I don't need great equipment to enjoy great speakers

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No need to try different bit rates, I rip my CDs to FLAC. I was merely curious concerning the comparison since you commented on compression. To me, the last time I listened to XM radio it sounded more compressed than the 128K AAC stream that I referenced. Moot point though.

Right. Moot point. Apparently Dish gets the feed from SiriusXM prior to the over-the-air compression. The Dish version is certainly not a reference music source, but good enough for casual listening.

I listen to mainly classical, so I have SiriusXM channel 76 on a lot. This offers me an opportunity to hear works that are not in my library. You have to understand one thing about classical geeks -- we can enjoy a performance even with a truly crappy reproduction. The music is far more important than the medium.

Bob
 
Poor Tracks

As someone new to Mark Audio products, but who is in possession of many substandard recordings. What would be a good product to start with? This would be just for music in a Large 20' x 20' room. Listening position is 6 feet from source. Subwoofer assist available and do I like it loud on occassion.
 
As someone new to Mark Audio products, but who is in possession of many substandard recordings. What would be a good product to start with? This would be just for music in a Large 20' x 20' room. Listening position is 6 feet from source. Subwoofer assist available and do I like it loud on occassion.

Hi Max,
The new CHP helps with substandard recordings. Since you've got the sub, cross them around the 150 to 200Hz region. Being 6 feet from the source, keep it simple with a pair of CHP's in a 7 to 8 litre boxes, should be nice. Could go sealed but you might want to do ported/vented depending on sub's frequency range.

Second choice would be the new CHR's. They have more bandwidth so a slightly less forgiving but still easy-going on most recordings, and better if you want to have more going on in the HF (top end range).

Cheers
Mark.
 
As an aside, as one with seriously challenged hearing in the upper register, (but with 60 years experience listening and making hi end speakers and amps) I can still tell whether the amp is good or not, regardless of the quality (within reason) of the speaker, or vice versa. This ability is destroyed however if either the source is bad, or the speaker/amp combination mismatched. By this I mean if the speaker impedance load upsets the amplifier. This is more common than you might expect, and one reason (despite still preferring class A with good speakers) why I now tend to feel class D is the way to go.
For substandard recordings, the only answer is to ditch them. Ditto cheap ready-made speakers and record cartridges. Apart from that, a nice sounding system can be put together quite cheaply. and rather than spend big bucks on a system, spend it on good source material. When you are really rich, then buy a really high end system However you won't enjoy the music as much, because you will be trying to listen to the equipment to be sure you are getting your money's worth, rather than the music.
 
can still tell whether the amp is good or not, regardless of the quality (within reason) of the speaker, or vice versa. This ability is destroyed however if either the source is bad, or the speaker/amp combination mismatched.
yep, finally reinforcement to my prior post. I'll go along with the vice versa but my contention on that ime and imo is a bad speaker is a bad speaker is a bad speaker.
 
I agree with Bob. I'm one of the ones that is currently forced to do everything (2-channel and A/V) through one system. I'm working to make it the best overall I can but I'm still running an Onkyo 805 AVR for my pre-amp/amp; I've got a fairly nice Rotel CD player that is older but very solid and can be picked up for around 100-125 bucks. I've got Alpair12's in SuperPensil cabs and I really love them. My gear may not be top notch and these speakers are very revealing but I don't find that my upward electronics are making the system unlistenable given how revealing the Alp's are. Sure it will sound better once I can get two systems again and separate it out but for now, I love sitting down listening and I think that's what its all about :D

Scott
 
Hi Guys,
One thing that cropped up yesterday; On my way back from the assembly factory, I dropped off some packaging at Norio's place and took 15 mins to listen to his upgraded EL34 amp on Alpair 7's in vented boxes. There was a noticeable improvement now Kenneth's transformers are fitted. Norio's using Gen. 3's, their power-train's react to changes in the feed stream, very noticeable on this visit. I liked the outcome very much. Female jazz vocals in particular are very "breathy". But Norio put on a cheap compilation (overly compressed) CD.....ouch! So Bob (and guys) have got a good point: decent source material is the way to go where possible.

For Tube amps, I'm finding that transformers have an influence, the better quality the are, the cleaner the sound. Its only my experience so far comparing commercially make units against the Mr Zhu vintage C core and Kenneth's similar offerings. But I am finding a decent step up in performance. Anyone making an amp from a plan (or kit) might want to keep a eye on locating the better made transformers. I know Derek Shek (Miniwatt) also concentrates allot of his effort on clean power supply.

I guess the outcome of this experience is try to look out for amp gear thats got decent transformers. Sorry this isn't scientific but it does mostly follow my experiences with driver coils. Hence why I only use Goto (Japan) or Po-Yun (Taiwan) coils. I need the windings to be accurate and body weights to be very close tolerance.

For those guys with older vinyls or CD's that are "so-so", I'll keep exploring the potential characteristics of the BK series of cone papers. The feedback thats coming back on the latest CHP-70's (rolled off Gen. 2) is they forgive allot of this types of source material. Ummmmmph....set me thinking for some more research after Christmas.

Off to Tokyo audio shows tomorrow through to Tuesday. Will try to make a thread and post some pics.

Cheers
Mark.
 
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I used to make a lot of valve amps, and agree with Mark that the better the output transformer, (and to a lesser extent, the power transformer), the better the sound. This is not just a matter of size, but of course that does tend to follow the "bigger is better" rule for bass, and hence higher cost. A good OP transformer designer is worth his weight in gold to a Hi-end manufacturer, and can simplify the design of the amp considerably.
 
Hi Mark,

This is Norio's upgraded EL34 single end integrated amplifier at output power 7W x2. All the new transformers were hand-made by Kenneth. The improvement on performance is remarkable.

Thanks,
Tony.

Hi Guys,
One thing that cropped up yesterday; On my way back from the assembly factory, I dropped off some packaging at Norio's place and took 15 mins to listen to his upgraded EL34 amp on Alpair 7's in vented boxes. There was a noticeable improvement now Kenneth's transformers are fitted. Norio's using Gen. 3's, their power-train's react to changes in the feed stream, very noticeable on this visit. I liked the outcome very much. Female jazz vocals in particular are very "breathy". But Norio put on a cheap compilation (overly compressed) CD.....ouch! So Bob (and guys) have got a good point: decent source material is the way to go where possible.

For Tube amps, I'm finding that transformers have an influence, the better quality the are, the cleaner the sound. Its only my experience so far comparing commercially make units against the Mr Zhu vintage C core and Kenneth's similar offerings. But I am finding a decent step up in performance. Anyone making an amp from a plan (or kit) might want to keep a eye on locating the better made transformers. I know Derek Shek (Miniwatt) also concentrates allot of his effort on clean power supply.

I guess the outcome of this experience is try to look out for amp gear thats got decent transformers. Sorry this isn't scientific but it does mostly follow my experiences with driver coils. Hence why I only use Goto (Japan) or Po-Yun (Taiwan) coils. I need the windings to be accurate and body weights to be very close tolerance.

For those guys with older vinyls or CD's that are "so-so", I'll keep exploring the potential characteristics of the BK series of cone papers. The feedback thats coming back on the latest CHP-70's (rolled off Gen. 2) is they forgive allot of this types of source material. Ummmmmph....set me thinking for some more research after Christmas.

Off to Tokyo audio shows tomorrow through to Tuesday. Will try to make a thread and post some pics.

Cheers
Mark.
 

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We like to play our best tube amplifiers we can do with the best transformers which Kenneth makes with Markaudio full range speakers in our place.

This is our setup of 6F8G preamp with 300B mono block single end power amps. The output transformers are double C core transformers which were nicely built by Kenneth. I can say that this is the best sound of Pensil 7 I heard.

Cheers,
Tony.
 

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I have to say I stand with Bob in this one. I've listened many high end amps and yes you can usually hear small difference, but as Bob pointed out the price just doesn't compare to the gain.

I have my HK670 2ch integrated that has been my choice for amp for ~10 years now. I've been meaning to buy a new amp several times now but I've always decided to put my money to speakers instead.

Reason for this is quite simple. If I'm about to put 1000€ to buy a better amp I usually check out what kind of speakers I could get with 1000€. Up to this date amp has never given me more bang for the buck than speakers at same price range.

The moment I'll find that I can't update my speakers any more I'll find my self a new amp. That time hasn't come yet and I belive that my current amp will probably break down before that happens.

BTW. One of the best updates I've ever done is updating my CHR-70 gen2 to Alp7 gen3. All this under the price of even the cheapest of consumer amps...
 
Hi Guys,
I'm on my last night here in Tokyo, returning to HK later tomorrow.

One of the interesting elements of my time in Japan is closer working relations with 2 small amp makers. There are potential qualitative differences between larger scale "brand" amp manufacturers and smaller "bespoke" makers.

Having found time to read some of the posts on this thread, there's a lack of differentiation in some of the comments between "expensive" well-known brands and those like Kenneth and the small makers I've encountered here in Tokyo, who I find offer potentially better performance value for the money.

I'll try to cover this issue in more detail when I return to HK by doing a "mini" show report.

Cheers
Mark.
 
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