Hi-Fi
Posted: Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:13 pm
I just love messing about with hi-fi. I'm one of those types who constantly fiddles with the system, adding and subtracting units. Moving the speakers, changing cables and cartridges in pursuit of the sound I want.
Lately, I discovered the joys of multi-amp set ups.
This morning I had another swap around and I am so fired up by the results I just had to tell someone (aprt from mopst of my street who must think the earthquake has returned to Lincoln.)
The trusty old Sony PS-X 65 now has a MC cartridge. This handles the vinyl very nicely. So clear and free of sonic feedback.
A Chord Phono Amp takes the signal from here to the Alchemist Pre-amp.
A pair of big old Sony ES power amps are now set up as bridged monos to feed the tweeters.
A further pair of monoblock Alchemists are handling the bass.
You need bi-wireable speakers and a pre-amp with a more than one pair of output channels to achieve this set up. I'm using a big pair of B&W speakers at the moment.
The advantage of this is that each amp only has to handle one end of the frequency spectrum and only one channel. So there's no crosstalk and the bass and treble signals are very clear.
This is, if you like, the same way that most bigger live venues would handle the sound, although obviously on a much smaller scale.
The separation you get by multi amping like this has to be heard to be believed. I thought bi-amping was cool, now I've tried quad amping I'm literally blown away by the sound.
I've been hearing things on records I've known for ages that I've never heard before, even voices 'off stage' that have been accidentally caught by one of the open mics.
Later, when I've got myself some banana plugs to make all the swapping easier, I'm going to try letting Alchemist handle the treble while the Sony's take care of the bass. Just to see if the sound is sweeter this way.
Yes, I do have better things to do, more important things even but this is more fun!
If you've never heard vinyl played like this, you are really missing something. It's like I have an entirely new record collection!
Lately, I discovered the joys of multi-amp set ups.
This morning I had another swap around and I am so fired up by the results I just had to tell someone (aprt from mopst of my street who must think the earthquake has returned to Lincoln.)
The trusty old Sony PS-X 65 now has a MC cartridge. This handles the vinyl very nicely. So clear and free of sonic feedback.
A Chord Phono Amp takes the signal from here to the Alchemist Pre-amp.
A pair of big old Sony ES power amps are now set up as bridged monos to feed the tweeters.
A further pair of monoblock Alchemists are handling the bass.
You need bi-wireable speakers and a pre-amp with a more than one pair of output channels to achieve this set up. I'm using a big pair of B&W speakers at the moment.
The advantage of this is that each amp only has to handle one end of the frequency spectrum and only one channel. So there's no crosstalk and the bass and treble signals are very clear.
This is, if you like, the same way that most bigger live venues would handle the sound, although obviously on a much smaller scale.
The separation you get by multi amping like this has to be heard to be believed. I thought bi-amping was cool, now I've tried quad amping I'm literally blown away by the sound.
I've been hearing things on records I've known for ages that I've never heard before, even voices 'off stage' that have been accidentally caught by one of the open mics.
Later, when I've got myself some banana plugs to make all the swapping easier, I'm going to try letting Alchemist handle the treble while the Sony's take care of the bass. Just to see if the sound is sweeter this way.
Yes, I do have better things to do, more important things even but this is more fun!
If you've never heard vinyl played like this, you are really missing something. It's like I have an entirely new record collection!
