Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum) › Will the Trends TA-10 work well with PSB B25's?
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Will the Trends TA-10 work well with PSB B25's?

post #1 of 10
3/5/08 at 1:44am
Thread Starter 
I'll start with a brief introduction. I've been lurking here for several months now. I love music and have been very interested in learning all that I can about headphones, amps, speakers, etc. Recently, my focus as been on my 2 channel speaker setup. I'm on a very low budget, so I have a Trends TA-10.1 that I'm using to power Insignia bookshelf speakers.

I'm upgrading the speakers to PSB Image B25's soon, and I'm wondering if the t-amp will be able to drive them sufficiently (moderate volume). I know the PSB speakers are slightly more sensitive than the Insignias (91 db versus 90 db). However, the nominal impedence of the PSB's is 6 ohm, while the Insignias are 8 ohm.

What difference will this difference in impedence make in the ability of the t-amp to drive the PSB's, and will it be able to?

Also, if anyone has experience with this particular combination and would like to comment, that would be welcome as well.
Reply
post #2 of 10
3/6/08 at 10:08pm
Thread Starter 
Nobody has any input?

My feeling is the t-amp will drive them fine, given they are more sensitive than the Insignia's, and the t-amp puts out more power into a 4 ohm load than an 8 ohm load (with 6 somewhere inbetween), but a second opinion would be helpful.
Reply
post #3 of 10
3/6/08 at 10:54pm
Hey cwell2112.

Welcome to head-fi, sorry about your wallet

I cant really offer you too much first hand user feedback, because I haven't used the t-amp myself, but I do recall someone on head-fi driving a pair of Quad 12L bookshelf speakers, which is 6 ohm, 88db rated, and being quite happy with the result.

There was a good review of the B25 in sterophile, perhaps you can get more accurate impedance graphs there to see if the t-amp will manage.

Hope that helps.
Reply
post #4 of 10
3/8/08 at 4:12pm
Well, you need LESS power with 6 ohm speakers than 8 ohm speakers, all other things being equal. Of course, all other things are not always equal. The only way to know for sure is to try it, but I'd be VERY surprised if the t-amp wasn't powerful enough. These are efficient bookshelf speakers - should be a great combo. That's a beautiful amp, and wonderful speakers. Let us know how it sounds.
Reply
post #5 of 10
3/8/08 at 7:47pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks. I'm getting the speakers on Monday, and I'll be sure to let you know how the combination sounds!
Reply
post #6 of 10
3/14/08 at 8:11pm
I have an original T-Amp and a pair of PSB Intro CLRs, which used to be in my home theater (moved up to the Image T5s). Only problem is the CLRs don't have enough bass response for the T-Amp, and sound thin in my office. Instead, I use a pair of ancient KLH speakers (circa 1964), with 8-inch bass cones (paper no less) and they wound much fuller and than the PSBs. In fact, the old speakers sound wonderful. Makes my mind reel how good a true high-end, efficient pair of bookshelf speakers could sound.

Having said that, I put in an order recently for a new amp ($89 for initial buyers) based on the same Class D Tripath chip, and it will have a pre-out for a subwoofer, so I might buy a PSB subzero or something, and then I would be in business.

Anyway, how does it sound?
Reply
post #7 of 10
3/15/08 at 12:08am
tstarn06: If you're talking about the tweak city amp, it apparently has a fixed 100hz crossover to the sub output, meaning you will have to use a sub with it - it won't really be an option. Of course, there is no product there yet, so who knows what it will be when there is an actual product to buy.

I would suspect that speaker placement is the problem with the psbs you have. Try moving them closer to room boundaries and see if you get better bass response. Describe your placement and maybe you'll get some suggestions for improvement. Placement is the key to getting good sound from speakers.

Those KLH's may have better bass response, but tweeter response will be seriously lacking compared to modern speakers.
Reply
post #8 of 10
3/20/08 at 6:04pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I've been listening to the PSB's for about 2 weeks now in the following configuration:

Laptop --> Corda 2Move USB Input --> Trends TA-10.1 (configured as a power amp) --> PSB Image B25

This serves as a sort of makeshift DAC --> Preamp --> Power Amp setup, with the 2Move controlling volume. Overall, it sounds nice. It goes plenty loud for close listening (sitting at my desk with the speakers on the desk), and bass response is good, even with the PSB's sitting away from the wall at the front of the desk. I never turn the volume past 10:00, so I'm sure I will get more than enough volume when I have more room space to work with.
Reply
post #9 of 10
3/20/08 at 7:34pm
Thanks for the update, glad it worked out in the end
Reply
post #10 of 10
3/20/08 at 8:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by classicalguy View Post
tstarn06: If you're talking about the tweak city amp, it apparently has a fixed 100hz crossover to the sub output, meaning you will have to use a sub with it - it won't really be an option. Of course, there is no product there yet, so who knows what it will be when there is an actual product to buy.

I would suspect that speaker placement is the problem with the psbs you have. Try moving them closer to room boundaries and see if you get better bass response. Describe your placement and maybe you'll get some suggestions for improvement. Placement is the key to getting good sound from speakers.

Those KLH's may have better bass response, but tweeter response will be seriously lacking compared to modern speakers.
The original SI T amp was supposed to have some bass roll off. I don't have it, but I have the Super T and the V2. The V2 starts to roll off at about 60Hz, the Super T at around 40Hz (from my unmeasured listening test).
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
Head-Fi.org › Forums › Equipment Forums › Cables, Power, Tweaks, Speakers, Accessories (DBT-Free Forum) › Will the Trends TA-10 work well with PSB B25's?