'Warm' meaning????

snake1

Ok, been looking and reading amp threads for ........I don't know how long. Well apparently, with my 12s, a 'warm' amp is preferred..........what does 'warm' mean???

The amps that have been suggested for 12s and A9s is usually parasound, bk, etc. and these are the warm ones?? Is this crushingly important or just suggested and really any quality amp will help?? Forgive all the questions, learning in progress!

B Run

The best way I can describe it is it's more laid back, especially on the upper end of the spectrum. The Rti12's can be very forward sounding speakers (i have a pair) because they were designed that way for home theater use. Some consider them bright, especially for music. A "warm" amplifier will help tame the treble down, without reducing the detail.

bobsauto49

Warm meaning not bright,in your face,brash,harsh,shrill on the highs! Meaning smooth,mellow,With easy reserve power. Thats how i feel about warm!
I'm sure someone else will chime in,with how wrong or right I am.

snake1

Let me ask another question. Does the AVR have anything to do with this issue? Can turning down the treble help compensate if a 'warm' amp can't be afforded??

B Run

I like to avoid any kind of adjustments as far as bass or treble, I don't like the idea of adding or taking anything away from the music. However with that said you can tame the treble a little bit without it being an issue. Not 100% but I think with Audyssey you don't have the ability to adjust the eq or tone controls, it's either on or off.

snake1

With it set i have changed the bass and treble levels in the past.

B Run

Ok, I guess it was my older Denon that I had to turn Audyssey off before I could use the tone controls. I think any of those brands of amps will pair nicely with that avr and you'll have a great system going. Keep in mind speaker cables and interconnect cables can effect the sound as well, i'd personally save a little $ for some decent ones.

snake1

Well i can't do much in this area.... Price es are too hi even used. Naturally emotivas have caught my eye but they have mixed reviews...

B Run

They tend to be a brighter sound amp as well, they have very mixed reviews on here. I'd just keep an eye on craigslist, i've seen some great deals between 300-500ish that would do the job. Be patient and do some research and you'll find what you're looking for.

jbooker82

B Run wrote: »

Ok, I guess it was my older Denon that I had to turn Audyssey off before I could use the tone controls.

I can go in and adjust the treble and bass but I cannot adjust the EQ unless I go in and manually set it up. I cannot tweek Audyssey's tone / eq adjustments. That is on my Onkyo TX-NR808

Inspector 24

I always copied the Audessy EQ settings into the custom EQ and made changes from there.

FWIW in my limited experience warm sounding speakers/amps have a more laid back sound to me with a deeper sound stage that seems to spread more evenly between the two speakers. Bright sounding speakers/amps seem very in your face, like the music is being hurled at you from the speakers and present a shallower, more two dimensional sound stage.

The A9's for example were very in your face to begin with. The addition of the Parasound with some audessy tweaking smoothed and relaxed the sound, warming it up and making it easy to listen to them for hours without fatigue.