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
I have the gain on the DAC on low, the level on the Yamaha set to +4dB (half way), and all the presets to zero/flat. I may up the mids and highs to see how that sounds but I think it might not be necessary. 

I’m happy with the sound when I play music, but I guess it makes sense that the sound isn’t as good with the movies/TV if they are mastered to a 5.1 surround sound.

Maybe a HT processor or AVR would have been a good idea considering this was supposed to be a TV setup, but I’m happy sticking with the preamp/DAC. Apologies for my lack of knowledge and experience in all of this, but I do think the conversations took a turn for the best so thank you for your guidance. After all, it’s just a TV set up for my father and he is happy. I think the addition of a sub will complete the setup in my opinion (but this will be more for me than for my father lol). 

I’ll probably get the Audioquest Sydney (for example) at some point just to hear the difference between gold and silver plated interconnects, not because I think I need it. 

My DAC won’t support two subs right? I will try to purchase the Klipsch but it’s proving difficult finding a dealer in the U.K.

I could buy the Audioquest Big Sur for connecting the sub to the DAC right (RCA to RCA)? The thing that worries me is that the picture of the Big Sur looks as if the left and right connector split isn’t long enough to plug into the ports on the DAC. Does this make sense to you? I might not be explaining myself very well here.

This may be a silly question, but how worried should I be about knock offs and replicas when it comes to buying audio equipment off eBay or Amazon for example?

Unfortunately it’s not possible to put the speakers on the short walls. Any tips for making the most out of the long wall. I read one theory about putting them as close to the wall as possible, and if you can it’s best to mount them into the wall so that they are flush. The other theory was about putting them a foot or two away from the wall. I want to avoid or minimise the nulls in my room.

There are other subwoofers you can get.  Look at these on the ebay UK site:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/b/Speakers-Subwoofers/14990?Configuration=Single%2520Subwoofer&rt=nc&_sop=3&_udhi=500

There is a Revel B120.  Also, several BK subs so that you could get two if you wanted.  Or just get one to start and put it as close to the corner as you can get.  If you get two subs, use Left RCA for one sub and Right RCA for the second sub.  If you only get one sub, use both left/right RCA into the same sub.

You can play with the Yamaha's position.  I think generally, you need a little bit of space away from the wall (at least 1-2 feet) because the bass ports are on the back side of the speakers.  But I think the best bet would be to put a subwoofer in each corner. Then set them at about 80hz (the Yamaha's may not play that low when in the middle of the wall).

I can understand your concern on the "split" of the Audioquest cable.  It is definitely not that wide, and the left/right RCA outputs on the Audio-GD are spaced far apart.  I would look at the Belden 1695A Coax cable for subwoofer.  These come in single cables, so you can get two of these (one for each corner sub).

https://www.bluejeanscable.com/store/subwoofer/index.htm

The 1695A uses a solid-core 18awg copper conductor.  In my opinion, this would be an excellent cable for transferring bass frequencies.  Smaller awg conductors do not transfer bass as well.  In my testing, 20awg seems to be the best overall compromise - small enough for high frequency detail, but still large enough for good bass.  When going to smaller 22awg conductors, I get much leaner bass and too much bright highs.  The Audioquest interconnects typically use 21awg conductors.

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There are definitely counterfeit cables on ebay and stuff.  The Kimber Cable speaker wire is very easy to counterfeit because you cannot tell the difference - it's just braided wire.  There are other Furutech connector counterfeits.  Lots of counterfeit junk on ebay from China - stuff that is "too good to be true".  However, buying something like used Audioquest on ebay or elsewhere is usually pretty good.  I have not seen counterfeit "equipment".

Thanks again for input and recommendations. 

I have purchased 2 Belden 1695A cables (15 feet each) and also purchased the Klipsch R-112SW (managed to find a UK dealer who had stock). 

I'll start with one sub for now and see how I get on and may look to introduce a second one down the line but I think this should be good enough for now. 

I'll keep you posted once I receive everything and hook it all up. 

Thanks again auxinput!



Would it be worth buying a decent HDMI cable? I've read conflicting articles about high end HDMI cables vs basic ones. 

The Satellite is connected to the TV via HDMI, and the TV is connected to the DAC via digital cable (because of Netflix being played through the TV app). I tried the digital cable straight into the Satellite and it seems to give the same sound as when plugged into the TV.

But with the digital cable plugged into the TV, the input is going from the Satellite through the HDMI to the TV, and then through the digital cable to the DAC... hence my question about upgrading the HDMI cable.

If it is worth spending a bit more on a decent HDMI, is this one any good:

https://www.audiosanctuary.co.uk/audioquest-pearl-hdmi-high-speed-v1.4.html

Then there's the next one up:

https://www.audiosanctuary.co.uk/audioquest-chocolate-hdmi-v1.4.html

Thanks!

There is one area where silver definitely makes a positive impact and that is with digital cables (including COAX and HDMI). Silver is a much better conductor than copper and will charge/discharge much faster. This is critical when dealing with digital square waveform signals that are extremely high frequency (like megahertz). For normal audio waveforms, I prefer pure copper.

The other aspect of digital cables is length. It is said that you should really use 1.5 meter or 4.5 feet as minimum length to reduce the amount of signal reflection back to the originating transceiver. Signal reflections can cause distortions in the waveform and cause inaccuracies. I have used short cables and this can be heard as a slight smearing of the audio. I always use 2 meter / 6 foot digital cables just to be sure (toslink doesn’t count here because it’s light).

This is the cable I use:

http://audiosensibility.com/blog/products-2/digital-cables-occ-copper-and-occ-silver/#!/Neotech-NEHH-4200-HDMI-1-4-Cable/p/17895256/category=4059160

I like it because it’s not extremely expensive and he cryogenically treats the cable (which solidifies the conductors just a little bit more and enables more high frequency transmission). The Audioquest Chocolate is also a good choice as it uses silver-plated conductors as well.  I might think the Neotech has a slight advantage because Audio Sensibility does the cryo treatment.

I have wondered about upgrading to something better like Wire World Starlight 7 or Silver Starlight 7, but other things have higher priority on my list and I don’t feel that my Neotech HDMI cable is a weak link yet.

You may or may not notice any difference in your system with upgraded HDMI cable. However, you might notice a slight improvement in video clarity.