Hi Fredrik, I got the tiny european apartment amp par excellence: the NAD d3020 (v2). It's a wonderful performer and does everything I need it to do, like play vinyl, stream from my apple devices and looks good while doing it in a small space. It has a sub out for powered subs, but I haven't used it yet (again, small Euro apartments!). A certain big audio chain from your part of the world has it on sale quite often.
Hello Fredrick,
I've made a couple of amps for my FH3's the first was a 3876 with a large power supply, this gave me a big fat rounded sound and I listened to it for about 6 years. Lately I made a minimalist 3886 with just caps on the chip and nowhere else this is precise and analytical.
I had used a modified Philips CD723 player and thought that was very good indeeed until I bought a cheap £35.00 DVD player which is a complete joke and is in a different league to the Philips. I reckon now that my FH3's sound how they should have done when I made them in 2012. Instead of being superb they are now utterly superb.
Cheers
PS And the DVD will play anything I put into it, unlike the Philips.
I've made a couple of amps for my FH3's the first was a 3876 with a large power supply, this gave me a big fat rounded sound and I listened to it for about 6 years. Lately I made a minimalist 3886 with just caps on the chip and nowhere else this is precise and analytical.
I had used a modified Philips CD723 player and thought that was very good indeeed until I bought a cheap £35.00 DVD player which is a complete joke and is in a different league to the Philips. I reckon now that my FH3's sound how they should have done when I made them in 2012. Instead of being superb they are now utterly superb.
Cheers
PS And the DVD will play anything I put into it, unlike the Philips.
Yeah, I'm planning on keeping the subwoofer. And I am not that worried that the power would be insuffiecient with the current amp.
The only real reason I thought about getting a 2.1 is because my current one doesn't really use the subwoofer unless I enable the DSP on the amplifier. It has a "pure direct" function which just feeds the signal to the front speakers bypassing all DSP according to what I understand so far. If enabled the sound from the front speakers is very clear and sounds great, but I lose the subwoofer.
But when the DSP is enabled I feel like the sound gets tainted too much, feels like there is so much focus on the center speaker. The clarity of the new speakers are kinda lost depending if I use "NEO:6" or "PLI II". I started experimenting with settings a bit more yesterday and I think it might be okay now, but just wanted to get your take on if gettign a new amp would improve the sound drastically or not.
As for budget, I don't "really" have one. If you would have said "This amp for $800 is amazing and it will sound way better and will work for 20 years" I wouldn't have minded buying it. While I did build a pair of frugal-speakers, I'm not that frugal when it comes to technology in general
"How many and what type of program sources will be used?"
I mostly play via my Samsung TV. If it's music I use the spotify app, it's currently connected via an optical cord I believe. I will also buy a vinyl player eventually. Bluetooth is nice to have but not a must.
The only real reason I thought about getting a 2.1 is because my current one doesn't really use the subwoofer unless I enable the DSP on the amplifier. It has a "pure direct" function which just feeds the signal to the front speakers bypassing all DSP according to what I understand so far. If enabled the sound from the front speakers is very clear and sounds great, but I lose the subwoofer.
But when the DSP is enabled I feel like the sound gets tainted too much, feels like there is so much focus on the center speaker. The clarity of the new speakers are kinda lost depending if I use "NEO:6" or "PLI II". I started experimenting with settings a bit more yesterday and I think it might be okay now, but just wanted to get your take on if gettign a new amp would improve the sound drastically or not.
As for budget, I don't "really" have one. If you would have said "This amp for $800 is amazing and it will sound way better and will work for 20 years" I wouldn't have minded buying it. While I did build a pair of frugal-speakers, I'm not that frugal when it comes to technology in general
"How many and what type of program sources will be used?"
I mostly play via my Samsung TV. If it's music I use the spotify app, it's currently connected via an optical cord I believe. I will also buy a vinyl player eventually. Bluetooth is nice to have but not a must.
Haha, I must say I know to little to understand what you said with transistors or what it would do for me
Some FRs really like to be driven by a highish R output impedance. Very often these FRs are also pretty efficient so that very little power is needed. And the seamlessness of a FR mates well with an SE amp played very quietly.
This property is not unique, or even q rule with tube amps, but is a property most often seem with tube amps (SE amps most often has Rout> than that of PP amps)
dave
Haha, I must say I know to little to understand what you said with transistors or what it would do for me
OK, it's easy enough to try this 'cheap trick' and if you like how it modifies the speaker's tone/response, then likely it would be worthwhile in buying a [kit] SET amp [5-10 W] with an output impedance = to ~ the amount of added series resistance to arrived at in testing.
Tube type is a very personal choice since we all hear the same, yet not so much, though hard to go wrong with the pioneer's choice: 300B.
GM
Frederik - I think I gotcha re the DSP potentially getting in the way, and I’m coming at this with a predilection to simplify a system to as few boxes and interconnections as possible, while maintaining a pathway for future upgrading - with which the options available in integrated amps these days can easily be accomplished. As mentioned before, I’ve been quite impressed with my Onkyo surround receiver compared to the two previous Denon units, and would be inclined to recommend a look there, but no doubt other suggestions will be forthcoming.
Alright, I managed to bring up the DSP "PL II" setting window on my TV at the same time I was playing music and I could adjust them as I was listening. There are two settings for PL II: "Center width" and "Dimension". Adjusted them a bit and it sounds a lot better now, a lot less focus on the center speaker. I also believe the PL II DSP is growing on me a lot, although the speakers aren't as "clear", it does sound like a "more complete" sound stage (don't know how to explain).
Some day in the future I will hopefully move into a real room and then I can invest more time in adjusting the speakers with, resistance etc, but I think I'll wait with that for now
Thanks for the tips
Some day in the future I will hopefully move into a real room and then I can invest more time in adjusting the speakers with, resistance etc, but I think I'll wait with that for now
Thanks for the tips
In my opinion, any DSP from receivers will lead to losing fidelity. If you want some serious 2.1 stereo, try to invest your money on a good stereo amp, some 100W active subwoofer with adjustable crossover and a pre amp with good Y cables. Once you set up the 2 amps, you are good to go with the volume control of the pre amp.Alright, I managed to bring up the DSP "PL II" setting window on my TV at the same time I was playing music and I could adjust them as I was listening. There are two settings for PL II: "Center width" and "Dimension". Adjusted them a bit and it sounds a lot better now, a lot less focus on the center speaker. I also believe the PL II DSP is growing on me a lot, although the speakers aren't as "clear", it does sound like a "more complete" sound stage (don't know how to explain).
Some day in the future I will hopefully move into a real room and then I can invest more time in adjusting the speakers with, resistance etc, but I think I'll wait with that for now
Thanks for the tips
I have owned an Yamaha receiver and the direct stereo was always better than any of the available DSP on it.
Many of the latest smart TVs are capable of doing much of the source signal switching and network streaming required, as well as feeding an unprocessed digital audio or stereo analog signal out for external amps. If you don’t need any more flexibility than the TV can provide, and are happy enough with the quality of its DAC, then a simple basic power amp might well be sufficient. I’m on record as to my current favorite in that category.
If you want to high pass the mains when using the sub - which I generally recommend, then a LLPXO little black box might be required at least.
If you want to high pass the mains when using the sub - which I generally recommend, then a LLPXO little black box might be required at least.
I recently purchased a pair of FH3's with FE126en drivers, while confirming the make / model of the drivers I discovered no stuffing in the cavities, front or rear. To be fair I love the sound as is but was wondering if its worth trying to stuff any stuffing into an assembled cabinet and what changes it would make to the sound
thanks for reply
how many grams should I use? if i take my time and make some tools I should be able to do it
If you read the first page of the plans linked at the beginning of this thread, the FH3 - and by extension the FHXL and FHLite- is described as “topologically a tapped hypex corner horn (approximated by two conical sections) with an internal choke point serving as a low pass filter.” While other small form factor BLH such as the Horneshoppe, Buschhorns, etc often include a driver chamber, these do not.
For a more detailed explanation as to the whys and wherefores, Dr Scott would need to “pipe in”
For a more detailed explanation as to the whys and wherefores, Dr Scott would need to “pipe in”
As noted by Chris, FH3 is not the same as most of the enclosures I suspect you are referring to. Be that as it may, speaking in general terms driver Sd has no functional correlation to throat area. A horn with minimal zero throat area (there's always some due to the air pressure, but that's how it visually appears) has maximum gain BW; those with larger throat areas have a narrower gain BW. By and large, I prefer the former & deal with what I don't want via other means.
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Very interesting offer. I am moving up to Derbyshire quite soon, so could well be up for this. Thanks
Hello, I am nearing completion of my first FHXL flat pack to send to a member in Texas. I hope to complete everything next week and work out all the bugs in my system. If anyone is interested in flat packs please let me know. I plan on producing all three sizes of the Frugel-Horns. I will make a more formal announcement, and go thru official channels, once I know what I am doing. Admin, if this is inappropriate, or in the wrong spot please let me know the right way to do this. If you are interested please send me a PM. Thanks and have a great day!!
Bob
Bob