Home audiophile advice

[EdLancer]

You seem to know your stuff firegate, the Bel Cantos is the ultimate T-Amp, but you can get one just as good soundinh from Red Wine Audio. They run on rechargable SLA battery for ultimate quiet, no AC distortion.



Red Wine Audio

 

[35TH LE]

Can someone explain to me how a powersource of only 9-15watts is sufficient to power.... well... anything. :nixweiss



I used to compete in car audio back in the day... IASCA events 301-600 watt class. This was pre- D Class amp days, I used A/Bs for my subs and mids/highs. I like to think I have a good grasp on how audio works... but Im just baffled as to how these things work with such minimal power. Then again I always overpowered my speakers with heavy EQ/tuning.



I just dont understand how one of those things would even slightly power my Sony dual 8" towers or even my 6" Polk Audio bookshelves.

 

[firegate]

Can someone explain to me how a powersource of only 9-15watts is sufficient to power.... well... anything. :nixweiss



I used to compete in car audio back in the day... IASCA events 301-600 watt class. This was pre- D Class amp days, I used A/Bs for my subs and mids/highs. I like to think I have a good grasp on how audio works... but Im just baffled as to how these things work with such minimal power. Then again I always overpowered my speakers with heavy EQ/tuning.



I just dont understand how one of those things would even slightly power my Sony dual 8" towers or even my 6" Polk Audio bookshelves.

When/where did you compete? I ran IASCA 601+ a few years ago when they still had comps on the west coast.



Anyway, regarding 15w driving a speaker, a lot of home speakers are more efficient then your average set of mobile audio speakers. That's not to say that 15w will drive everything, but you can definitely find speakers that are efficient enough to be driven at reasonable levels with that amount of power. It also comes down to how loud you listen - doubling the power only adds another 3db before clipping, so if you have an efficient set of speakers and don't really crank them very often, you can get away with using that amount of power.

 

[35TH LE]

When/where did you compete? I ran IASCA 601+ a few years ago when they still had comps on the west coast.



Anyway, regarding 15w driving a speaker, a lot of home speakers are more efficient then your average set of mobile audio speakers. That's not to say that 15w will drive everything, but you can definitely find speakers that are efficient enough to be driven at reasonable levels with that amount of power. It also comes down to how loud you listen - doubling the power only adds another 3db before clipping, so if you have an efficient set of speakers and don't really crank them very often, you can get away with using that amount of power.

Ahh.. I see.... so these amps wouldnt neccessarily work for the speakers I already have, like a tower containing multiple speakers. It would be best to dedicate one of those amps for each pair... like one of those T-amps for a set of mid bass, another T-amp for the midrange set, and another T-amp for the set of highs. Am I on the right track? Im deffinately intrigued by those T class amps.



As for IASCA... that was 97-98, around that time. I tried to hit as many NorCal shows as I could, however I was always frustrated by the fact that most shows were SoCal. I did pretty well, never anything less then 2nd and took 1st at my first show ever, SQ+ show. However.. I was bitten by the "speed bug" shortly after doing a handfull of shows, and the car audio took a back seat to horsepower, see my sig.

 

[EdLancer]

The thing with T-Amps is that you need very effcient speakers 90dB+ to get the full potential. A 30 watt T-Amp will drive both your floor stand speakers with no problems, a seperate one for each speaker is a plus. We are not talking about humugous amount of bass that will shake your walls, the T-Amps are revered by audiophiles by the way they sound and the soundstage they project, we are talking about refinement of sound/music rather than loudness, sounds or audio that was not heard with your regular hi-fi system that higher end gear are able to pick-up, I can hear sounds on some of my CDs like the people breathing and fingers rubbing on the instruments that I am not able to hear on my large NAD system that the TA-10 can pick-up, that is telling you something about these little wonders to stimulate your hearing sense like a good wine would for your tasting sense, its like David and Goliath and David is the giant killer !



I just found out about another 100watt T-Amp that not too expensive, the "Little-Tube T-100" at $259us its a steal:

 

[Autoeng]

I have a couple of entry-level Denon A/V receivers (I liked the first so much, I bought a second when I ran across a great deal on a refurb unit). The one thing the Denon offered that wasn't available on other units in that price range is video up-conversion . . . All of the video inputs are routed to a single component output, so there's only one connection from the receiver to your television. Composite and S-Video inputs are all switched via the receiver and routed to the component output. Very convenient, and it cuts down on the rat's nest of wires a bit.



IMO, look for a unit that has up-conversion, and as many component and digital audio inputs as you can get (as well as looking for sound that's meets the demands of your ears, of course).



My (non-audiophile) $0.02,

Tort

I'd appreciate a little more information on up-conversion please. I would think that the weakest link in your gear limits up-conversion. For example, your VCR is just a single RCA video. Would up-converting it to a component really have any effect on the pic quality? Having purchased the Onkyo TXSR504 now I'm a little concerned that I have limited my ability to grow and in general, enjoy my purchase. I hope that I can run all my vid outs to the receiver and then out to the TV via S-cable (as the TV is my limiting gear, accepting S-cable as it's highest entry - no component). I wouldn't call that up-conversion but perhaps my terminology is incorrect as I see that is what you refer to it as. The spec sheets actully list up-conversion as a feature, one which the 504 doesn't support. I'll actually be degrading the pic quality from the DVD as it is component out but I can't afford the upgrade to the TV right now. The 504 does not offer up-conversion so now I'm second guessing my decision as when I do upgrade the TV to one with component in I won't be able to up-convert my S-cable out from my DVR. Well, if it turns out that I made the wrong decision I guess I can return the Onkyo and get the Denon 1507 but I don't think it supports up-conversion either.



Thanks

 

[Autoeng]

Audophile = separates, however with that being said Denon, Onkyo and Yamaha are my vote. I have a Denon receiver in my dedicated theater and have been blown away with the sound quality. I didn't want to drop a ton of money up front but wanted something with good clean power. In that price range I'd stick to one of the brands you've listed and check out the features to assist with your decision. Here's a shot of my setup.

That is sweet <drooling>.

 

[TortoiseAWD]

I'd appreciate a little more information on up-conversion please. I would think that the weakest link in your gear limits up-conversion. For example, your VCR is just a single RCA video. Would up-converting it to a component really have any effect on the pic quality?

As I understand it, the purpose isn't to improve picture quality; rather, it allows your A/V receiver to do all the switching to a single TV input (in my setup,the component input). In your case, where S-Video is the highest quality input available on your TV, you'd need a receiver capable of routing all inputs to an S-Video out. I'm pretty sure my receiver only does up-conversion to the component output . . . I'm not sure if there's a receiver out there that will switch output to S-Video or not.



Up-conversion is mostly a convenience for me. There's only one set of cables from the receiver to the TV, and the rest of the cabling is between the components and the receiver.



Tort

 

[Autoeng]

Thanks for the answer. That is what I understand it to be as well (at least now I do). The only thing that is going to get me is my VCR with is RCA cable only. Everything else is, at least, S-cable. I haven't rented a VCR tape in a long time so maybe it's time for it to fall out of the collection like the cassette player did a few years back or try to find a new one with S-cable. I have a few tapes which now need to be converted to DVD though.

 

[jsantoro]

As I understand it, the purpose isn't to improve picture quality; rather, it allows your A/V receiver to do all the switching to a single TV input (in my setup,the component input). In your case, where S-Video is the highest quality input available on your TV, you'd need a receiver capable of routing all inputs to an S-Video out. I'm pretty sure my receiver only does up-conversion to the component output . . . I'm not sure if there's a receiver out there that will switch output to S-Video or not.



Up-conversion is mostly a convenience for me. There's only one set of cables from the receiver to the TV, and the rest of the cabling is between the components and the receiver.



Tort

He is spot on. You may get some enhancement in pic quality but it will be minimal. you will need a scaler etc, to really do any serious enhancement. The main benefit is convenience. My Denon upconverts to Component but many of the newer units will upconvert via HDMI which is the way to go for future expansion. You will, however, pay more for this functionality. You should be able to pick up an older upconversion (via Component) for short $$ if you look around.