Welcome! Need support, you got it. Or share your ideas and experiences.
Return to Planar Speaker Asylum
74.76.159.28
In Reply to: RE: Foil Project for IIIa's posted by Satie on February 13, 2012 at 09:59:53
How would the modded Behringer DCX 2496 compare to a PLLXO?
Follow Ups:
Depends on your sources. If you have a really good analog source, the modified Behringer will come up short on mids and highs compared to the PLLXO.
If you are going all digital, then the modified Behringer should provide you a very good DAC and a good clock (if you chose the upgrades) and sound very good. That is because the Crystal DACs that are compatible with the DCX can do 1V output, so you can forgo an output stage, and simply use coupling caps or output transformers. These will sound better than most active output stages on a CD player - even a seriously good one.
Satie - I contacted Scott Endler and he says he is too busy to take on any work. I assume he is the only one that does the mods correct? If that is the case, I guess we have to go with the PLLXO as I cannot afford an expensive electronic crossover at this time. I replied to his message asking him if he would let me know when he might be available. I have not heard back from him at this time.
Do you know what I should use for binding posts on the new frames my friend is building?
I am kind of balking at purchasing a class A amp because of the amount of currant they draw constantly. The Monarchy amps seem real nice, but I found online that they draw 300 watts each at idle. That is a lot of juice and I can just see the meter rotating at high speed. I would most likely leave them on all the time as I have my system connected to my TV. It will all be in my living room. Any ideas on this? Thank you!!
Re busy Endler
I can't do anything to clear up Endler's schedule, so try Rick Schultz at Tweakaudio.com for his turnaround. He is very good to work with and does terrific work. I have a Nuforce ref 8.x amp that he modded and fixed for me after a lightning incident and they are astoundingly good in the midrange and bass.
Re binding posts,
For Bananas - what I use, since it is minimal mass:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=091-1160
I bought a set of these expensive ones and tried them out without drilling for them and they were no better than the bananas so long as you use bananas. The do sound better if you use bare wire - since you skip the banana connector, but not by much, so I skipped them and use the above el cheapo banana jacks:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=093-562
I actually tried out the prior version of these.
Re PLLXO, I can calculate it out for you for various amp options and it is really simple, but you do need to know the amp input impedances and preamp max voltage out for the calc..
Re class A amps
You can keep them off and it takes only 30-40 min to come on song if you keep your house above 70F. That is because they heat themselves up with those 300 watts at idle.
Keeping them on during the winter is nothing much for me since we have electric heat, so what we generate in one place is compensated with the other. Things don't work all that well in summer as the extra heat bakes you in no time at all and the AC must be engaged to remove the heat.
Satie - I want to be sure I understand this correctly. Presently I am using a Mac for a music server using the program Pure Vinyl outputting through the TC Electronics Impact Twin. That goes to my tape input on the Sunfire TGP-5 to the TDM electronic XO. I believe this is a digital; setup correct? If that is the case, then the Behringer would be the way to go correct?
In your description of the Behringer, it appears that you are saying that it gets modded to become a DAC? Am I totally misunderstanding you?
I am not sure if you saw this but I found a few amps to consider. They are as follows; a Classe DR 15, a Cairn 4808 Class A Integrated Amp, a pair of Monarchy Class A mono amps, and a McIntosh MC1700. Would any of these fit the bill for the tweeters? Thanks again!!
Yes, Since you digitize your analog, it is an all digital system.
The Classe DR15 should have no problem with the tweeter. I don't know the Cairn and it is not spec'd for 2 ohms, so I would ask first. The Monarchy SE100 are very nice for their price point, and should work fine. I would contact CC Poon at Monarchy to ask if it is ok into 2 ohms, or you should use a resistor to raise the load it sees to 4 ohms. In any case, the high class A bias means that you will remain in class A for the entire signal likely to reach the tweeter. The Classe and the Cairn will not be operating in class A that far up in power if you need to put in a resistor, (you don't with the DR15, you may with the Cairn).
The old Mac receiver is not workable without a resistor and is not a great value unless you need to fix it and are capable of doing it cheaply (DIY fix). I don't think these SS receivers are that great.
I found a Proceed BPA-2 and checked the manual online. It lists as output impedance .05 ohm. Are you familiar with this amp?
Generally, Proceed amps are very good. I have not heard this one.
sorry, didn't notice your post before.
Satie - I wanted to report that all soldering is done on the speakers to the foil and wire runs. All that is left is to do hookup wire to the XO box that is being built. I took a reading on both runs and they are as follows: foil midrange = 4.2 ohms; wire bass = 4.3 ohms. It looks as if they are right where they should be correct?
Did you see my post on the Monarchy SM 70 Pro? If not they have a special online for $588 plus shipping. They are good to 2 ohm intermittent and 3 ohm continuous. Will this work for the tweeters? If so I have narrowed down my selection to the SM 70 or possibly a Factory Built Class D 4 channel (2XSDS-254 modules) which is bridgeable. There is one on Audiogon for $700. I have a Maggie center speaker to throw into the mix as well. It would be nice to be able to use it. Once again thank you for any input!
Yes, these appear to be appropriate values for the bass and mids.
You asked elsewhere about the use of a cheap tube amp. Though it is possible, you are talking about having a 2 ohm tap or enough power to take a resistor's wasted out of the equation, neither of these things make for a cheap tube amp.
Post a Followup:
FAQ |
Post a Message! |
Forgot Password? |
|
||||||||||||||
|
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors: