Amps/DAC
How do you find the Lyr? I was looking into the Valhalla a little while back but fancied messing around with Tubes and the Valhalla didnt allow that.
Your hi-fi (or not!) history...from the beginning
- Thread starter GeezerButler
- Start date
How do you find the Lyr? I was looking into the Valhalla a little while back but fancied messing around with Tubes and the Valhalla didnt allow that.
It seems to do the job powering my LCD2 and T1 with the stock GE6BZ7 tubes. If I had more money my plan was to pair it with the Schiit Bifrost DAC and start fiddling with tubes a bit more, but tube rolling seems to be an expensive hobby!
It's worth noting the Lyr isn't suitable for anything but orthodynamics and high impedance headphones.
Home audio:
Hitachi 3D ghetto blaster thing as a kid
Eclipse CD30 - CD player from Richer Sounds
NAD 310 Amp
Luxman K322 Cassette Deck
Ye Olde Pioneer Speakers
TEAC Tuner
Marantz CD63 Signature Edition
Marantz PM4200 (?) Amp
PC Sound:
Sound Media 2.0
Sound Blaster 16
Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold
M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496 Sound card
Current:
E-MU USB 0404 External into
2 x KRK Rokit 5 G2's in white
iPhone 4
DJ Kit:
2 x Pioneer CDJ1000mk3
1 x DJM800 (hooked up using digital interconnects)
Dont use anything else really at the moment
Hitachi 3D ghetto blaster thing as a kid
Eclipse CD30 - CD player from Richer Sounds
NAD 310 Amp
Luxman K322 Cassette Deck
Ye Olde Pioneer Speakers
TEAC Tuner
Marantz CD63 Signature Edition
Marantz PM4200 (?) Amp
PC Sound:
Sound Media 2.0
Sound Blaster 16
Sound Blaster AWE64 Gold
M-Audio Delta Audiophile 2496 Sound card
Current:
E-MU USB 0404 External into
2 x KRK Rokit 5 G2's in white
iPhone 4
DJ Kit:
2 x Pioneer CDJ1000mk3
1 x DJM800 (hooked up using digital interconnects)
Dont use anything else really at the moment
Associate
- Joined
- 25 Aug 2010
- Posts
- 535
When I was 15 I bought some Mission 702e speakers and a Sony receiver (can't remember model) plugged in to my g4 iMac LCD.
Once I left school and started earning some money I sold the 702's and bought some brand new B&W 603 s3's in sorrento which led to me buying an Arcam A80 amp. I then got sucked in to hi-fi and bought an Arcam p90 power amp and dv88+ DVD player.
I kept that little lot for about two years before swapping the speakers again for some b&w 805S's which led to another change of amp and I got the stunning musical fidelity A5 amp, A5 cd player and A5 tuner.
I then decided to sell this lot and buy some Sennheiser HD650's, graham slee headphone amp and a russ Andrews DAC from my PowerMac G4 MDD
I then went a few years with nothing when I moved to Birmigham and got my own house.
I then got a 5.1 MK set up driven by an Arcam AVR500 and Oppo 95
I then decided I was really a 2 channel man and sold the lot and bought:
Naim XS integrated amp, sonos zp90, rega brio DAC, dynaudio focus 110 speakers.
Within the last few months I've sold that lot and got my current system which I'm now planning on keeping for a good while as I'd struggle to better it unless I spent a lot of money.
Classe CAP2100 integrated amp, Classe CDP102 cd player, B&W 805S (second set) Sonos ZP90, Chord Signature cables.
I've also converted one of the bedrooms in to a games room which has got an Xbox 360, onkyo 609, Panasonic 210 Blu ray B&W CCM650 in walls up front, M1's at the rear and a paradigm pdr8 subwoofer!
Quite scary when I look at how much I've chopped and changed and there are numerous bits of kit I've missed out!
Once I left school and started earning some money I sold the 702's and bought some brand new B&W 603 s3's in sorrento which led to me buying an Arcam A80 amp. I then got sucked in to hi-fi and bought an Arcam p90 power amp and dv88+ DVD player.
I kept that little lot for about two years before swapping the speakers again for some b&w 805S's which led to another change of amp and I got the stunning musical fidelity A5 amp, A5 cd player and A5 tuner.
I then decided to sell this lot and buy some Sennheiser HD650's, graham slee headphone amp and a russ Andrews DAC from my PowerMac G4 MDD
I then went a few years with nothing when I moved to Birmigham and got my own house.
I then got a 5.1 MK set up driven by an Arcam AVR500 and Oppo 95
I then decided I was really a 2 channel man and sold the lot and bought:
Naim XS integrated amp, sonos zp90, rega brio DAC, dynaudio focus 110 speakers.
Within the last few months I've sold that lot and got my current system which I'm now planning on keeping for a good while as I'd struggle to better it unless I spent a lot of money.
Classe CAP2100 integrated amp, Classe CDP102 cd player, B&W 805S (second set) Sonos ZP90, Chord Signature cables.
I've also converted one of the bedrooms in to a games room which has got an Xbox 360, onkyo 609, Panasonic 210 Blu ray B&W CCM650 in walls up front, M1's at the rear and a paradigm pdr8 subwoofer!
Quite scary when I look at how much I've chopped and changed and there are numerous bits of kit I've missed out!
My Hi-Fi started with a philips all in one (age 13), which I chose (In that awful electronics superstore) because it sounded as good as the ones which costed twice/three times as much. It wasn't bad, I still use it now for parties etc where volume and cooling are the main priorities ( it has a cooling fan 
) We did the Newtonian Fluid thing using Skrillex last time 
.
When I was 15 my uncle bought a nice Arcam A70/Kef IQ50 system which I thought sounded awesome (not much experience with hifi really). He used to play 90's dance/rave and oasis, stuff like that. It went loud too
A year later I went to a mid range Hi-Fi dealer in the centre of town to listen to a TEAC I spotted in the used window, i forget the name, it was reference with 90 watts each, with a slightly retro design. With my non existent listening skills, i decided it lacked in the bass department (largewarfedale diamond 10 standmount and KEF iQ3's). I was on a budget so ended up with a Denon PMA 500ae which just sounded miles better (not just bass) and the KEF iQ30's. The Wharefedale's sounded lifeless and boring, thin bass, and 'sticky' treble. I later bough a Denon dcd 500 from th auction site for £20
Next upgrade was Aracm A65+ and Arcam CD72, the Denon was too edgy, and the Arcam sorted that out and made the sound more smooth. I did use the Denon CD player for a month or so before I got the CD72.
Vinyl. Started with a Project Debut 2, which got damaged in the post so was practically free after the insurance! It was ok, but didn't sound at all good, too muddy and muddled trebble.
So I got replaced with a Project expression (carbon tonearm
) with a Linn K9 cartridge. This sounded worlds apart from the debut 2, I don't need a new one for a while!
I also got a Kef PSW2000 sub for some extra bass performance (for dubstep 
) and parties.
Interconnects are QED perfomance 2 and the speaker wire is Atlas 2+1.1 bi wire (I did intend on getting a power amp, but there is no problem with control at high volume, so i haven't bothered).
I listen to Rock/Indie/Dance/Electronic/ mainly rock and indie though.
I also bought these last year because I had the idea to build my own sub, but university has got in the way of this idea
they are 10" KEF 250 watt. No idea of any other specs which hinders me in designing the box somewhat!
Apologies for the iPhone photo quality
) We did the Newtonian Fluid thing using Skrillex last time .When I was 15 my uncle bought a nice Arcam A70/Kef IQ50 system which I thought sounded awesome (not much experience with hifi really). He used to play 90's dance/rave and oasis, stuff like that. It went loud too
A year later I went to a mid range Hi-Fi dealer in the centre of town to listen to a TEAC I spotted in the used window, i forget the name, it was reference with 90 watts each, with a slightly retro design. With my non existent listening skills, i decided it lacked in the bass department (largewarfedale diamond 10 standmount and KEF iQ3's). I was on a budget so ended up with a Denon PMA 500ae which just sounded miles better (not just bass) and the KEF iQ30's. The Wharefedale's sounded lifeless and boring, thin bass, and 'sticky' treble. I later bough a Denon dcd 500 from th auction site for £20
Next upgrade was Aracm A65+ and Arcam CD72, the Denon was too edgy, and the Arcam sorted that out and made the sound more smooth. I did use the Denon CD player for a month or so before I got the CD72.
Vinyl. Started with a Project Debut 2, which got damaged in the post so was practically free after the insurance! It was ok, but didn't sound at all good, too muddy and muddled trebble.
So I got replaced with a Project expression (carbon tonearm
) with a Linn K9 cartridge. This sounded worlds apart from the debut 2, I don't need a new one for a while!
) and parties.Interconnects are QED perfomance 2 and the speaker wire is Atlas 2+1.1 bi wire (I did intend on getting a power amp, but there is no problem with control at high volume, so i haven't bothered).
I listen to Rock/Indie/Dance/Electronic/ mainly rock and indie though.
I also bought these last year because I had the idea to build my own sub, but university has got in the way of this idea
they are 10" KEF 250 watt. No idea of any other specs which hinders me in designing the box somewhat!
Apologies for the iPhone photo quality
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Wow Snap, I have Arcam amplification with Kef speakers and Atlas Equator 2 bi-wire.
Cool, I love the new look of the Q series, so sleek with the polished steel ( I think) on the front.
Which speakers did you have before those and how do they compare to the old ones?
Which amp do you have?
EDIT; They're not the Q series
. I didn't realise they'd brought an R series out! Either way, they still look the part ( if not trying to copy the style of the B&W CM series a little )And just saw your post on the first page, A28, Didn't that receive some bad reviews? what's your take on it?
One complaint about that speaker cable though, its too stiff and always wants to curl back up
It's not if the cable you had before that wasn't very good.
I did plan on having a power amp too, which is why I have bi-wire (i'm sure thats in my other post). Nick used to have one, which is why we both have the bi-wire.
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lol fair enough I was just saying that it does not actually make any difference unless you have seperate amplification to each pair of binding posts. Never heard of anyone using amp that have 2 speakers outputs into biwire/one pair speakers... nice speakers though.
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Yeah, it doesn't separate the signals, but having two different wires (solid core and multi-strand) will affect the sound because of different properties, weather we can tell is another matter
@Nick1881
Interesting how the A28 allows bi-wiring connections on the amp it's-self, through the multi room channel. Does it have a digital crossover on the amp?
kilohawk - I'm quite happy with the A28, haven't really read any bad reviews on it either.
I think most of the Arcam's allow bi-amping, my previous Alpha 8 also had 2 x speaker outputs. There is no crossover on the amp, the speakers still use their internal crossovers.
Actually reading the A28 manual Arcam still call it bi-wiring, so I guess it makes no difference.
I might try my Alpha 8P in bi-amp, but as the 8P is less power, should I let the A28 handle the LF and the 8P the HF?
I think most of the Arcam's allow bi-amping, my previous Alpha 8 also had 2 x speaker outputs. There is no crossover on the amp, the speakers still use their internal crossovers.
Actually reading the A28 manual Arcam still call it bi-wiring, so I guess it makes no difference.
I might try my Alpha 8P in bi-amp, but as the 8P is less power, should I let the A28 handle the LF and the 8P the HF?
Biamping is using a separate amp for each crossover input. Biwiring is using 2 runs of wire to the speaker from the same amplifier.
The general consensus is the better amp goes on the HF. The thinking is that the ear notices HF more, so the more control there the better. Try it and see. It's easy to switch them over...
I also bought these last year because I had the idea to build my own sub, but university has got in the way of this idea
Any kind of model number? Where did you buy them from? May yet be able to find those TS parameters and I can plug them into WinISD for you
I was thinking of the power, LF generally needs more power. The A28 is 75w and the 8P is 50w.
Yes. The better amp goes on the HF - doesn't matter about power - unless you have speakers that have massive power requirements (i.e. low 80's of dB/W) you don't actually need much power to drive speakers anyway.
Certainly, with Naim systems when bi/tri amping, the better (which in Naims case is always more powerful) amp goes on the tweeters.
Try it and see...
I would try using the Arcam amp for the HF due to the very smooth high end on the Arcams and then use a more punchy amp such as Naim or NAD etc. for the LF because the bass has better PRAT. Not sure if it is a good idea to mix and match though.. I don't have any experience with bi amping... Just an idea lol.
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I see, i'm frightened to try this with mine, as it doesn't mention it in the manual for mine.
I'd say use the A28 for Bass if you were using large or low sensitivity speakers at high volumes, but just use whichever you think sounds best. Plug 'em in, then swap them.