sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on May 30, 2019 17:39:06 GMT
Your ideal solution, with your current setup, is an SMSL Q5 Pro, they've gone up in price, but they still appear on eBay, used. It's an amp, with a built-in DAC, and as well as the normal speaker terminals there's an output for a subwoofer. Several of us here have them, myself included, and they are brilliant value. It's a shame you've already got the SMSL 36A. As it happens, I have a little pied a terre in the countryside which is just crying out for a visitor-friendly set up - basically plug in their phones and play. Oh how they will love and appreciate me if I do that! They'd love me even more if it was Bluetooth compatible!! The SMSL Q5 Pro is just 127€ from AliExpress! m.aliexpress.com/item/32981064937.html?pid=808_0000_0109&spm=a2g0n.search-amp.list.32981064937&aff_trace_key=0a94cef19474409e9bf8ffa5b3e25c37-1559214121602-06318-UneMJZVf&aff_platform=msite&m_page_id=8132amp-iYiEz48AXtt1xR5Z5os1Qw1559229608593 |
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 1, 2019 10:57:09 GMT
I love you guys - you find me solutions to problems I didn't know I have.....
I've ordered the new SMSL Q5 Pro - really excited by the specifications, hoping for quality sound and flexible connectivity.
I'll be trying it out first with the Celestion Little 1's speakers (which disappointed a little when I tried them with the other SMSL 36A unit at home).
I'm wondering about the subwoofer output on the new Q5 Pro. Must the speaker be powered? Must it match the impedance of the L/R speakers? I have an old JBL (?) Centre channel speaker (not powered, mono bare wires connection) from a home theatre setup. Do you think that might beef up the Celestions a little without going all drum n'bass? And what cable will I need.... is this a Y cable?
I don't want to blow anything up, mixing speakers in this way - is the sub output a separate amp?
As always, thanks for indulging me. Have a good weekend, y'all.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 1, 2019 11:57:26 GMT
It's a line level output and will need a powered sub.
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 1, 2019 12:34:34 GMT
It's a line level output and will need a powered sub. Slippery slope this ;-) Best Homer Simpson choice powered sub woofer to match the SMSL Q5 Pro + Celestion Little 1's? Answers on a postcard please.... |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 1, 2019 12:42:38 GMT
Check out Gumtree. I bought a powered Gale sub for 30 odd quid.
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Post by Slinger on Jun 1, 2019 12:48:18 GMT
Have a listen to how it sounds without a sub first. You may not think you actually need one. I only have a little 8" sub on mine to get low end out of the odd video game. If you do fancy one your best bet would be buying used on eBay. I paid about fifty quid for mine. I'd say avoid anything that used to be a part of a complete 5:1 setup too, from names like Panasonic or Sony etc. Come back to us about a sub when you've had a good listen to the Q5 without one for a few days.
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 1, 2019 13:20:44 GMT
Come back to us about a sub when you've had a good listen to the Q5 without one for a few days. Sound advice! I'm curious as to whether the main speakers' outputs are affected when the line sub is connected? I imagine not... it must be only added ooomph, right? Probably higher end systems have interaction/compensation/balance. Just thinking out loud here, really. |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 1, 2019 13:23:48 GMT
I don't think so - looking at my Q5 Pro sitting on my PC system. It should just come in under the small speakers. Setting up the sub to be only just audible throughout the music is a good start, but using a pink noise test signal and a spectrum analyser app on your phone will get it set up perfectly. We can help with that when the time comes.
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 1, 2019 13:49:09 GMT
Yep, brilliant. I think my biggest danger is that single speaker lying around.... On previous form I am likely to try to hook that up, mix up my parallels and my series connections and blow the bugger up. Please tell me not to even think about doing that. (Where have the emoticons gone?).
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Post by MartinT on Jun 1, 2019 13:52:51 GMT
Don't even think of doing that! Class-T amps are sensitive to load and you risk blowing your lovely Q5  |
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 6, 2019 14:41:30 GMT
Do you ever get to the point, after hours of listening / configuring / tweaking, where music stops making sense? You can't tell whether it's beautiful sound or incoherent noise?
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 6, 2019 16:07:50 GMT
Glad to say the opposite, with the rare exception. Clearer, more separated, more detail, wunnerful  |
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Post by MartinT on Jun 6, 2019 17:16:19 GMT
It was like that in the early days, with some wrong turns taking me away from goodness.
Glad to say that you get better at it, you know exactly what you want to hear and, as the system gets better, it's easier to hear the effects of making changes.
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Post by dubulup on Jun 7, 2019 2:43:43 GMT
Do you ever get to the point, after hours of listening / configuring / tweaking, where music stops making sense? You can't tell whether it's beautiful sound or incoherent noise? make sure you give a nice long listen before tweaking again. Sometimes it takes another re-baseline...start RAW again or give a few days to headphones. Hell, start a journal noting what you did and what you like about it...can't argue (much) with yourself. |
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 7, 2019 12:46:09 GMT
Do you ever get to the point, after hours of listening / configuring / tweaking, where music stops making sense? You can't tell whether it's beautiful sound or incoherent noise? make sure you give a nice long listen before tweaking again. Sometimes it takes another re-baseline...start RAW again or give a few days to headphones. Hell, start a journal noting what you did and what you like about it...can't argue (much) with yourself. To be clear, I'm thrilled with the improvements, just saturated from so much "critical listening". It's like when some words lose meaning sometimes, when you repeat them often enough.... onion, soldier etc. 
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Post by MartinT on Jun 7, 2019 12:53:46 GMT
Hell, start a journal noting what you did and what you like about it...can't argue (much) with yourself. That's exactly what our blog threads are for. Start one about your system changes and ramble on. Others will join in! |
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Post by Slinger on Jun 7, 2019 13:06:30 GMT
make sure you give a nice long listen before tweaking again. Sometimes it takes another re-baseline...start RAW again or give a few days to headphones. Hell, start a journal noting what you did and what you like about it...can't argue (much) with yourself. To be clear, I'm thrilled with the improvements, just saturated from so much "critical listening". It's like when some words lose meaning sometimes, when you repeat them often enough.... onion, soldier etc.
I often take a day or two without playing any music at all. It's possible to get to the stage where you're listening for the sake of listening rather than listening for the sake of the music. Don't be afraid to take a break until you can't live without it again.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jun 8, 2019 13:22:37 GMT
To be clear, I'm thrilled with the improvements, just saturated from so much "critical listening". It's like when some words lose meaning sometimes, when you repeat them often enough.... onion, soldier etc. I often take a day or two without playing any music at all. It's possible to get to the stage where you're listening for the sake of listening rather than listening for the sake of the music. Don't be afraid to take a break until you can't live without it again. Burn the heretic ! Love listening all the time. Even managed to keep the TV off so far today and listen to my tweaked LHS speaker position |
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sully
Rank: Soloist
Posts: 29
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Post by sully on Jun 9, 2019 10:38:20 GMT
I'm still splashing around here in the kiddies' pool - not ready to get into the deep end yet.... I have now upgraded to Spotify Premium and am spoiled for choice but lack direction. There must be some websites/blogs around offering curated playlists - can anyone point me in the right direction? Also, (hope it's ok to ask), does/did anyone use whatcd or waffles.fm/ch? These seem to have disappeared...
ATB, S.
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Post by MartinT on Jun 9, 2019 10:50:56 GMT
As you play your own music, Spotify learns and presents some good suggestions in Discovery. Suggest you just listen to what you know first, then start exploring.
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