completely puzzled !!!

[lpv]

I should mention - mac's audio midi setup: 96khz, 24 bit [ early 2011 model allows up to 96khz]

 

[Baldrick1]

...I would stronglty suggest you audition rotel ra-11 before spending money... rotel produce really clinical sound.. lots of midtones and lack of bass.. cold sound...

Hi lpv

I have to diagree with you in terms of what you say about the Rotel 'sound'...yes, more clinical but I would not say either 'really clinical' or 'lots of mid tones and lack of bass'. I am running the same setup as you had and find the whole ensemble very nicely balanced...just the right amount of detail and bass...which the Q300s convey superbly...and in my opinion the Rotel is a better amp (but only marginally) than the Marantz....but there is the subjective nature of HiFi.

I do very, very much agree that auditioning is required (and if the dealer is any good then the set-up to be auditioned will at least have been warmed up overnight before the session.

Good luck with yo new combo/glad that you are sorted to your satisfaction.

 

[lpv]

I much value your opinion Baldrick

I still have both amps and listening them side by side. Can't get bass on Rotel where I want it to be. As I mentioned before..

I've connected rDac to Rotel to bypass Rotel's built in Dac and Rotel's got audible worse sq to arcam rDac.

.. but then obviously we can't comment on someones different tastes...

I'm glad you happy with your set up

 

[lpv]

.. or my rotel amp - as some people suggest - is simple defective :-(

 

[SpursGator]

I am not a big fan of the Rotel sound, if that's what it is. But it is odd to have a digital input clipping an amp like that.

The big screaming detail in your original post is the 'bass and treble up to 4.' That is by far the most obvious explanation for what is happening. I had a pair of Q300s and I do not have a single negative thing to say about them - brilliant speakers for the money, as hyped. But my Q300s spent most of their time hooked up to a Naim Nait 5 (45W x 2, similar to the Rotel), and I can say that they need a lot of juice. The Nait drove them really well, but the volume knob was well into the early afternoon to get big sound out of them. That Rotel does not have the grunt of a Nait 5, and if you are pushing the amp at all, with a low-efficiency speaker like the KEFs, the Rotel's 40 watts are pumping. Then you roll the bass knob up to four. I couldn't find an impedence graph for the Q300 online but other speakers based on the Uni-Q driver have thier lowest impedence dips right around 100-200 Hz and at around 10K - basically exactly where the extra boost from the bass/treble knobs is. You are asking too much of a 40W amp.

Have you tried the old setup without the bass and treble boost? If you are saying that the bass is so bad that you have no choice, then something is wrong - especially if there are problems at low volumes. But I do present the following audiophile axiom: If you can only deal with your amp because it has bass and treble controls, it is time for a new amp. Like, sit down with your wife and declare an emergency.

 

[lpv]

it's all deicided and Rotel goes back to dealer.. marantz sounds better with it's bass and treble controls.. I wonder what people do when using amp without it? ... all records are recorded in different way/ fashinon... let's say one cd is bassy enough and the other lacking... what would you? when you re not have an option to add or reduce some bass when you need it? I wonder how some expensive amps ( without these knobs) cope with different genres, productions?

I know some very weird behaviour of a guy who - back in days - traveled to numbers of countries to get 'these cable' to get 'this componet' to his hi fi and the music he plays on his stereo never felt inspiring.. he ended up listening to classical music only because that was the only one that sounded good on his eq.. I dont even remember what was it, but there was only one knob on his amp, volume..

 

[Baldrick1]

Glad to see that you have come to some conclusion regarding your conundrum. Hopefully that is the right choice...for you.

I could answer your question on tone controls (having een one who had to have them and now am quite happy to keep them switched off, etc.) but I won't...for fear of starting a polemic.

Suffice to say that it is all dow to the ears and what the individual is looking for in terms of sound.

 

[ID.]

... all records are recorded in different way/ fashinon...

Well youi've kind of answered your own question. The recording engineers have recorded it in a certain way because that is how they/the artist want it to sound. Besides. Often not using or having tone controls means a shorter signal path meaning you get a cleaner signal. i.e. more hi fidelity. Which is why some believe purist amps shouldn't have them (flat earthers?)

I find most tone controls to be pretty crude and not even that effective in removing bass boom due to the listening room. You might as well start using an equalizer in the chain because tone controls don't give enough fine control to allow you to, for example, make one track a bit warmer, while only boosting lower bass in another track to give it more punch.

At the end of the day, you should feel free to listen in whatever way gives you the most enjoyment. For me it usually involves no tone controls or bypassing them.

 

[lpv]

... and now I'm really tempted to audition good mid range amp ( like Cyrus 8Dac or Roksan Caspian M2 the ones without tone control ) on my speakers and hear what the hype is ... I'll do it when I've got a chance and share my impressions with you