discussion Some home audio upgrades

[lowfat]

Amazing project - you make me feel so lazy - so have you tried a bigger amp on the sub than the wee Aiyama or Fosi or whatever that is? (maybe I missed that) - did you try that beautiful NAD amp on it?

The current amp is a Fosi but have a bigger Aiyama showing up tomorrow for the upcoming sub. But no I haven't bothered hooking the sub up the NAD. I'd just end up blowing the sub. Because of the size of the cabinet, 150W it's already near its mechanical limits.

I do have this monster to power a couple of subs for a future project. But it's actively cooled, so would need to be Ina seperate room.

 

[Babrbarossa]

Oh neat! Is that an old crown amp?

 

[lowfat]

Oh neat! Is that an old crown amp?

Yes Crown. Think it is about 20 years old. Capable of 800W @ 4ohm x 2 continuous.

 

[lowfat]

This NAD amp absolutely needs work. I am not sure what would cause the high frequency static / distortion. It isn't there all the time, actually most the time it isn't. So maybe just the soft clipping switch. I'll have to take it apart I guess and try some deoxit on it, or replace if possible. Would be nice if people were honest selling stuff instead of just passing the buck to the next person.

Anyways got the Aiyima N07 Max today. Powering it w/ a Mean Well ERP-400-48. Total cost for both is about $180. Anyways so I have it currently powering the Paradigm Studio Monitors to verify the NAD 2200 has issues. This amp should be capable of 215W x 2 @ 6ohm. Mostly it sounds pretty good. However it is absolutely apparent this doesn't have the dynamic power of the NAD, it just can't provide the power for heavy bass. But it does get pretty loud while staying clear.


Also got my order from Solen.ca, which included speaker fabric. Going w/ grey for these speakers. Replaced one so far.




Also started working up cleaning up the cabinets on the 11SE MK3s. They were in not great shape.





One driver surround is torn. Haven't ordered parts for this yet.


I've recessed the screws further on the back. Filling holes. And trying to repair the damage.

 

[Marzipan]

if you're NAD is clipping, your speakers want more power than it can give.

everything needs to be matched this day and age, for peak performance, LoL!

 

[lowfat]

if you're NAD is clipping, your speakers want more power than it can give.

everything needs to be matched this day and age, for peak performance, LoL!

It isn't clipping. It is only high frequency noise and happens even w/ no bass, which would be maybe 5W being pulled. From my googling it sounds like it could be a bad switch or maybe a cold solder joint.

 

[Marzipan]

It isn't clipping. It is only high frequency noise and happens even w/ no bass, which would be maybe 5W being pulled. From my googling it sounds like it could be a bad switch or maybe a cold solder joint.

does it still do that when connected directly, nothing in-between that could be introduce EMF?

 

[lowfat]

I cleaned the switches but no change. However I now can successfully duplicate the issue. It only happens on low volume and if it's low enough volume the channel cuts in and out. So it likely is a weak solder joint and I should be able to fix myself without too much issue.

So in a couple of days I'll have a $400 rebate credit at Visions. However you need to spend at least $400 to use it. Was looking at AVRs. And I must say all the mid-range options kind of such. Yamaha's room correction sucks on newer models. Time alignment is not very precise. And the EQ options suck, so I couldn't even manually adjust myself to correct.

So looked at other brands, and unless you are dropping $2500+ to get the option to use Dirac or the top tier Audyssey, you still get crappy room correction.

So it really seems my only solution is to use external processors, like the DSPs I use for car audio. Which means I need a reciever with multi channel preouts. So back to Yamaha, the Aventege RX-A4A for $1500 currently, is the cheapest solution I can see. Then I'd need amplifiers for the other channels. Thankfully I have an old Denon AVR that still accepts analog 7.1. So on theory I could go new Yamaha AVR -> DSP -> NAD 2200 / DENON / sub amps.

 

[Marzipan]

I cleaned the switches but no change. However I now can successfully duplicate the issue. It only happens on low volume and if it's low enough volume the channel cuts in and out. So it likely is a weak solder joint and I should be able to fix myself without too much issue.

So in a couple of days I'll have a $400 rebate credit at Visions. However you need to spend at least $400 to use it. Was looking at AVRs. And I must say all the mid-range options kind of such. Yamaha's room correction sucks on newer models. Time alignment is not very precise. And the EQ options suck, so I couldn't even manually adjust myself to correct.

So looked at other brands, and unless you are dropping $2500+ to get the option to use Dirac or the top tier Audyssey, you still get crappy room correction.

So it really seems my only solution is to use external processors, like the DSPs I use for car audio. Which means I need a reciever with multi channel preouts. So back to Yamaha, the Aventege RX-A4A for $1500 currently, is the cheapest solution I can see. Then I'd need amplifiers for the other channels. Thankfully I have an old Denon AVR that still accepts analog 7.1. So on theory I could go new Yamaha AVR -> DSP -> NAD 2200 / DENON / sub amps.

sounds like channel imbalance...common at low volume levels. iFi gear, which is el primo lvl, is known to have that annoyance.

 

[Izerous]

@lowfat their rebate policies are the rebate cannot exceed 50% of the purchase. $400 credit must be used on $800+ purchase.

All purchases made on January 1, 2010 or later (current up to today's date), have a minimum purchase requirement equal to double
the value of the rebate. (The rebate can not exceed 50% of the total amount of the invoice that it is being redeemed on before
taxes. Ex. A $50 rebate must be used on a $100 purchase or greater before tax.)

As an aside so I don't forget I like to set calendar reminders as if you don't make the claim request in time they do expire.