Amp for Polk L800's - NonDifferential

[hamptonman]

It is. It’s the Toadies, Heretics - The Appeal Is the name of the song. If you have Qobuz and you can listen to it to see if yours act differently it would be greatly appreciated. Are you using balanced cables to your amp? I’m thinking I want to go back to the balanced cables.

 

[tjcinnamon]

It is. It’s the Toadies, Heretics - The Appeal Is the name of the song. If you have Qobuz and you can listen to it to see if yours act differently it would be greatly appreciated. Are you using balanced cables to your amp? I’m thinking I want to go back to the balanced cables.

I don’t have Qobuz but I do have Spotify. I can check it

 

[hamptonman]

Thank you! It’s not a hi rez song, it was 16/44.1

 

[tjcinnamon]

Thank you! It’s not a hi rez song, it was 16/44.1

Spotify doesn’t go that high.

I’m not noticing anything. Is there a particular part in the song?

Perhaps the brush on the snare?

 

[antcollinet]

Thank you! It’s not a hi rez song, it was 16/44.1

Is it possible you have gain staging wrong such that the input (or output) of one of the devices is clipping. Possible if the song reaches higher levels than average.

 

[hamptonman]

If you started from the beginning you would have noticed it 20 seconds into the song. I tried playing it on Spotify also, (I forgot I had it) and it did the same thing.

 

[hamptonman]

Is it possible you have gain staging wrong such that the input (or output) of one of the devices is clipping. Possible if the song reaches higher levels than average.

It only happens when I use streaming content. When I play music from my library it plays fine. I thought it may be a problem with my Aurender N10. I don’t see anywhere in the setup to allow changes to inputs. I had a pair of B & W 801 Matrix Series 2 before and never noticed Anything. I just bought the Polks on the 23 f December and noticed it almost immediately. Really strange. That’s why I thought it may be an issue with the balanced inputs on my amp. I guess if it were the amp, it would do it all the time, not just when streaming.

 

[antcollinet]

Can you describe exactly how each component is connected together (perhaps a sketch), which ones have a volume level or gain control, and what the volume is set to on each one?

 

[hamptonman]

So I have an Aurender N10 output connected to the AES input connection on my Holo May Dac. I was using XLR cables from the Holo May to a Integra pre amp 80.6 input. The Integra Preamp is what I use to control the system Volume.Then more XLR cables from the out side of the Integra to the Rotel RB-1090 amp. I heard the Polks don’t like the balanced cables, so I removed all the XLR cables and replaced with interconnect cable cables. (RCA) there are no level adjustments anywhere that I know of on the Integra, just says balanced, analog, or HDMI. And… as I said, if I listen to music stored on the Aurender it plays perfectly. The problem come in when I stream to the Aurender.

 

[tjcinnamon]

So I have an Aurender N10 output connected to the AES input connection on my Holo May Dac. I was using XLR cables from the Holo May to a Integra pre amp 80.6 input. The Integra Preamp is what I use to control the system Volume.Then more XLR cables from the out side of the Integra to the Rotel RB-1090 amp. I heard the Polks don’t like the balanced cables, so I removed all the XLR cables and replaced with interconnect cable cables. (RCA) there are no level adjustments anywhere that I know of on the Integra, just says balanced, analog, or HDMI. And… as I said, if I listen to music stored on the Aurender it plays perfectly. The problem come in when I stream to the Aurender.

They don't mind balanced cables. They don't like a "balanced amp" which means that the amp puts power out of both the positive AND negative terminals. This is different than a single ended stage amp where the power only comes from one of the terminals (I forget which). Also, this gets confusing because RCA's can be called single ended and XLR is balanced but it has nothing to do with the terminals

 

[hamptonman]

They don't mind balanced cables. They don't like a "balanced amp" which means that the amp puts power out of both the positive AND negative terminals. This is different than a single ended stage amp where the power only comes from one of the terminals (I forget which). Also, this gets confusing because RCA's can be called single ended and XLR is balanced but it has nothing to do with the terminals

I wasn’t sure if using balanced cables were a problem so I redid the whole thing in RCAs. Now I have to go back and reinstall the XLRs. Lol

 

[tjcinnamon]

I wasn’t sure if using balanced cables were a problem so I redid the whole thing in RCAs. Now I have to go back and reinstall the XLRs. Lol

awesome! Hope that simplifies things?

Also, how do you like the sound? I absolutely love these speakers. Everytime I hear other speakers they pale in comparison without the SDA effect.

 

[hamptonman]

I think they sound great with all types of music but I am strugglng alittle with the setup. I originally set them up with the house decorated for Christmas, about 7.5 feet apart and made my listening position about 10 feet from them. I really liked them there and was very happy. Asthetically, I have a TV on the wall and a heater on the same wall and it looked a little wonkey because the speakers weren't centered with the TV. I repositioned them and opened them up to 9 feet and when I did I messed them up and the bass declined and some of the voices didn't sound as good, soundstage was messed up. I have to reposition everything back to the original set up where they sounded their best. Its funny though cause bad recordings really do sound bad! There is a few favorite songs and one in particular that I have Bread Anthology CD, Lost without your love is on there. It was just ok sounding on the B & W's but when I play that now on these polks it really shows the bad recording mix. I still listen to it but I get it off Qobuz instead of my CD. I do like them better than my B & W 801's. When I say that on line I get chastized by 10 people saying there is no way a Polk speaker sounds better than a B & W 801! LOL!

 

[tjcinnamon]

I think they sound great with all types of music but I am strugglng alittle with the setup. I originally set them up with the house decorated for Christmas, about 7.5 feet apart and made my listening position about 10 feet from them. I really liked them there and was very happy. Asthetically, I have a TV on the wall and a heater on the same wall and it looked a little wonkey because the speakers weren't centered with the TV. I repositioned them and opened them up to 9 feet and when I did I messed them up and the bass declined and some of the voices didn't sound as good, soundstage was messed up. I have to reposition everything back to the original set up where they sounded their best. Its funny though cause bad recordings really do sound bad! There is a few favorite songs and one in particular that I have Bread Anthology CD, Lost without your love is on there. It was just ok sounding on the B & W's but when I play that now on these polks it really shows the bad recording mix. I still listen to it but I get it off Qobuz instead of my CD. I do like them better than my B & W 801's. When I say that on line I get chastized by 10 people saying there is no way a Polk speaker sounds better than a B & W 801! LOL!

100%, as a home-theater enthusiast, to say I have Polk's after I tell people about my set up is a humbling experience but I can't deny the results for a name brand. I thought for sure I was going to get some Salk Sounds or Perlisten or something very boutique.

I have them about 7' apart and my listening position is 8' So I have to toe them in to get the effect. In my next space, I'll have room to move my setting back to closer to 10'

 

[hamptonman]

100%, as a home-theater enthusiast, to say I have Polk's after I tell people about my set up is a humbling experience but I can't deny the results for a name brand. I thought for sure I was going to get some Salk Sounds or Perlisten or something very boutique.

I just say the B & W's are about 29 years old, the Polks are new!

 

[617]

Fascinating speakers. Wonder if anyone has attempted a DIY facsimile.

Is the SDA implementation on the new speakers the same as the old one?

 

[hamptonman]

Can you describe exactly how each component is connected together (perhaps a sketch), which ones have a volume level or gain control, and what the volume is set to on each one?

Can you describe exactly how each component is connected together (perhaps a sketch), which ones have a volume level or gain control, and what the volume is set to on each one?

I have a very short video but it won’t let me attach it.

 

[hamptonman]

Fascinating speakers. Wonder if anyone has attempted a DIY facsimile.

Is the SDA implementation on the new speakers the same as the old one?

I'm sure the crossovers are pretty complicated because it takes the signal from the other speaker, inverts the phase and plays it. Sounds pretty complicated to me.

 

[antcollinet]

So I have an Aurender N10 output connected to the AES input connection on my Holo May Dac. I was using XLR cables from the Holo May to a Integra pre amp 80.6 input. The Integra Preamp is what I use to control the system Volume.Then more XLR cables from the out side of the Integra to the Rotel RB-1090 amp. I heard the Polks don’t like the balanced cables, so I removed all the XLR cables and replaced with interconnect cable cables. (RCA) there are no level adjustments anywhere that I know of on the Integra, just says balanced, analog, or HDMI. And… as I said, if I listen to music stored on the Aurender it plays perfectly. The problem come in when I stream to the Aurender.

Well your Dac is. NOS R2R design - not normally noted for low distortion performance, although the claimed specs look pretty good.

I'd be tempted (as a test) to turn on oversampling mode and try again. Also make sure the PLL is on in all modes to reject jitter.

I'd also be looking at the transmission from streamer to DAC. I think you said you are using AES: Are you using the correct 110ohm impedance cable for this. Do you get the same distortion if you use a different digital connections (Coax or Toslink for example)

(though it is difficult to think how the interface could impact only streaming, and not local files).

 

[tjcinnamon]

Fascinating speakers. Wonder if anyone has attempted a DIY facsimile.

Is the SDA implementation on the new speakers the same as the old one

I’m not sure if it’s the same or different. I’ve heard that it works better. I think the concepts are the same but I think the crossover is more complex.

I’m evaluating to see if I can build using bookshelf speakers right now. But there’s some folks on the forums that have created them. The L800’s need to be close to each other and once I get a 98” or 115” TV, they won’t be able to be used as XTC speakers. The distance together should be less than to the seated position.

Stereo Crosstalk Elimination (reduction) Par Excellence!

I feel like I've come across something really fantastic! It started out as an attempt to simply derive a center channel from 2 channel stereo. By accident it turned out to be an outstanding crosstalk elimination method - much better than I thought at first because I hadn't dialed it in all the...

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I’m monkeying around in Audacity to simulate what Tim is doing in that thread.

I’m doing it with my LCR. If I have success, I’m going to try it with 3 bookshelf speakers. Likely the KEF Q150’s (way smaller and less expensive)