[Glistener]

Hello-! I'm back in audio, after years of moving and blue'toothing. Pulled out my old Vandersteens last XMAS, to find several drivers dead. Sucked the last of my parasound's juices in a few months of running one pair of heavily discounted Klipsch RP260's, and then upgraded to another pair of discounted RP280's; replaced the Blinky paramount with a NuForce STA200, and a piece of Schiit - the Saga. Also running a Marantz AVR, SR 5013, which seems to be the source of some loopy grounding issues.

Lately, I ponder Ohm Walsh's, Open Baffle and DAC's. Looking forward to learning and listening, in this new (for me) kind of community.

Best,

The Glistener

[FullRangeMan]

Welcome aboard Glistener

[ArthurDent]

Greetings & Welcome to AC Glistener   

[Phil A]

Welcome! I use Ohm Microwalsh Talls in a back-up system

[Wind Chaser]

Welcome to Audio Circle! 

[JLM]

Hello-! I'm back in audio, after years of moving and blue'toothing. Pulled out my old Vandersteens last XMAS, to find several drivers dead. Sucked the last of my parasound's juices in a few months of running one pair of heavily discounted Klipsch RP260's, and then upgraded to another pair of discounted RP280's; replaced the Blinky paramount with a NuForce STA200, and a piece of Schiit - the Saga. Also running a Marantz AVR, SR 5013, which seems to be the source of some loopy grounding issues.

Lately, I ponder Ohm Walsh's, Open Baffle and DAC's. Looking forward to learning and listening, in this new (for me) kind of community.

Best,

The Glistener

After 3 posts you'll have full access to Audio Circle.

Seems like you've gone backwards from Vandy's and Parasound.  Take your time to learn about audio and how to listen.  Many good products out there, not all of them are found on Audio Circle.  Visit audio shows, just to get a feel of what's out there and to veto stuff you don't like.  Take in live (unamplified) performances to learn what music really sounds like.  Find a local audio club or two.  Read Floyd Toole's "Sound Reproduction" 3rd edition, the seminal book for lay folk on room acoustics.

The latest trends are constant directivity speakers, the newer class D power amps, cheaper ESS 9038 based DAC's, and streaming.  Trust the measurements, not the paid for professional reviewers.  There is killer gear out there if you know where to look. 

Take care.

[Glistener]

Compared to where I was twenty-odd years ago, I might have gone backwards... It's hard to remember the sound and the soundstage of the Vandy's, as well as the parasound HCA1200ii. Interestingly, folks on Audiogon claim the Nuforce STA200 is better than the parasound. My experience with it so far suggests that it's every bit as good as the parasound. In fact, although I was able to run the parasound for several months, the bass end of the spectrum was not as pure as what is coming through the NuForce. Also, the midrange has come alive with the NuForce, which was far too soft with the parasound. This also matches critique I've heard from others about the Halo line. My parasound clearly needs some work, so it was time to move on, if not invest in amp repair/upgrade. If I turn it off, even for a few minutes, it blinks and balks, taking sometimes several hours to re-stabilize. I would love a new pair of Vandy's but the price has more than doubled since the day of purchase. Now I'm pondering what to do next and I have a question. Has anyone properly set up a set of Klipsch RP280f's with quality amplification and room treatment? They are VERY dynamic speakers. I've noticed that, for example, the RP600M is getting rave reviews, and the reviews of the RP280f's and the RP8000f's (newest incarnation) are very, very strong on Amazon, yet little talked about in forums like this one. I went into the local high-fi shop, to inquire about a tube amp and they suggested I upgrade the speakers before going to the amp. My concern here is that the audiophile community is summarily dismissing the RP280f because it's less expensive, less interesting, Chinese built, and yet I think it probably has a lot more to give than people have accounted for, because they haven't given it an honest try. Anyway, has anyone played around with these speakers, or am I going it alone, for a while? Perhaps I'll need to do an experiment, to see how much better the Ohm or Tekton speakers can be...

[FullRangeMan]

Seems a nice speaker for a small tube amp.
This is a interesting BR duct from Klipsch.

[rikkitik]

 Hello from Cali as well,
 Though I'm a newbie here as well 
 Only a cautionary note to add on speaker/amp selection. If tubes are a consideration at all, be wary of "mainstream" mfrs impedance claims. I've auditioned and measured several, Revel, Klipsch, etc., and though rated at 8 ohm, the RARELY rose to that level. In fact often dipping below 2.5 ohm! This can be problematic for quite a few tube amps. The Revel F208  uses 4 ohm drivers for the mid and tweeter, with with dual 8 ohm woofers = 4 ohm. An amp with good current capabilities is neccessary (tube or SS) for best results.
 Anyway, welcome aboard from a fellow newbie, and Californian!

[FullRangeMan]

Hello from Cali as well,
 Though I'm a newbie here as well 
 Only a cautionary note to add on speaker/amp selection. If tubes are a consideration at all, be wary of "mainstream" mfrs impedance claims. I've auditioned and measured several, Revel, Klipsch, etc., and though rated at 8 ohm, the RARELY rose to that level. In fact often dipping below 2.5 ohm! This can be problematic for quite a few tube amps. The Revel F208  uses 4 ohm drivers for the mid and tweeter, with with dual 8 ohm woofers = 4 ohm. An amp with good current capabilities is neccessary (tube or SS) for best results.
 Anyway, welcome aboard from a fellow newbie, and Californian!

And they inform nominal impedance as 8 ohms
https://www.revelspeakers.com/products/types/floorstanding/F208-.html?dwvar_F208-_color=Black-GLOBAL-Current

https://6moons.com/audioreviews/revel2/4.html

[rikkitik]

 My F208 measured impedance was fairly close to what Stereophile showed in their review. I couldn't figure out why the impedance upper frequencies was as low as it was, so I opened them up. Both the mid and tweeter were 4 ohm drivers (tweeter SB25AC-C004, mid used is an SB15NBAC30-4). Yet, as stated, Revel lists them as 8 ohm.
 Anyway, I only bring it up as a point of awareness, concerning amp/speaker pairing.

[Glistener]

So, I'm going to keep the speaker inquiry to the side for a bit. I don't think I can go wrong by upgrading, for instance, my 1992 Sony CD player. I have been using the DAC and streamer in my Marantz, but a 60hz hum issues from it, into my pre-amp... So... I'm not quite sure where to go next... Use my computer/phone and a DAC? Replace the CD player and stick to CD's, although that seems an expensive route, when Spotify/Tidal offer up so much wonderful new content. I'm sure I'm not the only one, lingering on the edge of things, not wanting to burn too much money. So far I've been lucky to strike good deals on everything I've bought: the Schiit Sage for $200; the NuForce STA200 for $499; both the Klipsch RP280f's for $500... I don't want to strike out too far from this general trajectory, unless I can expect massive improvement. This is, for instance, is why I'm interested in the Tektons, perhaps their open baffle design, or the Ohm Walsh's. I'm also interested in hearing comparisons between the Tekton DI and the open baffle, or omni-directional concepts... Anyway, lots to learn. Thanks for any direction you can offer... I'll note again that I loved the Vandersteen setup, the 2CI's, but I don't think I would want to jump right back into the same concept. I had those speakers for something like 27 years, although they were largely dead for the past five....

Best of joyous music to all of you!

[FullRangeMan]

You are in the right way, with a few bucks you bought a wonderful image TV that lasts 10 years or more why every thing is expensive in audio?