Whenever I need to compare or judge the quality of high end equipment I put on Sade.
After that I chose:
Stevie Nicks
Janette Napolitano
Ella Fitzgerald
Joplin
Last weekend I was testing the combination of a QC-800A Pioneer Quad pre-amp feeding a Rotel Mark II 5 channel amp pushing HPM-100s in the back and Klipsch Synergy F-30 towers in the front, and this one brought tears to my eyes it played so beautifully on that set up:
I had to use a Yamaha Q2031B Equalizer (https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/processors/q2031b/index.html)
on the Klipsch fronts to get her vocals exactly right, there is just plain too much Klipsch horn in those speakers and Klipsch screwed up on that model by not including an L-pad for the highs, but if you equalize them with an EQ that offers a lot of high end filtering you can tone down the irritating brightness to mellow, and then they sound fantastic. The QC-800A's "matrix" mode pushed the complexities of the backing band's work to the HPM-100s in a way that was just indescribably fantastic and had no need for an EQ, input was 2 channel analog jacks off a CD playing on a Tascom unit. If you see one of these vintage Pioneer pre-amps, grab it, same with the EQ, which is not really sold as home audio equipment, your best source for "used" is the Guitar Center used equipment rack or the local Austin pawn shop off 6th Street frequented by down on their luck musicians (where I found mine).
You can find F-30s at bargain prices all over the place, they were not a popular series because they are simply over-bright and got killed in the reviews, but if you run them with an EQ their shortcomings are remedied and they just turn out to be a terrific bargain, especially if you have a large living room. You can crank the sheet out of them and they just soak up watts like sunshine with utter clarity to their limits, but I suggest a really high quality EQ with level controls and filters to really make them shine. Without the EQ, if you push them hard the highs become downright painful. But EQ'd, it sounded like Sade was standing there, belting it out over her lost lover, making you feel the pain....
http://hifiheaven.net/shop/Klipsch-...j-wVP0CdYsg9c-SR9rBArC_xlF-CD3eRoCYVUQAvD_BwE
I
After that I chose:
Stevie Nicks
Janette Napolitano
Ella Fitzgerald
Joplin
Last weekend I was testing the combination of a QC-800A Pioneer Quad pre-amp feeding a Rotel Mark II 5 channel amp pushing HPM-100s in the back and Klipsch Synergy F-30 towers in the front, and this one brought tears to my eyes it played so beautifully on that set up:
I had to use a Yamaha Q2031B Equalizer (https://usa.yamaha.com/products/proaudio/processors/q2031b/index.html)
on the Klipsch fronts to get her vocals exactly right, there is just plain too much Klipsch horn in those speakers and Klipsch screwed up on that model by not including an L-pad for the highs, but if you equalize them with an EQ that offers a lot of high end filtering you can tone down the irritating brightness to mellow, and then they sound fantastic. The QC-800A's "matrix" mode pushed the complexities of the backing band's work to the HPM-100s in a way that was just indescribably fantastic and had no need for an EQ, input was 2 channel analog jacks off a CD playing on a Tascom unit. If you see one of these vintage Pioneer pre-amps, grab it, same with the EQ, which is not really sold as home audio equipment, your best source for "used" is the Guitar Center used equipment rack or the local Austin pawn shop off 6th Street frequented by down on their luck musicians (where I found mine).
You can find F-30s at bargain prices all over the place, they were not a popular series because they are simply over-bright and got killed in the reviews, but if you run them with an EQ their shortcomings are remedied and they just turn out to be a terrific bargain, especially if you have a large living room. You can crank the sheet out of them and they just soak up watts like sunshine with utter clarity to their limits, but I suggest a really high quality EQ with level controls and filters to really make them shine. Without the EQ, if you push them hard the highs become downright painful. But EQ'd, it sounded like Sade was standing there, belting it out over her lost lover, making you feel the pain....
http://hifiheaven.net/shop/Klipsch-...j-wVP0CdYsg9c-SR9rBArC_xlF-CD3eRoCYVUQAvD_BwE
I
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