aahonari said:
I wouldn't be happy with the amp in there.....can you mount the TV on the wall and put the amp on top?
BTW. It all looks very nice. :rockout:
I wouldn't be happy with the amp in there.....can you mount the TV on the wall and put the amp on top?
BTW. It all looks very nice. :rockout:
CnoEvil said:
I was afraid you'd say that. I'll see what I could do!
.... Thank you
.. The only reason that I am reluctant to move the amp is just the aesthetic aspect of the 35i looking really nice in that center compartment! Alternatively I was thinking to install two fans in the back to suck the warm air out !As for the D33 DAC, no not at the moment. I'll be in London in Septmeber, then I have access to pretty much everything. I can buy a DAC there and take it home with me.
matt49
Well-known member
aahonari said:.... Thank you
The amp does look good there.
Fans would certainly solve the heat problem, but they'd also create some noise. Even a supposedly silent fan will make noise, because all fans work by moving air at speed, so even if the mechanism is quiet, the movement of the air might be audible.
I see you have a large rug on the floor and a sofa, which is good. Do you have anything soft on the wall behind your listening position? As Cno says, plants are good.
Also it's possible you're getting some HF reflections off your coffee table. This is just one of those areas where hi-fi and the need to live a normal life tend to collide.
Matt
- Cables are contentious here, but it is my experience that they are worth trying and the 35i responded well to having an after market Power Cord. If the P/Cs are different prices, I have found the more expensive one does more good on the amp.
- If acoustic treatment is out of the question, then look at the way the room is furnished and see if tweaks can be made here (carpets, rugs, potted plants, bookcases, pillows, soft furnishings, curtains etc)......as Matt has said, photos would help get suggestions.
- My amp is in an open rack, and I would have serious reservations about putting it in any sort of enclosed cabinet.....though the whole front does get hot.
- Do you have access to Arcam's more expensive D33 DAC?
- If acoustic treatment is out of the question, then look at the way the room is furnished and see if tweaks can be made here (carpets, rugs, potted plants, bookcases, pillows, soft furnishings, curtains etc)......as Matt has said, photos would help get suggestions.
- My amp is in an open rack, and I would have serious reservations about putting it in any sort of enclosed cabinet.....though the whole front does get hot.
- Do you have access to Arcam's more expensive D33 DAC?
iceman16
Well-known member
aahonari said:CnoEvil said:
I was afraid you'd say that. I'll see what I could do!
.... Thank you
As for the D33 DAC, no not at the moment. I'll be in London in Septmeber, then I have access to pretty much everything. I can buy a DAC there and take it home with me.
Is there any chance you can also move those bookshelves somewhere in the room?
CnoEvil said:
What type of DAC do you recommend I should get? Let's cap the price at 2000 pounds!
Is there any chance you can also move those bookshelves somewhere in the room?
No. though I don't see your intention as to why you want me to move my bookshelves!
No. though I don't see your intention as to why you want me to move my bookshelves!
iceman16
Well-known member
aahonari said:
IME. My speakers do sound a lot better when placed with clearance from furnitures and walls. Bass will become much cleaner and with less boom. Hope this helps.
aahonari said:
- My first choice would be the Linn Majik DS, which is streamer rather than a DAC
- You could probably get the Arcam D33 for that.
- Bel Canto 2.5 DAC
- The Chord Hugo is getting a lot of love at the moment, which interestingly runs off a rechargable battery
- Nad M51
- Ayre QB-9 DSD (a bit over budget)
- Musical Fidelity M6 DAC
- Naim DAC
- Metrum Acoustics HEX DAC (NOS) - a bit over budget as well.
Above are a shopping list of very good DACs. This allows you to do your own research on prices and reviews, so you can end up with a manageable shortlist, that can be tracked down and demoed.
iceman16
Well-known member
Hi Cno
Sorry for this is out of topic but I need some suggestions. Im looking to buy a stereo amp for the bedroom (4x6m)to be use for 2 channel music. This would be connected to my Chord gem usb/bluetooth dac and source will be from laptop and ipad/ iphone. Budget will be around £1200. I also consider an all in one streamer with amp. I will still be using my old budget Paradigm monitor5 which are connected to my avr as 5.1 HT. But my local dealer suggest that I can get both a budget amp and speakers for that same money or a little bit more. Im going to demo some stuff tom.in the likes of Rega brio-r / Arcam A19 etc..at this price point.ray:
Sorry for this is out of topic but I need some suggestions. Im looking to buy a stereo amp for the bedroom (4x6m)to be use for 2 channel music. This would be connected to my Chord gem usb/bluetooth dac and source will be from laptop and ipad/ iphone. Budget will be around £1200. I also consider an all in one streamer with amp. I will still be using my old budget Paradigm monitor5 which are connected to my avr as 5.1 HT. But my local dealer suggest that I can get both a budget amp and speakers for that same money or a little bit more. Im going to demo some stuff tom.in the likes of Rega brio-r / Arcam A19 etc..at this price point.
ray:iceman16 said:Hi Cno
Sorry for this is out of topic but I need some suggestions. Im looking to buy a stereo amp for the bedroom (4x6m)to be use for 2 channel music. This would be connected to my Chord gem usb/bluetooth dac and source will be from laptop and ipad/ iphone. Budget will be around £1200. I also consider an all in one streamer with amp. I will still be using my old budget Paradigm monitor5 which are connected to my avr as 5.1 HT. But my local dealer suggest that I can get both a budget amp and speakers for that same money or a little bit more. Im going to demo some stuff tom.in the likes of Rega brio-r / Arcam A19 etc..at this price point.
It is always worth seeing what a more budget amp (Rega/Creek/Arcam) will get you.
Other suggestions:
MF M3si (the new version)
Peachtree Nova 125
Sugden Mystro
Croft Integrated
Electro PI-1 ex-dem / used: http://www.audiodestination.co.uk/ex-demonstration/electrocompaniet-prelude-pi-1-integrated-amplifier
Unison Research Unico Series
Audio Analogue Verdi
Bel Canto e One S300i (used): http://www.audiodestination.co.uk/used-products/bel-canto-e-one-s-300i-usb-integrated-amplifier
Wild card which is above budget, but ex-dem here: http://www.audiooasis.co.uk/en/prodinfo.php?productid=SH-PAT-INT-ClassicOneIII
CnoEvil said:
Hi,
Thanks for the reply. Is this list based on order of preference or the items are named randomly?
I would also put the Primare NP30 and Naim ND5 XS streamer/DAC on the shortlist, since I'm not that keen having to use a laptop if it's purely a DAC.
aahonari said:
No, the list was written down randomly as the suggestions came to me.
Here would be my top picks, but bear in mind that I haven't heard all of them:
- Linn DS
- Ayre
- Arcam
- Metrum
- Chord Hugo
- Bel canto
CnoEvil said:
Good! Thanks. What sort of music do you normally listen to, if you don't mind my asking?
hifikrazy said:
You know, I really can't push this amp more than 30 % of it's volume. My Focal speakers become alive at 20%, but the bass at the level is not as punchy or as present as I want it to be. And if I wanna listen to any type of music for long periods, I have to let the volume at 20%, anything beyond that point rapidly becomes bothersome (first for my poor neighbours, then for my wife, and finally for me). Given the fact that I am not using a CDP as source, my belief is I have to upgrade my DAC. Then, I should invest in better speakers. But, that is down the road, and not my immediate concern. But, but then again I could be going the wrong way with this ordeal!
Electro
Well-known member
Don't forget the Electrocompaniet ECD2 dac , it has a lovely fully discrete class A output stage
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/electrocompaniet-ecd-2-dac/
http://www.hifiplus.com/articles/electrocompaniet-ecd-2-dac/
aahonari said:
Almost everything.....except Irish Country / Folk....ie. from Opera to Ott.
So would include Classical, Traditional Jazz, Blues. The pop side of my taste was forged in the 70s, so stuff like Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Santana, Led Zep, 10cc and Steely Dan etc.
matt49
Well-known member
aahonari said:
I'm surprised that you find the bass unsatisfactory at lower volumes. The AMS 35i delivers powerful and clean bass.
It sounds to me as if you have either a problem with your speakers or with the room acoustics or both.
It may be that the new amp has significantly changed the behaviour of the speakers, and you don't really like what you're hearing now. If that's the case, a new pair of speakers will be the answer.
But my first choice would be to address the acoustics. It may be that the positioning of your speakers is wrong. I'd suggest you spend some time experimenting with the positioning. This might involve bringing the speakers much further out into the room than you can live with. It's still worth trying, even if only as a means to diagnose the problem.
You may have an LF null at your listening position. You can find out by moving the listening position back and forward by a metre or two. If you find that the quantity and quality of the bass changes significantly depending on where you're sitting, then your problem is LF standing waves. There are several ways to address this. You can try bass traps, but you may need very substantial traps in order to solve the problem, which may be domestically unacceptable.
Alternatively, you can invest in a DSpeaker system, ideally with one or (better) two subwoofers. The idea would be to apply a high-pass filter to the main speakers and use the subs to generate everything below the filter frequency. The advantage of this approach is that you can move the subs around the room in such a way as to negate the standing waves.
As far as annoying the neighbours/wife is concerned, there's not much you can do. Some isolation under the speakers might work. Acoustic insulation of the room would be extremely expensive.
Matt
I don't think changing the source/DAC is going to make any significant difference. The GBP2000 is probably better spent elsewhere.
hifikrazy said:
Whenever you have time, please care to explain.
P.S. Out of respect to Cno and other members of the 35i club, I want to say that I really don't wish to hijack this thread by discussing my bass problem here (even if it's for a few more posts going back and forth). So, if anyone has an issue with this matter, please let me know, and I will take this discussion to a new thread!
What I meant was that in my experience, a change in CD players while they do sound different, has never fixed a major problem such as a bass deficiency. That is usually caused by room acoustics and speaker placement. Of course, physics also dictates a bigger/better pair of speakers will generally produce more bass so that's where I'm suggesting the GBP2000 is better spent, but only after you've explored room acoustics and speaker placement.
aahonari said:
This is exactly why I started this thread, so you are certainly not hijacking it.
I agree with Matt that there is something going on, as Bass is a strength of this amp.
At this stage, I would make no assumptions, and do systematic experimentation through trial and error, in order to figure what is going on ie.
- Room acoustics
- Source
- Speakers
- All connections are correct eg. Speakers in phase.
Make full use of your dealer if they are experienced, and we will do our best here as well (there is a deep well of knowledge amoungst the regulars on here - with several owners of the 35i, and experience of how it works with Focal).
CnoEvil said:
Hi Cno, So, I spoke with my dealer, and he's telling with my budget I should go with these cables:
RCA: Chord Signature
Power Cord: Fisch Audiotechnic
Speaker cables: The discountinued Fadel Art Coherence One Or Transparent MusicWave ultra What are your thoughts?
Do you have any experience with these cables? Thanks, Amir
aahonari said:
Can you borrow all of them and give each a decent go - It is never easy to predict what someone else will think, or what value they will put on what they hear....just don't spend more than would bring a bigger improvement, by spending the money elsewhere in the system.
IME. Cables are like seasoning in food.....ie. They should be used to improve an already balanced system, rather than fix a fundamental problem, but saying that, this is a very unpredictable hobby and imo it's worth experimenting with.
The Chord Signature is a well thought of cable, and if I'm right, it is one of the few in Chord's range that isn't silver coated (imo a good thing).....for my taste, I would rather have other brands (Atlas, Telurium Q, Cardas).
The only other brand I've heard of (but not heard) in your list, is Transparent.
Will the dealer come over to your house and give an opinion on what he thinks is going on?
Are the speakers on a suspended wooden floor, by any chance?
Let us know how things go.
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