Bi-Amp question........

My buddy found this NILES stereo L-Pad controller box in his closet full of stuff, which gave me an idea that I thought I might like to try.
As I'd mentioned before, I think the tweeters in my SVS towers are a bit forward sounding.
I'm wondering if I could tame them a bit by running the "A" channels through the Niles to the tweeters and the "B" channels to the woofers.
That way, I can dial the tweeters back in the mix.
Any thoughts ?

Comments

  • rpf65
    rpf65 Posts: 2,127
    What are you currently using to power your speakers?
  • Polkaguy58
    Polkaguy58 Posts: 352
    edited November 2017
    A Marantz 80 watt per channel integrated amp.
    I meant the A/B speaker outs not channels also.
  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,969
    edited November 2017
    Polkaguy58 wrote: »
    My buddy found this NILES stereo L-Pad controller... ...which gave me an idea that I thought I might like to try. I think the tweeters in my SVS towers are a bit forward sounding.
    ...If I could tame them a bit by running the "A" channels through the Niles to the tweeters and the "B" channels to the woofers... ...dial the tweeters back in the mix.
    Any thoughts ?
    try it. No harm, no foul if you don't like it. Further, amps, ICs, and speaker cables can do only so much to "correct" such problems. IIRC someone used a 4 ohm as a tweeter jumper on RTi 4s & LOVED it

    Take it from someone who did "the real deal" triamping RTi A7s* & a CSi A6* w/"preferred" amps. While they're* MUUUCH better, I'm looking to upgrade the tweeters one day.

    http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/174880/tri-amped-rti-a7#latest

    http://forum.polkaudio.com/discussion/175612/tri-amped-csi-a6#latest
    Post edited by gp4jesus on
    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work
  • rpf65
    rpf65 Posts: 2,127
    Not knowing what your system consists of if you haven't already did any of these, I would start with:

    Replacing the stock jumpers with higher quality ones. This is probably one of the most overlooked and biggest bang for the buck improvement one can make.

    Power conditioner, protecting your gear and getting clean power to it should come before one even thinks of adding more power.

    Interconnects and speaker cables. Cheap wire, bad termination, and connectors that don't grip properly just aren't worth it. Not advocating high dollar cables by any means. Good quality cables don't have to be expensive.

    As far as adding an amp, I think you would have better results using a high current 2-channel amp with good quality jumpers than trying to bi-amp with a lesser quality amp. Not saying Niles doesn't make quality gear, just don't see many people, if any running them in 2-channel systems. Mainly see those in HT systems powering surrounds.

  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,969
    edited November 2017
    +1 on power conditioning your low-current equipment, wimpy-sized cable, and quality speaker power.
    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work
  • As far as power conditioning goes, I run a Triplite system that I used to employ for my gear back in my recording days.
    My speaker cables are stock 16 gauge speaker wire, less than 10 feet in length, so I doubt these old tinitus plagued ears will appreciate overly expensive mega-cables in that short of a run.
    I'm quite happy with my mid-fi thanks.
  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    Your not happy if your complaining about the sound from your tweets. Plus nobody suggested mega buck cables, just better ones. At the very least, Svs towers would benefit from a larger gauge, 12 gauge.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • mrloren
    mrloren Posts: 2,454
    When I was a kid my parents told me to turn it down. Now I'm an adult and my kids tell me to turn it down.
    Family Room:LG QNED80 75", Onkyo RZ50 Emotiva XPA3 GEN3 Oppo BDP-93,Sony UBP-X800BM. Main: Polk LsiM 705Center: Polk LSiM 704CFront High/Rear High In-Ceiling Polk 80F/X RT Surrounds: Polk S15 Sub: HSU VTF3-MK5
    Bed Room; Marantz SR5010, BDP-S270Main: Polk Signature S20Center: Polk Signature S35Rear: Polk R15 Sub: SVS SB2000
    Working Warehouse; Yamaha A-S301, Sony DVP-NS3100ES for disc Plok TSX550T SVS PB2000 Mini tower PC with 400GB of music
  • gp4jesus
    gp4jesus Posts: 1,969
    edited December 2017
    tonyb wrote: »
    ...would benefit from a larger gauge, 12 gauge.
    . +2!
    Better still, if it will fit your present or future connectors, some 10 ga from Blue Jeans - competitively $d.

    Samsung 60" UN60ES6100 LED Outlaw Audio 976 Pre/Pro Samsung BDP, Amazon Firestick, Phillips CD Changer Canare 14 ga - LCR tweeters inside*; Ctr Ch outside BJC 10 ga - LCR mids, inside* & out 8 ga Powerline: LR woofers, inside* & out *soldered LR: Tri-amped RTi A7 w/Rotels. Woofers - 980BX; Tweets & “Plugged*” Mids - 981, connected w/MP Premiere ICs Ctr Ch: Rotel RB981 -> Bi-amped CSi A6 Surrounds: Premiere ICs ->Rotel 981 -> AR 12 ga -> RTi A3. 5 Subs: Sunfire True SW Signature -> LFE & Ctr Ch; 4 Audio Pro Evidence @ the “Corners”. Power Conditioning & Distribution: 4 dedicated 20A feeds; APC H15; 5 Furman Miniport 20s *Xschop's handy work
  • Polkaguy58
    Polkaguy58 Posts: 352
    edited December 2017
    tonyb wrote: »
    Your not happy if your complaining about the sound from your tweets. Plus nobody suggested mega buck cables, just better ones. At the very least, Svs towers would benefit from a larger gauge, 12 gauge.

    I hope I haven't come off as complaining about anything in my posts, because I'm not.
    I'm just stating the facts the way I see them and in this case it was that I thought my SVS tweeters were too hot.
    I fixed that problem and it cost me 25 dollars to do it.
    Sorry if I don't see eye to eye with you on the whole fancy cable thing, but until the day that I can actually sit down and A/B a set up with and without boutique cables, then I probably won't go that route.
    My system, though it's better than anything that I've ever owned is more than likely low to mid-fi at best to a lot of folk here.............I'm ok with that.
    I will however try and get out to find some better gauge wire.
    The 16 gauge was the best I could find in the area, as I'm grounded until motorcycle season starts next spring.
    Post edited by Polkaguy58 on
  • mrloren
    mrloren Posts: 2,454
    Oh my were not recommending fancy boutique cables. BJC and Doug's Furez are some of the best bang for the buck you can get. The $1 or so a foot is not bad for quality speaker wire.

    I use to be in the Monoprice cables. I changed out the Monoprice 12AWG speaker wire for Doug's 10AWG Furez and yes it did make a difference. I was not the only one who noticed. When my wife ask what changed, I knew I was not alone.

    To each their own but I did notice nice improvements moving HDMI cables to Audioquest and speaker wire to Furez
    When I was a kid my parents told me to turn it down. Now I'm an adult and my kids tell me to turn it down.
    Family Room:LG QNED80 75", Onkyo RZ50 Emotiva XPA3 GEN3 Oppo BDP-93,Sony UBP-X800BM. Main: Polk LsiM 705Center: Polk LSiM 704CFront High/Rear High In-Ceiling Polk 80F/X RT Surrounds: Polk S15 Sub: HSU VTF3-MK5
    Bed Room; Marantz SR5010, BDP-S270Main: Polk Signature S20Center: Polk Signature S35Rear: Polk R15 Sub: SVS SB2000
    Working Warehouse; Yamaha A-S301, Sony DVP-NS3100ES for disc Plok TSX550T SVS PB2000 Mini tower PC with 400GB of music
  • Cool !
    I'll look into them.
    My only problem might be that they won't fit into the old school spring type in/out connectors on the Niles box, but I'm sure I can adapt with some end pins that I have somewhere in the closet.
  • pitdogg2
    pitdogg2 Posts: 24,474
    Polkaguy58 wrote: »
    Cool !
    I'll look into them.
    My only problem might be that they won't fit into the old school spring type in/out connectors on the Niles box, but I'm sure I can adapt with some end pins that I have somewhere in the closet.

    Pins are your huckleberry
  • Bi-Wiring Epilogue:
    So, because it's a rainy day and I just can't leave well enough alone, I decided to see what the speakers would sound like bi-wired, but without my Niles volume control on the tweeters.
    I also switched the -3db tweeter toggle on the back of the SVS Towers to 0 and even activated the CD Direct button on the Marantz, for the most unaltered sound that my system is capable of producing.
    I've come to the conclusion, that my ears seem to be geared for sound that is slightly "dumbed down" and warm in nature.
    That's probably why I tend to gravitate to vintage recievers and speakers with silk dome tweeters, as opposed to Klipsch like horns and high end pre/power amp sytems that can audibly point out every little flaw throughout the audio chain and beyond to the actual recordings.
    I think if I ever made the great leap into audio nirvana, that I'd probably have to throw out 3/4 of my music collection.
    To make a long story shorter:
    I put the Niles back into the tweeter chain, switched off the CD Direct button, added a tad of midrange and backed the tweeters down a couple of clicks.
    Now I'm home again.
    A wise old orangatan once said: "Be careful what you seek Taylor........You may not like what you find out there."