A "Duh" moment

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Markd51

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A "Duh" moment
« on: 25 Apr 2015, 02:33 pm »
Hello All,
With my new Bryston 7b Monos, I was having some difficulty trying to figure out how to power them remotely with my McIntosh MX-130 AV Pre/Tuner.

According to the McIntosh Literature, there is supposedly 5V coming from the Power Control Tap on the rear of the Unit, and that it is a simple Mono Cable, just 2 Conductor.

No luck, tried aa couple times then decided to see what Voltage was at the Cable ends with a Voltmeter. 4.93V DC I found. (Within Bryston's spec of 4-12V AC/DC)

Figured "what the hey, what am I doing wrong, or what is wrong?"  :scratch:
Yes, the rear Local-External Power Switchs were set to External.

What I didn't realize-know, was that the Front Power Switches also need to be pushed to "On" as well!  :lol:

All works wonderful now!

Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #1 on: 25 Apr 2015, 11:22 pm »






diocircle.com/image.php?id=119789[/img]

Thought the thread was lacking without a couple pics of the system.
Mr Tanner and I discussed my system a few weeks back, and it has really bloomed, sweetened, and filled out very nicely!

The empty right side of the rack is now occupied by my other TEAC A2340R R2R Deck. Sorry for the empty space in these pics.

Grit

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #2 on: 26 Apr 2015, 05:09 am »
Hello All,
With my new Bryston 7b Monos, I was having some difficulty trying to figure out how to power them remotely with my McIntosh MX-130 AV Pre/Tuner.

According to the McIntosh Literature, there is supposedly 5V coming from the Power Control Tap on the rear of the Unit, and that it is a simple Mono Cable, just 2 Conductor.

No luck, tried aa couple times then decided to see what Voltage was at the Cable ends with a Voltmeter. 4.93V DC I found. (Within Bryston's spec of 4-12V AC/DC)

Figured "what the hey, what am I doing wrong, or what is wrong?"  :scratch:
Yes, the rear Local-External Power Switchs were set to External.

What I didn't realize-know, was that the Front Power Switches also need to be pushed to "On" as well!  :lol:

All works wonderful now!

You're not alone. I had that exact same problem the first time I set up a Bryston amp at home. Took me almost 2 hours to figure it out.  :duh:

Laundrew

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #3 on: 26 Apr 2015, 01:04 pm »


diocircle.com/image.php?id=119789[/img]

Beautiful JBLs - how about a photo with the grill off  :drool:

Want to hear one of my "Duh" moments? Sat down one evening to enjoy some of my most cherished music, while sitting in the chair, I could not help but feel something was missing from the sound - it just was not the same. This went on for a little while until it dawned of me that I forgot to turn on one of the mono-blocks  :duh: :oops:

Be well...









Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #4 on: 26 Apr 2015, 02:46 pm »


Sure, here you go, grills off, showing the 15" JBL 2235H Bass Driver. This was before I did a little speaker tweaking, swapping speakers, left to right  so that that Horn and its Compression Driver are a little closer together as they are slightly offset within the Cabinet.   Figured it would help with a bit better soundstage bringing the Compression Driver a bit more inboard.

Although only 2 Drivers per Cabinet, this speaker is sort of unique in that it has L-Pad Controls for both Mids, and Highs. This is the smaller brother to the much larger dual 15" 4435 Studio Monitor.

Laundrew

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #5 on: 26 Apr 2015, 03:17 pm »



Gorgeous  :thumb: thanks  :D

Be well...

Phil A

Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #6 on: 26 Apr 2015, 04:57 pm »
I've done worse.  In my old house, my family room was after the foyer and right before the room was a stairway to the upper floor (below in the pic I took a shot from the top of the stairway and you can see the railing a bit).  There was two switches at the base of the stairway.  One switch was for the lights and for the longest time I never figured out what the other one was for.  I probably showed someone the upstairs and they probably turned the switch off.  I had an amp for surround channels plugged into the portion of outlet controlled by the switch at one point.  When I'd turn the system on the DC trigger would activate and make it looked like the amp was coming on but it wouldn't.  Four hours later after crawling behind the system taking apart everything (including the top off the amp), I figured out what the issue was.  I put a better receptacle in and disabled the switch. 




Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #7 on: 26 Apr 2015, 08:23 pm »
Nice!  That couch looks mighty comfy in the sweet spot!

Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #8 on: 26 Apr 2015, 09:15 pm »
Gorgeous  :thumb: thanks  :D

Be well...

I had pulled my brains out for quite a long time,, probably 35 years, yeah that long, of all the Krells, Levinsons, ARC, many others, and particularly McIntosh, "what should-could be the best Amps", and fit for my tastes, current speakers, bang for the dollar, and possible future speakers I'd might like having?

The 93db 1 watt of the JBL 4430 Monitors of course didn't require 600 watt monoblocks, as I probably could have been tickled with either the 3b or 4b Amps that Bryston currently makes.  That either Amp with these particular speakers would still knock pictures off the walls if the need would arise. 

We all know, there's an issue many audiophiles face, it's called "Future Obsolescence".  I didn't wish to face such quickly again, with a hasty Amp purchase.  Source components experience this issue, many flavors-tastes-costs both digital, and analog.

Thought that one day I might like a pair of Planars, or Stats, something that might need a good deal of power-wattage, and could properly showcase such speakers.

A super hard decision to make, a guessing game, as where I live, there's an extreme lack of home audio dealers.
I ultimately chose Bryston for their reviews, no nonsense quality of build, the people and the factory who build such, the warrantee was of course a great added perk. Who in the industry offers 20 full transferable years?! Of course what good is such a warrantee if the product does not satisfy sonically?

Reviews vary considerably, from some reviews, no mention of break in, a supposed blow your socks off performance fresh from the boxes.  This was far from my experience.

My 7bSST2 Monos literally hurt, were very nasty sounding and horrid from first sound. So raw, edgy, tipped forward, lacking bass response, and actually sounded very distorted, especially in the most important midrange. Hard to understand, that such Amps were absolutely dead quiet when switched to any input (CD-Phono-etc) and at 65-70 on the Pre's digital volume output there was absolutely dead silence, nothing, not a hiss, a hum, zero that I could detect when placing ear to drivers.

Yet when music sprung forth, these Amps were not even the close equal to a 39 year old pair of McIintosh 2105 Amps, nor even a 40 year od Sansui 7000 Receiever.  There was no sweetness of sound, just really bad all around.   I crossed my fingers, prayed, and continued to play them, that things would change.

And they started to change.  I'd say at about the 75 hour mark.   At first, this was experienced at super maniac ultra high db's, where I snapped one afternoon, and cranked the remote at wake the dead, and call the polie levels.  I was amazed!  But on the same hand, thought a bought a pair of Amps that were only suitable for auditoriums, gymnasiums, concert halls, and was this nothing more than just another "DJ Amp"?

About 100-120 hours in, sound still continued to improve, smooth better finesse, greater balance from top to bottom, bass was now possessing much better authority.  The 2235H Bass Drivers seemed like they came to life, doing what they supposed to do.  Mids had much greater purity, balance, smoothness, realism, a less edgy sound, and became better at more "sane" listening levels.

I of course reaiize whenever one rips down a system to re-configure, do expect some "settling in", and there's suspect of other issues, cabling, and even others, like new NOS Tubes in both CAL DACs.

Yeah, I probably grew a few more grey hairs over unwarranted grief, and some lost sleep, certainly not every day I drop such money on a expensive acquisition like these Monoblocks.

I did not want an Amplifier that was sweet, syrupy, non-linear, warm, I wanted precision and truth of sonics, an Amp that would get out of the way not be a bottleneck, and that any shortcomings would only be due to source, or downline compnents as a compromise.

It's been about 6 weeks or so (give a day or so into new ownership) of these Amps. I am very happy with them, they do exactly what they supposed to do, they have awesome power, there's certainly no worry about running out of headroom.  Of course nobody wishes to "have" to listen to a system at 110db, these Amps have considerably sweetened to sane levels of listening.

My opinion on these that I have, yes, they needed a good deal of run in-break in to show what they can do.

While these Amps might not possess some cost no object cosmetics, Bryston sure did a very nice job on build quality, theres no complaints on assembly quality, screws, fit and finish.

About the only small regret, was that I didn't pull out a bit more money, and bought the 28 Monos.  The wonderment of what such a world class pair would bring versus these?         

Phil A

Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #9 on: 26 Apr 2015, 11:31 pm »
Nice!  That couch looks mighty comfy in the sweet spot!

Those are two separate power recliners.  One without arms due to the fact there was a fireplace on the side of it and that was the widest I could go and not block most of the fireplace.  This is the look in the new place with the same furniture.




Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #10 on: 27 Apr 2015, 01:19 pm »
Very sweet room, and system there Phil!

Phil A

Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #11 on: 27 Apr 2015, 01:24 pm »
Thanks!! 

Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #12 on: 27 Apr 2015, 05:26 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcKEpqvVDXM

Hope this short Vid does not violate Forum Rules?

This is a Vid from Kenrick Sound in Japan, showing a pair of restored JBL 4430 Monitors on evidently what was some custom stands that Kenrick Sound must've designed-constructed?  Just beautiful, would love having a pair of these stands for sure, these 4430 Monitors would surely sound much better up off the floor a bit.

Love how they walnut laminated the sides to match the speakers.  Tried contacting them a year ago with an inquiry, tried a translator as well, but never got a reply from them.   They truly do some killer work, and restorations-custom builds!
Mark

Phil A

Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #13 on: 27 Apr 2015, 05:46 pm »
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcKEpqvVDXM

Hope this short Vid does not violate Forum Rules?

This is a Vid from Kenrick Sound in Japan, showing a pair of restored JBL 4430 Monitors on evidently what was some custom stands that Kenrick Sound must've designed-constructed?  Just beautiful, would love having a pair of these stands for sure, these 4430 Monitors would surely sound much better up off the floor a bit.

Love how they walnut laminated the sides to match the speakers.  Tried contacting them a year ago with an inquiry, tried a translator as well, but never got a reply from them.   They truly do some killer work, and restorations-custom builds!
Mark

Not sure if this helps - http://jbl43.com/?mode=f3


Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #14 on: 27 Apr 2015, 06:04 pm »
Thank you Phil, I will give it another shot at contacting them.
I've viewed their site numerous times, and these folks are truly something!  The insane level of quality of speaker systems , the systems these folks showcase are truly mind boggling to say the least.

Spyman

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #15 on: 27 Apr 2015, 06:09 pm »
What a nice, clean room, Phil! Great setup!

Phil A

Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #16 on: 27 Apr 2015, 06:19 pm »
What a nice, clean room, Phil! Great setup!

Thanks - here's another shot



Markd51

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #17 on: 28 Apr 2015, 12:43 pm »
http://www.jbl43.net/img/4311b-16-2.jpg

BTW, Kenrick Sound did get back to me, sent an email this morning, and a pic of what they make, and the cost.
90,000 jpy, which I believe equates to about $756 plus packaging and shipping (which I'm sure is quite costly from Japan which is no doubt air freight)

These stands are said to be solid walnut, but IMO don't look near as good a cosmetic match to the 4430 Monitors compared to the ones in the video I provided, and look to me to be considerably lower in height as well.

High quality yes, but the same stands as earlier shown, no.
Mark

James Tanner

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Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #18 on: 28 Apr 2015, 12:48 pm »





diocircle.com/image.php?id=119789[/img]

Thought the thread was lacking without a couple pics of the system.
Mr Tanner and I discussed my system a few weeks back, and it has really bloomed, sweetened, and filled out very nicely!

The empty right side of the rack is now occupied by my other TEAC A2340R R2R Deck. Sorry for the empty space in these pics.

Hi Mark

Great looking system ! - glad you gave it time to settle in - ENJOY.

james


Phil A

Re: A "Duh" moment
« Reply #19 on: 28 Apr 2015, 02:36 pm »
http://www.jbl43.net/img/4311b-16-2.jpg

BTW, Kenrick Sound did get back to me, sent an email this morning, and a pic of what they make, and the cost.
90,000 jpy, which I believe equates to about $756 plus packaging and shipping (which I'm sure is quite costly from Japan which is no doubt air freight)

These stands are said to be solid walnut, but IMO don't look near as good a cosmetic match to the 4430 Monitors compared to the ones in the video I provided, and look to me to be considerably lower in height as well.

High quality yes, but the same stands as earlier shown, no.
Mark

Mark - see if you have a local woodworker and take a pic to him.  May be able to do it with wood and veneer cheaper.