Advice needed!

Collapse
This topic is closed.
X
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • javis
    Junior Member
    • Jun 2004
    • 23

    Advice needed!

    Greetings to all,
    My System!
    NAD T762 Surround Receiver
    NAD C541i CD player
    JVC XV-N5SL DVD
    Dali Suite 3.5 main fronts – Bi Wire rear terminals.
    Jensen SPX19 twin 10" sub – (Will replace soon with Velodyne SPL-1200)
    Jensen SPX 5 rears.
    My long winded question!
    Although I am quite happy with the sound of my system regarding H/T,
    2 channel stereo is what really bakes my cake.
    There’s nothing better than listening to music on a Saturday afternoon, when the rest of the family are out doing their thing. As always, volume starts out at a sedate level and inevitably within 20 minutes were pumping. Now the Dali fronts are 4 ohm, and have a sensitivity of 91.5 @ 2.83V/1m (db). They are quite detailed, have nice imaging and handle most music satisfactorily. However I am noticing a loss of all the aforementioned attributes the speakers have to offer at these high volume levels. I have set the receiver setting to Small (front) speakers allowing the sub to take care of the lower end. After some experimentation I have found that this produces the best sound results.
    Since the T762 is rated at 2 x 120W in stereo mode and my speakers can handle 200w, would I get the best out of the speakers if I eased the burden on the T762 by purchasing a stereo amp say NAD272 (150w) and used it in conjunction with the T762 (Bi Amping to the speakers) ? If so what would be the best way to set it up? Or should I look at alternative speakers?
    I would really appreciate any advice or constructive critism. And No! Turning down the volume is not an option.

    Many Thanks

    javis
  • aarsoe
    Senior Member
    • May 2004
    • 795

    #2
    Javis

    My knollegde of the Dali Suite 3.5 is somewhat limited and the same goes for the NAD receiver but I still like to offer my oppinion..

    If the speakers sound OK at lower levels and compressed and looses detail at higher volumes there are two places to look.
    First one is your amplification, and see if you have what it takes to run at high levels. However since this is a NAD and they use their softclipping, are rated at 6x100W and can drive impedances down to 2 ohm - you should be pretty ok until the amp actually closes down, also your speakers are easy driven and not known for crazy impedances, so I am pretty sure that this is not the problem.

    On the other hand there is your speakers. The Dali suite 3.5 is a budget speaker that easily could run into problems at high levels, especially since you state "pumping" music. 3 x 6.5 woofers have a limited bass response, so you could easy push them over the limit - again it all depends on how high your playing.

    So what to do? Go to your local hifi shop, see if you can borrow a power amp and do a quick evaluation to determine of it is the speakers or your amp..
    My money say's it is the speakers...

    Comment

    • javis
      Junior Member
      • Jun 2004
      • 23

      #3
      aarsoe

      Thanks for the advice.
      Although I hate to admit it, I tend to agree with you that my issue is speaker related.
      I think for most of us it starts out innocently enough, with a system that will achieve the best possible performance in keeping with the finance available at the time. Then before long we awaken the Audiophile within and the search for the Holy Grail begins. For obvious reasons each individual has a different set of criteria but the goal remains the same (a constant searching for ways to improve our hi-fi system). I personally think it’s a great condition to have; I get to communicate with genuine people like you.

      Cheers...

      Comment

      • Aussie Geoff
        Super Senior Member
        • Oct 2003
        • 1914

        #4
        Try better amplification - you'll be surprised

        Javis,

        I have heard the Dali Suite 3.5 just last weekend (they are on sale at a local hi fi store at 40% off as there is a new range out). Bottom line:
        • They are far from budget speakers and are very clean, neutral and transparent
        • Like many good speakers - they love quality high current amplification
        • Your NAD Receiver will be hitting it's limits at louder volumes, especially for bass.
        • Running them as SMALL with the better subwoofer will help quite a bit.
        • The separate amps will definitely help. Whether the NAD 150W is enough only a listening test can tell - however the separate NAD amplifiers (like 99% of other good brands) can drive a lot more current that the limited amplification in the Receiver. If not then there are lots of good 200W or more amps out there that people will be happy to advise you on...
        • If you like the Dali Suite 3.5 sound then the volume issue is fixable with better amps - if you get better speakers they will cost more and you will still need better amps - so start now with the amps.
        • Listen though - a good store will let you take the amps home to try...


        Geoff

        Comment

        • javis
          Junior Member
          • Jun 2004
          • 23

          #5
          Thats great advice Geoff,

          Indeed amplification is a sensible start.

          I'll just take this opportunity to press you a liitle with a question.
          If it were your system (and I appreciate the fact that what sounds good to you may not neccessarily sound good to me, also $ etc.) and the first on the agenda was amplification what would you do and how would you set the whole thing up so as to get the best out of the speakers for stereo and also for 5.1 channel surround.

          If you feel you can reply.

          Thanks in advance.

          Comment

          • David Meek
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Aug 2000
            • 8938

            #6
            Hi James, welcome to The Guide. :welcome:

            Not to throw a curve here, but on the amplification question, if you decide to go that way check out Audiogon. This link points you right at the amp "classifieds" section. It's a clearinghouse for used equipment, and it gives you an opportunity to buy substantially better amps for a price range than you could get new at a dealer. Admittedly, you have to be somewhat careful in yor purchase there, but the ratings on the sellers by earlier clients will show you who's good and who's not.
            .

            David - Trigger-happy HTGuide Admin

            Comment

            • aarsoe
              Senior Member
              • May 2004
              • 795

              #7
              Jarvis/Geoff

              Did not mean any offence by calling the speakers budget speakers.
              I still recommend you try a different amp before you do anything, as I dont believe the NAD is the source of your problem. The NAD may not be a mark levinson, but one great thing about NAD is that they alwayes keep control until the point of clipping- and when they do, they do it controlled...

              Anyway - try with a different amp. Remember you should not only judge the quality of the sound, but also if the image compresses at high volume. This will clearly tell you if it is amp or speaker related problems..

              Comment

              • javis
                Junior Member
                • Jun 2004
                • 23

                #8
                Thanks Guys,
                Appreciate the advise.
                And aarsoe no offence taken.
                I asked for an opinion and you gave me one. I thank you for it.

                I have decided on amplification first.
                If I run high current amplification on all channels using the NAD's pre outputs then should I ever chose to upgrade the speakers it won't be an issue.
                I am considering the Rotel RMB 1095 or the Electra Theatre which most of you will not have heard since it is manufactured to extremely high specifications by an engineer in my home town of melbourne. For every retailer that has both these units in their store they are suggesting the electra every time.
                Only a back to back Audition will clear that one up.
                Any how I will definitly keep you posted on my findings.

                Cheers!

                Comment

                Working...
                😀
                😂
                🥰
                😘
                🤢
                😎
                😞
                😡
                👍
                👎
                Searching...Please wait.
                An unexpected error was returned: 'Your submission could not be processed because you have logged in since the previous page was loaded.

                Please push the back button and reload the previous window.'
                An unexpected error was returned: 'Your submission could not be processed because the token has expired.

                Please push the back button and reload the previous window.'
                An internal error has occurred and the module cannot be displayed.
                There are no results that meet this criteria.
                Search Result for "|||"