Help needed for speaker setup

[[J]-ohn 0]

Although the china dvd player + power amp works but for the price I would rather invest on a entry level Yamaha av receiver ( $300++?), moreover, home theatre isn't all about sound and its impossible to achieve good picture quality with the Akira dvd player even if you have the best component cable, at least a entry pioneer or sony player will do more justice to the system.

 

I also found that most china dvd players with decoder built-in have very minimum calibration options compared to av receivers like marantz, yamaha or denon ( even the cheapo ones) therefore there is little you can do to make the system sound better later.

 

So for maybe the same price, the yamaha amp and sony dvd player might not have the power of the JBLs but surround wise, should be a better approach.

 

Just my suggestion....

[Mackie 0]

Akira ain't Chinese but Singaporean. And the point is not to advocate selection of Akira as a quality product (it actually is for the price below $100) but to empahsise the point that even low end dvdp has decoders, as opposed to 2 years ago when only mid-high end dvdps have them. I think you might have missed my point.

 

I personally have a near flagship Yamaha A2 home theater amp, a Panasonic RP50 for projection TV and a Momitsu V880 dvdp that pushes resolution up to HDTV for my Panasonic LCD projector. The key calibration for each surround channel is the delay in ms and these are avaliable if a dvdp has decoders. In practice, the key component and calibration is how the speakers are situated around the sweet spot and most important of all, a spl meter to balance the sound level of each channel to a reference front channel level, usually set at 60 or 70db for weighted measurement on spl meter.

 

In the home theater community, lots of them own an AV amp for DTS/DD decoding and yet used outboard multi-channel amps (like a 5-channel Rotel power amp) to drive the surround channels. Although an AV amp specifies 35W for each surround channel and 150W for fronts, you still hear congestion at the busiest climax during dvd playback because all channels are being fed by a single transformer, which will reach saturation rather quickly. Having outboard amps will avoid this predicament which results in greater headroom for each channel.

 

During the weekends, I have tried the abovementioned config, using Yamaha to drive my front L/R speakers and front L/R surround, 1 Power20 to drive front center and rear center and another Power20 to drive the rear surround L/R. In Yamaha context, this is a 7.1 config.

 

As yet, I find the Power20 works in all these configs very well, as a single integrated (naturally), as monoblock and finally as addition to home theater setup. I've yet to try K1000 driven by this inexpensive amp though.

Edited March 8, 2006 by Mackie

[lekguan 0]

I've just been to Anything Audio recently, and I thought the dynaudios sounded quite thin being driven by the Power20. Otherwise great in other ways (soundstage especially)

[Mackie 0]

As a matter of fact, Dynaudio speakers are infamous for being a tough load on amplifiers. I used to own a pair of AudioLab monobloc rated at 100W/channel which failed to drive my Dynaudios optimally because of its insatiable appetitie for current. Only after switching to Krell KSA150 which pumps minimum 150W pure class A power into each channel did I reach nirvana. The fact that your only complaint is the sound of Power20+Dynaudios being "thin" is already a compliment. Two of my friends who bought a pair of the Power20s each have set it up in the configuration seen in AA and drove their Energy and B&W floorstanders beautifully. This is also why I asked Albert to get hold of a pair of high efficiency speakers (8ohm impedance, sensitivity not less than 87db) to partner the Power20s for a more convincing demo. The current setup is rather tough for non Dynaudio fans as the strength of the Power20s is simply obscured by flaws.

 

One last note, speakers system is entirely different from cans system. Soundstaging/imaging is totally dependant on correct speakers positioning and not the components. However, transparency is inherent with the components, as lacking this trait will result in congestion or what our ears will say, narrow soundstaging width and depth. Finally, soundstaging is inversely proportional to imaging.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Mackie

[heady 0]

Well said Mackie.

[neutralzz 0]

will the jbl power 20 be able to cope with 1,2 ohm speakers?

 

i'm looking around for a pair of scintillas or duetta IIs..

[heady 0]

Actually they are rated for 8ohm only but they did drive the 4 ohm Dynaudios.

 

[Mackie 0]

will the jbl power 20 be able to cope with 1,2 ohm speakers?

 

i'm looking around for a pair of scintillas or duetta IIs..

Be prepared to pay top dollars for amps that can drive your kinda speakers. If Power20 can do the job, there won't be any Burmesters, Krells, Goldmunds etc left in the retail market. A heavy container needs a crane to lift and no man, no matter how strong and muscular, can do the job.

Edited March 14, 2006 by Mackie