Ilusndweller
Junior Member
Still 3-4 months away, but I cant wait. I had a similar setup 7 years ago, but in a small bedroom. This area is the combined carpeted dining/living room. The stereo will on on the top(in blueprint) wall and for room treatment I will hang a queenish size quilt on stereo wall, “back wall, and side wall.
Speakers B&W CDM1SE, bookshelf, 120W
Sub 1 12” Kicker Comp VR (complete with peeling sticker) from late 90s (400W) in a sealed MTX box (complete with plexiglass back) that is probably from the early 90s (worthy, ousted a 1k+ Velodyne)
Sub 2 NHT SW2Si 200W, speaker is 30 years old, made in Danmark and still going strong. Surround seems just fine.
Preamp - B&K AVP-1030. 1996. Though this is a 5.1 pre(ceiver, though the fm tuner sucks), I dont feel using it in stereo mode makes the sound any less quality. Great sounding D>A (I think it will best my Topping D30). Someone found out the dac in it and said it was mediocre, if so the output stage must really good. I will use the 80 Hz high pass to the amp that powers the B&Ws. The 80 Hz low pass will go to sub amps(it has 2 sub outs). The remote allows independent control of each sub (nice feature).
Ive done zero research, but there have got to be some mid 90s high end 5.1 pres to be had for pennies on the dollar that would be perfect for stereo use.
Sony TA-N55ES (because my Luxman M-120a is out of commission)- bridged (300W) to power NHT sub.
NAD 2700- bridged (400W) to power Kicker Comp VR. Great combo, loud and clean.
Kyocera A-910 integrated (150 W)- use preamp for phono only. Use amp section to power B&Ws.
CD player (mostly what I listen to)
Anything with coax out to go into either the built in dac of B&K AVP 1030 or a Topping D30 (if the B&K built in dac wins, the D30 is going in a different system).
Record player- I will have one, I just havent had a turntable set up in a while so need to figure out what my best option is.
DAT- Technics SVDA10? if memory serves
Cassette - Nakamichi base model 2 head deck (cr-1a?)
I will have a stereo-mini-to-rca cable for the very rare occasion I want to listen to something from my ipad/the internet.
For starters Ill try one of the subs(prob the kicker) tucked back by the stairs and facing into the room, parallel to (and against) the wall. The NHT will be in the upper right corner, facing down. I might simplify powering the subs with a single Forte Model 3 (200W). In the past, the 200W Forte powered the 400W kicker just fine, but this is a bigger room so we’ll see.
What am I thinking next? I want to biamp(Im mostly concerned about tweeter, I dont care too much if woofer sees the highest/tweeter frequencies), but passively which most people frown upon, though Im not sure why. Specifically I am considering buying some Harrison Labs high pass “rca style” filters @ same frequency that B&W rolls off inside the speakers. Can someone confirm that for benefits to be noticeable, the crossovers inside the speakers need to be removed (then the Harrison labs high pass plugs go bw the b&k pre and the sub amps)? Is there any benefit to be had for the sound of the tweeter if the internal crossover is left in place but the Harrison labs inline RCA filters are used?
Thanks!
Speakers B&W CDM1SE, bookshelf, 120W
Sub 1 12” Kicker Comp VR (complete with peeling sticker) from late 90s (400W) in a sealed MTX box (complete with plexiglass back) that is probably from the early 90s (worthy, ousted a 1k+ Velodyne)
Sub 2 NHT SW2Si 200W, speaker is 30 years old, made in Danmark and still going strong. Surround seems just fine.
Preamp - B&K AVP-1030. 1996. Though this is a 5.1 pre(ceiver, though the fm tuner sucks), I dont feel using it in stereo mode makes the sound any less quality. Great sounding D>A (I think it will best my Topping D30). Someone found out the dac in it and said it was mediocre, if so the output stage must really good. I will use the 80 Hz high pass to the amp that powers the B&Ws. The 80 Hz low pass will go to sub amps(it has 2 sub outs). The remote allows independent control of each sub (nice feature).
Ive done zero research, but there have got to be some mid 90s high end 5.1 pres to be had for pennies on the dollar that would be perfect for stereo use.
Sony TA-N55ES (because my Luxman M-120a is out of commission)- bridged (300W) to power NHT sub.
NAD 2700- bridged (400W) to power Kicker Comp VR. Great combo, loud and clean.
Kyocera A-910 integrated (150 W)- use preamp for phono only. Use amp section to power B&Ws.
CD player (mostly what I listen to)
Anything with coax out to go into either the built in dac of B&K AVP 1030 or a Topping D30 (if the B&K built in dac wins, the D30 is going in a different system).
Record player- I will have one, I just havent had a turntable set up in a while so need to figure out what my best option is.
DAT- Technics SVDA10? if memory serves
Cassette - Nakamichi base model 2 head deck (cr-1a?)
I will have a stereo-mini-to-rca cable for the very rare occasion I want to listen to something from my ipad/the internet.
For starters Ill try one of the subs(prob the kicker) tucked back by the stairs and facing into the room, parallel to (and against) the wall. The NHT will be in the upper right corner, facing down. I might simplify powering the subs with a single Forte Model 3 (200W). In the past, the 200W Forte powered the 400W kicker just fine, but this is a bigger room so we’ll see.
What am I thinking next? I want to biamp(Im mostly concerned about tweeter, I dont care too much if woofer sees the highest/tweeter frequencies), but passively which most people frown upon, though Im not sure why. Specifically I am considering buying some Harrison Labs high pass “rca style” filters @ same frequency that B&W rolls off inside the speakers. Can someone confirm that for benefits to be noticeable, the crossovers inside the speakers need to be removed (then the Harrison labs high pass plugs go bw the b&k pre and the sub amps)? Is there any benefit to be had for the sound of the tweeter if the internal crossover is left in place but the Harrison labs inline RCA filters are used?
Thanks!
Last edited:
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