New Finds

[luvtolisten]

Don't blame ya, not for $30. What are the buttons on the botton for?( I can't make out the wrting above them).

[dakatabg]

They are for the reverb. You see the blue display down there, the levels are to control it, they are for making echo noise like you are in a hallway! It is pretty cool option but I don't use it much!

[luvtolisten]

They are for the reverb. You see the blue display down there, the levels are to control it, they are for making echo noise like you are in a hallway! It is pretty cool option but I don't use it much!

Yes, okay, I do remember that effect. A friend of mine had it on Fisher receiver (back when Fisher was considered top notch late 60's). There was a popular song back from the 60's by the Dave Clark 5, "Anyway You Want It" which used that effect.

[dakatabg]

You mean this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1JEI79emU

[luvtolisten]

You mean this song

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1JEI79emU

That's it! DC 5 was one of my most favorite groups from the "British Invasion". Still sounds good to me. I love the way that beat comes right at you. Thanks for posting it.

[thekid]

kid, where did you get it?!? I thought my Bozak was a steal at $120. It's REALLY hard to find quality pre amps for a good price. That thing might be one of your greatest scores yet! I bet it sounds better than the Adcom...

It was a CL find.
It was just listed as a pre-amp with no other info listed.

It is always a bit of a gamble if the picture makes it look a like a score but you ask for info. Sometimes the person who does know what they have then looks it up on the web and realizes they are holding something special. Fortunately for me more people who I have got my best scores are just not that into stereo or are more interested in a sale.

[poppachubby]

It was a CL find.
It was just listed as a pre-amp with no other info listed.

It is always a bit of a gamble if the picture makes it look a like a score but you ask for info. Sometimes the person who does know what they have then looks it up on the web and realizes they are holding something special. Fortunately for me more people who I have got my best scores are just not that into stereo or are more interested in a sale.

I had this happen about a month or 2 ago. I happened onto a nice, but not the best pair of Sound Dynamics w/ stands for $50. He was renovating his living room and wanted them gone. I replied quickly and asked him to hold them til later in the day. Within an hour he had removed the ad, and replaced it with a new one...for $100.

What can ya do? At that price point my interest dropped, although I imagine he sold them no issue.

[Mr Peabody]

Wasn't the GE-1100 in the Basic line?

[thekid]

Yeah, that might turn out to be the best $10.00 you spent.

Mr.P

I think you are absolutely right!!!!!

I was only able to get about 30 minutes of listening in because we have company staying and I was told to stop hiding out in the garage.... Very preliminary impression.

I took it out to the garage system and tentaviely hooked it since they amp connection does not use the regular Right/Left designation. I guessed that the bottom cinput was for the right channel and the top was the left. Anyway the amp used was nothing special a Kenwood KM-209 and the first pair of speakers I tested it with was a pair of Genesis 10's. It was immediately apparent that this pre was doing things with these speakers I have never heard before. Crystal clear imaging at a very low volume setting. Just thinking about increasing volume added sound-extremely sensitive volume control which in the wrong hands could easily blow speakers out. The Cd I was listening to was not challenging and rather pedestrian but sounded very lively and crisp. Seemed to be very accurate and tested the full range limits of the speakers. Did not try to make the speakers do more-no distortion or shrillness even when you pushed the control levels to the extreme. One the pre took the speakers to their limits it just leveled off as if the tone controls has reached their end. I then switched over to a pair of Polk Monitor 10's which have a large passive radiator bass and this piece reached way down and brought out deep clear bass.

I need to try some other music on it and really put it through its paces. Would also like to give it a sustained listening to make sure their are no issues. I also have to find some replacement buttons. Am dying to know how it will sound in the main system but the sensitive volume control worries me. My wife has a tendency to forget how to power up the gear and starts turning knobs. If she were to turn the volume knob too high and then apply power I can see her frying my Heresy's......

[dakatabg]

Wasn't the GE-1100 in the Basic line?

I am not sure but it is top of the line EQ that Kenwood ever made!

[thekid]

Wasn't the GE-1100 in the Basic line?

I don't think so. It was matched with the Kenwood KA-1100SD which is an intergrated amp but kind of looks like an Basic M1 merged with a Basic pre and uses the Linear Direct Drive like some of the early Basic amps. I picked up an GE-1100 and a KA-1100SD along with a Nak deck and some other gear for $25 at a garage sale back in the Spring.

[poppachubby]

Mr.P

I think you are absolutely right!!!!!

I was only able to get about 30 minutes of listening in because we have company staying and I was told to stop hiding out in the garage.... Very preliminary impression.

I would trust your gut here. Your revelation sounds like the same experience with my Bozak. I'm excited for you, I know how great a difference a truly high end pre can make in voicing your system, and it sounds like you've landed on one.

I'll say it again, take some time and PLEASE compare it to the Adcom and Basic gear. I know you're unfamiliar with the Adcom, so even if it takes a month or so, report back.

Regarding the hot gain control. My EICO HF-85 has an infamously hot gain knob. I think you're quite right in considering others who may use it, forget and blow up your speakers. You will grow accustomed to using it however.

Great stuff man.

[E-Stat]

Today I grabbed another Kenwood GE-1100! I have the same one but for 30 bucks in mint condition I just couldn't pass it! I called the guy and I was the lucky one to get it! So now I have 2 of them!

Tell us you never use that grotesque correction curve.

rw

[dakatabg]

Tell us you never use that grotesque correction curve.

rw

I don't know that saying, what do you mean by that?

[Mr Peabody]

Dak, E-stat was referring to where the EQ settings were set at.

[dakatabg]

I got it now!

[poppachubby]

Tell us you never use that grotesque correction curve.

rw

Ouch Ralph.

[02audionoob]

I was quizzing Dak about the tone control settings on his Marantz, too. Some people like it a little different.

[E-Stat]

I got it now!

Not trying to be mean, but that would sound awful on any system. If the resulting response was a straight line as the lights indicate it would be one thing, but that is not how EQs work. Each boost creates a peak centered at the primary frequency with troughs on either side located 6 db, 12 db or whatever apart. Which results in a series of up and down sine waves all along the bandwidth.

rw

[dakatabg]

Not trying to be mean, but that would sound awful on any system. If the resulting response was a straight line as the lights indicate it would be one thing, but that is not how EQs work. Each boost creates a peak centered at the primary frequency with troughs on either side located 6 db, 12 db or whatever apart. Which results in a series of up and down sine waves all along the bandwidth.

rw

You are not trying to be mean and even if you are, I have you guys like friends here so I don't respond back with something bad too

I was lazy so I downloaded the picture online so that is not my original picture of my EQ. Since they are exactly the same I just got it online. I will never set up the levels like that either!

[Feanor]

Not trying to be mean, but that would sound awful on any system. If the resulting response was a straight line as the lights indicate it would be one thing, but that is not how EQs work. Each boost creates a peak centered at the primary frequency with troughs on either side located 6 db, 12 db or whatever apart. Which results in a series of up and down sine waves all along the bandwidth.

rw

You're just telling it like it is, 'Stat.

Here's what I use to correct the Minimus 7's attache to my computer. This is the Electri-Q digital equalizer, here a Foobar2000 add-in. The dots are the nominal EQ settings; the solid line the net result.

Unlike analog EQs, Electri-Q does not produce phase shifts which are inevitable in the case of analog.

[poppachubby]

From my good buddy John Micheal

[dakatabg]

Good stuff poppa. Cables upgrades are good and big improve on the system!

[E-Stat]

Here's what I use to correct the Minimus 7's attache to my computer. This is the Electri-Q digital equalizer, here a Foobar2000 add-in. The dots are the nominal EQ settings; the solid line the net result.

Now, those settings look like great corrections to tame the upper midrange/lower highs peak and supplement the tiny woofer's low end response in a linear fashion. Well done!

rw

[poppachubby]

Thanks dak, I feel I am at a place where this upgrade will make an audible difference.