Posted Wed May 2, 2012, 4:03pm Subject: Home Audio
So, I've gathered that a few people here are into audio equipment. I just joined Head-Fi, and I can already feel a new addiction coming on. On impulse, I bought a used pair of HE-5LEs at a great ($330 shipped) price. I don't have an amp or DAC yet and I have no money, so uh, I'm not sure what I'm actually going to do with them when they arrive. For my DAC/amp, I'm probably going to go with something from Audio GD or the O2/DAC when it comes out. I might go with a Schiit Asgard/Bifrost combination if I somehow get a lot of money despite being unemployed. Anyway, do any of you guys have nice headphone/speaker rigs?
Posted Wed May 2, 2012, 8:02pm Subject: Re: Home Audio
KennyH Said:
So, I've gathered that a few people here are into audio equipment. I just joined Head-Fi, and I can already feel a new addiction coming on. On impulse, I bought a used pair of HE-5LEs at a great ($330 shipped) price. I don't have an amp or DAC yet and I have no money, so uh, I'm not sure what I'm actually going to do with them when they arrive. For my DAC/amp, I'm probably going to go with something from Audio GD or the O2/DAC when it comes out. I might go with a Schiit Asgard/Bifrost combination if I somehow get a lot of money despite being unemployed. Anyway, do any of you guys have nice headphone/speaker rigs?
I have a pair of speakers I designed and made when I was 19 years old; I have listened to them every day for the past 30 years. Each is based upon the integration of a folded bass exponential horn and mirrored image softdome tweeters and midranges. I constructed them from thick particle board with exposed surfaces covered with cabinetmakers grade formica (black walnut finish). Open areas within the construction are filled with fiberglass insulation for sound deadening. Each has 2 eight inch woofers; 2 softdomed tweeters; and 2 softdomed midranges. All are Realistic components (formerly Radio Shack can you believe). Both are driven by the finest Carver components I purchased used from some dealers about 15 years ago.
Picture is below. You are seeing the left one; the right one is a mirror image of it. Sorry if the picture is a bit dark.
Len
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
Posted Thu May 3, 2012, 4:06pm Subject: Re: Home Audio
I've got a pretty decent surround system - Paradigm Studios, Marantz receiver, Oppo BD player as main source. Not as into headphones although I do have two pairs of Grado SR-60s, Shure E500 and TDK BA100 in-ear monitors.
One thing I've found with headphones and IEMs is they are really sensitive to source impedance. The Shure E500s are really light in the bass when plugged into my phone. I use a player with EQ to compensate. They sound better plugged into my MacBook Pro without EQ.
Normally when I hear people talking about matching an amplifier with speakers, I dismiss that as BS unless they are talking about tube amps which have a high output impedance. I don't know how how to measure output impedance, not really an electronics guy but I can definitely hear the difference in response when using different sources.
I recommend trying an amplifier with your headphones before buying unless you like collecting them. I have a friend who does that - collects them.
Posted Thu May 3, 2012, 5:04pm Subject: Re: Home Audio
I really can't listen to speakers in here, as I don't want to disturb the other members of my family. Your speakers are really nice, Len. How do they sound?
I really don't know where I'd be able to listen to amps with my headphones. I haven't seen any Head-Fi meets near here, and even if there were some, I couldn't drive to them. Anyway, I think I'm going to go with the Audio Gd NFB-12. It seems like a great value for a DAC/Amp combination.
Posted Thu May 3, 2012, 5:18pm Subject: Re: Home Audio
KennyH Said:
I really can't listen to speakers in here, as I don't want to disturb the other members of my family. Your speakers are really nice, Len. How do they sound?
I really don't know where I'd be able to listen to amps with my headphones. I haven't seen any Head-Fi meets near here, and even if there were some, I couldn't drive to them. Anyway, I think I'm going to go with the Audio Gd NFB-12. It seems like a great value for a DAC/Amp combination.
The speakers are inherently heavy on the bass (due to the efficiency of the folded bass exponentional horn in each); due to such I turn the bass back a bit on the preamp. The soft domed tweeters and midranges provide superior imaging. The Carver Sonic Holography system provides a phenomenal sound stage to studio recordings; so good as to make you think you are getting a contact buzz from a live concert in a 50,000 people stadium at capacity.
Len
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,683 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
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Posted Mon May 7, 2012, 7:30am Subject: Re: Home Audio
I have 7 pairs of Klipsch Heritage speakers, the pioneer of folded horn bass in home hifi speakers.
The folded horn has the advantage of producing lots of bass with low power thus allowing you to get great sound from lower powered amps. The Klipsch speaker line also features horn loaded mids and tweets, again improving the power ratio. On speakers like the Cornwall, which has a direct radiating, front ported bass speaker and not a folded horn the horn loaded mids and tweets are also used. These speakers are 102 db/w efficent so you get a lot from a little power.
A lot of people don't like the sound and in my opinion, it is because they use the wrong amps with them.
Modern SS amps are very good at putting out high power but are not so good at low power reproduction. When a speaker can reproduce at a 100+ db/w nearly ALL of your listening is done at half a watt or less. This first watt then must MUST be clean and accurate, a thing high power amps are not really adept at.
Yes both amps are getting long in the tooth but they are working just as good now as the day I bought them and I still love the sound they make so why replace them?
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
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