Advice on power amplifier and upgrade

[Redan94]

Hi all.

All your comments helped me think more about what I am not satisfied with and my conclusion is that my music listening experience is fine with the KEF speakers and equipment that I currently have and what I am lacking is a great cinema-like movie watching experience.

I actually visited the SVS products dealer in Dubai yesterday and was shocked by the difference between my current KEF Kube 10 and the PB 2000 (I couldn't test the PB 3000). I think this is what I need to upgrade first to get more punch during the movie experience. The testing room was small dedicated home theater. I could feel the bass in my body.

I came out of the test with the idea that I now basically want to upgrade to a 7.2.2 and need to identify the appropriate subs (from SVS) and appropriate additonnal speakers based on the room shape that I have.

My room is at minimum large (107 cbm / 3,770 sqft3) but it is open on a 140 cbm dining/living area (it is an L-shape space) which might make it an extreme size space. I am wondering if the best option would be 2x PB 2000 or 1x/2x PB 3000. I will create a separate post with a drawing for your expert and super helpful advice.

I will also follow up with Audio Control and see if they can share measurements for their Savoy G4 amplifiers too as I still think having more power will be a positive based on the comments and info shared in this thread.

I also need to find a good calibrator in Dubai to help me with the set-up as it is all over my head at this stage to be honest!

Thanks all for your comments and advice!

 

[Spkrdctr]

Hi all.

All your comments helped me think more about what I am not satisfied with and my conclusion is that my music listening experience is fine with the KEF speakers and equipment that I currently have and what I am lacking is a great cinema-like movie watching experience.

I actually visited the SVS products dealer in Dubai yesterday and was shocked by the difference between my current KEF Kube 10 and the PB 2000 (I couldn't test the PB 3000). I think this is what I need to upgrade first to get more punch during the movie experience. The testing room was small dedicated home theater. I could feel the bass in my body.

I came out of the test with the idea that I now basically want to upgrade to a 7.2.2 and need to identify the appropriate subs (from SVS) and appropriate additonnal speakers based on the room shape that I have.

My room is at minimum large (107 cbm / 3,770 sqft3) but it is open on a 140 cbm dining/living area (it is an L-shape space) which might make it an extreme size space. I am wondering if the best option would be 2x PB 2000 or 1x/2x PB 3000. I will create a separate post with a drawing for your expert and super helpful advice.

I will also follow up with Audio Control and see if they can share measurements for their Savoy G4 amplifiers too as I still think having more power will be a positive based on the comments and info shared in this thread.

I also need to find a good calibrator in Dubai to help me with the set-up as it is all over my head at this stage to be honest!

Thanks all for your comments and advice!

You don't need more amp as the subwoofers will take a huge load off of your existing amp. In effect it is like adding an extra amp!

 

[Walter]

Agreed. While I still think he should try room EQ and moving the existing subwoofers before buying a new one, I definitely think he should buy a new/bigger sub before buying a new amp.

 

[MarkS]

I also need to find a good calibrator in Dubai to help me with the set-up as it is all over my head at this stage to be honest!

This would definitely be worth the cost. (Much more so than a new amp!) You want someone who can take measurements in your room and knows how to set up Audessy on your AVR. Perhaps the SVS dealer can do this? Home-theater installers usually have knowhow in this area.

 

[Redan94]

This would definitely be worth the cost. (Much more so than a new amp!) You want someone who can take measurements in your room and knows how to set up Audessy on your AVR. Perhaps the SVS dealer can do this? Home-theater installers usually have knowhow in this area.

They only run Audyssey through the AVR. They are willing to use the app only in a dedicated home theater room...

 

[Cbdb2]

I think the first thing you can do, if you have not already, is purchase the audyssey app and change the target curve to your choosing then rerun the audyssey room correction. Like Amir's Harman target curve for example. That should demonstrably improve your sound.

I disagree with the others that more power won't make a difference. More power will give you more woofer travel for your larger drivers in your speakers giving you more sound pressure from your woofers. 60 watts is not enough to get the most from your speaker's woofers.

Here is a good example of how the music and movie sound track really determine the amount of power you need more than the speakers do.

Same speakers, same amplifier. The amount of power used for one song is 10-20watts, the amount of power used for another song is up to 400watts. Because there was much more demand for bass notes. Which includes notes above your subwoofer crossover.

How do you know where I xover my sub? How do you know the 2 songs are mastered to the same loudness? Skimmed the video. Do they tell us the speaker eficientcy, the room size, the SPL in the room? With out those this is meaningless. If you want to see if your amps are clipping, measure them. I doubt the OP is clipping his.

 

[Auditor55]

Except size.

And port chuffing.

 

[Head_Unit]

They only run Audyssey through the AVR. They are willing to use the app only in a dedicated home theater room...

You can use the App. We can help you. Actually our experience with Audyssey XT32 in a Denon AVR-X3600H was quite positive, you could easily hear a big difference where a bass sweep test tone was audibly much smoother.
- The App is not hard to use
- Mainly we turned off a midrange dip Audyssey weirdly inserts because they feel "sounds better"-ahem, excuse me, we've got like $10k of speakers here, they ALREADY "sound better"!
- But definitely upgrade your subwoofers, then run the Audyssey. We have one SVS SB-2000 Pro and really like it, probably will get another one.
- I'm not sure I've heard your particular speakers, since I last listened to some KEF about 3 years ago. But as a loudspeaker engineer I have long admired their design prowess. I think you have very nice speakers.
- My rough rule of thumb is that to get true improvement, not just different sound, you need to spend like 3-4 times more. Before you do that, upgrade the subs and run the Audyssey, and experiment as much as your layout allows with speaker and subwoofer positioning, and the toe-in (aiming) of the speakers as well.
- Room treatment if possible, that's a huge subject
- GET ONE OF THESE http://acinfinity.com/receiver-amp-cooling-fans/ because there IS a lot of stuff packed in an AVR. Even at low levels, each Class AB channel generates a chunk of waste heat.
- At your SPL level, I cannot imagine you need an outboard amplifier. If you succumb, we really like an ATI 525NC we got, which can come with more channels. It runs super cool (we don't even use a fan), the technical hybrid of conventional huge power supply with efficient Class D output appeals to my engineering sensibilities, and it sounds like probably nothing. It is paired with an Anthem AVM70. For like $6000 more than the original -3600, the sound is still great but not clearly better.
- I can't comment about the Audio Control amp other than to say at your listening levels, nah.

 

[Cybertech119]

You should first get a subwoofer to give bass and good speakers to give the sounds you want

 

[Redan94]

I have finalized my set-up and installation.

I ended up with the following 5.2.4:
- KEF Q950 as L/R speakers
- KEF Q650 as center speaker
- KEF Q350 as surround speakers
- SVS Prime Elevation as Atmos speakers (4x)
- SVS PB 3000 as subwoofers (x2 in opposite corners)

I added an external 5 channel power amplifier for the 5 floor level speakers and opted for the Nord One MP NC502 500W.

My TV is a Sony A90J in 83 inch.

I downloaded the Audyssey app and did the calibration myself.

I must say that I am extremely happy with both music listening and movie watching.

I will try to learn about REW software to further optmize the calibration. Given my current satisfaction level I am not in a hurry. When comes the time to upgrade my Denon X3700H AVR I will probably go with a processor and separate amplifier and add 2 rear speakers for 7.2.4 set-up.

Thanks all for the advice!

 

[Spkrdctr]

Dang, you dropped some coin on that set up. It "should" sound awesome since you tuned it. Way to go!