2. amps-preamps
  3. 131720-103887

Amp recommendation and setup advice please

Hello,

I love music and I adore quality sound - I cannot listen to music on ordinary speakers/devices.

I have been trying to do my research on sound systems/speakers/amps etc.. and learn/understand the whole shebang, but I'm not that much of a tech head. 

I want to buy the Klipsch RF-7 II tower speakers (I think they are passive, hence requiring an amp). 

I want them for both my new TV and also the vinyl/turntable setup I am going for, which is as follows:

Turntable - ProJect Debut Carbon Premium with Ortofon 2M RED (cartridge)
Phono (pre-amp) - ProJect Phono Box DS
Speakers - as above
Subwoofer - thinking either Klipsch R-12SW or R112SW
Amp - ??

I have a few questions:

1. Am I on the right tracks for having all the essentials?
2. Can someone recommend a good amp to power my speakers and sub please, and does the sub need powering or does it have it's own amp? 
3. Do I need a DAC for TV and connection to laptop? If so can you recommend a good one please? I was thinking of Audioengine D1 Premium 24 bit DAC Interface Connector.
4. Please suggest any alternative products if any of the stuff I mentioned are no good or don't fit together that well.
5. How would I set all of this up? Do I need anything else?
6. Do I need more speakers? I'm worried that the sub may be too much bass and drown out the tower speakers. 

I apologise for my lack of knowledge - I've just signed up here because I read that I could get advice and guidance from enthusiasts and experts. I know that my questions and post may frustrate some of you as I may have made some rookie mistakes, and perhaps this type of post has been done a 100 or so times but wasn't sure how to get answers/help. 

Many kind thanks in advance!

Mo
laher
laher OP
38 posts
 
Thanks, makes sense about the preamp/DAC. Looking forward to seeing what the NFB will do. 

I checked the back of the TV and the back of the Satellite box.

The Satellite box only has two USB ports and 1 optical out. The HDMI and 2 Satellite ins are being used. 

The TV has 2 USB ports, 4 HDMI ports, 1 Satellite in, 1 optical digital audio out, and 2 ports which I’m not sure what they are - 1 says audio out/ H/P and the other says RS-232C (SVC only).

The Lifatec Toslink is an optical digital cable? It seems like this is the cable I will have to buy right? And I think it would be better to plug it into the TV as the TV is also used for Netflix not just the Satellite. 
laher OP
38 posts
 
Also, which audioquest cables should I be looking at? I don’t mean Big Sur vs Golden Gate for example, I mean the type of connectors on the end of the cable? I can’t seem to find the right type. 

The HS80M has XLR and 1/4” TRS jack. I should use XLR right? And then the other end would also be XLR (going into the NFB)?

Do you have a link for the right cable please?
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

Well, initially you only said satellite.  Including the Netflix stuff may cause some difficulty.  You could try connecting a toslink from the TV, but you have to make sure that it can be setup to ouput a stereo digital signal (Netflix will have stuff like multi-channel Dolby Digital Plus). 

The Lifatec toslink is an optical digital cable.

For Yamaha, you should look for Audioquest XLR cables.  You may need to look around for a UK Audioquest distributor, maybe something like this:

https://www.audiodestination.co.uk/cables/interconnects/audioquest-red-river-interconnects-pair

There can be others.  Or you can try ordering from a USA distributor, like Audio Advisor.

laher OP
38 posts
 
Apologies, I didn’t realise that the TV has a built in Netflix app. 

Okay so XLR cables from speaker to NFB and the the optical digital cable from NFB to either the TV or the Satellite box. 
Do I need to worry about a particular length of cables like before with the bluejean? 

On the back of the speakers there are controls for level, mid EQ, room control, high trim, and low cut.
Would you mind please explaining what these functions do and how I would used them?
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

The length of toslink doesn't matter like COAX.  As I said, you could try using the toslink output from the TV, but it's likely that it won't work with a 2-channel DAC like the Audio-GD.  You may have to get a cheap Sony bluray player to stream Netflix.  These have an setting in the Audio section for "Downmix: stereo".  It will output a 2-channel digital signal for the Audio-GD DAC and you can use the bluejean 1694A for this.  Then just use a standard toslink for the satellite.  It's important to go into the satellite receiver menu and make sure that "Dolby Digital" is disabled so that it sends a stereo digital signal through toslink.

The back of the Yamaha has switch settings.  These are basically EQ settings to boost/cut certain areas (such as bass / midrange / treble).  It is best just to set these at "0" or "Flat" to start with.

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