[choweee]

i've been listening to headphones this whole time but want something nice to fill the room up with sound.

so i found a deal on a pair of paradigm titans for $120 at a local audio store. if the sonic t-amp were enough to amp these, i think that'd be a great value system!

is the t-amp enough to power these to a reasonable volume?



p.s. how do titans and atoms compare to each other...? i'm a speaker n00b

 

[rickcr42]

http://www4.head-fi.org/forums/showthread.php?t=116814

should answer your questions

 

[ilikemonkeys]

The thread that you link only mentions the Titan once and only in a passing suggestion.

I'd like to hear what others think of pairing the Titan's and the t-amp.

BILL

 

[rickcr42]

do the formula man.Amp power/speaker sensitivity/ultimate spls and then the rest is personal taste.

you could aslo sign up for the TNT Audio Yahooo Group (email based discussion group) which has had many discussions on the T-amps,some not very civil but these amps draw arguments as bad as cable threads do or the audibilty of certain tweaks.Some defend the amps 'til the death others have zero use for them and consider them system death.for the price i think worthy of playing with or at the least a good interim amp until the person can step up to better (more $$$$$$$$$).

I also beleive there is an extensive review over at 6 moons which is my favorite online review magazine.they put the gear through the paces by listenng and give very in depth and honest opinions fro a varied pool of reviewers.Highly recommended.

Personally I will never put a digital amp in my system for anything other than driving a subwoofer where it has the least amount of sonic impact but I am kinda fanatical about my amplification and even my DIY amps end up costing $1K or better.

 

[ilikemonkeys]

Quote:

do the formula man.Amp power/speaker sensitivity/ultimate spls

Sorry man, but I dont know those formulas. I'm a lowly microbiologist.

I appreciate you're response and your other many posts. You are a very well educated person in audio, but I don't know abou the technical stuff.

What I gather is that you're saying it can be done, but not the best idea.

I do hear a lot abou the Atom's pairing better with the t-amp.

B

 

[rickcr42]

maybe this will help a bit :

http://www.paradigm.com/Website/Site...manceSpecs.htm

both are rated for 15 watts minimum and have an 89dB SPL for one watt of amplifier power with the Titans having a bit more bass and a higher ultimate output volume.

the 15 Watts can be lower if listening close and the spec is really meant to be a guide for listening in an average room and comparing specific needs.So i would say the same speaker totally used in the near field within a couple of feet such as at the computer would be fine in the 5-10 watt range but lacking if you want to use them sitting across the room.

hope this helps man.

rickabilly roximus

 

[ilikemonkeys]

now that i understood!

thanks.

B

 

[Patrickhat2001]

I haven't heard the Titans but I do own the Paradigm Atoms and the T-amp. It can drive them pretty decently--not as full sounding as my old Pioneer A-9 integrated, and a little weaker in the bass, but not bad at all for a $30 amp. The Sonic Impact even edges out the Pioneer slightly in the detail department and I like how it makes the tonal character of the Atoms slightly more neutral (they are a little overly warm with the Pioneer).

 

[bg4533]

Consider the Teac A-L700P. It is also a digital amp and has a bit more power. It does not have a potentiometer, so you will need a preamp or you will need to install a volume control. Cost is ~$100. Not too much more than the SI when you factor in the PSU cost. It is also better designed (it has binding posts, RCAs, nicer case)

My system uses my PPA as a preamp, a modded A-L700P and Mission M73 speakers. The Teac has plenty of power for my needs and sounds very good.

 

[choweee]

sweet! i'll look up the teac.

yeah, i was bidding on different bookshelves on ebay and actually ended up with a pair of paradigm mini monitors v.1. however, i'm still concerned with the t-amp not being able to power them well. i'm completely new to speakers, i've been a headphone (read: grado sr225's

) guy 'til now.

are there any reasonable amps/receiver that would power mini monitors well, as well as have a volume knob? a headphone out would be nice, too.

i'm waiting on an amp so i can actually hear these...

 

[Snake]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bg4533 Consider the Teac A-L700P. It is also a digital amp and has a bit more power. It does not have a potentiometer, so you will need a preamp or you will need to install a volume control. Cost is ~$100. Not too much more than the SI when you factor in the PSU cost. It is also better designed (it has binding posts, RCAs, nicer case) My system uses my PPA as a preamp, a modded A-L700P and Mission M73 speakers. The Teac has plenty of power for my needs and sounds very good.

That's a great recommendation! That Teac looks like it'll fit hit bill real nice. Great find both for yourself and for him!

 

[bg4533]

The Teac is quite popular at AudioCircle

If you can solder there are some easy (and free) mods you can do. It would also be pretty easy to add in a volume control.

 

[pne]

hard to believe noones asked yet, but what sort of music do you listen to, and what size is your listening room?

 

[choweee]

I'm going to be having a single in a college dorm next year. I'd say it'll be about 10' x 15'.

I plan on placing/standing them in some fashion near my computer desk, so i'll basically be half a meter from them (don't need that ear-shattering volume, thank you very much). I listen to everything (used to love Hybrid-style breaks), but have recently had a penchant for jazz and other live musics that make my Grados/Audio Technicas shine.

The reason I wanted to switch over from headphones was because I like having music fill the air around me without me having to wear headphones on my head, like when I'm moving about the room or something, and not in a stationary position. It's also always nice when more than one person can enjoy the music at the same time!

I also liked the t-amp because it's very straight-forward and utilitarian, most of my music is in the form of high-bitrate mp3's on my lappy w/ Echo Indigo IO soundcard.

Looking forward to my first pair of real speakers (these Altec Lansings just don't cut it for me anymore)...

 

[choweee]

Actually I have another question now (since I know almost nothing about speakers and this is a great place to learn). Why do the sensitivity of speakers increase as they get bigger? I was just looking at Paradigm's different speaker specifications.

If so, why can't something that drives a bookshelf drive a larger, floor-standing speaker? Or is it because the efficiency is per driver,and the floor-standing ones have like, five of those? I'm confused.

Thanks for your help, guys.