Energy Owners Thread - Page 1467

Originally Posted by losservatore 

Is there any inexpressive way to add a warmer sound to music with a cheap vacuum tube device?

Originally Posted by losservatore 

Is there any inexpressive way to add a warmer sound to music with a cheap vacuum tube device?

Originally Posted by batt50 

http://www.napaacoustic.com/Electronics.html

Not as cheap as the one cel linked. I don't have any experience with this product. Just trying to give you a few options.

Originally Posted by cel4145 


How about a Little Dot MK II Tube headphone amp/preamplifier? You'd have to run it from an analog source, but could be fun to hook up to a CD player.

I have the Little Dot I+ and it has a really nice sound (but does not have a line out). Very well made device. Email David if you have any questions. He was extremely helpful when I ordered from him.

The thing that got me most excited is that I am now certain these speakers are actually manufactured by Energy. I noted previously that the speakers looked nearly identical to the Energy Take Classic 5.1 system. Other than the striking visual similarities and the identical technical specifications, the manual has a typo where they forgot to change "Energy" to "Monoprice." It reads "CONNECTING YOUR ENERGY SUBWOOFER." Also, I downloaded the owner's manual from Energy and the language is identical to that in the Monoprice owner's manual with just a few exceptions.

Originally Posted by Fears4Ears 

Anybody care to jump on this new eBay listing? If my V2.3's weren't on their way here I would be sorely tempted. I would imagine you could cherry pick and still make a profit if you sold the rest:


Energy Veritas Custom In-Wall 7.1 Surround Sound

Starting bid: $499.99

Buy It Now: $799.99

Shipping: $123.13

Item location: Addison, Texas

Item # 261165959279


Includes

2 Fronts- Energy V2.2WM

1 Center- Energy V2.2HM

4 Surr Spkrs- Energy V2.1WM

All Matching, Paintable Mounting Brackets

Energy ESW-V8 Sub

OMG that's a KILLER deal! Do you realize what the RETAIL was on those things!?!

Problem is, the seller has a feedback rating of 0 but eBay has buyer protection so it might be fine. The seller made a huge mistake by only showing a pic of one speaker so this may languish but I swear somebody should just hit that "Buy it Now" button NOW!

BTW: If anybody has enough money and sense to grab these, I would be interested in the center and maybe a coupla surrounds...just saying.

Originally Posted by cel4145 

How about a Little Dot MK II Tube headphone amp/preamplifier? You'd have to run it from an analog source, but could be fun to hook up to a CD player.

I have the Little Dot I+ and it has a really nice sound (but does not have a line out). Very well made device. Email David if you have any questions. He was extremely helpful when I ordered from him.

Originally Posted by erhurd 

Great tool, hernanu; thanks for sharing!

Originally Posted by neutro 

That chart is great, I always liked it. And +1 on the sound effects. I'd really want a DVD full of samples that show what you're hearing exactly. E.g. "you're about to see a scene with lots of upper bass around 100 Hz" or "this scene contains VLFE down to 15 Hz", etc. Tones doesn't really cut it. You can try to select famous scenes and find waterfall graphs and all but it's more tedious than educative.

As for what mid-bass is , I missed that question, and I don't think there are very formal definitions. As shown in the chart, "bass" is generally defined as anything below 200 Hz. Anything below 20 Hz is basically not audible and are vibrations, so sometimes this is called "ultra low frequencies". Dividing in octaves from that 20 Hz limit, I guess you could say 20-40 Hz is "low bass", 40-80 Hz is mid-bass, and 80-160 Hz is "upper bass".

To have a clear idea how "low" is mid-bass, consider that the lowest note that can be played on an electric bass is about 40 Hz. So when you cross a subwoofer at 80 Hz, what the sub plays when listening to electric bass is the mid-bass. So for most non-electronic music, if your sub is good down to a solid 35-40 Hz, you're covered, so to speak. However there are lots of content in movies, games, and electronic music that go way below 40 Hz. As for instruments, about only the pipe organ can produce notes down to the 20 Hz region (some pipe organs can go even lower).

Originally Posted by glantern30 

Interesting thanks for this!!! the bic pl 200 claims it can reach 22hz which I doubt it's probably more like 30 hz. Which there lies the question should I get a better sub?? lol which I probably won't in the near future . From what I've read at this point I'd be better off bumping up to the thousand dollar range for a sub and right now it's not in the plans lol

Originally Posted by Fears4Ears 

This is describing the DF version of the AKG 240's ONLY. Very rare and specialized. The problem is with the 600 Ohm Impedence. Not many amps will drive them with much authority. The Little Dot MK III will. I'm still looking though since I'd also like to be able to drive a pair of V-Mini's with the same amp from my laptop. I'd be very interested in what you end up with!

Originally Posted by durhambird 

Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice on setting up my new system. Just have a few wires to hide. The RC 10's for surrounds and EXL S10 sub are off camera.

Originally Posted by glantern30 

Interesting thanks for this!!! the bic pl 200 claims it can reach 22hz which I doubt it's probably more like 30 hz. Which there lies the question should I get a better sub?? lol which I probably won't in the near future . From what I've read at this point I'd be better off bumping up to the thousand dollar range for a sub and right now it's not in the plans lol

Originally Posted by jjl4004 

I also have a PL-200 and have been feeling the same thing. I think that the next step up should be in the $700+ range. I'm eying the usual ID options currently. I was recently looking for a SPL chart for the PL-200 and was provided with this:
It's a great tool and you can directly compare some other options at higher pricepoints to see what/how much you'd be gaining, measurement-wise. I've read around and the person doing the testing is respected and it seems like he is using the best method for comparing "apples to apples" with the subs listed/tested.

Originally Posted by glantern30 

Interesting thanks for this!!! the bic pl 200 claims it can reach 22hz which I doubt it's probably more like 30 hz. Which there lies the question should I get a better sub?? lol which I probably won't in the near future . From what I've read at this point I'd be better off bumping up to the thousand dollar range for a sub and right now it's not in the plans lol

Originally Posted by jjl4004 

I also have a PL-200 and have been feeling the same thing. I think that the next step up should be in the $700+ range. I'm eying the usual ID options currently.

Originally Posted by durhambird 

Just wanted to thank everyone for the advice on setting up my new system. Just have a few wires to hide. The RC 10's for surrounds and EXL S10 sub are off camera.

Originally Posted by caper_1 

Oh hell yeah. I can't wait until the time is right to unbox my LCR, and import by 70s from another room. Still a ways down the road. Looks great there bud. Easy way to hide wires is pop off baseboard trim, run wires along bottom of drywall, drill a small hole in the trim, re-install trim. I have my living room ripped apart right now, I think I may do that instead of install ugly gang boxes/jacks above the trim.
LOL @ 22hz. At what? -20db ? Go with ID or DIY. I have done 2 DIY last year, and don't regret it. Still have another kit in the box.
As I told the other guy, DIY is always an option. My first wood project was a 24" cube with 2 passive radiators. Second was a 20" cube, and went a lot faster. next is a 18" box with 10" driver and 2 passives.

Originally Posted by neutro 

You say the SR7000 doesn't use bass management. I'm not familiar with that piece of equipment. Does it have a crossover to send bass to the sub? Probably, if it has small / large speaker settings. The crossover frequency may be fixed though (e.g. 100 Hz).

What I suspect is simply that on some content, there is much more bass than other, so that the signal sent to the sub is stronger and turn it on earlier. If the sub has stereo line-level inputs (L/R) and if you're currently using only one of them, you could add a Y connector. This will simply add 3 dB to the input and thus boost it a bit. You can compensate by reducing the sub gain slightly, but it should help getting the sub fired up.

The other workaround would be to simply leave it on at all times, which is not really a huge problem unless you hear a hiss or you find a led annoying.

Originally Posted by neutro 

As you can see from the data-bass link provided by jjl4004, 22 Hz is a bit of a stretch for the PL200 considering 20 Hz is about 26 dB from its peak output Data-bass mention a 30 Hz tuning, so anyway, below 30 Hz, you're operating below tuning, which is sub-optimal. That sub is not high-end by any means but the PL200 and F12 are frequently cited as the best-bang-for-the-buck choices at the $200-300 price point.

Yes you'd be better with a $1000 sub. You'd be even better with a $2000 sub. That is not really the question to ask If you *want* to upgrade your sub, and decide on a rough budget, then we'll talk
I think there are very interesting contenders at the $500 price point (SVS PB-1000 and SB-1000; Hsu VTF-2) ; next step is closer to $800 (SVS NSD series, PowerSoundAudio XS-15 and XV-15, Epik Empire, Rhtymik F12, Hsu VTF-3), then between $1200 and $1500 (SVS Plus series, Rhythmik FV15-HP, PowerSoundAudio XS-30 and XV-30, etc.). DIY will be a nicer bang for the buck if you don't have to buy the tools required and have the craftmanship.

Note that you're not required to go up a single step, if you have the interest and budget. It will be cheaper on the long run. However, IMHO having gone from the ESW-C8 (huh) to an SB12 to dual PC12-Plus, the return on investment is diminishing, depending on your listening habits and the size of the room. The SB12, in my small living room, could go below 20 Hz already, but had a limited output for high-volume listening. Sonically, it was about 80-90% there. The dual PC12 are quite more powerful but at low volumes the difference is not night and day as it was when going from the ESW-C8 to the SB12. The difference in extension and sheer output is really present at higher volumes (and honestly, this is where having a higher-end sub becomes really fun).
How come I have about the same setup but yours looks much nicer... (you could use a better sub though )

Originally Posted by cel4145 

There aren't that many headphone amp/speaker amp combos. If you want the best sound you can get from both, you need a separate amp for the V-Minis. Look at the Emotiva mini-X a-100 for an amp. Smaller than a traditional AVR.

Originally Posted by Szeppelin75 

So i finally got my replacement tweeter for.myVeritas 5.2C and i could tell.the difference right away. It sounds like it should. Great dispersion. Clear voices. Question is shiuld i run Audessey again now or wait for.the 50 hour break in?

Originally Posted by batpig 

@ durhambird -- if your total budget is only going to be $225 i would just forget about it and enjoy what you have. The next real significant upgrade would probably be $500 Canadian (SVS PB-1000).

EDIT : may be worth checking if PartsExpress delivers to Canada. Their Dayton subs are inexpensive but solid performers, a pair of Dayton Sub 1200 would be a sweet upgrade if shipping didn't kill it for you.