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Carbonated
11-25-2004, 10:36 AM
Being new to audio, I recently (6 months ago) purchased a starter system from a local audio store. I bought the Linn Classic and a pair of Snell K-7 speakers at the advice of the salesman. I have the system set up in my office (small room) and listen to classical. I noticed that I have to turn the dial up quite a ways to get any sound and then the bass is not very noticeble.

I told a friend recently about my dilema and when he checked out the system specs he thought it was not such a good match (but he is not sure). The amp is rated at 75 watts at 4 OHMS and the speakers need a minimum 100 watts @ 8 ohms to drive them (87 dba efficiency)according to the literature . He thought either I should get a more powerful amp or a speaker more in line with the receiver (like the Linn Kan). Did I get bad advice at the audio store? I feel I was taken advantage of because of my ignorance. Please give me some advice as I don't know if my friend is correct in his thinking or not.

Thanks in advance and Happy Thanksgiving!

Jimmy C
11-25-2004, 11:14 AM
Being new to audio, I recently (6 months ago) purchased a starter system from a local audio store. I bought the Linn Classic and a pair of Snell K-7 speakers at the advice of the salesman. I have the system set up in my office (small room) and listen to classical. I noticed that I have to turn the dial up quite a ways to get any sound and then the bass is not very noticeble.

I told a friend recently about my dilema and when he checked out the system specs he thought it was not such a good match (but he is not sure). The amp is rated at 75 watts at 4 OHMS and the speakers need a minimum 100 watts @ 8 ohms to drive them (87 dba efficiency)according to the literature . He thought either I should get a more powerful amp or a speaker more in line with the receiver (like the Linn Kan). Did I get bad advice at the audio store? I feel I was taken advantage of because of my ignorance. Please give me some advice as I don't know if my friend is correct in his thinking or not.

Thanks in advance and Happy Thanksgiving!

...is probably the maximum sustained power that you can feed 'em... not the minimum they need.

The Snells seem to be of average sensitivity, your amp is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 WPC at 8 ohms. I'm not familiar with the Linn stuff, they should be at least "good", if not better. Sometimes one company's 100 WPC will seem weaker than a high-end 30 WPC. Again, not familiar with it, so I can't really comment - just don't get too tied up in specs.

Have you played with speaker placement? Closer to corners will give more bass. Same for your seating - more bass would be perceived sitting on the wall, as opposed to the listening chair in the middle of the room. Since the room is small, you are probably sitting near the back wall (or is that "front"?).

Maybe the speakers (or the amp) are indeed bass-light, but I would experiment with placement.

Pat D
11-25-2004, 12:12 PM
Being new to audio, I recently (6 months ago) purchased a starter system from a local audio store. I bought the Linn Classic and a pair of Snell K-7 speakers at the advice of the salesman. I have the system set up in my office (small room) and listen to classical. I noticed that I have to turn the dial up quite a ways to get any sound and then the bass is not very noticeble.

I told a friend recently about my dilema and when he checked out the system specs he thought it was not such a good match (but he is not sure). The amp is rated at 75 watts at 4 OHMS and the speakers need a minimum 100 watts @ 8 ohms to drive them (87 dba efficiency)according to the literature . He thought either I should get a more powerful amp or a speaker more in line with the receiver (like the Linn Kan). Did I get bad advice at the audio store? I feel I was taken advantage of because of my ignorance. Please give me some advice as I don't know if my friend is correct in his thinking or not.

Thanks in advance and Happy Thanksgiving!
Well, I can't determine just which amplifier you have, but lets assume it's a 50 watt amplifier into 8 ohms. That's close enough. That's about 17 dBw, which is 17 decibels above 1 watt. You have speakers that haavea sensitivity of 87 dB, so the amplifier should be able to drive them to about 104 dB peaks at 1 meter distance, maybe a little more depending on its peak power capabilities. I would think that should be loud enough for a small space in an office.

The power handling specs for the speakers seem to me rather generous for a speaker with a 5.25" woofer, but what do I know? Anyway, their spec is based on use in a home theatre. You're not using them for home theatre and I imagine the Linn amplifier should be quite adequate.

http://www.snellacoustics.com/K7Monitor.htm

With small speakers (they are rated for a low frequency cut-off of 50 Hz), I wouldn't expect deep bass, although 50 Hz should be reasonably satisfactory for a lot of music. Maybe you need a subwoofer.

If you can achieve the sound levels you desire, there's no need to worry about the position of the volume control. There are a number of factors which determine how much power the amp will put out besides the widely varying input signal from the CDP or whatever. Tone controls don't all have the same characteristics. Then CDPs and tape decks, etc., don't all have the same output with the same CDs and tapes; the input sensitivity of your preamp and amp are also factors, as is the sensitivity of the speakers and their impedance curve. If you can turn up the volume loud enough for your needs, you really have no problem.

Mr Peabody
11-25-2004, 01:05 PM
I don't think you were taken advantage of, the Linn piece is very nice and will drive 4 ohm speakers that aren't very efficient. The dealer in my town that carried Linn drove Dynaudio all the time. I've heard some Snell towers that I thought were very good but I am not really familiar with them. They have a good reputation. I am currently looking for a bookshelf for 2 channel full range as well and I am finding that many are unbalanced in terms of the mids and highs drowning out the bass because they are designed for HT and a sub more so than 2 channel full range. Have you tried some cd's with bass content, a good deal of classical I've heard don't have much bass. It's so basic I hate to mention it but you said you were a newbie, are your speakers in phase? Red on the amp to red on the speaker (+ to +/- to -) and same with black? If not. your woofers cancel out each other and you definitely have a lack of bass, being in phase is crucial. A speaker I'd recommend would be the Dynaudio Audience 42 or 52, depending on room and budget. In my opinion Dynaudio has the best bass response of any brand of speakers I've heard regardless of price or range. Also keep in mind that British amps tend to have a very fast punchy bass, detailed but not booming or rumbling. So it also may be what you are used to. If you are used to a murky boom of a receiver the response of the Linn may seem lean. If this is the case listen carefully to a string bass at the detail and how you can hear each note clearly. Try an acoustic jazz piece and see what you think. The Klassik should have you reveling in good sounds. If everything is set up properly and you still aren't happy see if the dealer will allow you to trade the Snell's for another brand.

topspeed
11-25-2004, 10:27 PM
Your friend has no clue so disregard his comments. Both the Linn and Snell are very good components from companies with well earned hi-end track records. As others have pointed out, you should have plenty of power so it's doubtful it's the amp. More then likely, it's either your placement of the speakers in the room or your source material. Follow Jimmy's advice and tweak your speaker positioning. Also, if you are listening nearfield (close to the speakers), you may have to place them farther back to allow the sound to coalesce (it depends on their type of crossover).

It sounds like you've got the makings for a nice system. Good luck.

RGA
11-25-2004, 11:05 PM
There may be a problem with the amplifier or the speakers - double check your wiring and make sure they're not wired out of phase(backwards). red to red black to black - it matters and not all wiring is very clear. It usually affects bass rather significantly

So wire check first - take amp to store and connect to set of speakers - any set and see if the amp is fine - if so then something is up with the speakers likely.

50hz is pretty fair - but like many speakers I've been hearing lately with pretty decent specs is that they don;t sound or feel like they;re putting out bass when they should be at decent volume levels - it's as if speakers are claiming 40hz and meet it at 40db but at 90db can't seem to get under 100. I have not measured them - but there are a number of standmounts that claim 40hz and below that would get thumped upside the head everywhich way but loose by my Wharfedales - there IS NO comparison in the low registers - and the Wharfedales have a spec of 40hz - you should feel as if the bass is kicking you in the chest. Most standmounts don't have a hope in hell of doing that.

So it really depends on how much bass you desire - a true 50hz at good level should be pretty significant for a lot of music and much of classical music.

Geoffcin
11-26-2004, 06:49 AM
Being new to audio, I recently (6 months ago) purchased a starter system from a local audio store. I bought the Linn Classic and a pair of Snell K-7 speakers at the advice of the salesman. I have the system set up in my office (small room) and listen to classical. I noticed that I have to turn the dial up quite a ways to get any sound and then the bass is not very noticeble.

I told a friend recently about my dilema and when he checked out the system specs he thought it was not such a good match (but he is not sure). The amp is rated at 75 watts at 4 OHMS and the speakers need a minimum 100 watts @ 8 ohms to drive them (87 dba efficiency)according to the literature . He thought either I should get a more powerful amp or a speaker more in line with the receiver (like the Linn Kan). Did I get bad advice at the audio store? I feel I was taken advantage of because of my ignorance. Please give me some advice as I don't know if my friend is correct in his thinking or not.

Thanks in advance and Happy Thanksgiving!

Incorrectly hooked up. The Linn should be able to drive your speakers to concert levels. I have no idea why Snell reccomends 100 watt minimum, but that rating is totally absurd for a speaker with a 87db watt rating.