Official A/V Thread

FAT$TACKS said:

Does anyone here have experience with old school Bang & Olufsen systems?

I got a line on some stuff but not sure if it is worth messing with.

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Meh....

They've made some cool looking stuff. I've always considered them more of lifestyle oriented brand. Other than the aesthetics, I have never had a desire to own any of their products, new or vintage. It's certainly not junk and there are plenty of B&O collectors. The B&O audio and video products do perform well, but in my opinion, could be even better if less attention was given to how they look. I've looked at all the products at the Atlanta B&O dealer, and didn't feel that the price to performance ratio was that great; I left unimpressed overall.

I listened to quite a bit of B&O stuff back in the day...none of it ever impressed me. Like Neo Ash said, too much form, not enough function.

Weird thing happened at work. I accepted this friend request from a girl, a really attractive one BTW, and the first thing I noticed she posted was that she was trying to decide to get a Project Debut or a Rega turntable. So I posted and told her both were great, but I hear a lot of good things about the Project Debut. She never responded to the message, and I saw her at work earlier this week, and she stopped me. I asked her if she picked up a table and she said she got the Debut. I then asked her if she also picked up some good speakers and an AMP, and she said "yeah, I got some POLK speakers". I said "I have POLK speakers too", and she said "wait, what kind of AMP do you have?", and I said "I have a Marantz PM4004" and she said "I have a Marantz now too!!" and tapped me on the shoulder. We started going on about vinyl, and it turns out she is a huge punk rock fan, and I am too, and that we shop at the same record store right by my house. I was about to say "damn, we should hang out", but she beat me to it and asked me to come over and bring some punk albums. I have a lot of punk so it should fun.

Anyway, my unrelated story aside. She said she was having some issues. She said...

1. her left speaker is not working

2. When she turns up her amp high, the sound cuts out. She mentioned specifically the bass.

She said she was having issues with the banana clips, so her issue may be threading the wire in them, but the other issue I have no idea because I have never encountered it.

I also check her inputs with the clips, and obviously make sure the balance isn't all the way on one side. But idea on the sound cutting out issue would be nice. She just got all this from best buy, so it's probably best to troubleshoot ASAP in case there is some sort of hardware issue.

greedostick said:

Anyway, my unrelated story aside. She said she was having some issues. She said...

1. her left speaker is not working

2. When she turns up her amp high, the sound cuts out. She mentioned specifically the bass.

She said she was having issues with the banana clips, so her issue may be threading the wire in them, but the other issue I have no idea because I have never encountered it.

I also check her inputs with the clips, and obviously make sure the balance isn't all the way on one side. But idea on the sound cutting out issue would be nice. She just got all this from best buy, so it's probably best to troubleshoot ASAP in case there is some sort of hardware issue.

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1) - Swap the left and right speakers. This will help rule out a bad speaker, channel, cable...etc. If that checks out, move to the source; swap the right and left source output cables. You are looking to see if the problem "moves" when doing these steps.

2) - Always start with the basics, make sure the speaker cables have a proper solid connection and there are no stray strands of wire. Does the sound cut out immediately or does it take some time and high volumes for the problem to occur? It could be a protection circuit that is triggered when the amp get too hot or clips. With that said, is there adequate room for ventilation and air circulation around the unit? Some equipment will have a switch on the rear to override the protection/clipping circuit. However, I wouldn't disable that feature if it does exist on her equipment as it doesn't address the real problem. If the cooling and cables are OK, it could be that the amplifier is being pushed to its limits. There are a couple of solutions, turning down the volume or a more powerful amplifier to meet her volume level requirements. To make a very rough generalization, volume controls are more or less at unity gain somewhere around 1 o'clock. Again, this is a broad generalization and varies from one manufacturer to another. Typically after the volume goes past unity gain there is a negative impact on the sound quality, greater distortion, the potential for clipping, and other not so desirable stuff. The subject of clipping is more complex than most people realize...I'll spare everyone from a wall of text describing the details of current, amp rail voltages..etc...etc and the ways clipping can damage and also not damage speakers based on various scenarios. Wow...I got way too technical.



P.S. - Here's some turntable p0rn for your friend; one of my recently acquired cartridges, that fuels my addiction. Soon to be replaced with yet another change/upgrade/swap in the endless search for audio nirvana.

Delicious, I wish I could get one of their carts that they make for Fern & Roby

Been MIA for a while. Much to do work and life, but also I seem to have found myself getting deeper and deeper down a certain rabbit hole with my pal Ash partially to blame. keke

Got this in tonight with a component or two more in the works.

Teddy! Welcome back brotha!

I'm curious if anyone here messes with any of the high resolution audio formats?

I picked up one of these a while back. Sony High-Resolution Audio HDD player.



http://www.sony.com/electronics/audio-components/hap-s1

Anyhow, a quick rundown of what it is. Basically, it has a hard drive where you can load your music onto and if you have a tablet or smart phone you can use it as a touch screen remote. It plays all those new (to me) HD audio formats.

It can go wifi or hard wire into your network. and has a bunch of other features I've still not gotten around to fully exploring.


It only pushes 40w per channel, so not like it is a huge power house. Anyhow, I've been using it with some old Sony SS-M3 speakers, I picked up late last year.

Basically it makes one hell of a bookshelf system. The more I use it the more I like, it.

I've wandered off topic, though. The point is I've never really explored the high resolution audio formats.

Is it that big of a deal? I'm going to download an album or two maybe and see for myself, but I'm just curious if anyone else is into it or if it is just an audio gimmick to get people to buy the same music yet again.

As it stands, all my music now it just ripped into flac from my CD's and seems pretty good to me as is.

FAT$TACKS said:

I'm curious if anyone here messes with any of the high resolution audio formats?

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Messed with, yes. However, I'm not to the point of switching to digital rips. I will likely never totally give up physical media. Teddy has been pushing me toward Tidal for streaming. I tried it out a few weeks ago at an audiophile friends house. It is very good, and I can see myself using it for casual listening. But for critical listening, I still want real media.

Neo Ash said:

Messed with, yes. However, I'm not to the point of switching to digital rips. I will likely never totally give up physical media. Teddy has been pushing me toward Tidal for streaming. I tried it out a few weeks ago at an audiophile friends house. It is very good, and I can see myself using it for casual listening. But for critical listening, I still want real media.

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TBH, the jury is still out with Tidal and I. Content arrangement and access is a bit, well, laid out and organized weirdly compared to any other service out there (Spotify). The only true reason I chose Tidal is they are the only service that offers HiFi lossless or "FLAC" audio streaming at the moment.

I'll be honest, I'm not sure if my old ass ears can tell much of a difference vs. Spotify's premium service which offers 320 kbps compressed audio. Tidal does offer a 2nd tier at $10 less/mo. which is the same quality as Spotify's top tier, though. That said, I'm not sure if it's worth the premium but considering I got a month free and I've only paid for one month so far, I'll give it some more time. I do dig the native Tidal app Oppo released for their BDB-103/5... pretty convenient, at least for us Oppo owners.

Alright, i need some opinions. I am looking for some decent bookshelf speakers around the $500 range. Reason being is I know my family got me the AT-120 for my birthday and they are giving it to me today, so I am going to look into some speakers for my living room. I live in a smaller townhouse, so the room they will be in is a furnished 12x10 room. I would prefer something with a decent range, however I know $500 is essentially starter material for something worthwhile. It will get me into the door, and once I move into a larger, less occupied area, I can invest in some quality speakers.

I have been looking around and have seen the Audioengine A5+, Cambridge Aero 2, JBL L820 and Klipsch RB51 named on numerous sites. I am not sure if they are just hipster review sites or not, so I'd rather ask some pros here. Any leads is appreciated, as I don't want to rush into something that I will not enjoy.

@ggallegos1 - What's your other associated equipment?

I was going to just have the TT run through the included preamp into the speakers. No receiver, no other use for the speakers except maybe ot use on the TV, then a receiver would be considered but not at this time.

ggallegos1 said:

I was going to just have the TT run through the included preamp into the speakers. No receiver, no other use for the speakers except maybe ot use on the TV, then a receiver would be considered but not at this time.

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TT -> Phono preamp -> Speakers = Doesn't work without powered speakers.

I would say don't limit yourself to just powered speakers, but that's just my personal opinion.

You need someway to power whatever speakers you end up with. You'll need an integrated amplifier or receiver at a minimum. Of what you listed only the Audioengines have a built in amp. I can't speak to the quality of the Audioengine stuff personally, however, I have heard good things about them. If I were you and wanted a nice active speaker, I would save up for a nice used pair of Genelecs. They make fantastic sounding products with quality built in amps. I once had the opportunity to try out a full 7.1 surround sound setup with all active Genelecs, the big ones, and it was pretty awesome.

Neo Ash said:

TT -> Phono preamp -> Speakers = Doesn't work without powered speakers.

I would say don't limit yourself to just powered speakers, but that's just my personal opinion.

You need someway to power whatever speakers you end up with. You'll need an integrated amplifier or receiver at a minimum. Of what you listed only the Audioengines have a built in amp. I can't speak to the quality of the Audioengine stuff personally, however, I have heard good things about them. If I were you and wanted a nice active speaker, I would save up for a nice used pair of Genelecs. They make fantastic sounding products with quality built in amps. I once had the opportunity to try out a full 7.1 surround sound setup with all active Genelecs, the big ones, and it was pretty awesome.

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I was planning on the active speaker route for space reasons, trying to keep the most condensed system available for now as I'm still wading into the hobby. If I can find some of those Genelecs for a good price, I'll do so.

I've been kind of skeptical about speaker cables and how much difference they can really make. I had been using some nice thick gauge copper wire and just out of curiosity I had been looking at stuff with prices upwards of $500 and while they look cool (nordost, black cat cable) I questioned how well they'd really perform.

About a week ago I gave into my curiosity and got a pair of Zu Audio Libtec cables from their ebay account for an absolute steal (1/10th of the cost) and I have to say at that price it was well justified. They have made quite the difference over all but mainly in the bottom end. I look forward to seeing if the 'break in" period is bs or not now. Its also got me wondering if I should change the jumpers that came with my speakers, my speakers are technically in B&Ws 800 series so I would assume that they'd be pretty decent if they're the same ones that come with their flagship speaks.

Kiel said:

I've been kind of skeptical about speaker cables and how much difference they can really make.

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I've gone back and forth on this for a long since I got my first (and I still own) and now discontinued B&W bookshelf fronts/center/surrounds back in the early 2000s. I went speaker cable crazy too and got everything wired with Kimber 8VS which I still have for the fronts/center.

However, as time has gone on and with some of the other cabling and different set-ups I've tested over the years and once I kinda got over the "snake oil" sales and marketing pitches out there, the sound differences I noted were negligible at best as long as the ends were properly terminated... or hell, bare wire never hurt anyone.

If you're bored, check this out. http://www.empiricalaudio.com/computer-audio/audio-faqs/short-versus-long-cables

The long and short of it is, as long as it's the proper gauge and not an extremely long run of cable, our human ears probably won't notice any difference. Some good info there on interconnects as well.

I know Ash is a big fan, but check out www.anticables.com as well. Solid copper core construction, no unnecessary shielding and/or insulation or pretty mesh sleeving... No H8 intended, your Libtecs sure do look the part and I'm sure they sound great especially at that discount.

FAT$TACKS said:

I'm curious if anyone here messes with any of the high resolution audio formats?

I picked up one of these a while back. Sony High-Resolution Audio HDD player.

View attachment 32194

http://www.sony.com/electronics/audio-components/hap-s1

Anyhow, a quick rundown of what it is. Basically, it has a hard drive where you can load your music onto and if you have a tablet or smart phone you can use it as a touch screen remote. It plays all those new (to me) HD audio formats.

It can go wifi or hard wire into your network. and has a bunch of other features I've still not gotten around to fully exploring.


It only pushes 40w per channel, so not like it is a huge power house. Anyhow, I've been using it with some old Sony SS-M3 speakers, I picked up late last year.

Basically it makes one hell of a bookshelf system. The more I use it the more I like, it.

I've wandered off topic, though. The point is I've never really explored the high resolution audio formats.

Is it that big of a deal? I'm going to download an album or two maybe and see for myself, but I'm just curious if anyone else is into it or if it is just an audio gimmick to get people to buy the same music yet again.

As it stands, all my music now it just ripped into flac from my CD's and seems pretty good to me as is.

Click to expand...

I saw Techmoan's review of this thing a few months back and it seems pretty cool. But not $1,000 cool, maybe $200 cool. I'll buy one if I ever see it in that range, lol.

ki_atsushi said:

I saw Techmoan's review of this thing a few months back and it seems pretty cool. But not $1,000 cool, maybe $200 cool. I'll buy one if I ever see it in that range, lol.

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I got it for like half price is the only reason I went ahead and picked it up. I love it. Its pretty much everything I wanted, but I'm more of a casual music guy so it works out great for me. The only down side is having to straighten out some of my music so it is tagged right to work correctly. Once you get that figured out it's pretty easy. I love using the tablet as a remote.

Kiel said:

About a week ago I gave into my curiosity and got a pair of Zu Audio Libtec cables from their ebay account for an absolute steal (1/10th of the cost) and I have to say at that price it was well justified. They have made quite the difference over all but mainly in the bottom end. I look forward to seeing if the 'break in" period is bs or not now.

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Quick!!! Read this quickly before you go more insane!

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#introduction

It's written by former Director of Acoustic Research at McIntosh Laboratory, Inc and speaker designer. It tells the story why in the end mcintosh had to jump into marketing fad called speaker cables even everyone knew that it was bullshit. Contains lot of technical stuff but written in a way that nontechnical person should understand it.

Break in period has was invented for people who does not know basic physics to counter AB and ABX test results. When cables were blind tested or worse - different cable that used was shown - high end cables did not have any differences to lamp wire or in latter case sounded worse because of the psychological effect, cable makers had to invert mystical break in period to explain that you need to use the cable for hours before it works and thats why the test result are what they are.

And here is funny quote about the cables:

Interestingly, the New Scientists recently commented on the London Heathrow Hi Fi Show, saying that among the cables selling for up to ｣30,000 for 6 metres, they found Quad demonstrating their latest speakers to great enthusiasm. The orange cable to the speakers looked oddly familiar. When asked about it, Tony Faulkner, the recording engineer demonstrating them (who'd used the speakers as monitors while recording Saint-Saen's complete works for piano & orchestra, Gramophone's Record of the Year), said of the cables:

"Yes, they would look familiar if you have a garden. Before the show opened we went over the road to the DIY superstore and bought one of those ｣20 extension leads that Black & Decker sells for electric hedge-cutters. They are made from good, thick copper wire, look nice and sound good to me. The show's been running for three days and no one in the audience has noticed..." - New Scientist Magazine

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FAT$TACKS said:

I got it for like half price is the only reason I went ahead and picked it up. I love it. Its pretty much everything I wanted, but I'm more of a casual music guy so it works out great for me. The only down side is having to straighten out some of my music so it is tagged right to work correctly. Once you get that figured out it's pretty easy. I love using the tablet as a remote.

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The more I read about this thing, the more I want it. I will definitely be looking out for one that's priced decently.

My CDs take up too much space, so I'm thinking of getting rid of them after I rip them to flac once and for all (I've ripped them numerous times to various formats, which is a super pain when you have 300+ ). My biggest regret is going with Apple Lossless last time, since I no longer fuck with Apple Products really.

miisalo said:

Quick!!! Read this quickly before you go more insane!

http://www.roger-russell.com/wire/wire.htm#introduction

It's written by former Director of Acoustic Research at McIntosh Laboratory, Inc and speaker designer. It tells the story why in the end mcintosh had to jump into marketing fad called speaker cables even everyone knew that it was bullshit. Contains lot of technical stuff but written in a way that nontechnical person should understand it.

Break in period has was invented for people who does not know basic physics to counter AB and ABX test results. When cables were blind tested or worse - different cable that used was shown - high end cables did not have any differences to lamp wire or in latter case sounded worse because of the psychological effect, cable makers had to invert mystical break in period to explain that you need to use the cable for hours before it works and thats why the test result are what they are.

And here is funny quote about the cables:

Click to expand...

LOL@ the last portion of the article where he dives into the "audio grade" power wiring. As in, the actual romex you run from your home panel to the outlet. The only time I've ever done anything power wise was because my rig was sucking so much juice, I had to run a designated 15 amp circuit to handle the draw.

so uhh...
what do you guys think of this thing? lookswise, its cool as fuhh... dat price tho.
http://www.amazon.com/Colorfly-Pock..._UL160_SR160,160_&refRID=0GZDH8XW69F509PWEGKV

Anyone (Ash) have any experience with these? Two speakers and a receiver practically NIB for $200 sounds like a deal, but wasn't sure if they are good. Reviews online say the Cerwin-Vega AT-12 Speakers are decent, so wanted to know if I should check them out. Not too much of a fan of the woodgrain, but that wouldn't matter if they sounded good.
http://newyork.craigslist.org/fct/ele/5429181155.html

Cerwin Vega is CRAP.