For your listening pleasure: The quick audio questions megathread!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > For your listening pleasure: The quick audio questions megathread!

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I just upgraded from Koss UR-40's (open ear) to Audio-Technica A900's (closed ear) which are loving spectacular. The only thing is that I'm missing a lot of bass presumably because it's closed ear. How can I get more bass in my A900's?

And I tried messing with the equalizers that are embedded into iTunes/Winamp and they just sound gross.

thehandtruck fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Apr 9, 2007

# ¿ Apr 9, 2007 20:10

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# ¿ May 4, 2024 02:47

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I hope it's OK to post this question again since it was unanswered, let me know if it's not.

thehandtruck posted:

I just upgraded from Koss UR-40's (open ear) to Audio-Technica A900's (closed ear) which are loving spectacular. The only thing is that I'm missing a lot of bass presumably because it's closed ear. How can I get more bass in my A900's?

And I tried messing with the equalizers that are embedded into iTunes/Winamp and they just sound gross.

# ¿ Apr 22, 2007 03:49

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I had a ~10 year old speaker system composed of simply a CD/tape/FM receiver and two speakers. The receiver died and now I don't have any way to use the speakers. I was wondering if there is a way to somehow connect the speakers to my computer. I recognize they need to be powered somehow, so if it's any consolation I have one of those altec lansing IM7 portable speaker things which may or may not help at all.

If it's not possible, can anyone recommend a cheap amp/receiver that will power the speakers?

# ¿ Mar 3, 2009 08:34

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

Sniep posted:

It'd help a lot if you described the speakers in question.. at least their rated nominal RMS wattage accepted and at what impedance?

Aiwa Speaker System Model No. SX-NAV800
Music Power 80 Watts
Impedence 6 Ohms

# ¿ Mar 3, 2009 22:44

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

Sniep posted:

Something like this should work just fine for those.

Or this to step up - I personally own the AMP-100 and it's a beast. Very worth it but not sure what you are looking to spend.

Edit: Ignore the stupid title of the first item on amazon, the model is PCA2.

Do you know of anything cheaper? I'm really not looking for quality in this instance. Also I heard there was a way to slice the speaker wires into auxiliary or RCA, is that an option?

# ¿ Mar 9, 2009 03:42

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

Sniep posted:

No, they need to be powered by something.

The aux/line out/RCA jacks/whatever you call them, give a very, very low current signal, that simply contains the "information" if you would about the audio signal. It's enough to transfer the audio signal from one component to another, but at some point that signal needs to be amplified so that it can actually drive the electromagnetic drivers that actually move the speaker cones.

I'm not sure what analogy might work for this for you, but I'll stick with the old standby.

When you turn on your turn signal in your car, the lever activates a relay. That relay converts the very low power signal that you give with the turn lever, and switches it into a high power signal that can power the turn bulbs. It's pretty much the same thing, when you have the headphone level / aux level output from your equipment, it's just the signal with very little power behind it. The speakers require actual power to drive the mechanical nature of how they operate, and that is what an amplifier does.

OK thanks for the help, I'll probably get the first one you mentioned.

# ¿ Mar 9, 2009 16:00

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I have an old KLH KL2400 (http://www.shopping.com/xPF-KL2400) receiver but no speakers to go with it. Can anyone recommend a pair of speakers for around $125 to $150 that will work with that receiver?

edit: that site says 6 ohms impedance but for some reason the back of the receiver says 8 recommended.

thehandtruck fucked around with this message at 19:28 on Aug 19, 2009

# ¿ Aug 19, 2009 19:26

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

Doc Spratley posted:

Looking for bookshelf speakers I assume?

You could grab a pair of Infinity p152s from Vanns.com for about that or even cheaper from here.

ELT525M Mini Monitors from av123.com $175/pair (120 off)

Wharfedale Diamond 9.0 at sto sound and vision $89/pair (160 off)

Infinity Beta 20s on sale at the 'new' circuit city for $129/pair (170 off)

Keep your eyes peeled on the Harmon Kardon ebay site, I've seen Infinty beta 20's go for $20 a pair on auction,, you can somtimes snag insane deals there.

Wow thanks for the help. I think I'm going to go with the $129/pair Beta 20's even though the ELT25M mini monitors look REALLY nice. I'm assuming the Beta 20's have better sound quality than the p152s?

# ¿ Aug 20, 2009 00:33

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I have the KLH 2400 receiver but I've lost the remote that goes with it. Right before it was lost the bass and treble were both turned all the way up. So I called KLH and they said not 10 minute before I called they sold the last one and won't make any more, ever. They've had remotes for 15+ years and I'm 10 minutes late. (I know I can use the EQ in music programs but I use more than one and it would be a huge hassle.)

Anyway so I was wondering if there are any other receiver remotes that are similar enough to work.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2009 23:44

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I moved my speakers around and I'm somewhat sure they sound different than before. I've heard that mixing up the + wire and - wire can make things sound different, is this true? (Checking is difficult because of where they're located so I'd rather not if it doesn't matter.)

thehandtruck fucked around with this message at 06:44 on Feb 14, 2010

# ¿ Feb 14, 2010 03:56

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

Suqit posted:

Very true, when you reverse the polarity and the speakers are out of phase they can sound funky.

It is subtle or really noticeable? Like overly bassy? Is there a test?

thehandtruck fucked around with this message at 06:49 on Feb 14, 2010

# ¿ Feb 14, 2010 06:44

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

My old KLH reciever finally stopped working and I need a new to power my two Infinity Beta 20 speakers. Can anyone recommend one? I'm guessing audio quality doesn't change depending on the receiver but also if it matters, I like it loud.

# ¿ Jan 29, 2014 19:32

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

KozmoNaut posted:

As long as you get something that's 50W RMS per channel or more, you should be able to play loud enough to severely damage your hearing before you run out of power, unless your speakers are horribly inefficient, which they aren't. Heck, even 25W can play plenty loud in non-huge rooms.

That's the power issue dealt with quite easily, so what you really need to look for is features. What do you need your receiver to do? AM/FM? Digital radio? Built-in phono preamp?

If you don't need any kind of fancy gizmo features, you can't go wrong with NAD for high-quality basic hifi gear. But just about any hifi separate component receiver that isn't an obvious plastic shitbox is going to be at least decent, these days. Time to scour the used market!

E: If you don't need a remote control, but want high-quality AM/FM reception, don't be afraid to look at vintage gear. They tend to have high-quality tuners and can be had for next to nothing at flea markets, second hand shops and so on.

I really need zero features whatsoever. All I'm going to do is plug in an RCA -> Aux cord from my computer to the receiver. Do you think craigslist is a safe bet?

# ¿ Jan 29, 2014 21:44

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

eddiewalker posted:

If you just want a 2 channel amp without all input switching and multichannel stuff in a receiver, I'd just get a simple 2-channel amp.

Example. Never used this particular unit, but it's adequately reviewed:

http://www.parts-express.com/audiosource-amp100-2-ch-source-switching-power-amplifier--302-601

T-amps are also getting more powerful:

http://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-dta-100a-class-t-digital-mini-amplifier-50-wpc--300-383

That little amp can power 2 large bookshelf speakers? Pretty impressive. Is there any advantage to getting one of those over the other? And thanks for the help.

# ¿ Jan 31, 2014 04:07

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# ¿ May 4, 2024 02:47

thehandtruck: Mar 5, 2006; the thing about the jews is,

I'm looking for some bookshelf speakers. I had the infinity beta 20's for a few years and loved them but I just moved and am looking for something a tiny bit smaller. (Hope this is the right thread for recommendations, it was this or the first home audio thread)

# ¿ Aug 14, 2014 04:52

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > For your listening pleasure: The quick audio questions megathread!