Playing around with Amps
mantis
Posts: 17,200
Hello all,
As some of you may know, I fell on December 14th and dislocated my knee, tore the Meniscus and relocated the knee joint all in one fall. I have been out of work since and going back February 16.
So with all my free time, knee feeling about 75% better I decided to fool around with a few of the amps I have laying around. I have so many of them just sitting on my storage racks in my basement and I'm running my entire system off my Sony STRA5000es internal amps.
I first connected my Parasound HCA1206 THX 6 channel amp. It's old but solid. I used 5 of the channels to power the floor level channels of my 5.2.2 Atmos system and allowed the Internal Receivers power to power the Atmos channels. I'm gonna add 2 more Atmos speakers once I'm all healed up, I've been wanting to do it for awhile and since I have been home, I really wanted to but crawling around in my Attic and then standing on a 10 foot ladder to install the speakers in my 14 for ceilings with a bad knee I felt was a bad idea.
It's powerful clean and dynamic. Removing the load off the receiver and allowing an external amp do the heavy lifting always free's up Dynamic range under loud conditions. During normal volumes it's less noticeable as the amp isn't breathing any fire LOL.
I connected it with 5 Audioquest Mackenzie Analog RCA cables from the Pre-outs of the AVR.
One thing about this amp and many old amps is it's not dead quiet when there is no signal. It's like it has to send out just a tad bit of power out to the speakers which the speakers will play what most will call "AMP HISS". If you walk up to any speaker , you can hear it. During playback you can not hear it at all. It's like a Guitar amp just much quieter.
So after fooling around with that for a few weeks I pulled it out and carried it's heavy **** back to storage and grabbed my trusty Niles Si2125 which is just 2 channel as I wanted to see if it's less then as I remember from back in the day. I had this amp for so long, I use to use it for my Outdoor speakers with a Sonos connect I think I have a ZP90 first on it and then upgraded to a Connect. I then replaced that combo with a Sonos Connect Amp and it's been that way for many years. It just sits on the shelf with no one to play with.
So with just a pair of Makenzie to the main channel outs I connected it. One thing about this amp as it's newer then the Parasound , it's dead quiet when there is no signal. What I remember talking to B&K Engineers is a soft muting circuit is responsible for the dead quiet and amps that have a hiss. When there is a muting circuit you can't hear the hiss and when there is a muting circuit there in no hiss. According to them amps that hiss will sound better as there is less in the way of the signal. Purest probably will agree but I'll be damned if I can tell a difference with this Amp and the Parasound running the same speakers with the same wiring same Audioquest power cord etc. I was actually surprised as I remember being a bit of an Elitist and feeling that if it wasn't a Rotel , B&K , Adcom ,Parasound ,Krell etc that you where giving up some quality in your sound by using the Niles amp which where way more affordable then the other brands. But to my surprise this amp sound killer. It's punchy as hell and doesn't give up anything at high volumes. It keeps it's composure way better then I remember.
Years ago this amp was the hot amp for multi channel music when you wanted to put a good pair of bookshelf or floor standing speakers in a room off a Multi Channel system. We had 30 x 12 and 60 x 12 amps that usually ran the house and for that 1 or 2 rooms the SI2125 would go in and power those higher end speakers. Sometimes we used B&K amps when budget allowed but when we needed a more affordable solution, the SI2125 was called upon. I never felt it didn't sound great in all Installs, Actually it always surprised me and for the last week or so now It keeps impressing me with it's output power.
I may just leave it there and allow it to blow the dust off the Cap and get this really nice amp back in play. I like it's sound , I like how stupid custom it is.
So the Parasound amp I had to trigger it off my APC H15 Triggered Power Outlets. A 12v Trigger out of the Sony setup for each input to Trigger out 1 , then connect it to the APCH15 to trigger On and Off the Amp Power Outlets which are High current and can support 15 amps full power.
For the Niles, It has 3 options on it. 1 - a 12v trigger directly to it which is how I do it , 2 Signal sense meaning that like your Subwoofer when signal is present it will automatically turn on and 3- always ON which I find useless but if you like your amp on and warm all the time, go for it. It's like a Tube mentality for Solid State thinking that when the amp is fully warmed up it sounds it's best. That takes seconds to happen or maybe a few minutes at most at low volumes and honestly I never heard a difference after it's been on for awhile so I never just let it suck electricity when not in use.
I guess it's better to play with your old toys then to be bored.
As some of you may know, I fell on December 14th and dislocated my knee, tore the Meniscus and relocated the knee joint all in one fall. I have been out of work since and going back February 16.
So with all my free time, knee feeling about 75% better I decided to fool around with a few of the amps I have laying around. I have so many of them just sitting on my storage racks in my basement and I'm running my entire system off my Sony STRA5000es internal amps.
I first connected my Parasound HCA1206 THX 6 channel amp. It's old but solid. I used 5 of the channels to power the floor level channels of my 5.2.2 Atmos system and allowed the Internal Receivers power to power the Atmos channels. I'm gonna add 2 more Atmos speakers once I'm all healed up, I've been wanting to do it for awhile and since I have been home, I really wanted to but crawling around in my Attic and then standing on a 10 foot ladder to install the speakers in my 14 for ceilings with a bad knee I felt was a bad idea.
It's powerful clean and dynamic. Removing the load off the receiver and allowing an external amp do the heavy lifting always free's up Dynamic range under loud conditions. During normal volumes it's less noticeable as the amp isn't breathing any fire LOL.
I connected it with 5 Audioquest Mackenzie Analog RCA cables from the Pre-outs of the AVR.
One thing about this amp and many old amps is it's not dead quiet when there is no signal. It's like it has to send out just a tad bit of power out to the speakers which the speakers will play what most will call "AMP HISS". If you walk up to any speaker , you can hear it. During playback you can not hear it at all. It's like a Guitar amp just much quieter.
So after fooling around with that for a few weeks I pulled it out and carried it's heavy **** back to storage and grabbed my trusty Niles Si2125 which is just 2 channel as I wanted to see if it's less then as I remember from back in the day. I had this amp for so long, I use to use it for my Outdoor speakers with a Sonos connect I think I have a ZP90 first on it and then upgraded to a Connect. I then replaced that combo with a Sonos Connect Amp and it's been that way for many years. It just sits on the shelf with no one to play with.
So with just a pair of Makenzie to the main channel outs I connected it. One thing about this amp as it's newer then the Parasound , it's dead quiet when there is no signal. What I remember talking to B&K Engineers is a soft muting circuit is responsible for the dead quiet and amps that have a hiss. When there is a muting circuit you can't hear the hiss and when there is a muting circuit there in no hiss. According to them amps that hiss will sound better as there is less in the way of the signal. Purest probably will agree but I'll be damned if I can tell a difference with this Amp and the Parasound running the same speakers with the same wiring same Audioquest power cord etc. I was actually surprised as I remember being a bit of an Elitist and feeling that if it wasn't a Rotel , B&K , Adcom ,Parasound ,Krell etc that you where giving up some quality in your sound by using the Niles amp which where way more affordable then the other brands. But to my surprise this amp sound killer. It's punchy as hell and doesn't give up anything at high volumes. It keeps it's composure way better then I remember.
Years ago this amp was the hot amp for multi channel music when you wanted to put a good pair of bookshelf or floor standing speakers in a room off a Multi Channel system. We had 30 x 12 and 60 x 12 amps that usually ran the house and for that 1 or 2 rooms the SI2125 would go in and power those higher end speakers. Sometimes we used B&K amps when budget allowed but when we needed a more affordable solution, the SI2125 was called upon. I never felt it didn't sound great in all Installs, Actually it always surprised me and for the last week or so now It keeps impressing me with it's output power.
I may just leave it there and allow it to blow the dust off the Cap and get this really nice amp back in play. I like it's sound , I like how stupid custom it is.
So the Parasound amp I had to trigger it off my APC H15 Triggered Power Outlets. A 12v Trigger out of the Sony setup for each input to Trigger out 1 , then connect it to the APCH15 to trigger On and Off the Amp Power Outlets which are High current and can support 15 amps full power.
For the Niles, It has 3 options on it. 1 - a 12v trigger directly to it which is how I do it , 2 Signal sense meaning that like your Subwoofer when signal is present it will automatically turn on and 3- always ON which I find useless but if you like your amp on and warm all the time, go for it. It's like a Tube mentality for Solid State thinking that when the amp is fully warmed up it sounds it's best. That takes seconds to happen or maybe a few minutes at most at low volumes and honestly I never heard a difference after it's been on for awhile so I never just let it suck electricity when not in use.
I guess it's better to play with your old toys then to be bored.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
Comments
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Glad to hear you're on the mend. Just don't overdo it...it doesn't take much.
It's amazing the amount of gear & "audio stuff" one can hord over the years. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun firing up some of those old bad boys & taking a stroll down memory lane."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
Sounds like fun. I've regretted selling every amp I've ever sold. Should have kept them all! Other gear can come and go, but amps always have a potential use later on. I still have a Parasound A21 that I sold and then bought back.Post edited by Emlyn on
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I go to physical Therapy twice a week and I have a home workout routine she gave me. I don't over work it but I'm working on it.pearsall001 wrote: »Glad to hear you're on the mend. Just don't overdo it...it doesn't take much.
It's amazing the amount of gear & "audio stuff" one can hord over the years. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun firing up some of those old bad boys & taking a stroll down memory lane.
Yes I have to probably way to much audio gear especially cables and I have sold off so much over the years.
How have you been man?
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Sounds like fun. I've regretted selling every amp I've ever sold. Should have kept them all! Other gear can come and go, but amps always have a potential use later on. I still have a Parasound A21 that I sold and then bought back.
I have sold many amps I wish I didn't. I had a really nice Rotel RMB1095 that was amazing and I should have kept along with a bunch of 2 channel Rotel amps. I also had many B&K Amps over the years and regret selling them as well. I still have some Rotel and B&K gear that just collects dust.Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I go to physical Therapy twice a week and I have a home workout routine she gave me. I don't over work it but I'm working on it.pearsall001 wrote: »Glad to hear you're on the mend. Just don't overdo it...it doesn't take much.
It's amazing the amount of gear & "audio stuff" one can hord over the years. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun firing up some of those old bad boys & taking a stroll down memory lane.
Yes I have to probably way to much audio gear especially cables and I have sold off so much over the years.
How have you been man?
Doing well Dan, thanks for asking. I've made a few changes to my system over the last 1-2 years...all for the better 👍
Check out the new KC62 Sub from KEF just getting ready to be released. A whole lot of new patented technology involved here. Who knows maybe my twin Velo SPL 1200R subs might have to find a new home."2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
Playing is fun!!"Sometimes you have to look to the past to understand where you are going in the future"Anger is just anger. It isn’t good. It isn’t bad. It just is. What you do with it is what matters.
You can use it to build or to destroy. You just have to make the choice. Jim Butcher
Harry / Marietta GA -
pearsall001 wrote: »
I go to physical Therapy twice a week and I have a home workout routine she gave me. I don't over work it but I'm working on it.pearsall001 wrote: »Glad to hear you're on the mend. Just don't overdo it...it doesn't take much.
It's amazing the amount of gear & "audio stuff" one can hord over the years. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun firing up some of those old bad boys & taking a stroll down memory lane.
Yes I have to probably way to much audio gear especially cables and I have sold off so much over the years.
How have you been man?
Doing well Dan, thanks for asking. I've made a few changes to my system over the last 1-2 years...all for the better 👍
Check out the new KC62 Sub from KEF just getting ready to be released. A whole lot of new patented technology involved here. Who knows maybe my twin Velo SPL 1200R subs might have to find a new home.
Now I know your smoking crack.
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 -
pearsall001 wrote: »
I go to physical Therapy twice a week and I have a home workout routine she gave me. I don't over work it but I'm working on it.pearsall001 wrote: »Glad to hear you're on the mend. Just don't overdo it...it doesn't take much.
It's amazing the amount of gear & "audio stuff" one can hord over the years. It sounds like you're having a lot of fun firing up some of those old bad boys & taking a stroll down memory lane.
Yes I have to probably way to much audio gear especially cables and I have sold off so much over the years.
How have you been man?
Doing well Dan, thanks for asking. I've made a few changes to my system over the last 1-2 years...all for the better 👍
Check out the new KC62 Sub from KEF just getting ready to be released. A whole lot of new patented technology involved here. Who knows maybe my twin Velo SPL 1200R subs might have to find a new home.
Now I know your smoking crack.
I don't know Tony there's a lot of buzz about this KC62 Sub due to its size (or lack there of) & it's output. My dealer will be letting me test drive one in my system.
Proofs in the pudding 🍮👍
Might you be needing twin SPL 1200R's?? 🤠"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
Pretty cool sub by spec. I'd like to see it do what it claims before I purchase it. The SPL1200R's you got are very good high quality subs. Hard to beat them .Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
Pretty cool sub by spec. I'd like to see it do what it claims before I purchase it. The SPL1200R's you got are very good high quality subs. Hard to beat them .
Yes indeed those Velo's are dynamite 🧨.
Just really curious about the amount of R&D technology KEF put into this new sub & to hear what she can do. It's smaller than a 10" cube. This has never been done before. Interesting for sure.
"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up. -
[/quote]
I don't know Tony there's a lot of buzz about this KC62 Sub due to its size (or lack there of) & it's output. My dealer will be letting me test drive one in my system.
Proofs in the pudding 🍮👍
Might you be needing twin SPL 1200R's?? 🤠[/quote]
Oh...I need a twin something, but subwoofers are not it at the moment.
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 -
I'm with ya... but at our age the 'ole ticker might have second thoughts! 🙄😭"2 Channel & 11.2 HT "Two Channel:Magnepan LRSSchiit Audio Freya S - SS preConsonance Ref 50 - Tube preParasound HALO A21+ 2 channel ampBluesound NODE 2i streameriFi NEO iDSD DAC Oppo BDP-93KEF KC62 sub Home Theater:Full blown 11.2 set up.
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Me too, I just got a fender twin, a Tech 21, and I put a fuse in my Champ that didn't work for 30 years. I am not a smart msn.
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You maybe correct or maybe not, just have to give that a shot.pearsall001 wrote: »I'm with ya... but at our age the 'ole ticker might have second thoughts! 🙄😭Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time. -
I grew up on Twin Reverbs. My second amp was a Twin Reverb. I loved that amp. It was stupid loud , crystal clear and took pedals perfectly. Such a fantastic amp.afterburnt wrote: »Me too, I just got a fender twin, a Tech 21, and I put a fuse in my Champ that didn't work for 30 years. I am not a smart msn.
Dan
My personal quest is to save to world of bad audio, one thread at a time.
