Concerned about sensitive speakers w/ a51

[zullo]

I own some kef q11 speakers, a kef q10c center and some b&w surrounds which I bought locally(compared to paradigm,klipsch and some others they sounded better) Do you think the a51 would cause problems with the sensitive q11s?

Is the a51 a bit much for these type of speakers?

[blownrx7]

Never too much amp

Zuller,
You can never have too much amp. The problem is ALMOST always too little amp. When you have a too "small" amp and you try to drive it to higher listening levels, the amp goes into clipping, distortion, etc. and THAT is what kills speakers. Now, if you are truly abusive, it doesn't matter what you hook up to your speakers, you will damage them.
HTH

[Peter Nielsen]

No, but some people claim that you have to use RCA interconnects between the Halos if you have really sensitive speakers. (The XLR alledgedly add some background noise that may be heard with very sensitive speakers).

Peter

[bhuskins]

The XLR outputs have a 4 db gain...

Brent Huskins
Media Design
HTGuide Sponsor

[zullo]

Thanks guys, Im all excited....got a new in the box a51 for 2500.00 :T

[Chris D]

Zullo, congrats on the new Halo! :banana: As for sensitive speakers, I and multiple other people are running Halo equipment with Klipsch speakers, which are some of the most efficient and "sensitive" out there. Still love it.

[wildfire99]

Ditto here on the A51/21 and Klipsh (temp speakers). No hiss or problems, even with the XLR connections. The Klipsh(es) are now the weak points in the system.

[Chris D]

Wildfire, actually, that's interesting. I know of several people that had too much noise floor with Klipsch speakers and the balanced interconnects, and had to go unbalanced. So when I set up my system, I just went straight for the unbalanced interconnects from Cat Cable and didn't even bother trying the balanced. If I had access to a spare set of balanced connects, I'd do it for comparison, but I don't.

No problems, eh? You're one of only a very few people I know with that configuration.

[r100gs]

XLR's with no hiss also.

[nicholtl]

Another here with XLR's, Klipsch speakers, and zero hiss.

[Bugsy]

Ditto!

[Chris D]

r100gs, do you have Klipsch also?

nicholt, I forgot you were also doing Klipsch/XLR. Bugsy, didn't know.

[nicholtl]

You're running KLF's, if memory serves, Chris? I run RF7's.

I wonder if anyone runs Khorns with SS amps, much less Halo.

[LuckyLuke]

B&W 9nt XLR= HISS
using unbalanced now

[r100gs]

r100gs, do you have Klipsch also?

nicholt, I forgot you were also doing Klipsch/XLR. Bugsy, didn't know.

Joseph Audio RM 25's.

[Chris D]

Yup, I run KLF-30 mains, KLF-C7 center, and four KSP-S6 surrounds. Powered by A21 and A51.

I had thought Dr. Jerry was running Klipschorns powered by Halo, but he must be powering his horns with something else. (Jerry?)

[nicholtl]

Jerry has RF7's, I think, and is running Rotel with them. He wasn't happy with the Halo, and so now I think he's now auditioning higher-priced amps, such as Classe, Lexicon, Krell, and Halcro.

(might as well check out Bel Canto and PS Audio if you're going into the digital amp domain...)

[mitch57]

Jerry has RF7's, I think, and is running Rotel with them. He wasn't happy with the Halo, and so now I think he's now auditioning higher-priced amps, such as Classe, Lexicon, Krell, and Halcro.

(might as well check out Bel Canto and PS Audio if you're going into the digital amp domain...)

Actually I think Jerry has found what he is looking for in the Rotel 1077. At least for now that is.

[Chris D]

Okay, shoot... now I can't remember who the heavy-hitter is from the Klipsch forums that comes in here, too, and has Khorns.

[nicholtl]

Q-Man?

[Chris D]

Ah, methinks you are correct.

[Q-Man]

My modified Klipschorns are more revealing and real sounding then the stock Klipschorns. Sensitivity is the same 104 db as the stock Klipschorn. All my 10 channels are quiet when using RCA cables except for the aux. channels #9 & 10. I use these two channels for my front effect LaScala speakers which also have an efficiency of 104db. I get a hissing sound from these speakers that can be heard from about 8 feet away. Maybe the aux. channels arn't as clean as the others.

The more I get used to the sound of the C1 with my speakers I could almost say that the C1 is on the bright side. This may be because the C1 is more revealing then what I've used before. I'm happy with the sound of the C1, McIntosh amps, and modified Klipschorns, but with me there is always a but. If you know what I mean? I may re-design the crossovers in the speakers to attenuate the tweeter a db or two.

I don't think that I will be using balanced connectors. I take that back, I need to try one on the sub.

[Chris D]

Okay, Q-man, you're probably in a better position than most people then to give some good opinions on that kind of stuff. I can't remember--did you audition Halo amps and compare them with the McIntosh amps to go with your C1?

[Q-Man]

No I didn't Chris. I already was using the McIntosh amps, I never heard the Halo amps.

[Q-Man]

The almost bright sound that I talked about is only on some material and I'm sure it's my tweeters. I almost reduced the volume to the tweeters before I bought the C1. I alreary have a filter made up that I can put in the crossover to lower the volume of the tweeter 1.5 db. I'm now going to have to try it.

Don't get me wrong, I like the sound of the C1 and it has less noise then what I used in the past.

[cameronl]

I get hiss

I use Quad 21L's with my C2/A52 and over xlr cables I get hiss. Is there a proper fix for this yet?

thanks

CaM

[LuckyLuke]

I use Quad 21L's with my C2/A52 and over xlr cables I get hiss. Is there a proper fix for this yet?

thanks

CaM

The fix is: USE UNBALANCED RCA CABLES :M

else you might consider swapping your c2/A52 at your dealer, test it there?

[cameronl]

I want to use balanced cables though as that is what my source outputs. I'm sure I'll figure out the issue if I tweak enough.

CaM

[LuckyLuke]

I want to use balanced cables though as that is what my source outputs. I'm sure I'll figure out the issue if I tweak enough.

CaM

If you can find the tweak, please let us know
there are more people who have had the some prob. just use the search on "hiss".

[Chris D]

As I mentioned in the other thread, sources which are INPUT via balanced are still available to OUTPUT via RCA.

[cameronl]

hi there, I did what you have all suggested in these type of threads and I'm happy to report that everything is now working good for me :-)

CaM

[LuckyLuke]

hi there, I did what you have all suggested in these type of threads and I'm happy to report that everything is now working good for me :-)

CaM

but what exactly did you do?

[cameronl]

I did the following.

turned everything off (inlcuding my htpc)
set to balanced
set to ground
reconected every cable in the chain
unplugged my old rca cables completely
made sure no interconects were touching metal etc..

CaM