Audiophiles hifi appreciation thread old and new

I would have thought for ease of level control you’d want an amp per frequency band rather than per speaker.

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Yeah, the levels are controlled in the DSP software so I can just leave the amps alone when they’re set. I will go for the amp per frequency band though because then I can connect up my 2 power amps (using the Toppings just as dacs) which don’t match, to see what that does. SS to the woofers and valves to the horns.

I think you have lots of permutations and tinkering ahead! Trying the Toppings as amps or dacs, L/R v frequency, where the sub cut off should be in the dsp etc..

Who knows what will sound best! Really interesting.. Keep us posted.. I'm really interested how the mismatched pricey amps fare against the chi-fi

I wonder if the new hifi paradigm is to spend all your cash on speakers, then drive with multiple chi fi amps, fed with cheap DAC and mini dsp

That’s part of what I’m hoping to find out. There’s the school of thought that there’s no perceptible difference between any digital devices up to the dac, also that dacs are so similar that you may as well buy the best value unit with the features you want, class D amps are pretty much transparent, so the only thing giving character to your sound is the speakers.

If that’s the case I’ll likely get rid of most of my home kit, get that Denon just-add-speakers streaming amp I linked to up thread and for the big rig at the shop look at installing all those mini boxes inside the speaker cabinets for a fully active setup. Or fuck all that off for a pair of OTP actives.

Speaking of which, how do I get all 5 low voltage boxes to run off 1 transformer with 1 plug? I think I’ve seen it done with guitar pedal boards and the like.

Sounds like you need a pedal board power supply. You want fully isolated (discrete tranformer per output) or you can get a lot of noise. Pedal Power, voodoo Lab etc are good. Harley Benton (home brand of German music compayThomann) do a really cheap one

https://www.thomann.de/gb/harley_benton_powerplant_junior.htm

All 9 v though. For more power or a variety of voltages you’ll need spend ££

Nice one thanks. I’ll check the power requirements when it’s all here.

There seems to be an element of hifi bullshit about the streaming part of the equation. As far as I can tell anything that delivers the 0s and 1s will do. Any dither will be dealt with by the DAC.
The DACs seem to all use the same basic chips and the Chinese guys seem to have started using decent power supplies.
The class D amps seem to provide clean power for a fraction of the cost of conventional class A amps from the usual suspects.

Add miniDSP and room correction..

Can't wait for the chinese manufacturers to figure out speakers!

spend all your cash on speakers, then drive with multiple chi fi amps, fed with cheap DAC and mini dsp

If you use digital-input Class D amps, you don't even need a DAC

I’ve got my eye on a Hypex Ncore amp for the reasons above. Like the founder of Quad said: the best amplifier is a wire with gain. Looking at the frequency response graphs of Hypex, Icepower etc amps, that seems to be what we’ve actually got to now.

Are you looking at diy or pre built?

These units are almost certainly less than the cost of the amplifier board, connectors and a niceish case, so probably pre-built.

Think Nord Acoustics used to do an amp based around the same board for a grand or so, seems a lot to pay for a nice case.

That's the same guy I was thinking of! His mono blocks seem like willy waving overkill but I think they could probably drive anything

Yeah, I can't see myself every needing more than 75w PC. I'm running the Tannoys with a 12w class D now and as far as I can tell it's fine. I've been warned that the best way to kill a speaker is underpowered solid state amps though, hence the thought to upgrade. Might use the little class D for bi-amping a la StevePeel.

Would be fun to try as you’ve got the mini DSP already. Only thing is with the analog 2x4 there’s not enough outputs for it to control the sub which is why I went with the nanodigi 2x8 even though it means having to use a DAC on each output. The miniDSP product range is a bit frustrating I’ve found.

Sticking 2 of those amp modules you linked to in each of your speakers would be killer!

Sub actually has a high pass filter so I could just split the signal before the DSP, or after and split the LF line-out before it goes to the Hypex amp. Not ideal as I couldn't tweak the sub in miniDSP, but it'd work. Once it's dialled in I guess it would be fine.

edit: but then no DSP on the sub, which isn't ideal.

Yeah, I was thinking if there are any differences between your two amps (whatever you use), it's got to be better to have that on both sides of your stereo pair otherwise there could be some weird imaging going on.

I will go for the amp per frequency band though because [they] don’t match

Yes, obvs. I was assuming two identical stereo power amps (or better still 4 identical mono amps 🙂)

FWIW, all the sample Bi-amp wiring diagrams on teh internetz seem to show a band per amp box rather than the channel per amp box that I've been using for decades, so you at least have the majority on your side even without the mismatched amps.

Before I go to eBay or similar is there any interest in the following that I have to move on?

• Dynaudio Audience 52 standmount speakers . These are absolutely fantastic , but I'm not using them . Need a fair bit of power from an amp to do them justice
  
• Cyrus 2 amplifier with PSX power supply
  
• Apple TV v1. Boxed and never used . Can be jailbroken and used for all sorts of other purposes .
  
  

Kit is in Manchester, but I can post. All except the Cyrus amp has original packaging . The amp will be expensive to post as the psx weighs a ton.

If there is any interest I'll get pics and prices up.

Hmm. What finish are the 52s?

Are they the SE version? And what would you want for em?

They're the Maple finish . Not the se version. Looking online most have Been offered around the £300 mark. So I'll say £280 plus p'n'p.

They really do sound great to my ears, but they no longer fit with the rest of my setup and it's a shame to have them boxed up not being used.

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