Newbie

[Shammy1]

Hi all, This is the first audio forum that I have joined even though I have been collecting audio equipment for years. Looks like a good bunch here.
I look forward to being here and learning as my jump into the digital world has me asking a few questions. I am 99% 2 ch. as the family uses the HT more. Mike

[Feanor]

Hi all, This is the first audio forum that I have joined even though I have been collecting audio equipment for years. Looks like a good bunch here.
I look forward to being here and learning as my jump into the digital world has me asking a few questions. I am 99% 2 ch. as the family uses the HT more. Mike
Hi, Shammy1, and welcome to AR Forums.

There lots of people here interested in 2 channel as well as lot interested in HT. Also, there are quite a few interested in digital audio. So bring on you questions & comments.

What equipment do you use nowadays?

[poppachubby]

Welcome...

[Shammy1]

Thanks for the welcome.
I am a audio hack at best, having limited budget and space. Having to share the audio room with the family room but I enjoy good sound and cranking it up without having to answer to any audiophile criteria.
My gear consists of Krell pre/pro, Bryston proceed amps, M&K speakers, Rotel cd, and some other Adcom and Tandberg stuff.
I don't know a thing about dac's and now that I have jumped into the I-pod world I could use some help. Think I will do that in the digital forum though. Thanks again.

[poppachubby]

My gear consists of Krell pre/pro, Bryston proceed amps, M&K speakers, Rotel cd, and some other Adcom and Tandberg stuff.


Sounds pretty "audiophile" to me. Nice list.


I don't know a thing about dac's and now that I have jumped into the I-pod world I could use some help. Think I will do that in the digital forum though. Thanks again.

There's less to know than you think. Plenty of knowledgable types on this site. One DAC that's making waves is the Grant Fidelity Tube dac-09. For $300 shipped, it does more than your typical dac, and through a tube stage none the less.

Check it out: http://www.grantfidelity.com/site/Grant_Fidelity_Tube_DAC-09

[Shammy1]

O.K. , here goes the first question. Please be gentle on me, other than simple amp, preamp stuff I get lost easy. Santa brought me the Wadia I-pod transport for christmas since I found the convenience of the I-pod. On my Krell 7.1 Showcase preamp I keep on reading about a dac, does this preamp actually have one inboard that I can use or am I misunderstanding something. I know that to use the Wadia to its fullest I do need a dac and do understand what they do but I am not sure if I already have one. I am not against buying an outboard one but would like to know my options and evaluate them as I go.
I hope this wasn't to dumb a question.

[Mr Peabody]

Yes, the Krell Showcase has a DAC. That's what decodes most anything plugged into your digital inputs, DVD, Blu-ray, CD via digital, by the way the Showcase will probably blow away your Rotel. I'm not real familiar with the Wadia but I do understand it needs a DAC, you should be able to plug it right into the Showcase via optical or coaxial. Try running a digital connection from your Rotel to the Showcase if you haven't yet.

Welcome to the group. Yeah right, Krell, Bryston, some budget :)

[Shammy1]

Great news, so the only hook up is the single rca jack which is digital out to digital in.
Thanks, Mike

[Mr Peabody]

Great news, so the only hook up is the single rca jack which is digital out to digital in.
Thanks, Mike

Correct. You are welcome

[Shammy1]

Well all I can say is wow, I now have the Wadia I-pod transport properly hooked in through the dac and not just plugged in with the interconnects. I am still listening but the difference right off the bat was very pleasing. What I noticed first was the crystal clear tight impact from the subs , but I must say everything sounded fantastic. Need to do a side by side with the cd but at least its a close comparison now. I never thought getting my daughters old I-pod could be this much fun. Next mission is to get rid of that rats nest of old cables and clean things up. Thanks again.

[Mr Peabody]

Your are welcome. You have some nice gear, might as well get all you can out of it :)

[dean777]

Hi there all...

I dont know if am donig this in the right spot but?? Iv never been on a forum before so this is all new .. This well and my new passion for audio..

At this time I have a pair of b&w 640 picked these up for 350 euro..To much??

Anyway whantam needing to know is if these speakers are any good to you out there what type of amp would you use with them??

Denon pma-1560, Marantz PM7000 ?? Do you have any ideas, And also what about mission like the Mission M35I floor speakers??

Thank you all so much for the help and am realy looking forward to read what you all have to say >> Dean

[Mr Peabody]

The B&W are decent speakers, I don't know enough about them to say if you paid too much, don't know the conversion rate to Euros either. :)

I personally would look for a bit more musical amp from the likes of Creek, NAD, Cambridge Audio, Roksan or even Rotel.

Welcome to the forum. Usually you will get more input by starting a new thread.

[dean777]

mr peabody thak you for your answer, Yes am in the netherlands and here everything is spendy>>>>> I wish at times like this I was back home where as I see it dosent coast all that much for a decent pair of speakers..Amp ext... Iv been reading that the amps Iv been looking at coast only about 200us and here they whant all 275 or higher .. coversion is 200us is 140 euro and 275 euro is us 392 us.. So you see 350 in the us will buy you??? Am sure more than it will here sorry for complaning but it just gets me somtimes >>Well thank you and Am going to have to do the thred thing like you said .. Dean

[Mr Peabody]

Are you just looking for something cheap? What amps are available to you? NAD starts out really cheap but the smaller integrated amps may not be very powerful. Good speakers come out of your part of the world. I like some of the Metal from there as well, Nightwish, Tristania/Sirenia etc.

[LeRoy]

I think most of the time I have heard the B&W speakers they are usually paired up with Rotel or Macintosh amplification. since you already have the B&W speakers then you might want to consider the Rotel since its not as pricey as the Macintosh stuff.

Of course there are many, many other amp possibilities so you may also want to consider brands such as Marantz, Rega, and Belles.

Happy researching and shopping. Good luck with your selections.

LeRoy

[philhh]

Hi Dean, I owned a pair of the B&W DM640 speakers in the early '90's. I believe I was told that the Kevlar midrange came from their 800 series? I remember being very pleased with them. I had them hooked up to a Sumo 9 plus Class A (60wpc) amplifier at the time, which was plenty. I don't recall being thrilled by the depth of the soundstage, though I believe this was perhaps more a shortcoming of my preamp at the time. I sold the speakers a few years later due to upgrade-itis and almost immediately regretted it.

[philhh]

Hi Shammy1,

Welcome! I'm a newbie here as well. Which Wadia transport do you have? The 170i or 171i? I'm curious how you had it connected prior to the digital out to the Krell? I was under the impression that neither had an onboard DAC, so if you had it running through the L/R interconnects what DAC would it have used? Just the one built in to the iPod?

I just set up an Apple TV system in lieu of an iPod dock, but may well consider this iPod dock as well to provide additional connectivity.

Thanks!

-Phil

[Shammy1]

Yes, originally I had it hooked in with the interconnects like any other source and it used the I-pod dac. This was pretty much the same sound as running rca's to the headphone pin on the I-pod itself, horrible sound. The transport I have is the Wadia I170 and with the help here I have it hooked in properly with a dac, the one in the Krell. The sound that comes from the I-pod when docked in the Wadia is exceptional, the Wadia completely bypass the I-pod dac and directs it to another dac of your choice. From what I have read Wadia is the only company that Apple has allowed to access there bit stream and completely bypass there internal dac, I was very impressed with the quality of sound. Anyone not familiar with Wadia can do a search and see that they are on the cutting edge of digital, of course this comes at a price.
The I171 takes things further, especially if you have a I-phone and look to go wireless, I barely have a regular cell phone and don't answer it when it rings anyway :frown2: so thats not for me. This I-pod thing is a bit new to me so the I170 is all I really need.
If theres anything else I can tell you about the Wadia just let me know.

[Mr Peabody]

Hey you Krell guys, www.spearitsound.com has a Krell 280cd used for $899.00. I saw it yesterday but haven't been back to see if it's still there. This hooked to your gear via XLR will yield some quality powerful sound. The 280cd originally was $3250.00.