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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
spenceroo
183 posts
 
Those Neumann KH310A you mentioned earlier are in a totally different league than those other speakers you mentioned. They're also $4500 a pair. You wouldn't need an amp though. There are 6 of them in the Neumanns. I own a pair, and they sound wonderful. They actually look much nicer in person than pictures would lead you to believe. They sound huge for such a small speaker, and go really low. Check the specs.
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

If you used a 1/8" to RCA convertor cable to connect the TV to the Audio-GD DAC, you could be losing sound quality because of poor cable as well as poor audio from the TV.  If this is the only way you can do this, then there's nothing much you can do.

I always advise using digital COAX or toslink cable to connect to the DAC.

As far as bass, the Yamaha studio monitors are pretty good on the bass, as long as your source is good (see first paragraph).  If you feel you are missing bass, it is most likely an acoustic problem with the room.  I have been there.  Room probably requires bass traps to reduce the standing waves.

auxinput
2,920 posts
 
If you have digital cable between satellite and DAC, you must go into the satellite menu settings and make sure that "Dolby Digital" is turned off or that you have set the sound to "stereo" mode. 
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

What RCA cables are you using between the DAC and the Yamaha studio monitors?

If you really wanted a sub, you could get one. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SVS-SB-2000-Sub-Woofer-Black-Ash-NEW/182943070158?hash=item2a9841b7ce:g:jzcAAOSwcj5ZP7PW

Not a recommendation, but something you can look at.  There's many others that are both cheaper and more expensive.

atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,800 posts
 
your comment about eliminating or minimizing the effect of interconnect, could you please elaborate? I own an ARC Ref6 and ARC Ref150se and I keep getting advice from certain dealers that I should upgrade my IC between the two. I will say this; I have four XLR IC's at my disposal at unless it's in my head, they do sound different! Does this mean my Ref6 is not good at it's job? My question is posed with nothing but earnest sincerity.
@fsonicsmith  The balanced line system has a set of standards which are in part there to eliminate noise and also to reduce cable interactions. This is why in the recording studio it unusual to see really expensive cables, simply because the differences are inaudible.

If the equipment does not support the balanced standard, then cable differences can be heard. Audio Research to the best of my knowledge has never supported the standard (also known as Audio Engineering Society file 48) but that is actually pretty common in high end audio.

The aspects that make the cable more audible are:
1) output impedance- if this is high, more cable artifacts (IOW the character of the cable) can be heard.
2) In the balanced standard, ground is ignored and is only used for shielding. In this way no ground currents pass through the shield of the cable. What this means is that the signal occurs between pin 2 and 3 of the XLR connection and floats with respect to ground.

In an ARC preamp and a number of others, the inverted and non-inverted signals do have their output with respect to ground  and not to each other. This causes the cable to become an audible portion of the overall system sound. One advantage of this is that either output can be used to drive an RCA connection just by hooking up the RCA connector. What this means is that such a setup is really just two single ended connections that are simply out of phase with each other, which is not actually how balanced line is supposed to work- its signal does have the two aspects out of phase with each other, but its not a pair of single-ended outputs. I hope I have explained this in a way that is easy to understand.

Sorry for my slow response- I only just now found your question.
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