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Non-audiophile needs help with older system.

I recently inherited a number of 10-15 year old high end audio components. I am not an audiophile but do appreciate high end sound. I do not have a dedicated room for this system. But, it was free and I'd like to figure out how to use it without spending a lot of money on it. I am not looking for audio perfection, just to optimize what I have. This will be used for two-channel music only. I'll try to describe the setup as best I can but I'm sure I do not know the proper terminology.

The components are as follows:

Pair of Aerial Acoustics floor speakers. Towers. No model number. I'm thinking 7B maybe. Have contacted Aerial to see if they can help me identify them. They have a tweeter, midrange and two woofers. Rear bass port. Separate connectors for woofers and midrange/tweeter. 

Madrigal Proceed HPA 2 amp. 250 watts. Weighs a ton.There are very large shielded(?) 'biamped'(?) cables from the amp to the speakers.

Audio Research LS16 Stereo PreAmp. There are large shielded XLR cables from the pre amp to the amp.

Onkyo home theater 'receiver' that I do not like. Remote is lost. Set up is tedious.

There is a very basic Arcam CD player and a Sony phono.

I've got it all hooked up. Bass seemed poor just running CD through pre-amp. If I run CD player to Onkyo to pre amp and adjust bass with Onkyo the sound is incredible (to me).

This system will be used for casual listening, CDs, records, radio, and iTunes via cell phone. I know that is like using a Porsche 911 to get groceries....but it was free. And there will be times when I can sit down for serious listening but that will be infrequent.

I plan on replacing the Onkyo home theater receiver with a basic FM Tuner/Bluetooth/receiver (probably a Sony). This will be for radio and iTunes so even though it is probably not a quality unit I don't think that will matter since the input (iTunes) won't be all that great anyway.

My main questions have to do with how to route the CD, the tuner and the phone through the system.

The preamp has RCA input connectors for all three. But if I run the CD and the phono directly through the preamp there is no way to adjust bass and treble and as mentioned running the CD directly through the preamp resulted in great high and midrange quality but low bass. So should I run the CD and phono into the receiver I'm going to buy and then just run the receiver out to the preamp in?

Sorry for the long post and appreciate any help you guys can give.

George


n80
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thank you. But remember I’m new to all this.

The Proceed amp has posts for spade terminals, a + /-, on left and right.

The subwoofer, I’m assuming, would have a single +/- input. So what you’re saying is that I’d run a speaker cable from the left or right speaker output posts on the amp (over the speaker’s spade terminals) to the subwoofer. So which speaker output on the amp (left or right) would I use.....or does it matter?

EDIT: Never mind. I see that many subwoofers have left and right speaker inputs and a single left/right RCA for low level input from preamp. So I'm assuming you'd just piggy back over the speaker wires at the amp and run them to the subwoofer.

I guess I'll have to make sure the subwoofer can handle the 250 watts from the Proceed amp.

Still hoping not to need a subwoofer.
bthartman
34 posts
 
Just took a look online at the manual for the LS16.  It has multiple outputs, both RCA and balanced.  You mentioned that you're using balanced cables from the LS16 to your amp, so if you decide to get a subwoofer connect it with RCA cables from the RCA outputs labeled "Main 1".  Don't use the "Record" output, as that passes through the signal without volume control.

It appears, though, that your main issue with the ARC preamp is the apparent lack of bass.  From your descriptions of your prior systems, I'm wondering if it might be an issue of what you're used to.  Many lower end systems for the mass market have over-emphasized bass as that's what a lot of people want.  In contrast, most higher end systems strive for a flat response without emphasizing any frequency ranges.  There's certainly nothing wrong with that - we like what we like and there's no "right" way to play back music.  But that preamp is a very good piece of equipment and assuming the tubes and electronics are in good working order it should be able to give you much better sound quality than the Onkyo.
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
"You mentioned that you’re using balanced cables from the LS16 to your amp, so if you decide to get a subwoofer connect it with RCA cables from the RCA outputs labeled "Main 1"."

That makes sense. Thank you.

"It appears, though, that your main issue with the ARC preamp is the apparent lack of bass. From your descriptions of your prior systems, I’m wondering if it might be an issue of what you’re used to. "

I think that is very possible. My cheap-o home theater system is bass heavy too and not in a good way. Same thing in my truck, which has a nice OEM system in it but it is also bass heavy. I think I’ve just grown used to it.

Also, my first impression of the system came with me standing a few feet in front of the speakers with them just a few feet apart.

So I’m hoping that’s all it was. I also noticed that in reviews and descriptions of the Aerial Acoustics 7B that the woofers are described as "long throw" or something like that which makes me wonder if they will seem to have more base if I can get a little more distance between them and the listening position.

I’ll be going down this weekend and can’t wait to take a fresh listen to the system and try to approach it without bias from my previous low end systems which I’m avoiding this week.

Once again I really appreciate all the fine, common sense advice I’ve gotten here.



atmasphere's avatar
atmasphere
11,938 posts
 
EDIT: Never mind. I see that many subwoofers have left and right speaker inputs and a single left/right RCA for low level input from preamp. So I'm assuming you'd just piggy back over the speaker wires at the amp and run them to the subwoofer.

I guess I'll have to make sure the subwoofer can handle the 250 watts from the Proceed amp.
Most subs have an attenuator circuit at their input to deal with this.
"It appears, though, that your main issue with the ARC preamp is the apparent lack of bass. From your descriptions of your prior systems, I’m wondering if it might be an issue of what you’re used to. "
Just my personal 2 cents, but IME ARC preamps sound a bit dry or conservative in the bass. Add to that the preamp has been sitting a while and its easy to imagine it being a bit deficient. Defiantly let it play a while before doing anything about it!
n80 OP
2,133 posts
 
Thanks. That is my plan. 
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