2. amps-preamps
  3. 1134339057

New blood needs your Amp/system advice, please.

Greetings, Fellow Enthusiasts. This is my debut post on any sort of hi-fi forum. Excited to begin tapping into some of your knowledge/expertise.

I am slowly trying to piece together a clean, simple and very musical two channel experience. Cut my 'Seperates' teeth on a Rotel system about nine years ago... good entry level gear. My pre-amp recently died and I started a pupae phase of more critical listening and put together a few new pieces.

current system:

power plant: PS Audio PS-600

pre-amp: Audio Research LS3

cd: Naim CD5i

amp: Rotel RB 981 {120 wpc}

speakers: Paradigm Studio 100's V3.

speaker cables: Transparent "The Wave"

interconnects: Interlink "The Link" 200

The system sounds okay with vocals, guitar and horns etc. but is fairly flat and muddy in much of the mid-lower ends. It's seems obvious that these speakers are severely underpowered. Is this likely what I am hearing? What steps should I take to attain more balance in this system? How much power would be enough?

What Amps would you recommend?

Got a great deal on most of this gear and am still auditioning. Am not really married to any of it and am willing to consider replacing to gain a more musical enjoyment.

Thanks in advance for your time on this.

Cheers! Timothy
timtopper
auaarons
94 posts
 
The interconnects and speaker cables are the weakest components in your system. For interconnects, try the Transparent Music Link Plus, which can be purchased used for about $150 per 1m pair. For speaker cables, try the Transparent Music Wave Plus, which can be purchased used for about $250 per 8ft pair. In both cases, look for the current MM version or one version prior.

The speakers have good sensitivity, so power should not be an issue. Great CD player, good pre and power amps.

Above all, enjoy the music and not the sound.
bigjoe's avatar
bigjoe
693 posts
 
its not only more power you need you need an amp with high current,i would look for a few older krell amps like maybee a ksa 100(100 wpc @ 8 ohms) or a krell ksa 150(150 wpc @ 8 ohms)both these amps have more than enough power & have a very strong bass response.

you might want to try a different preamp also,the arc is no doubt a great pre but ive found that running a pre that does not have tone controls to be a hinderance especially in the mid & lower bass response.

mike.
henryhk
648 posts
 
It would seem you don't really like what the Rotel is doing...and I would argue its not really a function of pwer ratings....find an amp that is perhaps less warm..
gmood1
1,251 posts
 
For a new blood I must commend you on your great hearing!
You have accurately described what this speaker does on a frequency plot chart.There's a 2.5 Ohm load around 104 Hz. Also there's a huge boost in the upper bass output. The upper/mid treble also has a boost. The woofers and tweeters/midrange appear to be wired out of phase. No amount of room treaments or cabling will change it. You can help out the bass with a higher current amplifier...if you want to keep the speakers.Here you can read it for yourself Measurements .We audiophiles sometimes live in denial and find any means to bandaid a problem. My theory ..get rid of what's causing the problem and move on.
I need you to come over and ear tweak my system when you have time. ;-)

Cheers
lokie's avatar
lokie
528 posts
 
If you want to try something on the cheap, check out my NAD 2600 that's for sale. It sounds like a good fit for your power needs. Lots of good current and punch.
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