work my way from there. 0dB is not attenuated at the amp side, so adjust those until you hear no distortion. If the preamp has higher gain itself, youll need to go attenuate the gain on the amp. Youre trying to match the output levels between all amps.
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Now what about crossovers? Right now I can't turn up the radio loud at all without hearing distortion.
 
DarkoStoj said:
Now what about crossovers? Right now I can't turn up the radio loud at all without hearing distortion.
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Crossovers simply divide the frequency, sending the lower and mid frequencies to the woofer, and the highs to the tweeters. Getting distortion like youre experiencing is most likely due to too much gain at the amp end. If the crossover was improper for the system, it wouldnt sound right due to tweeters not being able to play lower frequencies and woofers not being able to play higher frequencies. Are those speakers new? Distortion could also be from somebody over driving them in the past causing over-excursion of the woofer. This can throw the voice coil out of whack and cause it to rub on the magnet, which in turn causes audible distortion and rattling.
 
What sounds cards are yall using to play your FLAC? Are you sending it over with the video in HDMI?

I was going to pick up an inexpensive GT 620 that supported 7.2 over HDMI since i already have a small chasis that will fit in the rack.
 
2L8IWIN said:
What sounds cards are yall using to play your FLAC?
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Using a Raspberry Pi. The little dongle you see is to convert USB to optical, then it gets sent to my Benchmark DAC1 to be decoded. The Raspbery Pi setup as shown ran me ~$150. That was for everything; RPi, HP Touchpad charger, 8GB Class 10 SD card, stamped steel case, USB/SPDIF dongle, and wifi adapter. It runs Raspbian (Debian for Rpi) and Squeezelite...I built it to be a better replacement for the now discontinued Logitech Squeezebox. It works with the Logitech Media Server, and I control it through a web browser, phone, or tablet.
 
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Thats gonna be a killer setup. I cant wait to see pics. I really like that you opted for a preamp/processor vs the standard receiver. Thatll keep your upgrade options wide open in the future because youll be able to mix and match various amps with it :rockwoot:
 
Yeah this is the first time ive purchased the units seperately (processor/amp). I previously used Pioneer Elite...but the Audiophiles like yourself have said seperate is better and with the power this XPA-3 has it should show.

I just need a good sub to fill the room as its a huge space...(high ceilings and open floor plan opens to other rooms). Really just within 10-15ft of the sub, the other areas arent as important. There is a B&W ASW610 locall for $350 but not sure it can perform in this space. HSU has some amazing units but im already wayyy over what i wanted to spend.

Tin said:
Thats gonna be a killer setup. I cant wait to see pics. I really like that you opted for a preamp/processor vs the standard receiver. Thatll keep your upgrade options wide open in the future because youll be able to mix and match various amps with it :rockwoot:
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