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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
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
11,901 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.
laher OP
38 posts
 
@auxinput apologies for the delayed response, it was my sisters wedding weekend. 

I have the Audioquest Redriver interconnects (XLR) from Yamaha monitors to DAC, and Lifatec Toslink digital cable from DAC to Satellite. I also tried the digital cable into the TV and it’s the same as when plugged into the Satellite. 

I changed the sound settings on the Satellite to stereo, and I have the DAC gain set to low. There are 4 gain settings: low, full, high, and super high. I read that a low gain with higher volume will result in a more neutral sound. Is this true? I’m not sure which gain setting I should be using. 

I have played music via Bluetooth on the Satellite (from my iPhone) and the sound is what I expected - the bass is impressive considering there’s no subwoofer. However when watching TV and movies there’s almost no bass. 

Perhaps a subwoofer would make a difference and pick up the 20-80hz range? Also, I was thinking about adding in a centre speaker too. Would this be a good idea? 

Will the DAC be able to power everything if I added the sub and centre speaker? And does the DAC have the availability to output to these?

I was reading that speaker position is vital. My room is 7.5m by 3.5m (roughly), and the TV/speakers are against the long wall. I have the tweeters at ear level when seated, very close to the wall, angled in to the couch creating a triangle effect. The speakers are about 2.5m apart from each other. Any reccomendarions for improving the positioning?

the sub you mentioned is one I short listed but stretching the budget a little bit, especially if I am to buy a centre speaker. I was also looking at the Klipsch R-112SW. Is this a good one? Also, is it better to have two average subs or one really good one?
laher OP
38 posts
 
Ignore the centre speaker parts, I realised that I'm talking garbage. I have a stereo setup and centre speaker is for surround setups so it doesn't make sense. I also don't think I have the available ports on my preamp/DAC after adding a sub. 
auxinput
2,920 posts
 

The gain setting on the DAC just dictates how loud the output will be.  I would say to use Low or High unless you feel that the sound does not get loud enough.  You do have a volume adjustment on the back of the Yamaha, so I think any gain setting will work.

Select the Fast / Slow volume control characteristics.
        H: Fast.  64 steps range.  
        L: Slow. 100 steps range.
        F: (Full ) High gain mode. 100 steps range. (For the low sensitivity headphone like the HE-6 or the source had low output voltage level)
        S: (Super)High gain mode. 64 steps range. (For the low sensitivity headphone like the HE-6 or the source had low output voltage level)

----------------

Relating to the clarity of the sound, make sure that the setting switches on the back of the Yamaha are all set to "FLAT" or "0".  The switches are not always in the middle position for FLAT/0.  If this is the case, you can try doing a "+2" setting on the MID EQ or the HIGH TRIM.  This may increase the clarity of the mids / highs for you.  Play around and see what you like the best.  Alternatively, you could try Audioquest interconnects that have the silver-plated connectors (such as Mackenzie or Sydney).  Silver plated will give faster mids/highs, but may be leaner on the bass.  In my opinion, gold plated connectors sound more natural, but it's all personal preference.

Movie/television soundtracks are mastered with a 5.1 system in mind.  Unfortunately, you might have to live with the sound if you want to keep the DAC.  Also, the Audio-GD DAC will not support a center channel.  Way back in the beginning of this thread, I tried recommending doing an HT processor or receiver, but it seems our discussion went towards a 2-channel DAC.  Sorry about that. 

If you really want a center channel, you could just get an HT receiver to do the dolby digital / dts decoding for center speaker and use different cable for Yamaha (maybe a RCA -to -XLR adapter cable).  Then use the Audio-GD DAC for your own high end system. 

---------------

If you feel okay with the general sound quality and just want more low bass, the subwoofer idea is good.  The Klipsch R-112SW appears to be a good choice.  Yes, having two subs is better than one.  This allows you to place them in different locations and works better to handle room nodes.  Generally, a room will have bass NULLS, which are areas / frequencies where the bass waveforms cancel each other out from wall reflections.  Having two subs will help reduce these cancellations and give you better bass.  The Klipsch have RCA inputs, so you just need RCA cables and use the standard RCA outputs of the DAC.  You can use both the RCA and XLR outputs at the same time.  The XLR will go to the Yamahas.  The RCA will go to the Klipsch sub(s).  Then just set the crossover on the subwoofer to something like 40-50hz and adjust the gain on the subwoofer to your preference for bass.

As far as room, sometimes we are at the mercy of furniture and other restrictions.  Generally, I think the best would be to put the left/right speakers on the short wall for best sound, but other things may prevent this.  If you get subs, it is definitely best to try to put them into the corners to boost the bass.  Having speakers set in the middle of the long wall is definitely going to produce weak bass (in my experience).

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