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FWIW, I bought the Denon AVR-S730H and Kef Q150s at accessories4less.com for a total of $645.00 and everything works great. Both refurbs and speakers had an additional 10% off which is nice when they cost $450. Really nice sound and I'm pretty amazed at the bass coming out of these speakers.
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Jun 17, 2018 00:19
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So I own a Schiit Gungnir Multibit (DAC) + Mjolnir 2 (headphone amp) that I used to combine with some Audeze LCD-XC headphones. I no longer work in a private office where I could leave them setup, so they have been sitting in a box. For home usage, I have a pair of Polk LS70s (1994 represent) that I used to run from a meh Pioneer VSX-816 receiver. And now I have a high-end DAC sitting in a box... I'm thinking of getting 2 Schiit Vidars in monoblock config to run balanced from the output of the DAC, but I have no volume control in this setup. I see a few options: 1. Buy the Schiit Freya which is $699 for essentially a balanced, relay-based stepped volume attenuator as I have no interest in adding tube sound. 2. Build my own balanced relay-based stepped volume attenuator (fun, but time consuming). Maybe other people would buy it, who knows? 3. Build a protection system that clamps the output of the DAC at dangerous volume levels and depend on digital volume control. Probably use an ADC + microcontroller-controlled relay to act as the fuse. Without analog volume control in line and no protection, I run the danger of my PC / Apple TV / whatever outputting a signal that will dump nearly a kilowatt of power into speakers. The relay volume control should be sonically transparent while digital volume control should arguably be bit-perfect since it just scales PCM values. Thoughts? There has to be someone selling a relay-based stepped attenuator volume control for a few hundred; I've seen a few kits but they seem designed for integration into a cabinet. Either way I will likely end up building a supervisory circuit to control power to the Vidars since their idle draw (60W each reportedly) is stupid high and I can let the first few seconds / minutes of music "suffer" from the bias supplies and transistors warming up and hitting steady-state. Wish they had a trigger input or similar.
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Jun 18, 2018 19:56
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If you must monoblock maybe play with bridgeable pro amps before you spend an additional $1400 with memejoke audio, a lot of them have volume limiting and low power standby and other useful features built in. If it was me I'd just sell everything and get a really good stereo integrated amp or receiver like the NAD C 388 but that doesn't sound like what you're looking for.
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Jun 18, 2018 20:55
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qirex posted:If you must monoblock maybe play with bridgeable pro amps before you spend an additional $1400 with memejoke audio, a lot of them have volume limiting and low power standby and other useful features built in. If it was me I'd just sell everything and get a really good stereo integrated amp or receiver like the NAD C 388 but that doesn't sound like what you're looking for. Part of it may be sunk cost I suppose; the Gungnir combo did great with the headphones. Schiit doesn’t seem to be particularly with the times in some areas or they are genius marketers to greybeards (surface mount assembly is INNOVATIVE!). Their analog is pretty good but the digital stuff they do reeks of greybeard digital engineering (but then they do the DSP-based DACs, so...) Not opposed to looking at other stuff; seems like the NAD is Class D but packs a ton of simplicity like HDMI passthrough into a compact box. What’s the general goon opinion on Schiit stuff? I suppose some people have posted about it in the headphones thread also.
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Jun 18, 2018 21:38
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I'm mostly just saying if you want to stay with the "separate components for everything" route pro gear is a better value. I don't have strong feelings about Schiit stuff, just a general sense that it's not that great a value. They're super good at marketing and building a slippery upgrade slope for their gear, though. Any amp from Crown, QSC or even Behringer at the $300 level will have gobs of power and not run at 35W in standby.
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Jun 18, 2018 22:26
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lmao what is it even doing with 35W doing nothing?
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Jun 19, 2018 00:54
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If you’re set on separates I would look at NAD power amps second hand honestly. Power amps are generally repairable and their 80s stuff is obnoxiously powerful for transients and dynamic power. The 2400 I picked up for 180 bucks has 100 wpc but it is the meatiest 100 Watts I’ve ever encountered. I think peaks are something close to 400 wpc into 4 ohms. Double that if you’re bridging a pair of them. NAD has a reputation among lunatic audiophiles as being “mid-fi” and a little unreliable but I’ve never had a problem with it. (I’ve got....5 pieces? Two receivers (740 and 7100) power amp (2400) and two CD players (542 and 5000) the only thing that needed fixing on any was some deoxit on the power knob On the 7100 and a laser assembly on the 542 (8 dollars from China and 15 minutes of work. **oh yeah, only the very new NAD stuff is class D. All the 80s/90s/00s stuff is class A/B DoesNotCompute fucked around with this message at 02:35 on Jun 19, 2018 |
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Jun 19, 2018 01:01
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Have you checked out audiogon? Lots of dumb bullshit on there but you can get amazing deals on great gear.
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Jun 19, 2018 17:44
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I've done too much reading on the subject lately and reframed my brain into thinking "If you spend around $1400-$1500, what can you get?" (partially because of the push-back in this thread which is good). Dropping the idea of 2x Vidars because 1) that's $1400, 2) don't need the power, 3) got sucked in by the "KEEP EVERYTHING BALANCED INTERCONNECT" trap. I'm biased towards Class AB amps because of poor Class D implementations, but I'm not opposed to switching supplies / stuck in greybeard mode. Feels like the power supply stages come from someone simulating in LTSpice and realizing in the real-world they need 100,00uF to get the performance needed because they forgot to add parasitic / non-idealties. Having designed some high-speed RF amplifiers I question a lot of the reviews that claim switching is the devil. I'd love to see someone do a modern high-fidelity, high-power Class D design using discrete eGaN parts. If I had more time I'd take a crack at a monolithic PCB gluing a Sabre or DSP+R2R DAC directly to the output stage and try to get some tests run on it. Looking at the Emotiva XPA-3 series and learning some more about the Hypex modules that power the NADs (slash looking for the older non-Class D gear). The XPA-3s are still Class A/AB and that Class H supply looks very well designed. Not going to try to pick an amp that can do well for both music / HT usage; will cross that bridge some other time (perhaps the modular nature may pay off then...) e: This is a weird question, but does anyone make "cosmetic" cables? I.E. things that look super fancy / audiophile grade, but just add a few bucks of shininess to them. Monoprice's XLRs already look pretty good but I was thinking some more shiny would help me in messing with some of my absurdly serious audiophile buddies. It's a weird request, but in a setup where everything is exposed... movax fucked around with this message at 19:23 on Jun 19, 2018 |
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Jun 19, 2018 18:45
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Make your own with tech flex and shiny plugs from parts express.
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Jun 19, 2018 19:28
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movax posted:I've done too much reading on the subject lately and reframed my brain into thinking "If you spend around $1400-$1500, what can you get?" (partially because of the push-back in this thread which is good). Dropping the idea of 2x Vidars because 1) that's $1400, 2) don't need the power, 3) got sucked in by the "KEEP EVERYTHING BALANCED INTERCONNECT" trap. Honestly if I was in your budget I would just look around for a used NAD S200. They’re...beefy and usually fetch around 7 or 8 hundred on the used market. Balanced inputs, 220wpc, class a/b, big honkin’ toroidal transformer. Basically all you would ever need for power for 2 channel audio. (Or say gently caress it and find an S300 and melt your speakers)
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Jun 19, 2018 19:30
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BigFactory posted:Make your own with tech flex and shiny plugs from parts express. That's the keyword I was looking for! DoesNotCompute posted:Honestly if I was in your budget I would just look around for a used NAD S200. They’re...beefy and usually fetch around 7 or 8 hundred on the used market. Balanced inputs, 220wpc, class a/b, big honkin’ toroidal transformer. Basically all you would ever need for power for 2 channel audio. (Or say gently caress it and find an S300 and melt your speakers) Speaking of used NADs (heh) found a M22 for $1600 which is a nice chunk of change off new (no warranty though). I'll take a look at the details of the S200 too. Looking at the M22 vs. the Emotiva XPA-DR2 which new is almost half the price of the M22. I guess the Emotiva somehow ends up cheaper with a Class AB+H hybrid vs. the NAD's modules. Stereophile has review data on the XPA-2 and M22 with the former showing nasty intermodulation but I'd have to go listen to see what that equates too to my ears. No idea of the -DR2 would solve that intermodulation. The Emotivas generate a better squarewave (probably from not being Class-D) but hard to be data-driven on this when listening is somewhat subjective. Might just have to factor in a return-period / return shipping and try them both out somehow.
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Jun 19, 2018 19:59
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I have honestly never listened to any of the new NAD digital offerings. Keep us posted, I’m just happily in the dark ages with my 20,000uf capacitors.
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Jun 19, 2018 21:29
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It's not a real amp if I can't blow myself through a concrete wall by grounding out one of the capacitors
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Jun 19, 2018 21:32
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Panty Saluter posted:It's not a real amp if I can't blow myself through a concrete wall by grounding out one of the capacitors I want to have to double check if it’s a capacitor or a can of beer
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Jun 19, 2018 21:46
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DoesNotCompute posted:I want to have to double check if it’s a capacitor or a can of beer Car audio has you covered there with mega-tallboy sized capacitors, 1F* of charge! * - +/- 50% probably, across temperature
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Jun 19, 2018 21:47
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movax posted:Car audio has you covered there with mega-tallboy sized capacitors, 1F* of charge! I had a 0.5F cap for my sub amp back in the day. It did help it hit harder, going by seat of the pants
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Jun 19, 2018 22:15
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movax posted:NAD M22 stuff http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649441195-nad-masters-series-m22/ Another $150 off, also I use the Canadian version of that marketplace a lot and have gotten some stupid good deals on things from people that have succumbed to upgrade-itis.
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Jun 20, 2018 00:06
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Pfft, measuring stuff in mF. I measure my caps in MF.
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Jun 20, 2018 03:06
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Endless Mike posted:lmao what is it even doing with 35W doing nothing? Space heater. qirex posted:I'm mostly just saying if you want to stay with the "separate components for everything" route pro gear is a better value. I don't have strong feelings about Schiit stuff, just a general sense that it's not that great a value. They're super good at marketing and building a slippery upgrade slope for their gear, though. Any amp from Crown, QSC or even Behringer at the $300 level will have gobs of power and not run at 35W in standby. How are QSC nowadays? I've used a couple older ones before and they sounded a bit dirty (they were cheap and used.) I really liked my Yamaha though. Crown was always great too. GnarlyCharlie4u fucked around with this message at 03:36 on Jun 20, 2018 |
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Jun 20, 2018 03:33
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DoesNotCompute posted:http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649441195-nad-masters-series-m22/ Good find, thanks! I think I’m going to get the M22 and a Freya, but I’m going to sleep on that decision first. Used market for Freya seems non-existent sadly (balanced preamp with passive, active unity gain buffer and tubes all in one?!).
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Jun 20, 2018 04:02
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GnarlyCharlie4u posted:How are QSC nowadays? I've used a couple older ones before and they sounded a bit dirty (they were cheap and used.) I really liked my Yamaha though. Crown was always great too. I use a QSC GX5 for subwoofer duty on my PA kit. No issues whatsoever over 5 years ran flat out for 8 hours at a time multiple times a week. Fans are noisy but it's a PA amp so that's kinda expected.
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Jun 20, 2018 16:59
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Is the difference between B&W CM8 and CM9 at noticeable IRL? I'm considering picking up a used pair as they're occasionally available for what seems to be a reasonable price (around $1k for both). I never had decent speakers beyond like $100 PC 5.1 setups though I do use Ety ER-4 when I'm serious about listening to music, so I think I'd be pretty happy either way.
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Jun 20, 2018 19:53
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As far as I can tell the CM9s are just bigger, unless you have a huge room the 8s are probably OK. The CM9s can probably produce more bass as well.
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Jun 20, 2018 20:05
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mobby_6kl posted:Is the difference between B&W CM8 and CM9 at noticeable IRL? I'm considering picking up a used pair as they're occasionally available for what seems to be a reasonable price (around $1k for both). I never had decent speakers beyond like $100 PC 5.1 setups though I do use Ety ER-4 when I'm serious about listening to music, so I think I'd be pretty happy either way. The 9's are 1db more sensitive, which isn't insignificant depending on what you're using to power them.
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Jun 20, 2018 20:40
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Thanks guys!DoesNotCompute posted:The 9's are 1db more sensitive, which isn't insignificant depending on what you're using to power them.
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Jun 21, 2018 16:12
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mobby_6kl posted:Thanks guys! Do you want new/used? Just 2.0 or will you be doing home theatre? Price range? Sources? (CD, vinyl, computer)
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Jun 21, 2018 16:22
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I need a receiver recommendation. I have a 4K HDTV, a Playstation 4 Pro, and a pair of external speakers and I want to hook them all together. I also want to be able to connect my bluetooth headphones into the receiver so I can listen to TV and playstation with my bluetooth headphones. I also want to connect my mobile devices to the receiver and play spotify on my speakers.
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Jun 21, 2018 20:42
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I know there's TVs that support bluetooth out but I've never heard of it on a receiver although after a little research it appears 2017 and later Yamahas do support it. There's latency on it that could be problematic with gaming, though. If you don't want a Yamaha you might as well try one of those $30 Amazon jobs on the headphone out to see if it's too bad. Yamahas are pretty well regarded, what's your budget?
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Jun 21, 2018 21:05
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School of How posted:I need a receiver recommendation. I have a 4K HDTV, a Playstation 4 Pro, and a pair of external speakers and I want to hook them all together. I also want to be able to connect my bluetooth headphones into the receiver so I can listen to TV and playstation with my bluetooth headphones. I also want to connect my mobile devices to the receiver and play spotify on my speakers. Will you ever want to go more than 2 channel audio?
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Jun 21, 2018 21:33
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DoesNotCompute posted:Do you want new/used? Just 2.0 or will you be doing home theatre? Price range? Sources? (CD, vinyl, computer)
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Jun 22, 2018 00:30
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mobby_6kl posted:I don't mind used as you can often get way more for the buck but both are fine. With speakers like that I'd probably start with just stereo although having the ability to go 5.1 later would be nice. Price range is ugh... like $500? It's somewhat flexible and I'm not sure what would be appropriate, but there seems to be a lot of choice at this level. Source is just the HTPC playing movies, games and lossless or lossy music. I’ve heard good things about the Marantz NR1508, 4K pass through, 50wpc, Dolby vision compatible, Bluetooth and wifi. There’s one on sale on amazon right now for 399, sounds like everything you would need and it’s not too monstrous like most AV receivers.
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Jun 22, 2018 14:22
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qirex posted:I know there's TVs that support bluetooth out but I've never heard of it on a receiver although after a little research it appears 2017 and later Yamahas do support it. There's latency on it that could be problematic with gaming, though. If you don't want a Yamaha you might as well try one of those $30 Amazon jobs on the headphone out to see if it's too bad. I will only use the bluetooth headphones for TV and music listening. I can connect my BT headphones to my TV, but if I want to switch to using my computer, I have to disconnect my headphones from the TV and then connect them to the computer. This is a pain in the rear end. It would be nice to just have everything go to the receiver and leave my headphones attached to only the receiver, which would allow me to seemlessly switch between devices... I have no budget, but would like to stay near the mid-end. quote:Will you ever want to go more than 2 channel audio? I'm leaning towards the Yamaha RX-V383BL, but I see it only has one optical in port on the back. My TV has an optical out port, as does my PS4. Since there is only one optical in, that means I either my TV or PS4 will have to be connected some other way. Will this be a problem? Also, the 383 doesn't have WiFi. What exactly does WiFi give you? Is this a feature I want?
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Jun 22, 2018 16:23
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School of How posted:I will only use the bluetooth headphones for TV and music listening. I can connect my BT headphones to my TV, but if I want to switch to using my computer, I have to disconnect my headphones from the TV and then connect them to the computer. This is a pain in the rear end. It would be nice to just have everything go to the receiver and leave my headphones attached to only the receiver, which would allow me to seemlessly switch between devices... Optical isn’t as good as HDMI, with HDMI you can do uncompressed linear pcm, optical also can’t do Dolby TrueHD or the DTS equivalent so yeah, HDMI for audio is better than optical.
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Jun 22, 2018 17:13
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DoesNotCompute posted:http://www.usaudiomart.com/details/649441195-nad-masters-series-m22/ I ended up getting one off eBay from a seller offering factory refurbs with a warranty for $1599.99 shipped (it was insta-accepted, I wonder how much lower I could have actually gone). The Freya is on order too, but backordered, sadly. Time to get another set of audiophile XLR cables! https://www.monoprice.com/product?c_id=115&cp_id=11509&cs_id=1150902&p_id=4751&seq=1&format=2 movax fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Jun 22, 2018 |
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Jun 22, 2018 17:47
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movax posted:I ended up getting one off eBay from a seller offering factory refurbs with a warranty for $1599.99 shipped (it was insta-accepted, I wonder how much lower I could have actually gone). The Freya is on order too, but backordered, sadly. Looks like they're nano-engineered directional XLR, nice. Don't want electrons trying to go up the down cable. Looking forward to hearing how the fancy NAD works out for you. On the totally opposite end of the spectrum I just got my NAD 5000 CD player simply because it matches my receiver and power amp. 
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Jun 23, 2018 14:42
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Got the M22 today! No idea when my Freya shows up though, Schiit is very responsive until they get your money and then they’re quiet about lead times.
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Jun 29, 2018 17:43
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Thermopyle posted:I'm going back and forth on whether to get an AVR and pair it with the two good/decent Bose bookshelf speakers (I was given them and my Googlin leads me to believe they're ok) I have now and adding speakers over time as the budget allows, or to get a Vizio 5.1 soundbar. I'm considering the Denon AVRS730H at $350 or whatever Vizio 5.1 soundbar system is around that price, but someone could talk me out of that. So, what I ended up doing is using the Bose 301 Series III speakers with a 15 year-old Onkyo receiver and it works pretty great for TV/Movies and some music. I was thinking about adding the Polk PSW10 that's on sale at Amazon for $80 bucks today. Anything particularly bad about this plan?
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Jul 9, 2018 18:59
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Is there a current recommendation for a sound bar in the $150-200ish range? Something with support for 4K formats and good HDMI-CEC? I don’t have room to really setup a surround sound system but I’d like to at least go beyond just the TV speakers. And I’d like to continue to use something that’ll work with my AppleTV via CEC (I really want to keep the one remote setup I’ve got going).
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Jul 11, 2018 04:12
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I mean, you shouldn’t be worried about video formats- just have the soundbar hooked up to ARC on the TV
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Jul 11, 2018 15:55
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