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japtor posted:What about something made in fukkn Japan or Korea or something? Just checking if it has to be made in the USA or just not China.
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Jan 18, 2014 17:38
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TenementFunster posted:just Not China. however it is tempting to troll you fools and get my mom a bose wave radio however If money is no object: http://www.mcintoshlabs.com/us/Products/pages/ProductDetails.aspx?CatId=LifeStyle&ProductId=MXA60 This is of the "If you have to ask, you can't afford it" variety. They make all their stuff in the US, and I'm pretty sure they only use Japanese caps. For made in Japan, Sony is all I can think of off the top of my head, right now.
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Jan 18, 2014 18:33
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KillHour posted:If money is no object: Good lord. I knew McIntosh stuff wasn't cheap, but I was expecting this system to be around maybe $800. Was not expecting nearly 10x that amount.
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Jan 18, 2014 19:54
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BANME.sh posted:Good lord. I knew McIntosh stuff wasn't cheap, but I was expecting this system to be around maybe $800. Was not expecting nearly 10x that amount. McIntosh is firmly in the "Audiophool" category.
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Jan 18, 2014 21:09
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I'm looking to put a small stereo together for my kitchen. I'm looking for something with functionality similar to this TEAC (http://audio.teac.com/product/cr-h260i/) to pair with some bookshelf speakers, but I don't know anything about the brand or if there are better options out there that would do the same thing without taking up a ton of space. I'm going to be mostly listening to the radio and streaming audio, so it doesn't have to have to be audiophile approved, but I'm looking for something well made.
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Jan 19, 2014 02:42
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I can tell you that they are well-established and make good stuff under both the TEAC and pro-oriented TASCAM brand. I can't tell you anything about that unit specifically.
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Jan 19, 2014 03:01
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Do any of you guys have experience with subwoofers in apartments? I'm considering adding a sub to bolster the low end on my Audioengine A5+s, and Earthquake have a sale right now on demo units of their Minime-FF8 and Minime-P10 subs. Before I got the A+5s, I had a set of Audiovector C2 MkII floorstanding speakers with a quoted response down to 35hz. While using those, I only ever got one complaint from my upstairs neighbor, but that may have been because I was playing games late at night at a pretty loud volume (yeah, pretty dumb). Luckily, I live on the ground floor, so no downstairs neighbor. Considering the FF8 and P10 have quoted response down to 27hz and 20hz respectively, how much more annoying for my neighbor would those be, assuming I'm not trying to recreate rock concert levels in my apartment, and assuming I keep it down after 8-9pm? KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 14:59 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 20, 2014 14:53
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KozmoNaut posted:Do any of you guys have experience with subwoofers in apartments? I'm considering adding a sub to bolster the low end on my Audioengine A5+s, and Earthquake have a sale right now on demo units of their Minime-FF8 and Minime-P10 subs. Holy crap, those are expensive. If I was going to spend that much on a sub, I'd do a custom build. Honestly, I think you could get the same or better performance out of a PSW505 (12 inch sub instead of 10 or 8 inch). Edit: If these graphs are accurate, it's a pretty badass sub. http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/subwoofers/subwoofers-reviews/a-secrets-subwoofer-review51/page-2-earthquake-slaps-harmonic-distortion.html Still, that's a whole lotta money. What's it on sale for? KillHour fucked around with this message at 15:48 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 20, 2014 15:41
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How wise is it to purchase any home audio equipment right now given a whole slew of stuff was just announced at CES (receivers/speakers/sound bars etc)? Is it worth waiting until April-May for price drops on last years models?
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Jan 20, 2014 16:08
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KillHour posted:Holy crap, those are expensive. If I was going to spend that much on a sub, I'd do a custom build. Honestly, I think you could get the same or better performance out of a PSW505 (12 inch sub instead of 10 or 8 inch). Yeah they're kinda expensive, but Earthquake made their name with subwoofers, they know bass. The FF8 is ~$520 (normal price ~$860). The P10 is ~$720 (normal price ~$1200), so they're pretty good deals. I've considered buying one of their plate amps instead (they're surprisingly low-priced), and a couple of the 8" DALI units from that guy whose 2x24 speaker subs I posted in the Ridicule Audiophiles thread. I should be able to knock together a pretty decent cabinet out of 22mm MDF.
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Jan 20, 2014 17:00
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KozmoNaut posted:Yeah they're kinda expensive, but Earthquake made their name with subwoofers, they know bass. They're nice, but for the price of the FF8, you could get a PAIR of PSW505's. For the price of the P10, you could get a pair of PSW505's AND a DSP to correct for room response (or a couple of nice bass traps). There's just no way the Earthquake stuff can compete when you talk performance:dollar. Edit: And the pricing's not that great, anyways. Amazon has the FF8 for less, and has the P12 for not much more than the P10: http://www.amazon.com/Earthquake-Sound-MiniMe-FF8-Subwoofer/dp/B00A45JGYW http://www.amazon.com/Earthquake-Sound-MiniMe-P12-Subwoofer/dp/B006GNHYU4 (You have to click 12-inch) Double Edit: And if I was going to go home-made, I'd use a Behringer iNuke1000 DSP (or iNuke3000 if I wanted to bring the house down) and a pair of 15 inch drivers stuffed into some sonotube. http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/NU1000DSP.aspx KillHour fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 20, 2014 17:44
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Quote is not edit. 
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Jan 20, 2014 17:49
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I'm not looking to bring the house down or have the absolute lowest LFE extension, my primary use is for music, although a sub that's at least got some output below 30hz would be preferable. My living room is only 17-18 sqm (180-195 sqft) or thereabouts. Both of these factors steer me towards a sub that's around 8 or 10 inches, perhaps 12 inches at most, and a sealed cabinet for musicality. Unfortunately, there are no Polk dealers in my country. If you have any other suggestions for affordable yet capable subs, I'd sure appreciate it. E: I'm not at all opposed to buying a used sub, but the market doesn't really seem to deliver right now. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 20, 2014 17:55
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KozmoNaut posted:I'm not looking to bring the house down or have the absolute lowest LFE extension, my primary use is for music, although a sub that's at least got some output below 30hz would be preferable. My living room is only 17-18 sqm (180-195 sqft) or thereabouts. Ah, assumed you'd be in the US. Sorry. What country are you in? And size isn't necessarily about loudness. A larger sub gets you better bass extension (<30 hz pretty much demands a 12 inch for good performance). Having 2 subs is also, not about loudness. It's about having an even response across the entire room.
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Jan 20, 2014 17:56
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KillHour posted:Ah, assumed you'd be in the US. Sorry. I'm in Denmark. We've got a number of domestic loudspeaker companies, but they're all relatively high-priced (Audiovector, DALI, Dynaudio etc.) or low-end dreck to mid-range mediocrity (Jamo, Dantax etc.). I'm not opposed to having two subs, apart from the doubled cost and the obvious space issues in a sub-20 sqm living room.
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Jan 20, 2014 18:02
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Please don't get a subwoofer in an apartment.  Even if you aren't shaking your neighbours' walls, that constant low frequency beat is enough to drive a person insane, especially considering it will likely penetrate every room of their place making it inescapable. The last two places I've lived, my wife and I had to deal with neighbours and subwoofers and it made me contemplate murder. Granted they were completely unreasonable people, but it completely ruined bass for me. Most people are too timid to say anything at risk of starting a confrontation, but you are likely going to make somebody's life a living hell.
BANME.sh fucked around with this message at 19:24 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 20, 2014 19:22
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Don't be ridiculous. A responsibly used and placed sub isn't going to be any more annoying than any other general apartment sound. Millions of apartment dwellers have subwoofers and they don't cause problems. I'm sorry that you had lovely neighbors, but that's just what they were.
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Jan 20, 2014 20:24
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KozmoNaut posted:I'm in Denmark. We've got a number of domestic loudspeaker companies, but they're all relatively high-priced (Audiovector, DALI, Dynaudio etc.) or low-end dreck to mid-range mediocrity (Jamo, Dantax etc.). After about 15 minutes of looking, I couldn't find anything particularly great. Behringer has some subs for PA systems, but those are more about LOUD! than deep bass. If you're comfortable spending the cash, those Earthquakes look nice on paper, but goddamn, they're expensive for what they are. According to the USPS website, I can ship a PSW505 to you for ~$200, though. Edit: A PSW10 would be around $120 to ship, as well. KillHour fucked around with this message at 20:58 on Jan 20, 2014 |
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Jan 20, 2014 20:50
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BANME.sh posted:Please don't get a subwoofer in an apartment. Just as with my previous reasonably powerful NAD+Audiovector setup, I try to be as courteous as possible and abide by the rules of our apartment complex. No loud music or movies after 19:30 on weekdays and sundays, 22:00 on fridays and saturdays. I have a headphone amp in parallel with the speakers and I use headphones for late-night gaming and the like. It's more about filling out the sound below 55hz or so in a pleasing way, and not at all about rattling windows and doing seismic experiments. Keep in mind that this is a building from the 1930s, built like the proverbial brick shithouse. It's got ~50cm thick outside brick walls and very thick floor separations. I can't hear my upstairs neighbor at all unless he drops something heavy on the floor. Stairway noise is very noticeable, but that's about it. I think I'll go check out Ebay and see if there are some good deals, even with the international shipping, because the second-hand market in Denmark is poo poo.
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Jan 20, 2014 21:52
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I don't see anything special about those earthquake subs. They're overpriced. The measurements aren't really meaningful either being that they're in room. Consider a internet direct company. Rythmik Audio FV12 will outperform those with less distortion. Other companies to check out are SVS, HSU, and Epik
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Jan 21, 2014 18:56
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jonathan posted:Rythmik Audio FV12 will outperform those with less distortion. Yes, but all of those are pretty much 100% unavailable in my country. SVS has a distributer, but I can count on one hand the SVS subs I've ever seen on the used market, which probably means they're not exactly hot sellers around here for some reason. I did look at the Danish DIY speaker/sub company Frequence, but they're a bit out of my price range. My uncle built one of their speaker sets, though. They're pretty nice. I ended up picking up a used DALI SWA 12 for ~$290. Not super cheap, but a decent enough price relative to the local used gear prices, I think it cost around ~$700 new. It's a sealed design with a 12" driver and a 120W amp. I spent half an hour or so playing various music and movie clips with the seller and changing around the settings to get a feel for it. I think it's great for music, which is exactly what I wanted, and it does a good job with movies as well. Now, I'm a bit uncomfortable with having a component with "Audiophile" in the name (Danish Audiophile Loudspeaker Industries), but I'll get over it.
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Jan 21, 2014 19:16
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KozmoNaut posted:Yes, but all of those are pretty much 100% unavailable in my country. SVS has a distributer, but I can count on one hand the SVS subs I've ever seen on the used market, which probably means they're not exactly hot sellers around here for some reason. From the user manual for that sub: quote:Once the subwoofer is fully integrated with your main speakers, the subwoofer should be "broken in" over several days with a wide range of music or movies. 
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Jan 21, 2014 20:30
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KillHour posted:From the user manual for that sub: DALI was founded by Peter Lyngdorf, who also sells ourageously-priced class-D amplifiers and CD players under his own name, and he started one of the biggest (if not the biggest by now) skandinavian hifi chains in the 80s on the basis of importing NAD and Cerwin Vega products. He's not 100% crazy audiophile, there are no magic shakti stones or anything, but his stores do sell some pretty expensive speaker cables. Doesn't change that the sub is a drat solid performer. Despite the audiophoolery, DALI knows drat well how to make good speakers. Only thing I don't like is the ridiculously bright blue power LED on the front. Nothing a couple of layers of tape won't take care of, though. And considering I'm mostly using my speakers in a near-field position, the sub is running at a fraction of its rated output, with plenty of muscle to spare. E: Holy poo poo, track 8 from the Quake soundtrack is insane. I knew it had a lot of bass, but I'd never heard it with a proper sub before and it just came up in my random playlist. Goddamn. KozmoNaut fucked around with this message at 17:50 on Jan 22, 2014 |
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Jan 21, 2014 21:18
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I have a Yamaha RX-V673. Yamaha receiver owners, how do you extend/reroute your IR? I bought this Monoprice 5 ft IR receiver extender so I could locate the receiver elsewhere but even plugged directly into the "IR In" of the receiver it doesn't work.KozmoNaut posted:Only thing I don't like is the ridiculously bright blue power LED on the front. Nothing a couple of layers of tape won't take care of, though. For black surfaces I like to use a small piece of electrical tape with an even smaller piece of foil stuck to it; only requires one layer of tape to block and still looks really clean.
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Jan 23, 2014 04:42
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I want to set up a surround sound system for our family room HDTV. Is there some recommended products I should be looking at. I will not sperg about quality. The TV speakers just are not cutting it. edit Oops I just saw this http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3384469
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Jan 27, 2014 22:59
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Not sure where best to ask this, but hopefully it's still quick enough. I'm putting together a new PC and am going back and forth with using on-board sound VS a separate sound card. Whatever it is will be a TOSLINK out to my receiver. I try to stay away from the loopy audiophile stuff but I do have a fairly high-end sound system I've pieced together over the last few years. I've heard that stand-alone sound cards can reduce interference from other components (harddrive spinning etc) but that seems like it would only happen if the signal gets converted to analog while still internal to the PC. If I'm piping it out to my receiver and using its DAC none of that would be a factor right? jonathan posted:I don't see anything special about those earthquake subs. They're overpriced. The measurements aren't really meaningful either being that they're in room. I've got a LV12R sub order sitting on backorder from their other online distro Ascend Acoustics. I can only find one review that goes into any real detail, does anyone actually own one of these things and can speak to their quality from experience?
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Jan 28, 2014 19:24
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Takes No Damage posted:Not sure where best to ask this, but hopefully it's still quick enough. As long as you're using TOSLINK, coaxial S/PDIF, HDMI, DisplayPort or any other digital output, it doesn't matter if you're using onboard audio or a separate sound card. Since you're basically just passing a bitstream to the DAC in your receiver, the sound card doesn't really do anything other than pass the data along. Save the money you would have used for a separate sound card and use it for more RAM, a slightly faster processor or a slightly faster GPU instead 
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Jan 28, 2014 19:35
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A dedicated sound card, even if it's still inside your case, will still be significantly better than your onboard if you ever need to use analog outputs. The Asus Xonar line has extremely good S/N ratings, and I literally can't hear the smallest bit of noise with my cheap $40 Xonar DS. But yeah, if you are only ever going to use digital out, no need to upgrade.
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Jan 28, 2014 19:54
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Takes No Damage posted:
I've listened to a single and dual FV12's, and the new version has a slightly better amp... IMO its the best pre assembled sub you can buy in that price category.
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Jan 28, 2014 21:55
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Cool, that's what I'm shooting for. I think Ascend's Sierra-1 speakers are also about as good as it gets for under 1000/pair, at least I've been happy with mine for several years now  And thanks BANME and Kozmo, I do plan on pretty much always just pumping the digital signal out to the receiver so that's the DAC that would be feeding my speakers, what you say makes sense.
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Jan 28, 2014 23:30
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Takes No Damage posted:Cool, that's what I'm shooting for. I think Ascend's Sierra-1 speakers are also about as good as it gets for under 1000/pair, at least I've been happy with mine for several years now Careful about asking the same questions somewhere nutty like Head-Fi. Someone will bring up "jitter."
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Jan 28, 2014 23:37
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Are you saying I should cancel my order for a weighted and balanced volume knob that was carved by hand from old growth endangered Brazilian rainforest tree by the light of a full moon? But it was only $1500 and really adds a lot of warmth and headroom to the soundstage 
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Jan 29, 2014 00:44
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I still haven't bought them yet, but you guys had me sold on the Audioengine A2's awhile back for my computer. I'm getting closer to shelling out the money, however, the speaker's mission has expanded a little bit. I'd like to turn my office (room with the computer in my apartment) into a music listening room and wondered if it's worth going with the A5s over the A2s? I plan to listen to MP3s off the computer and hook a turntable up to them as well.
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Jan 29, 2014 02:40
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There used to be a thread for DIY speakers, right? I can't seem to find it anywhere
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Jan 29, 2014 03:20
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Haggins posted:I still haven't bought them yet, but you guys had me sold on the Audioengine A2's awhile back for my computer. I'm getting closer to shelling out the money, however, the speaker's mission has expanded a little bit. Otherwise even at lower volumes I think the A5s should give better/fuller sound so that'd be something to consider regardless of volume/power. Or perhaps A2 and and a sub if they're not enough alone. Or some other amp + bookshelf setup (and Audioengine has the P4s for that if you want to stick with them). And some other random factors, speaker size and location relative to listening. I'm not sure how much the latter really matters but I've heard some speakers are more directional than others, which might come into play if your listening spots in the room vary a bunch. And I'm just mentioning size cause the A2s are (relatively) tiny, depending on your setup you might be able to give some more placement flexibility...or not matter at all if you have ample room. And I guess neither have threaded mounting holes in case you were planning on mounting that way, although the P4 does.
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Jan 29, 2014 03:37
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I'm currently in an 11x11 room and I like to listen to music kinda loud but not loud enough to piss the neighbors off. I'm moving across country in a couple months and not sure where I'm going to be living yet, however, I can't imagine my office/listening area will be much bigger than this room.
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Jan 29, 2014 03:53
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I love my A2's. They put out a lot of bass for their size and sound very clear when you put them on little stands. I've cranked them up quite a bit and they get pretty drat loud. They will definitely be loud enough for a 11x11 room, but it all depends on the amount of bass you like. At lower volumes I sometimes wish I had a sub. The A5's will definitely perform better in that regard because they are physically 3x the size.
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Jan 29, 2014 04:41
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I really only listen to metal, rock, sometimes jazz, and once in awhile classical. I don't think extra bass is a big deal with those genres.
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Jan 29, 2014 05:39
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Haggins posted:I really only listen to metal, rock, sometimes jazz, and once in awhile classical. I don't think extra bass is a big deal with those genres. Unless everything you listen to is recorded by Treble McTreble And His Glockenspiel Orchestra Featuring The Castrato Choir, a sub-woofer will definitely add to the sound of just about any music. Think kick drums, drop-tuned basses (common in metal), timpani, contrabasses and so on. A subwoofer isn't mandatory, but it "fills out" the sound very nicely.
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Jan 29, 2014 08:42
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I'm with you, I think with a decent sub it will make a difference. It'll probably have to wait a little while though. I see that the a2+ have outputs for a sub, any recommendations on what to get?
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Jan 29, 2014 13:33
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