[wolfetan44]

So just as I was about to order the Kef iQ30's, they have been discontinued. So now where should I look for my speakers?

 

[cel4145]

Quote:

So just as I was about to order the Kef iQ30's, they have been discontinued. So now where should I look for my speakers?

 
They show in stock for me: 
 
http://www.kefdirect.com/iq30-bookshelf-loudspeaker.html

 

[wolfetan44]

Quote:

 
They show in stock for me: 
 
http://www.kefdirect.com/iq30-bookshelf-loudspeaker.html

Oh, I was looking at Amazon. Thanks for the website!

 Just ordered the Rega, going to order the speakers sometime in the next week.

 

[wolfetan44]

Dang, just figured out my receiver does not have a phono stage.. Any recommendations for $150, since I'm saving money on the speakers?

 

[obobskivich]

Dang, just figured out my receiver does not have a phono stage.. Any recommendations for $150, since I'm saving money on the speakers?

Isn't that builder/site, it's something like "phonostage.com" still in existence? I'd jump on Amazon and just look for "phono preamp" or "RIAA preamp" - I know there are plenty of inexpensive (like $50-$75) options out there.

This looks like what I'm remembering:
http://www.amazon.com/TC-750-BLACK-Audiophile-Phono-Preamplifier/dp/B000A36LQ4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1352975861&sr=8-6&keywords=phono+preamp

 

[wolfetan44]

Quote:

Isn't that builder/site, it's something like "phonostage.com" still in existence? I'd jump on Amazon and just look for "phono preamp" or "RIAA preamp" - I know there are plenty of inexpensive (like $50-$75) options out there.
This looks like what I'm remembering:
http://www.amazon.com/TC-750-BLACK-Audiophile-Phono-Preamplifier/dp/B000A36LQ4/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1352975861&sr=8-6&keywords=phono+preamp

That one looks good. Thanks!

 

[liamstrain]

the NAD phonostages are very highly recommended. I used a PP-2 for a while, and it was very solid and not very expensive. 

 

[mikiphile]

To add to this question, I am rather intrigued by the B&W 686 since its a very decent speaker for the price apparently. The problem is that it is passive, and I somehow wanted to use my Schiit Lyr to drive them. 

I have been looking for a while to figure out if my Lyr would be suitable to drive speakers OF ANY KIND, and whether it could somehow combine it with a small amp to drive, lets say, the 686s for example.
 
Any ideas guys? anything would be helpful, since there is nothing on head-fi about Lyr's pre-amping capability.

 

[cel4145]

Have you seen the Emotiva mini-x a-100? Seems like you could plug that into the lineout on the Lyr, and then use it to power passives. 
 
In addition to the B&Ws, also check out the Focal Chorus series. 

 

[mikiphile]

Quote:

Have you seen the Emotiva mini-x a-100? Seems like you could plug that into the lineout on the Lyr, and then use it to power passives. 
 
In addition to the B&Ws, also check out the Focal Chorus series. 

 
Thanks for your response. The Emotiva is a curious little amp, and seems quite powerful. However, if I am to buy something like the 686s - $450 and are known to be rather insensitive, I would go for something like this nice power amp Rotel: http://www.rotel.com/UK/products/ProductDetails.htm?Id=479
 
I have located a store in Geneva (like 2 hours away) that sells both of them for very descent prices (for Swiss standards, which usually means ridiculously expensive). Im gonna drop them an e-mail to see if I can demo it with my own gear, and then ill make a decision.

The only thing I need to figure out is if their output/input impedances match. Also I am quite skeptic about how the Lyr will work with the Rotel. The whole idea about it pre-amping speakers is from one point absolutely brilliant (because it would make 100% use out of it and it would look cool), and from another quite disturbing. I know the Lyr cannot handle more than 1A of continuous current load, but I have no idea what that means in terms of matching it with a power amp. If anyone knows how to explain this to me, please, any help is welcome.
 
PS: I checked out the Focals earlier, however I wasn't too impressed to be quite honest. If I am on a budget (which I probably would be) I could consider them. I might also have the chance to compare them anyway.

 

[cel4145]

Well, yeah. The Rotel would definitely be a better amp 

 Although I think for the price of a Rotel, you'd get more bang for the buck buying a $500 amp and putting the cost of the amp towards speakers. 
 
I don't know why the Lyr has a line out on the back if it's not meant to connect to an amp. What would it be used for otherwise? The question I would be concerned about is whether or it's a straight line output, or if the volume control is affecting it. You might need an integrated amp. 

 

[liamstrain]

I believe the outputs are volume controlled, so it could be used as a pre-amp. I do not believe that they are run through the full power output stage though (so they are not throwing 6 watts down the line out). 

 

[mikiphile]

Quote:

Well, yeah. The Rotel would definitely be a better amp 

 Although I think for the price of a Rotel, you'd get more bang for the buck buying a $500 amp and putting the cost of the amp towards speakers. 
 
I don't know why the Lyr has a line out on the back if it's not meant to connect to an amp. What would it be used for otherwise? The question I would be concerned about is whether or it's a straight line output, or if the volume control is affecting it. You might need an integrated amp. 

 
Quote:

I believe the outputs are volume controlled, so it could be used as a pre-amp. I do not believe that they are run through the full power output stage though (so they are not throwing 6 watts down the line out). 

 
Well, of course the output of the Lyr is made to feed a power amp. It was meant to have a pre-amp function. However, reading other comments from 6moon and other places, it suggests that it although it is a good pre-amp, it has its limitations.
 
That means that it is not "run through" but rather specifically for volume control. I couldn't resist it yesterday and I wrote to Jason, co-founder of Schiit. He responded in 2 minutes!! Saying that the Lyr could be a very good pre-amp, as long as the user manual instructions are observed. I suppose he implied that there is a certain load till which the Lyr can safely go, beyond that, its not a good idea. BTW, whoever says Schiit dont have a good customer support... well... (id rather don't get banned); but really Schiit has excellent customer support.
 
So, why I got this idea in the first place. Well if I get speakers like the B&W 686s that require good amplification, I'd rather go with a power amp, rather than some budget integrated amp (not a huge fan of those). A power amp like the Rotel, is also a nice base for future upgrades with speakers and it could be rather flexible in terms of what pre-amp I can use with it. It would also make excellent use of the Lyr, since it was kind of meant to serve as a pre-amp as well.

 

[cel4145]

Quote:

So, why I got this idea in the first place. Well if I get speakers like the B&W 686s that require good amplification, I'd rather go with a power amp, rather than some budget integrated amp (not a huge fan of those). A power amp like the Rotel, is also a nice base for future upgrades with speakers and it could be rather flexible in terms of what pre-amp I can use with it. It would also make excellent use of the Lyr, since it was kind of meant to serve as a pre-amp as well.

 
The reason I suggested is that I previously owned the 601s, which had a reputation of also being hard to drive, and which did surprisingly well without $1000 of amplification. If you shift your budget to 2/3 for speakers, and 1/3 for power, that puts you in the range of the CM1s, which are considered by almost all B&W fans to be a better class of speaker than the 600 series. Which by the way, have a minimum impedance rating of 5.1 ohms (vs 3.1 ohms for the 686), making them even easier to drive. But if you've heard both and like the 686 better, than of course personal preference should always trump 

 

[mikiphile]

Quote:

 
The reason I suggested is that I previously owned the 601s, which had a reputation of also being hard to drive, and which did surprisingly well without $1000 of amplification. If you shift your budget to 2/3 for speakers, and 1/3 for power, that puts you in the range of the CM1s, which are considered by almost all B&W fans to be a better class of speaker than the 600 series. Which by the way, have a minimum impedance rating of 5.1 ohms (vs 3.1 ohms for the 686), making them even easier to drive. But if you've heard both and like the 686 better, than of course personal preference should always trump 

 
(Sorry to take this thread a bit of topic, but there is quite a lot of useful info about driving small speakers I think)
 
Your reasoning makes a lot of sense to be honest, but for me, somehow its always been speakers 1/3, amplification 2/3 of the price 

. For our JBL TL 260s, my dad is pretty serious about some McIntosh-es which are definitely 2x the price of the speakers. I'm definitely not saying its a good thing honestly. I personally think that if you wanna make the most out of a speaker, amplification should never be saved on, but it should be kept reasonably within the proportional price range of the speaker.
 
The thing is that this price range is rather delicate... I might be talking out of my a** but I am not sure if $800-900 would get you anywhere for a descent power-amp. There could be some cheaper options with integrated amps, but I personally don't like them too much and I believe they are not very flexible. On the other hand, you can always play with the pre-amp if you have a good power-amp.
 
Also, for practical reasons (being a student very far from home), its easier to carry around a power amp AND a Lyr that has a double purpose. This is only if the Lyr + power amp proves a higher quality option than an integrated amp. 
 
Also, a very important note if someone is considering the 686s. I read that the 685s thrash the 686s completely, and that it is not justified to spend $100 less for the 686s for the actual value they have. I also compared the PM1, CM1, 685 and 686 side by side and figured that the 685s are a bit easier to drive than the 686. Also very important, they have a better bass extension than the 686s and CM1s (49hz and 55hz), probably due to the larger driver.
 
So most likely I might go for the 685s, if I decide to buy them. A very important part of the decision would be if the Lyr would be capable to play well with them, for the sake of rationalizing things.