Excellent thread! Another new 9Kappa owner here. I'm mainly trying to figure out what subwoofer to get and what preamps/crossovers I will need to try bi-amping. But I'll tell the longer story here just for fun:
I always loved the look of the Kappa 9s -- plus it is possible for them to sound great with the right amps. After 30 years of wanting a pair, someone a mile away had an estate sale over the summer and I ended up with a pair of Kappa 6s and 9s (all 6 woofers in desperate need of foam) as well as a Nakamichi PA-7, Adcom 535, and a LaserDisc player. Quite a nice rig in the late 80's!
I knew what I was in for with the Kappa 9 amp killers, and I have been holding on to a Parasound HCA-3500 just for this occasion -- it is probably a good "starter amp" for these monsters. I expect there will be a lot of tweaking ahead to get the best sound, and just to make things more tricky -- I have never used dipole speakers before.
I just got the refoamed woofers back yesterday! My first impression was: it sounds terrible when one speaker is on Extended and the other isn't. Once I figured this out, it starting sounding better -- but I am definitely going to want a subwoofer since Phish bass is hugely important to me. Can someone recommend one that would be a good match and in line with the "entry level audiophile" price range I usually shoot for? My previous speakers were Boston VR-970s which I really enjoyed -- the low end on them was perfect for live rock concerts. If I can get anywhere close to this type of low end in a way that matches the Kappa 9s, I will consider this upgrade a success.
Also, this is my first bi-amping experience so I am not sure what kind of preamp/crossover gear I should buy to start experimenting. I think it will be best to use the PA-7 for the high pass and the 3500 for low pass... plus the subwoofer. Presumably I will want a crossover that will split into high, low, and sub levels from the 2 preamp channels, right? Is there any way to do this that will still allow 5.1 to work properly -- i.e. an integrated preamp/crossover? This is starting to feel like a "lmgtfy.com" moment now. :D
Thanks!Mark
p.s. is there any point in trying to understand the details of Extended mode? If I add a sub and I'm bi-amping is there any reason to choose one mode over the other?
p.p.s. wow at moderate volume the HCA3500 is too hot to touch for more than a second or two... might be a fire hazard.
I always loved the look of the Kappa 9s -- plus it is possible for them to sound great with the right amps. After 30 years of wanting a pair, someone a mile away had an estate sale over the summer and I ended up with a pair of Kappa 6s and 9s (all 6 woofers in desperate need of foam) as well as a Nakamichi PA-7, Adcom 535, and a LaserDisc player. Quite a nice rig in the late 80's!
I knew what I was in for with the Kappa 9 amp killers, and I have been holding on to a Parasound HCA-3500 just for this occasion -- it is probably a good "starter amp" for these monsters. I expect there will be a lot of tweaking ahead to get the best sound, and just to make things more tricky -- I have never used dipole speakers before.
I just got the refoamed woofers back yesterday! My first impression was: it sounds terrible when one speaker is on Extended and the other isn't. Once I figured this out, it starting sounding better -- but I am definitely going to want a subwoofer since Phish bass is hugely important to me. Can someone recommend one that would be a good match and in line with the "entry level audiophile" price range I usually shoot for? My previous speakers were Boston VR-970s which I really enjoyed -- the low end on them was perfect for live rock concerts. If I can get anywhere close to this type of low end in a way that matches the Kappa 9s, I will consider this upgrade a success.
Also, this is my first bi-amping experience so I am not sure what kind of preamp/crossover gear I should buy to start experimenting. I think it will be best to use the PA-7 for the high pass and the 3500 for low pass... plus the subwoofer. Presumably I will want a crossover that will split into high, low, and sub levels from the 2 preamp channels, right? Is there any way to do this that will still allow 5.1 to work properly -- i.e. an integrated preamp/crossover? This is starting to feel like a "lmgtfy.com" moment now. :D
Thanks!Mark
p.s. is there any point in trying to understand the details of Extended mode? If I add a sub and I'm bi-amping is there any reason to choose one mode over the other?
p.p.s. wow at moderate volume the HCA3500 is too hot to touch for more than a second or two... might be a fire hazard.