The ask Tin about audio thread

[Tin]

Bob - I'm thinking of bringing one of my turntables up from the basement to hook up to my surround sound receiver. Any reasonably priced phone phono pre-amps you'd recommend?

Oh shit sorry I didnt even catch this post. The Rolls phono pres are good low cost units. If you wanna sling some solder theres some nice tubed phono pres out there you could build for under $100. Check out the DIYTube Budgie.

[Marc@AutoLavish]

Tin, I've been looking for some floor-standing speakers for a home audio set-up. Something that is easily driven as I'm not going for audiophile quality but rather "enthusiast" quality I suppose. I won't be running lossless files and the majority of work would be TV/Blu Ray/Music (MP3). Budget of around $300. It's hard to tell what to look into, especially looking at older speakers as I don't know anything. I already have a polk audio sub and pair of polk bookshelfs to go with that I've had for some time, and I'm on the verge of just getting a pair of polk's M70's if I can't make up my mind as to what would be better.
Any advice/recommendations?

[Tin]

Klipsch KG4s would be very good. Very efficient, great price, and they have that classic Klipsch sound. I had their bigger brothers, the Fortes, and they were some of the best speakers I had. Theyre pretty darn close to audiophile quality, and a bargain . Klipsch is in a whole different league compared to Polk. The Klipsch will definitely be easier to drive, theyll sound cleaner, and theyll put out more bass. I tend to avoid subwoofers, as they dont integrate well unless youre using more than one. Besides, KG4s will go lower than nearly any subwoofer youd find for under $300, you wouldnt even need one. Theres lots of good stuff out there cheap, just gotta look for it. Ill say, I only have about $150 into my big Electro Voices, they sound great, and to my ears sound better than anything Ive owned thus far. For me to get speakers of this sound and quality new, Id be out many times that amount.

[ShadowRuleZ]

I'll have to work on pictures, I actually have more in this box than I thought.

I've got a couple that say RCA Victor. One has the number 5U4 and the letter G under it. Another two have 6F6 with a G. Some without glass that are 6SQ7, 6SA7, 6SG7 and 6R7. Another glass one that is 6SK7. Two brand new ones from westinghouse that are 6En4 and 6KM6.

There are probably about 20 more smaller ones that I'll have to try and inventory if you think there's a reason to do so. They're all loose, the only ones in the boxes are the westinghouse ones. Most of them are marked made in the USA.

Thanks for any help you can provide!

[sofa king]

I always did like a nice pair of tubes...

[suggtt48116]

Ive always loved Grado headphones. Theyre very easy to drive, whereas most other headphones are more a difficult load and really benefit from a headphone amp. Grados will benefit from a standalone amp as well, but the end result wont be as apparent as it would with your Sennheisers. Grados are all hand made in America, and the prices are very reasonable. You can get a pair of SR-60s for somehting like $70, which sound quite nice even though theyre the budget headphone out of their line. If you have a few hundred to spend, the SR-325is is hard to beat. http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo...mber=GRSR325IS Grados arent closed headphones, so the people around will definitely hear what youre listening to. The benefit is that open-back headphones offer a much more realistic sound, as the drivers inside the cans have more room to breathe. In your budget, the SR-80i is very nice http://www.audioadvisor.com/prodinfo.asp?number=GRSR80I. I buy from Audio Advisor alot, theyre right up in Grand Rapids....so you know youll get it fast. As far as the EQ settings go, presets never quite work out right. There are far too many variables involved in what the end result will be. All headphones are voiced differently, so the preset you choose will sound good through the guys headphones that set it. The key to setting an EQ is to turn all of them down to the minimum, then...starting at the treble, slowly turn it up until it starts to sound good. Work your way from the trble to the bass, slowly adjusting each one until the sound fills out and becomes balanced.

Grados are great! I've got a pair of the SR-60's that I bought at Overture audio in Ann Arbor.

[Marc@AutoLavish]

Klipsch KG4s would be very good. Very efficient, great price, and they have that classic Klipsch sound. I had their bigger brothers, the Fortes, and they were some of the best speakers I had. Theyre pretty darn close to audiophile quality, and a bargain . Klipsch is in a whole different league compared to Polk. The Klipsch will definitely be easier to drive, theyll sound cleaner, and theyll put out more bass. I tend to avoid subwoofers, as they dont integrate well unless youre using more than one. Besides, KG4s will go lower than nearly any subwoofer youd find for under $300, you wouldnt even need one. Theres lots of good stuff out there cheap, just gotta look for it. Ill say, I only have about $150 into my big Electro Voices, they sound great, and to my ears sound better than anything Ive owned thus far. For me to get speakers of this sound and quality new, Id be out many times that amount.

Great info. How do you feel about the Hersey speakers? I seem to keep stumbling across threads on them or seeing them for sale, but with their response range and price, I'm guessing they're more aimed at having a full set-up with multiple subs. Is this accurate thinking? Anything you could tell me about them would be appreciated.
http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/ele/2775671103.html

[Birdie2000]

Large Advents are what you want . 10" high excursion woofer, sealed cabs, and a 3" fried egg tweeter. CVs are nice, but far too many people want way too much for them. Not that theyre not any good, but you dont get very much for the current asking prices. The Large Advents are where the funs at. The do have a very smooth sound, and plenty of bass. The drawback is that youre going to need some beefy power to drive them, as theyre rather inefficient. Any vintage receiver over 50WPC should be plenty good. If you see a pair with "blown woofers", pick them up, cuz they should be very cheap. Most people think the woofer is blown, when its actually the foam surrounds are dry rotted. New surrounds cost ~$15 and about an hour of your time to repair.

Heres the New Large Advent



and the Original Large Advent



I wish you wouldve posted this a couple weeks ago, just got rid of some .

Have you by chance seen any of these around lately? Been keeping my eyes open but nothing even remotely affordable. Really jonesing for some new garage speakers

[sofa king]

http://detroit.craigslist.org/mcb/ele/2775671103.html

I personally would go with the KG4’s over the Heresy’s. I have no experience with either of these, but from what I have heard others say, seems like the Heresy’s fall short with the low end and good bass. The speakers are all really good, but I think of the Heresy’s like an old man, and the KG4’s like a younger man.
I’ve got a set of Forte II’s that I have had for a bit now, and they seem to make everything sound really good. They’re bigger than the KG4’s though, and still seems to get a decent amount of $$$. I think KG4’s can be had for a good price and you can get a lot of use from them without issue, check around for 4.2’s as well.

[Marc@AutoLavish]

Thanks Sofa King and that makes sense. I might even have to lurk around for some Forte's...