They are pretty high resolution amps and you may just be hearing harsh digital recordings as they are. Assuming all is healthy (tubes and caps), look at speaker placement - try straight ahead and closer together rather than toed in with tweeters pointing at your ears.
Newbie needs help on Audio Research and DynAudio Quality
Hello all,
I am a newbie to high end home audio and need help from all of you audiophiles out there. I was actually into high end car audio back to when I was younger so I kinda understand what sound quality level can be considered at audiophile standard. I bought this set up (2 mono amps Audio Research Classic 120, Audio Research LS22 preamp, Dynaudio Contour 1.8 mkII, Rega Planet CD player) 4 years ago and did not have time and room to put them up to enjoy until recently. After setting them up last week, I was very disappointed at the performance. The sound was harsh and I would get tired after listening to 2-3 songs. I remember when I picked up the speakers, the previous owner played a couple of songs using his turntable and it was warm, clear and enjoyable (I could not remember what equipment he had back then). I have another set of solid state stuff to play around which includes Luxman M-12 amplifier, Sansui CA-2000 preamp, JBL 4311B, and same CD player Rega Planet. The sound quality is much better compared to ARC set. I expect that the ARC set at least has to be at entry level of audiophile but what I got out from it is disappointing. I need help from you experts to point out what is wrong or what I should expect from Audio Research.
Best Regards,
Dan
- ...
- 24 posts total
Is it safe to assume the ARC gear including all tubes are in good working order? I’d make sure. If so, those ARC amps still may not be a great match to drive Dynaudio speakers properly. Not surprised the SS Luxman sounds better. The manual online says Classic 120 produces same power to 4 8 or 16 ohm loads. I have Dynaudio Contour 1.3 mkII. You want SS amps that double power output from 8 to 4 ohm with Dynaudios to drive them best with right tonality. This is due to variations in impedance load at various frequencies. That is par for the course with many modern home audiospeakers these days. I use Bel Canto ref 1000m amps and Audio Research sp16 tube pre-amp. This sounds great. Getting the right amp to run Dynaudio is the best first step then fine tune from there if needed. |
Mapman, if you download the "manuals" (they’re actually nicely detailed spec sheets) at the following link, for your Contour 1.3 MkII and the OP’s Contour 1.8 MkII, you’ll see that the impedance characteristics of his speakers are much more benign than yours. And in fact their impedance magnitude is remarkably flat compared to most speakers, with impedance phase angles being benign as well. https://www.dynaudio.com/support/manuals Also, based on the Classic 120’s specified damping factor of 45 and its use of a relatively large amount of feedback (21 db), it seems certain that the Classic 120 has VERY low output impedance for a tube amp, approaching solid state territory in that respect. So the amp **will** double power into halved load impedances, to a very close approximation, as long as it is not asked to exceed its maximum power capability. So on paper, at least, it seems like the Classic 120 should be a suitable match for the Contour 1.8 MkII, assuming its maximum power capability is adequate for his purposes (which I would expect it to be under most circumstances). Also, based on the numbers in the spec sheet it seems very likely that the 4 ohm taps of the amps would be the best match for these speakers. If one of the other taps is being used the 4 ohm tap should certainly be tried. Finally, one thing I note in the spec sheet for the speaker is that its crossover uses "high quality polypropylene capacitors." Poly capacitors can require lengthy breakin periods, IME, with the speaker actually playing music for dozens if not hundreds of hours before they will sound their best. And I suppose it is conceivable that they could have lost that breakin during the four years of non-use. And perhaps the drivers need to loosen up as well. I mention these points because in reading the initial post I’m not completely certain if the solid state equipment that was mentioned was tried with the Dynaudio speakers, or if it was just used with the JBLs. Best regards, -- Al |
Almarg how would you reconcile the manual indicating same power into 4 8 and 16 ohm with doubling down power into the same? It is a hybrid design so that would bode well in terms of having low output impedance for a tube based amp. Those amps were introduced in 1990 and not used for several years. It's possible they are not operating up to spec. I suspected the larger models would be an easier drive but did not check the specs. Good catch! Dynaudios in general seem to get the rap of being towards the power and current hungry end of things. |
- 24 posts total