Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

they are massive. i had them and the cheviots in the front room the other day at the same time and it was a bit bonkers. i had to fess up to not selling the cheviots, too.

Really enjoying the IIILZ. Plenty of time to sit at home listening to them. Weirdly I’m very much enjoying things like Chris by Christine and the Queens and Blood Orange. Big 80s synths sound great.

My wife put a Kevin Morby record on this morning, I could have sworn there was a piano in the room. The way they reproduce reverb and decay is pretty special.

depends on what you want?

To power 2 speakers using chromecast audio? using standard audio cables

with optical in and MOAR power

I like the Q5 Pro (i have 2) with optical in and slim design

excellent! glad they are working out.

i haven't heard the 3lzs, but the eatons are supposed to be the pick of the bunch for 10"s and the jump up to 12" is massive - you need to get a shot of the bigger ones...

To power 2 speakers (prob my old tannoy mercury m1s) and mostly run off Chromecast or apple TV.

Trying to work out what of the many small amp options will work best. Maybe it doesn't matter that much...

Edit: just realised I hadn't checked audio out on Apple TV which is optical! That prob limits things a bit...

Q5 Pro has optical in.

not sure 2 sources can share one optical in though

Thanks - saw that. Although just also seen that newer apple TVs don't have the optical out anymore - and mine is coming new from Apple tomorrow so assume this means mine. We'll see...

To be honest apple TV is mostly for zwift where I'd have my own music anyway, perhaps it doesn't matter and I'd always be using the chromecast

...after some deliberation, ordered something way leftfield that may not do exactly what I'd specced for but looks cool. Allo Vana on its way....

Sweet! Well happy with my Allo gear.

What are the dangers with running amps of a higher power rating than your speakers? Giving some consideration to buying a pair of Crown XLS 1002 power amps, the YouTube hype kit of the moment, bridged as monoblocks to run those Klipsch Heresys, plus a subwoofer if there’s any money left when work returns to normal.

All reports say that those speakers work well with minimal power due to their 99dB sensitivity but I have 50wpc driving them and I feel like they have a lot left to give with more oomph. I’m turning it up beyond 12 o’clock regularly and the sound improves a lot.

So will I kill them or will it be so unbearably loud before danger sets in that I’m unlikely to get there?

Higher power is (broadly) better for speakers.

It's clipping that damages speakers, when the amp runs out of current. Less likely to happen with higher power amps.

Gotcha. So when I’m turning my current amp up and it’s not making much difference to the volume then that’s getting into clipping? It’s a term I’ve heard a lot but don’t know when it’s happening. Is there an audible tell-tale?

Bear in mind that PA amps use fans for cooling so will not be totally silent in operation, as a hifi amp would.

If the amp is clipping severely, you'll hear distortion. Best not to let it get to that place.

The Klipsch should go plenty loud enough without needing to drive them that hard.

My experience is that speakers sound better with more power behind them, but not everyone agrees.

I’m certainly inclined to agree in this case. I’ll look forward to giving it a go.

99db/w/m is very high sensitivity.

99db is loud

Remember that an increase in 10w is a doubling of loudness.

You could drive them to uncomfortable levels with a handful of watts.

Consumer amp ratings are mostly about marketing and dick waving.

Amp power = headroom. For the same volume each amp is putting out the same power and your speakers will start sounding shite before you get anywhere near damaging them from overpowering.

Yep. Agree about willy waving.

I have 50w per channel with 87dB and they go very loud without clipping in a fairly normal room.

99dB gives so many more options. I’d be looking to go down in watts and try some quality class a.

Also the amp I’m using is approaching 20 years old so might be in need of some component refreshing.

Hi,
I asked a while ago but I'll try again.
Any recommendations for a £100-ish cartridge?

The new audio Technica atvm95(?) are supposed to be great value

Thanks I'll have a look at that.
It's to replace an Audio Technica AT100e that got damaged in storage

Make sure you are feeding the inputs enough. Your speakers are very sensitive so it seems more possible that you're underpowering the inputs.

I've got the Shibata version of the ATVM95 but I still like the Paratrace version of the AT95e which I have on another deck. Not sure if the price is the same but I think I paid £115 a couple of years ago for the paratrace. That or the Nagaoka MP-110 is a very nice balanced cart.