[zeplin]

i don't know as much about speakers systems as i do with headphones so...
i have a question for all the speaker system junkies...
i have some Kef Q5 towers that i love, especially when listening to them through movies, but that is when i use my Onkyo TX-DS696, which is 100 watts into each channel.
however, when i use my Kefs with my Arcam A75 (50 watts into each channel) integrated amp and Planet 2000, they don't sound near as good as when i use my Infinity entra ones with my Arcam. when i used my Kef Q5's with the Arcam, i bi-wired them, something i can't do with the Infinities...but the Infinities sound better. i'm thinking of a couple of reasons why...

maybe the Kef's don't pair as well with my Klipsch RSW-12 vs the entra ones.
maybe by bi-wiring the Kef's i'm covering the wrong frequencies with the towers and the sub...overlapping?
maybe it has something to do with the wattage, because any speaker set sounds great with the Onkyo...although the Onkyo is clearly in a different class, and it doesn't sound as even or as good as the Arcam can be capable of?
maybe i should just leave the Kefs two bottom speaker inputs on the back of the speaker unplugged...in other words just plus them up like a normal speaker (left and right), and then maybe use the medal connector to connect the two pairs of inputs?
maybe my room is just too small for the two tower speakers.
or maybe i'm not calaborating the subwoofers settings right? i've fiddled and worked with many, many settings?
i can't imagine the synergy being that bad. i know i can make the Kefs sound better than they are currently sounding with the Arcam A75.

i thought of some other reasons, but i've forgotten them

i really would like to see my Kefs work out well with my music system and not only use them in my movie system. and i would also like to use them with my new cd player...the Planet 2000!
does anyone have any thoughts about this? any suggestions? gerG, i know you're out there, and i know you know what to do?

but seriously, thanx in advance for help

i don't want to stress out about this anymore

PS i forgot to mention that the Kef Q5's sound wonderful whenn using them while watching TV??!! just thought that might be useful.

 

[Andrew Pielet]

I think the extra power would make the speaker more revealing of the music. All systems work differently as you have noticed, and one piece of the puzzle could be the problem....or answer. Try tuberolling, you will be on the quest forever.

 

[elnero]

Quote:

Originally posted by Andrew Pielet Try tuberolling, you will be on the quest forever.

Tuberoll an Arcam ???

 

[Hirsch]

First step is to simplify. Find out what's going on, then you can decide what to do from there. Take the subwoofer out of the system. Hook up the Infinities and listen. Use the metal connectors with the KEF's so you don't need to biwire them. Hook them up to the same cables and listen. Play around with room placement, angling, listening position, etc. until you are convinced that one speaker really sounds better than the other. That's the one that you want to use. In that system, it's the better speaker. You may be onto something when you mentioned that you're trying to fit a pair of tower speakers into a small room. The speakers just may not have enough room.

Biwiring isn't going to affect frequency extremes one way or another. It simply routes the higher frequency signals through one set of wires, and the lower frequency signals through another set of wires (this is actually done by the crossover in the speaker if the wiring permits). Unless you're doing something like using two different kinds of wire in your biwire pair, it's highly unlikely that this could adversely affect the sound.

 

[zeplin]

thanx hirsch,
i think i'll try the Kefs without bi-wiring them. what you said makes sence. i'll see what happens when i let the crossovers do more of the work and then get back to you

i think andrew meant was,
try tube rolling to see how much you fool with different settings and options to show how much of a step up it is from what i have.

 

[zeplin]

well, i didn't bi-wire the kefs, and used the connector pole to connect the sets of speaker connectors together and there is a definate difference. it sounds more together and blended/balanced better. i think the Arcam had a hard time with the bi-wire connection...i'm not sure why though??? i couldn't imagine kef speakers not having synergy with an Arcam amp! anyone care to comment? one other thing i tried was re-connecting my infinities to the main outputs and the kefs to the secondary outputs on the Arcam so i play them alltogether at once...i.e. like playing zone 1 and zone 2 at the same time. for some music it sounds great and others not so well, but it was a fun experiment and i think i'll keep it that way to test with other music. anyone else do this? thanx hirsch for your help

i think in a few days, i'll hook my system up out in a bigger room to note the differences. does anyone think i'll notice a huge difference, or smaller one? specualtions, input?

 

[Hirsch]

Could you describe in detail exactly what you did to biwire the KEF's?

If properly done, biwiring cannot degrade the sound. (You can have all sorts of arguments about whether or not it helps the sound, but it's not going to degrade it). So, I'd check to make sure the biwiring was done properly, and that all connections were secure.

 

[zeplin]

well, i think i did it right...i followed detailed instructions. but i could have done it wrong?? here's what i did...
from the back of my Onkyo receiver i took two sets of wires and twisted (the exposed copper?) the two positives together and the two negatives together, then put them in their appropiate inputs for each speaker. from there they separated into four wires two + and two -...each went into (separately) their inputs on the back of the speaker. i'll try to illustrate...

(+)O (-)O
(+)O (-)O
the back of the speaker to >>>>

2(+)O 2(-)O
to the back of the receiver.

maybe the difference i noticed btwn the bi-wire option and the regular option is not better, but different. is there maybe a reason behind this? maybe, does it have to do with the quality of power my Onkyo throws out?

i hope i'm currently bi-wiring things correctly?
what do you think hirsch?
thanx again for your help, it is greatly appreciated

 

[Hirsch]

Quote:

Originally posted by zeplin i hope i'm currently bi-wiring things correctly? what do you think hirsch? thanx again for your help, it is greatly appreciated

It looks like it was done right, as long as the wires were the same length (would yield same capacitance and resistance). So, I'm at a loss why it would sound worse, unless a connection wasn't secure. What biwiring does is connect the high and low frequencies at the amp end instead of the speaker end of the cables. The cables become part of the crossover circuit, with high frequencies going through one set of cables and lower frequencies going through the other set. So, there is less interference between high and low frequencies in each cable (each cable needs to carry less bandwidth), which normally improves the sound.