Telecine Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 A couple of observations, hopefully followed by some useful suggestions: 1. You listen to music and very low levels. 2. Your room is of reasonably modest proportions, with limited ability to move your speakers well away from boundaries. 3. You prefer a warm sound. I would suggest that you consider: 1. Some relatively easy to drive standmount speakers that are happy being close to walls with good midrange. BBC monitor style speakers spring to mind. 2. A valve-based amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sounder10 Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 (edited) interesting. I saw those Chinese knockoffs at a reasonable price. Do people get a sub for those? How close are the KEF LS50s to BBCs..:? Edited March 24, 2021 by Sounder10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cope Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 11 minutes ago, Telecine said: A couple of observations, hopefully followed by some useful suggestions: 1. You listen to music and very low levels. 2. Your room is of reasonably modest proportions, with limited ability to move your speakers well away from boundaries. 3. You prefer a warm sound. I would suggest that you consider: 1. Some relatively easy to drive standmount speakers that are happy being close to walls with good midrange. BBC monitor style speakers spring to mind. 2. A valve-based amp. I think this is great advice. The ProAc DB1s in the classifieds might be a good bet. I've never personally found ProAc to be bass deficient, but almost everything will sound better with a sub. It's more that not all valve amps have the necessary outputs to run one. You could always stick to solid state and join the Sansui club. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripitaka Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 (edited) Sounder10, haha here's me starting to think you might at least get to keep one item (your amp) ...but thats now gone as well. This thread is exactly the same as every other request for help, where a progression of commenters suggest getting rid of everything you own. Please take it all in good humour. There is much good advice above - and it is all well meant - but only you can judge its value since you'll be footing the bills for all the new gear Edited March 24, 2021 by tripitaka Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sounder10 Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 I'm very much enjoying it 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup the Dafter Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 Valves and 30 year old amps. The usual... I say keep the Cambridge. In 20 years' time you won't be able to move for answers to beginners recommending the CA 840a here. Usually around now someone tells you to buy a Rega TT as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sounder10 Posted March 24, 2021 Author Share Posted March 24, 2021 I've just gone down the KEF LS50 rabbit hole....pretty cheap used for $1000. How do they pair with the CA 840a? should be plenty of power. I've read some interesting reviews of this little speaker. Tempted to try them out unless the brains trust reckons nay on them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cope Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 (edited) Haha. In fairness, I don't recommend valves or BBC monitors in 99% of cases, because the poster is typically looking for volume and detail in a room the size of my house. Not the case here. The OP seems open to anything, and I feel like @Telecine had a point about what would fit the bill. Take it as a "you might consider" rather than "all true audiophiles must". Also, the Sansui comment was mostly tongue in cheek. Really it seems like the OP's speakers are the biggest issue. Edited March 24, 2021 by twofires 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cope Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 8 hours ago, Sounder10 said: I've just gone down the KEF LS50 rabbit hole....pretty cheap used for $1000. How do they pair with the CA 840a? should be plenty of power. I've read some interesting reviews of this little speaker. Tempted to try them out unless the brains trust reckons nay on them.. Personally I always found the original LS50 a bit harsh (although I'm not in the majority there). Definitely listen before buying - I was sure I wanted a pair until I heard them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup the Dafter Posted March 24, 2021 Share Posted March 24, 2021 I've heard LS50s both sound stunning and not so good. I suspect that they are dependent on the room and setup like any other speaker. Way too many people think that because various YouTube bloggers like to sit them on the back of desks where they look good, that you can use them that way. They are really high quality small stand mount monitor speakers and should be set up with some respect. By all means try them if you've got them... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripitaka Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 21 hours ago, Sounder10 said: I'm very much enjoying it Thats good Sounder10. Here's something you could try for $50 - buy a used (obviously) Yamaha GE3 and attenuate hard at 32 and slightly at 64. If you like the sound then buy a sub to fill in below 30. What have you got to lose? Trip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sounder10 Posted March 25, 2021 Author Share Posted March 25, 2021 intriguing. another box tho... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tripitaka Posted March 25, 2021 Share Posted March 25, 2021 1 hour ago, Sounder10 said: intriguing. another box tho... Well of course you can EQ the bass for nothin', inside your PC. But the resultant signal might not the the best when/if it comes to hooking up a sub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delphi17 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 I would suggest getting a better Streamer + a DAC. PC are just too noisy to be playing music from. Something like a Bluesound Node 2i would work well for not too much money. (and if you are thinking external dac) External Dac, i think Ares 2, Chord Qutest, RME ADI 2 are very very hard to beat for their prices. I think the speaker and amps are fine for now. However speaker would be first to upgrade, the 840A are pretty good amps. I would leave the amp for last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sounder10 Posted March 26, 2021 Author Share Posted March 26, 2021 Good to know. I might perform some listening tests to see how much this influences the overall sound. Incidentally, I have been looking into room acoustics - I don't seem to experience problems to the same extent others report in their square rooms. I suspect it's because my walls are made from gyprock, which absorb bass, rather than reflect it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
delphi17 Posted March 26, 2021 Share Posted March 26, 2021 9 minutes ago, Sounder10 said: Good to know. I might perform some listening tests to see how much this influences the overall sound. Incidentally, I have been looking into room acoustics - I don't seem to experience problems to the same extent others report in their square rooms. I suspect it's because my walls are made from gyprock, which absorb bass, rather than reflect it. Or you just listen at lower volumes. It would take a lot more volume than Gybrock to absorb bass. But definitely better than brick walls. As the bass passes through the Gybrock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Eggcup the Dafter Posted March 27, 2021 Share Posted March 27, 2021 1 hour ago, Sounder10 said: Good to know. I might perform some listening tests to see how much this influences the overall sound. Incidentally, I have been looking into room acoustics - I don't seem to experience problems to the same extent others report in their square rooms. I suspect it's because my walls are made from gyprock, which absorb bass, rather than reflect it. Um. You report that you need the tea towels in the ports to stop yourself feeling nauseous when listening. I'd say that is a problem. The tea towels are probably removing a fair part of the upper bass where some of these problems will occur, and may even restrict the midrange output. I know I'm differing from everyone else here: but from where I'm sitting, you obviously have a major speaker/room mismatch. The issue for me here though is that I don't know what the tea towels are really doing. Some speakers can have their ports bunged and just get on with it If yours are like that then you're OK. Others really don't like it - but without a reference you can adapt to quite serious imbalances in the sound and not realise what's wrong or missing. It's possible you could iron out some of the issues you have with room correction, but I'm pretty certain that you need to start from a better place for that to work as well. Maybe you should try those LS50s? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sounder10 Posted March 27, 2021 Author Share Posted March 27, 2021 Yes it does seem that way. I do not hear any echoes or mudiness in my room. So in that respect it's not awful. You are correct, I'm not really placed to tell what type of compromise I have settled on. This guy reckons if you spend 2k on speakers, you ought to have spent 10k on room treatment... I don't know what the consensus is here, but food for thought anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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