[breez]

When calculating SPL levels people should remember the decible figure only applies to the musical peaks/transients. In general average level is 10-20dB lower depending on music.

 

[sumone]

I already bought the T-amp from e-Cost...it's on the way. So all I need is some efficient bookshelf speakers? It seems the word is either Polk R15 or Paradigm Atoms. I just need a final word on what I should buy!

 

[jrockway]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 My fanboy comment was directed to a select group, if you were offended about my comment then you should ask yourelf why. thanks!

When I read comments like this about the T-amp, I read them as being rather defensive. I think that when people pay $5000 for an amp they don't want people with $40 ones to have similarly good sound...

And really, there's no reason $40 worth of electronics can't amplify music well. This isn't rocket science... it's a few transistors in a careful arrangement... an amp's electronics shouldn't cost more than $40! Paying the EEs to design it is the expensive part.

The plastic covering isn't very nice, but that's why you pay $200 for another box (like Art Taylor's beautiful Ampbox). All in all, I think it's a fine amp for a bookshelf system... not the be all and end all, but not a bad amp at any price!

(I actually rewired my DT880s to use it as a headphone, and it sounds pretty good, but I like my Headroom Little a bit more. Less noise and more bass. But like I said, the $40 T-amp is a good second headphone amp for my other computer or office...)

 

[JWFokker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by sumone I already bought the T-amp from e-Cost...it's on the way. So all I need is some efficient bookshelf speakers? It seems the word is either Polk R15 or Paradigm Atoms. I just need a final word on what I should buy!

Screw both of those. Get a pair of Fostex FE127E's and mount each in a 4' x 6' 1/2" sheet of MDF. You'd be extremely surprised how good open baffle speakers sound. Just keep them about 2-4 feet away from a wall and it will sound awesome. You'll get plenty of detailed sound at the volume you're looking for. They're almost flat down to 65Hz.

http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/ind...6.1090&pid=323

I'd recommend the FE126E because they're even more detailed and have even better balanced sound, but they aren't shielded so you'd want to keep them away from your computer if you went that route.

 

[philodox]

Those Fostex drivers sound interesting... have you tried the Polk R15 or the Paradigm Atoms JWFokker?

 

[ReasonablyLucid]

I have a pair of paradigm v3 atoms powered by a Tamp and if I put the volume above the first 1/3rd theres *tons* of distortion, is that normal? Or a faulty tamp?

 

[JWFokker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by philodox Those Fostex drivers sound interesting... have you tried the Polk R15 or the Paradigm Atoms JWFokker?

Nope, but parts costs of speaker systems are a fraction of what you pay due to labor, markup at retail, etc. I say invest your money in the drivers themselves rather than all the guys taking a cut of your money. You're getting more speaker for your dollar that way. For simplicity sake you can use an open baffle design (mount each one to a board - the bigger the better) and it'll sound pretty damn good, though bass extension won't be as good as with a properly tuned enclosure. Is it worth $20 in MDF and a few hours time to you to build the boxes? Of course, you'll want a couple bucks worth of Acousta-Stuf too. But hell, you don't even necessarily need to port them though. A sealed enclosure will sound better than open baffle and you won't run the risk of having boomy bass or any weird resonance as with a ported or transmission line enclosure. They won't go as deep but its simple and the bass will be tight.

I may be presenting too many options for you to sort through though. I suggest you buy a couple 4x8 sheets of MDF, mount a driver in each, give it a try and if you don't like it, cut up the MDF and make boxes. When positioned correctly, open baffle sounds just fine.

 

[philodox]

Yeah, but paradigm and polk are both decent companies that have done research and paired drivers in appropriate enclosures. They are also quite cheap with the polk only costing ~$80USD and the paradigm about twice that.

Still, your idea is interesting. Are you saying that you mount the drivers in a sheet of MDF and dont bother with enclosures at all? Do you just attach the speaker wire to the drivers themselves or is something else needed?

 

[JWFokker]

Yep. With open baffle there's no additional hardware needed. It'll sound pretty damn good, but it is worth noting that a properly tuned ported enclosure will sound better. I'm just saying if you want to take the easy way out and do open baffle, it'll sound pretty damn good anyway with those drivers, as they're quite excellent and extremely detailed. Some guys modify their rooms so they can use open baffle because the like the sound so much. You might not want to use open baffle if you have hardwood floors and bare walls, but that wouldn't be a good room to listen to music in anyway.

 

[RnB180]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReasonablyLucid I have a pair of paradigm v3 atoms powered by a Tamp and if I put the volume above the first 1/3rd theres *tons* of distortion, is that normal? Or a faulty tamp?

sounds like you speakers are clipping, which is what happens when they are underpowered.

keep doing that and youll heat up the voice coils in the driver and kill your speakers.

the fact that if you start pushing the speakers and its distorting is an obvious give away,

underpowered clipping is one of the most common ways a speaker dies.
If I were you Id ditch the tamp and get something suitable for your paradigms.

 

[ReasonablyLucid]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 sounds like you speakers are clipping, which is what happens when they are underpowered. keep doing that and youll heat up the voice coils in the driver and kill your speakers. the fact that if you start pushing the speakers and its distorting is an obvious give away, underpowered clipping is one of the most common ways a speaker dies. If I were you Id ditch the tamp and get something suitable for your paradigms.

The astron power supply for the tamp came yesterday and I hooked it up today. Everything seems to be fine now. The batteries I was running the tamp off of were just not giving it enough juice.

Now I could put the volume up to the level where I would go deaf in 30sec before I hear distortion again

 

[JWFokker]

Did you get the RS-3A or the RS-4A and how much did it cost? I'm about to buy one myself. The best I've found so far is $30 for the RS-3A.

 

[JWFokker]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 sounds like you speakers are clipping, which is what happens when they are underpowered. keep doing that and youll heat up the voice coils in the driver and kill your speakers. the fact that if you start pushing the speakers and its distorting is an obvious give away, underpowered clipping is one of the most common ways a speaker dies. If I were you Id ditch the tamp and get something suitable for your paradigms.

You hate the T-Amp without ever using it. Stop trying to bash the thread. You don't own one. He probably just needed new batteries. When the batteries run out it will distort at higher volumes.

EDIT: spelling

 

[RnB180]

obviously the batteries did not power the amp enough, causing clipping. where was I incorrect in my assessment?

I tell him what is going and and jwfokker bashes me.
I seemed to be the ONLY one that actually gave him a troubleshoot while everyone ignored his post.

seems like when theres a negative thing to say about the t amp, its ignored or bashed. Then someone say its a great amp and 50 people respond and converse happily.

earth to jwfokker, critism is part of the world..

Good job.


He fixed his problem, case closed.

btw, i dont hate the t amp, I do however think its a bit overrated by some.

 

[yorkie]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RnB180 obviously the batteries did not power the amp enough, causing clipping. where was I incorrect in my assessment? I tell him what is going and and jwfokker bashes me. I seemed to be the ONLY one that actually gave him a troubleshoot while everyone ignored his post. seems like when theres a negative thing to say about the t amp, its ignored or bashed. Then someone say its a great amp and 50 people respond and converse happily. earth to jwfokker, critism is part of the world.. Good job. He fixed his problem, case closed. btw, i dont hate the t amp, I do however think its a bit overrated by some.

Please do not offer advice if you've never even experienced the audio component. Maybe you were trying to be helpful but you were totally incorrect in your assessment. You told him to ditch the T-Amp, and said that the T-Amp was not suitable enough for the Atoms. It would have been a shame if he had taken your advice seriously and bought an entire new amp when his solution was only a 20$ power supply away.

Don't be surprised if people don't meet your comments with friendly faces in this thread. If you actually had ever heard a T-Amp and decided to criticise it, people would accept your comments happily. The unfortunate fact is that without firsthand experience you have nothing to contribute to this discussion beyond pointing out the obvious limitations of a low power amp.

It bothers me that what could otherwise be a positive discussion of a budget audio component that gives the world a taste of hi-fi sound has to be rained upon by people who have no experience to speak of. I'm sorry if this post sounds too negative, I don't mean to pass judgment on you.