[Advice] Setup evolution

[bathroomskank]

Hello,

first of all, I'm far from being a native english speaker, so please excuse the language mistakes.

My setup :

- Yamaha R-N803D
- Ditton 44 Series II
- Thorens TD 145

I’ve got also my PC linked up with a toslink wire to the amp, and I also use the streaming possibilities from the amp.

I am quite happy with the sound (this is my first Hi-Fi setup), except when I’m listening to reggae music (which represent something like 70%, the rest being mainly soul/jazz/african music that I really enjoy on this system). So I was thinking of adding a subwoofer to compensate for the (relative) lack of low frequencies. I did a quick satisfactory trial with a little sub from another room and I’m seeking advice to get a proper one.

My current choice is on an Arendal 1961 1S, which should be more than enough for my small listening room, but it seems a lot of money compared to the rest I bought second hand (~400 € for the amp and 250 € for the speakers).

Do you think this add would be a good solution to achieve a consistent result or should I consider rethinking the whole setup ?

I tend to think that I won’t find a better solution considering my musical tastes, but maybe I’m wrong.

My fear is that I didn’t find any solution to provide a high-pass filter for the speakers with my current amp, and I've been pondering over going for that nonetheless or finding other "bigger" (and probably vintage) speakers.

Thank you for your help.

 

[RickSanchez]

My fear is that I didn’t find any solution to provide a high-pass filter for the speakers with my current amp

Does the YPAO software on your Yamaha not handle the crossover to the subwoofer?

 

[bathroomskank]

I can't find the information whether the YPAO setting of the crossover will allow to send the low frequencies to the subwoofer (it surely does) AND the above selected cut off frequencies to the speakers, creating a redundancy.

 

[bathroomskank]

After some research, an alternative setup could be :

- pre-amp/DAC/DSP : MiniDSP Flex (~ 650 €, without Dirac)

- phono pre-amp connected to it : iFi Zen Phono (160 €)

- power amp : AUDIOPHONICS LPA-S500NC (790 €)

- Arendal 1961 1S (900 €)

Switching from the integrated Yamaha amp, I am doubling the price (800 € to 1600 €), losing streaming possibilities but gaining more power and better control/cleaner sub-integration. This leads to further questions :

1. Is it likely to be worth it soundwise ?

2. Should I consider changing my speakers with this new amp section ?

2. This setup is my living room, connected to a mini-itx PC which contains my digital library.
Would there be a way to run a streaming or audio player app from the PC and control it potentially as well from the smartphone (MiniDSP Flex has bluetooth) ?

Thank you

 

[Spkrdctr]

Keep the Yamaha and get a sub with all the features you want and need. The Yamaha unit will sound very good with a decent sub handling the low end. So, your sub should be your next big purchase, but make sure it has features to future proof it for a bout 5 to 7 years! Good Luck and let us know what you do. Great question for our members to answer and thanks for coming on here for advice.

 

[bathroomskank]

Yes, I will be focusing thirst of the sub.
I am hesitating between a pair of Monoprice Monolith 10" and a single Arendal 1961 1S.
Maybe someone has a opinion on that.

 

[Spkrdctr]

I would get the Monolith if you can afford it. It is a very nice sub.

 

[sweetchaos]

Yes, I will be focusing thirst of the sub.
I am hesitating between a pair of Monoprice Monolith 10" and a single Arendal 1961 1S.
Maybe someone has a opinion on that.

Both are excellent subs, so you can't go wrong with either, IMO.

Here's their CEA-2010-A comparison:

Data from my 'subwoofer comparison' spreadsheet of course.

 

[bathroomskank]

We don't have the V2 here, but aside the height, M10 V2 and Mononoith 10" seems the same.

The footprint of the Arendal is way better, but there is a big different in price, so I think I'll get a dual Monolith.

 

[Spkrdctr]

Both are excellent subs, so you can't go wrong with either, IMO.

Here's their CEA-2010-A comparison:
View attachment 186288

Data from my 'subwoofer comparison' spreadsheet of course.

Sweet, thanks for the info. I forgot you had it all online. I forget stuff every day! Sheesh, getting old is not for wimps.......

 

[Spkrdctr]

We don't have the V2 here, but aside the height, M10 V2 and Mononoith 10" seems the same.

The footprint of the Arendal is way better, but there is a big different in price, so I think I'll get a dual Monolith.

Now you are talking! The Monolith is a great subwoofer. You should get years of enjoyment from it. Let us know what your final impressions are of your final setup. It is fun to hear what people do with their systems and how they sound.

 

[bathroomskank]

I put the Yamaha on sale, which should be easy as it is now discontinued.

Am I all good with the MiniDSP Flex with TRS input/output to connect a balanced iFi Zen Phono, powered by the AUDIOPHONICS LPA-S500NC ?

I need TRS to XLR cables for the subs, Jack 4.4mm to TRS and TRS to XLR for the amp. Any recommandation ?

Thank you

 

[sweetchaos]

I need TRS to XLR cables for the subs, Jack 4.4mm to TRS and TRS to XLR for the amp. Any recommandation ?

I bought from Ghent Audio and their cables are of excellent quality.

 

[ZolaIII]

So let me get this straight. You are selling perfectly good amplifier so you could get a stronger one which will be able to provide some 6 dB more power? All because you want a bigger single sub wafer because somehow you are not satisfied with two 10" one's in the Ditton 44's?
Somehow this by now so far doesn't make much sense.
I really hope you at least played a lot with what you had.

 

[bathroomskank]

@ZolaIII I didn't understand you completely.

I ordered the two subs and I will try them with my current Yamaha amp. I am willing to change the amp to perform a good subwoofer integration, not because I need more power to provide to the speakers.
I was told today that the choice of Hypex Ncore NC502MP is "overkill" and might even damage the speakers.

 

[ZolaIII]

@bathroomskank explain how you are not satisfied with Ditton 44 II? Those have 8" bass and 10" subs back? Are there any measurements of them?

 

[bathroomskank]

I hope the graphs are roughly readable :

I already tried adding one "little" sub and the results were quite convincing.

 

[Astrozombie]

Well for the footprint I would go Arendal.................but I would not bother with a 10'' Monolith, at least the 12'' or maybe the 15'' Sealed Hsu Subwoofer.

 

[ZolaIII]

I hope the graphs are roughly readable :

I already tried adding one "little" sub and the results were quite convincing.

Unfortunately I can't read frequency scale. If you can try to EQ it. Point is those speakers have sub 150 Hz wafer and it's 10" back fiering one. Two of those should have better spead (than one or one larger one) and should really be enough. Try simplest way first put the bass to +2 (equal loudness normalization) and "volume trim" down - 5 to -7 on Yamaha and try like that (hopefully it will still have enough power with preamp pushed down that much for you and I think both should still work in "pure direct" mode [analog input stage certainly will]).

 

[ZolaIII]

@bathroomskank can you show how those speakers are positioned relative to room shape and size? They need at least 60 cm to 1 m distance to a solid hard surface (brick wall preferably). I hope you live at private hause and can afford such refractions (regarding other people living there) and you won't have that much "physical" feal to it (while others in diameter and conjuring of that wall will have more than if it whose front fiering) as it's pushing air back.
Just did Black Chicken 37 (as long as I can feel the hand I am good) so I am out of hire.