Audio system freshener-upper

[Regis]

I'm selling all my vintage gear and updating the systems. The reason was, I found the 80's GAS Thalia pre-amp and ancient ESS Eclipse amp, sounded better than my vintage Sansui stuff.

I'm leaning towards tri-amping the L-300's, using a JBL M553 xover. Got a few questions. Should I go 'boutique' audio (BK, GAS, Sumo) or pro (Crown, QSC, Behringer)? Is one 'cleaner' than the other, or is it just 'packaging'?

The xover uses XLR inputs and outputs, and I'm wondering if it's better to stick to XLR all the way to the amps? Secondly, would a regular mixer work with a CD player, etc? Benefits, disadvantages?

[boputnam]

Behringer is not in a class with Crown nor QSC.

Otherwise...

1) The xover uses XLR inputs and outputs, and I'm wondering if it's better to stick to XLR all the way to the amps? 2) Secondly, would a regular mixer work with a CD player, etc? Benefits, disadvantages?

1) Yea, stay balanced if you can.

2) "mixer"...? 'splain what you mean / are thinking... Using a "mixer" is not a good idea, nor necessary IMO.

[Charlie4350]

I wouldn't go the triamp route, you'll be forever looking for good sound. The 300's will absolutely LOVE this

[Regis]

1) Yea, stay balanced if you can.

2) "mixer"...? 'splain what you mean / are thinking... Using a "mixer" is not a good idea, nor necessary IMO.[/QUOTE]

A sincere thanks Bo, as I'm likely going to need a preamp, but all the preamps in the pro section seemed to be focused on mic's (naturally). So what kind of preamp would have an XLR output and be compatible on the RCA input with CD players or DAC's? I see that there are RCA-XLR adapters, but it makes me wonder.
:dont-know

[Regis]

I wouldn't go the triamp route, you'll be forever looking for good sound. The 300's will absolutely LOVE this

Umm, yeah. That is another consideration. A) Going Steve Gonzales route with a tube midrange amp, pro bottom and top amps. Or just going for a big-balls tube amp within my price range (the big un's are some serious $$$). The other option, I'm exploring here and I did read the other L-300 thread with interest, tho' I doubt I'll ever go 9w SET unless I heard it (the low power tube amps don't have the power for the bottom end punch if that's what you're seeking).

[boputnam]

So what kind of preamp would have an XLR output and be compatible on the RCA input with CD players or DAC's? I see that there are RCA-XLR adapters, but it makes me wonder.

Dood, you're sandbagging! That's a lay-up for me!

The Adcom GFP-750 - plenty liquid on eBay, and many/most in excellent condition. I REALLY love mine, and it solved all the GL issues I had from mixing consumer (single-ended) gear with pro. There's quite a discussion of this model and others, here, too - try a Search.

Thanks to the Widget for this advice - I've since got three...

[Mr. Widget]

I'm selling all my vintage gear and updating the systems. The reason was, I found the 80's GAS Thalia pre-amp and ancient ESS Eclipse amp, sounded better than my vintage Sansui stuff.

I must have said this a thousand times... the better 80's stereo gear is vastly superior to the receivers and integrateds that so many here listen to. To get better than the GAS and ESS you will need to audition carefully... there is no need to buy new PA amps, the GAS Grandson is sonically superior to most if not all of them. Why get rid of the Thalia and Eclipse? Balanced is nice, but not necessary in most domestic situations. For the most part, the balanced gear that is sonically superior is quite costly. The Adcom is an exception, but I wouldn't endorse their or anyone's entire line. You need to pick each piece carefully. PS Audio, GAS, Threshold, Sumo, Bedini, and Forte are some of the brands I'd look at.

Going with an active crossover and muti-amping does complicate things and unless you are very hands on and willing to work at getting it right, you may not get a multi-amp set-up that is as good as a single amp set-up. If you do go that extra mile, the quality of the crossover is as critical as the preamp... think of it this way, if you take that Thalia preamp and run it's output through your Sansui before it goes to your amp you have just stepped backwards. Most of the affordable pro crossovers are not even as good as the front end of your basic Sansui or Pioneer receiver. I like crossovers from Symmetry, Bryston, and the LP-1 from Dahlquist. I have never used one, but I have heard good things from many people about the Marchand crossovers.

Widget

[Regis]

Thank you Bo and Mr Widget! I actually have two systems to put together. The mod'd L-150's in the family room and the L-300's in the living room. There's only one 'separates' system at the moment. The L-150's are/were running off've a Sansui G-9000 and the L-300's off've the G-22000, but as I pointed out earlier, I noticed a difference on the L-150's running the 'separates'.

The reason I'm looking at all the options is the ESS amp is somewhat tired and will have to be gone through. There is noise on the 'A' channel that doesn't exist on the 'B' channel. The ESS is 70's for sure. I'm looking for an amp(s) for the L-300 system that is more 80's technology (toroidial transformer, mil-spec electronics, improved controls, etc).

I will need a second pre-amp as well. My bud with the L-250's noticed a significant difference between the GAS Thalia that I loaned him and his GAS Thoebe (which I had a peek under the hood, when I cleaned and checked it out, definitely a step up from the Thalia, more electronics, etc). So even a better pre-amp is in the works. I may also lean towards a big tube amp or possibly a high powered MOSFET amp, like the Soundcraftsmen. The ESS is Bipolar trannies.

Thanks for the great advice and recommendations!

[Mr. Widget]

I have a pile of the Soundcraftsmen amps as does TiDome... they are competent, but nothing to write home about. I use mine in my HT outfit but wouldn't use them for a main system. For budget mosfets you can look at Haflers... I like them much better than the Soundcraftsmen amps.

Widget

[Titanium Dome]

The Soundcraftsmen amps are not valued very highly, sometimes for good reason, but I'm glad they're not. It means the good ones are cheaper for me. Since they're getting old, some are candidates for a bit of reconditioning, which is fairly easy to do.

For my purposes they're a dream in many configurations, and they're certainly single-handedly responsible for addicting me to MOSFET outputs.

I've got one of those little S860 b@st@rds bridged for my B380 and an A400 driving the 4430s in my office (plus six or seven more at home). NOT for sale anytime soon.

[grumpy]

If you can find a clean Perreaux 2150B or 3150, buy 'em and
don't look back.

Sold both... wish I hadn't.

I wouldn't recommend balanced for home use unless you have a piece of must-have
equipment that requires it... or a big pile 'o money (echoing most of what's posted in
this thread already)

-grumpy

[Regis]

Mr. Widget, thanks for the thoughts. Certainly something to ponder as I am looking for that elusive sweet sound, that I feel I should be getting. I'll remove the Soundcraftsmen from the list. So far, B&K looks like nice build. And as mentioned before, GAS, but the Grandson, might not be enough watts, but if it's around 150, I may live with it, for better sound all-around.

Thanks Grumpy for the recommendation as well. I'll add that to the list too. Looking to spend about $1,500 to $2K, but if I can get away with less, I will!

[Mr. Widget]

The Grandson is a wonderful amp... but it is only 40wpc at 8 ohms. I used them as mid/tweeter amps. Though they have balls down low too if you don't need crazy SPLs.

I own a B&K and am not all that impressed... back in the day they were quite popular though.


Widget

[Zilch]

Ask Mr. Widget what he used to drive Project May....

[Mr. Widget]

Ask Mr. Widget what he used to drive Project May....

A single Hafler 9505 and triamped with a pair of 9505s and a JBL MPA 600 on the woofers... a less than ideal combo, but it worked...

I think Zilch was plugging for his loaner Urei/JBL 62XX amp that has been here awhile... I used it awhile back as a sub amp in a quad amped setup... it was fine.


Widget