|
Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
|
|
|
Tweakers' Asylum Tweaks for systems, rooms and Do It Yourself (DIY) help. FAQ. |
|
In Reply to: Thanks posted by Capt. Z on May 23, 2000 at 09:33:56:
As a matter of semantics, I don't like to use the word
"control" when talking about amps driving speakers.There is no intentional feedback loop between the amp and speakers
(unless you have one of those funky system with feedback accelerometers), so the amp is just sitting there happily doing
whatever it can to follow the input waveform with some fixed
gain, up to the point where it runs out of voltage swing and/or
current. When talking about bass frequencies this happens
for at least two reasons. 1) the frequency is low so the power supply must be able to drive current for a long period of time
2)Speakers often have their lowest impedance at low frequecy, requiring even more current to keep the voltage gain constant.To drive bass requires a lot of current and voltage which
means that certain short comings in the amp become apparent
i.e. power supply limitations, output resistance.Now I don't know anything about either of your amps, but
I would suggest that neither is right for you.Find out some specs on these two amps such as peak output CURRENT,
slew rate (or rise time Volts/sec), peak output VOLTAGE and
output impedance.From this information you might make some inferences about which
parameters are affecting your bass and which are affecting your
mid-high end. You can then search for an amp which improves the
weaknesses you've found. I suggest, you try a Krell for fun.
You can be pretty sure that not much else will drive the
bass much better. You may or may not like the high and mid range.An example:
I had a Spectral amp and it has amazing specs for current, voltage
slew rate and distortion. Therefore it was very fast, low frequency
and high frequency transients and details were always very clear.
It could really "control" the bass - during transient events.
It did not have a ton of total power so on heavy bass passages (organ)
it sounded like it was "wimping out" a bit.It also wasn't pleasing in some ways on the high end.
I believe the Spectral amp and preamp are so much faster
than the source material, faster than the sources were ever INTENDED
to reproduce, that they end up producing unpleasing artifacts of
the recording process. (Just my theory, I have no proof). Also
they can drive speakers at much higher frequencies than they were
designed to handle - thereby creating artifacts since the speakers
may do very non-linear things at high frequency.I have a Pass amp which is much more pleasing but not as "fast" on
the high end and can't provide as much current as the Spectral.
It has more total power (higher voltage capability, bigger power supply) so it seems to hang on longer to bass passages.I have played with Low Inductance cables and High Inductance cables
to try to get different bass responses. I cannot say that it
has had a very dramatic effect. The best cables just get out
of the way and let the amp do whatever it can.Some here have found messing with power supply cords
will really help the bass. Maybe. I've not seen it be dramatic
if the power cord and power system you started with were not
pathetic.Also, to play with bass it is important that you speakers are
very stable, either isolated on roller blocks or tip toes. Room
placement can have a dramatic effect too. Walk around your room
and see if you like the bass better in some locations. This may
help you positiion things until you have your seating position
and speakers placed right.As for biamping, you should be using your pre-amp output, unless
you mean that you are using an integrated amp......If you are
using an integrated amp, then consider buying separates,you'll get
much more control over the situation and many more parameters
to tweak till you are really ready for the asylum...
This post is made possible by the generous support of people like you and our sponsors:
Follow Ups
- Lows - mhamilton 13:31:59 05/23/00 (0)
Top of Page ]
[ Contact Us ]
[ Support/Wish List ]
[ Copyright © 2025, Audio Asylum, all rights reserved ]