[pocketrocket]

A bit better image of the new Behringer B3031A Truth. First pair of speakers I'm running with a flat EQ, and enjoying every second of it. Really accurate and well defined bass (I'll never again believe it when kids at youtube say "needs moar bass"), smooth detailed highs (even Wharfedale Diamond 10.5 and Tannoy Mercury V sound sibilant in comparison even though they're usually pleasant), just lovely.


And my ghetto FiiO E7 with an external ground wire to eliminate the ground loop hum between the active monitors and my desktop. Whisper silent, but I really wish I could get a Maverick D1 instead..

 

[JRG1990]

You run your monitors out of a portable dac's headphone socket, thats not a good idea you it's double amping and not supplying the correct amount of signal get the L7 the lineout dock for the E7 or even better the E9 which has proper RCA outputs.
 
 

 

[Rhor]

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where did you get that tank? or, how did you make it? it looks amazing!
 

 

[pocketrocket]

I'm not following you. A signal is a signal, I don't see how it could possibly hurt my monitors as long as I keep the volume level in FiiO E7 sensible. I know the FiiO E7 is mainly a headphone amp, but how in earth am I "double amping" if E7 acts as just a pre-amp? What does "double amping" even mean?

But I am getting a Maverick D1 soon, don't you worry.
Quote:

You run your monitors out of a portable dac's headphone socket, thats not a good idea you it's double amping and not supplying the correct amount of signal get the L7 the lineout dock for the E7 or even better the E9 which has proper RCA outputs.
 
 

 

 

[JRG1990]

Ideally an amp needs around a 2vrms signal a headphone amp can't supply this and ideally you want max volume on the E7 for the best signal, you are double amping because the headphone jack on the E7 is amplified then the signal is amplified again by the speakers amps so you are double amping a line-out isn't amplified unlike a headphone jack.
 
Also i was wondering how is the bass with the behringers , i am tempted by the B2031P i know the bass rolls off early but is the 8.75" driver punchy and does it hit hard with bassy kick drums?.

 

[pocketrocket]

That's weird because if I put the volume from FiiO E7 beyond halfway, it goes way too loud to listen comfortably. The monitors only go between +6dB to -6dB, that's not enough of volume control and I'd have to control them individually. Changing the volume from my computer would result in less dynamic range AFAIK (I have never heard this difference although everyone is scaring people not to do it), so I want to control the volume easily with a single knob on the DAC. Also, doesn't line-out usually mean a fixed volume? I want to be able to control the volume from my DAC, as with Maverick D1 if I leave the direct button disabled.

I have not heard the B2031, I can't recommend them since the B3030 and B3031 have new transducers for both high and low frequencies. If you're tight on money, get the B3030, I heard those against Genelec 1032A and the B3030 seemed more natural, smoother highs and lower bass extension, although it's half the size of the Genelecs and both were flat for the test.
 
Quote:

Ideally an amp needs around a 2vrms signal a headphone amp can't supply this and ideally you want max volume on the E7 for the best signal, you are double amping because the headphone jack on the E7 is amplified then the signal is amplified again by the speakers amps so you are double amping a line-out isn't amplified unlike a headphone jack.
 
Also i was wondering how is the bass with the behringers , i am tempted by the B2031P i know the bass rolls off early but is the 8.75" driver punchy and does it hit hard with bassy kick drums?.

 
 

 

[JRG1990]

The fiio E7 is digital volume control aswell so your still loosing bits (dynamic range ) , it is true analog pots do sound better than digital volume control my entire set-up uses analog pots. The B3030 & B3031  are actives there is no passive version

  and I want passives the quality of the amps on the cheaper active monitors are poor the behringer amps aren't great there disortion is quite high i'd rather my seperate amp which is 10times better and more powerful, the only options are the B2030 or the B2031 the B2031  has more bass and spl and will fit on my shelf fine so is probley the best option. I currently have the alesis m1 mk2 passives while there excellent in most areas and extend down to 45hz kick drums aren't punchy enough they come across as an unpleasing soft thud i have a sub which i cross over at around 65hz so the behringers lack of bass past that point isn't a problem i just want the kicks to be punchy and i don't want to loose the soundstaging and netruel sound of the alesis's.

 

[Somnambulist]

My Yulong D100 has no way of adjusting the volume of the line out. I was going to get something like a TC Electronics Level Pilot to put in between that and the monitors I want. Not sure if that's the kind of thing you want.

 

[steve1979]

Here's my 5.1 surround sound PC setup which is mostly used for playing games and listening to music.  Sorry about the blurry pictures but I only have a phone camera.
 

 

 

PC
Intel i5 750 processor overclocked to 3.8GHz
ATI 5850 graphics card
4GB RAM
 
AUDIO
Q Acoustics 1010i speakers
Q Acoustics 1000Si sub woofer
Yamaha RX-V667 receiver
Tacima mains filter
Cambridge Audio speaker cables
QED interconnects
 

 

[bcg27]

Quote:

where did you get that tank? or, how did you make it? it looks amazing!
 

It's an EK multioption reservoir. You can get them at sidewindercomputers.com and probably some other hobby computer sites. The liquid is Feser One F1 coolant.
 

 

[pocketrocket]

Yeah sorry about the FiiO E7. Well, I think I'll order the Maverick D1 today!

I see your point about not wanting bass heavy but precise. I recall reading a review of the B2031A being muddy in the bass and sibilant and unclear in the highs. I don't know how much is the B3031A an improvement over them, and even if they were you're looking to amp them yourself, which might clear some issues. You never know, if the B2031P is actually a great speaker and all the issues are within the amplification of the active version. I have to warn you though, when I play really bassy crunk beats on these speakers really loud, there's a quite distracting resonance in the 2000Hz area. It doesn't really distract with actual music, and IDK if it's a design issue or bad QC or shipping mishandling, but it's worth noticing. I'm a bit dissapointed that a speaker I've shortly demoed against Genelecs, Wharfedales and Tannoys that was seemingly excellent, has an issue like this

Also, I haven't noticed any distortion in high or low transducers. Then again a 160W LF/80W HF bi-amp is way overkill for moderate listening, which is my case.
Quote:

The fiio E7 is digital volume control aswell so your still loosing bits (dynamic range ) , it is true analog pots do sound better than digital volume control my entire set-up uses analog pots. The B3030 & B3031  are actives there is no passive version

  and I want passives the quality of the amps on the cheaper active monitors are poor the behringer amps aren't great there disortion is quite high i'd rather my seperate amp which is 10times better and more powerful, the only options are the B2030 or the B2031 the B2031  has more bass and spl and will fit on my shelf fine so is probley the best option. I currently have the alesis m1 mk2 passives while there excellent in most areas and extend down to 45hz kick drums aren't punchy enough they come across as an unpleasing soft thud i have a sub which i cross over at around 65hz so the behringers lack of bass past that point isn't a problem i just want the kicks to be punchy and i don't want to loose the soundstaging and netruel sound of the alesis's.

 
Steve1979, that's an awesome set-up! really clean, I'd just tip the speakers over all the time
 
 
 

 

[steve1979]

Quote:

 
Steve1979, that's an awesome set-up! really clean, I'd just tip the speakers over all the time
 

Thanks.  Yeah they do look a top heavy don't they    They're actually very stable though because the base of the stands are fairly large and I have filled the bottom half of the tubes with very dense sand so the center of gravity is much lower than it looks.

 

[pocketrocket]

That's super. I might have to get some better stands myself, my speakers weigh four times as much as yours and they're on very flimsy stands. When I once cranked them up I swear I saw them wobble back and forth due to the pressure they were blowing out of the reflex tubes. The wind actually messed my hair up, it was quite cool.

Are you enjoying the surround sound? I've never actually heard a surround system with such a clean speaker placement, it must be awesome!
 
Quote:

Thanks.  Yeah they do look a top heavy don't they    They're actually very stable though because the base of the stands are fairly large and I have filled the bottom half of the tubes with very dense sand so the center of gravity is much lower than it looks.

 
 

 

[steve1979]

 
Quote:

Are you enjoying the surround sound? I've never actually heard a surround system with such a clean speaker placement, it must be awesome!
 

It works really well when playing games.  You can hardly tell the sounds are coming from the speakers, you just get the full 360 degree soundstage with noises coming from all directions around you.  The bass is good in games too, every time I fire a gun you can physically feel the bass kick and when a greanade goes off next to you the whole room shakes!
 
It sounds alright with music too because the Yamaha receiver has good sound quality and has a decent quality DAC.  Although a proper set of stereo speakers would always sound better with music than a subwoofer and satalite setup IMO.

 

[Anacondastan]

 
 
i7 970 3.20GHz x 6 Cores
GIGABYTE GA-X58A-UD3R v2
Sapphire Reference 6870 GPU
CORSAIR XMS3 1600MHz RAM 6GB
Crucial RealSSD C300 128GB (SATA 3)
SONY Blu Ray Player
Cooler Master HAF 912
Dell U2410
 
My music is played exclusively through iTunes because it's simple to sync with my iPhone etc... I have also experimented with various "magic-players", audiophile codecs, bit rates and to these ear I could discern a possible difference but not a quantifiable "improvement." Moreover after more than 25 yrs in the hobby and presently a recovering audiophile I find that at the end of the day I enjoy listening to music rather than to my equipment. I wish you all a speedy and complete recovery someday.