Arcam One and Kenwood KA-3500 compatibility

bdmueller

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Jul 16, 2015
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Hi guys, new poster here. I recently purchased a pair of Arcam One speakers from someone local, and a used Kenwood KA-3500 on eBay to power it. Everything's hooked up and the speakers are too quiet. At max volume they are OK loudness to fill the room for normal listening, but the bass is sloppy and there is a little bit of distortion in the highs, and I'm afraid the amp will start clipping and damage the speakers. At half volume they are whisper quiet.

The Arcam Ones use 20-100w under normal operating conditions, with a frequency range of 25 Hz - 20Hz, passive impedance modulus is 8 ohms nominal.

The Kenwood KA-3500 is rated at 40 watts per channel. Frequency response 20 Hz to 20 kHz. Total harmonic distortion: 0.2%. Damping factor: 50. Input sensitivity: 2.5mV (MM), 150mV (line). Signal to noise ratio: 76dB (MM), 90dB (line).

I'm currently running Spotify from my iPad 2 Air as the source, and a basic 3.5mm to RCA converter to connect to the amp's AUX input. I have the volume on the iPad set to 100% as well.

The speakers are hooked up to the A output (not A + B ), everything is wired properly with a good gauge copper insulated cable, so no problem there.

My initial thought is that there are three possible problems:

(1) The speakers are just not very efficient. I'm reluctant to believe this is the case, because the seller demo'ed them for me and they were plenty loud and clear.

(2) The amplifier is not powerful enough for the speakers. Given that the speakers are compatible with amps up to 100 watts, the 40 watts from the Kenwood might be too low.

(3) I need to get a pre-amp or a DAC to convert from the iPad's lightning port.

What do you guys think is the most likely explanation, and what is the best fix?

Cheers!

Bryan
 

bdmueller

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Jul 16, 2015
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In case anyone was wondering, I fixed the problem by switching from the AUX input to the Tape monitor input. I think it has something to do with the AUX input not being sentitive enough, or accepting a different voltage from what the iPad puts out.
 

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