About to join the SRT club
Comments
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I've tried listening to everything DVD, CD, VHS, Digital Cable, even Cassette and it all sounds great. Music was my biggest surprise, I knew they were HT monsters, but it is amazing how well the bass calms down for music.
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And how good the mids and highs are ... Of course with the different savable sub settings for movies and music plus from the listening area minor adjustments to the subs you can pretty much tailor it however you want CD by CD or even song by song although I find the former to be sufficient.Originally posted by tntvt
Music was my biggest surprise, I knew they were HT monsters, but it is amazing how well the bass calms down for music. -
It sounds as though you are more than happy then.
The thing I am finding the hardest to replace is the unique imaging that the SDA technology gives. That was most certainly the best quality of the SRTs (to me) in two channel pure direct.
Hey Rick, I didn't know you had upgraded amp power running the subs, what did you do with the original plate amps? -
They are still in there ... but the drivers are wired directly to custom installed 5-way binding posts which I'm driving with the CinePro 1K2 ... This would make a great 2 channel amp as it far exceeds its specs benching at just under 500 wpc into 8 ohms, around 650 wpc into 4 ohms ( which is what the subs are with the two 2 ohm drivers wired in series ) and more than that into 2 ohms.
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PW have you ever had the original amps hooked up? If so do you see a huge difference? I was looking at the SVS websight they offer the crown k1 for just over 1k. I am forbidden to spend any more audio cash (for now). It is however an upgrade thought for the future. I did look at Cinepro $$$$$$$$$$$!
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The original plate amps in mine have never been hooked up or at least not while I've had them as the fellow I got them from had CinePro customize the subs and also passed along the CinePro for less $ than the Crown you're looking at ... These sometimes show up on Audiogon ...
In any case I have heard the subs with the plate amps and imho there is a significant difference and I think Brody would agree but I'll leave it to him to comment ... whether that qualifies as huge or not remains to be heard ... Just remember if you go that route that you'll have to install your own binding posts ... not that this is difficult but it still has to be done and properly sealed etc. -
I would say the difference would depend on the amp as much as anything, I tried a similar rated (to the SRT amp350 watts at 8 ohm) Parasound that had higher specs than the plate amp and it couldn't handel the job, the NAD made a substantial difference in bass and quality but I am going to say that a lot of that is due to not having the low cut filter in place, The SRTs are rated to 16hz and I have found that without the srt control unit and hard wired directly to drivers that the subs actually produce 10hz, obviously this places a huge load on the amp which I pressume is the reason the <16hz is filtered out, so I would say that extra low stuff is more noticable and mostly responsible for improvement with movies but in saying that, it sure does stay tight with the extra power and with music that doesn't have such LFE signals the 'punchyness' and 'cleanlyness'is a noticable improvement, definately worth the upgrade if you can find suitable amps at the right price.
It's funny, I ran them standard for 5 years without even thinking they could be better, now I find myself saying the above, who would have thought it possible.
Rick, if you are utilising seperate binding posts why the need to leave the plate amp in, why not just put a solid customwood board accross the back and maybe sell the amps? or use them to run subs in the rear? -
Brody,
That's certainly an option which I'll keep open ... I'm pretty much just using them the way I got them and at present have no use for the additional plate amps and they'll probably stay in better condition where they are then if I pull them and don't use them right away ...
Regarding your comments about running them without the control center ...
- Besides not using the high pass filter then one also does not get any low pass either i.e. X/O from the satellites ...
- Also no phase control which I suppose if 0 degrees is fine then it is ...
- Also no gain controls unless the amp you are using has them which the CinePro does but it unfortunately does not utilize a remote. -
Fair enough about the plate amps, if you ever want to sell them I could always find a use.
Regarding the cross over from the satelites, I send the entire signal from the bass and mains to the subs, the 'satelites' so to speak have their own amps and drivers for the bass they are meant to do, I have a control unit that has an adjustable gain and variable crossover similat to the one you mentioned from SVS but no low cut, so the signal is easy to manipulate in that area. The amp also gives plenty of sub setup such as crossovers at 80 hz 100hz ect but as you know I like the full signal going everywhere.
No phase control, your right but if I wanted or rather needed it would not be hard to add to the custom made electronic crossover I have got.
The gain controls mentioned above are in both the custom controller and the Denon amp, but in regards to music ect I have stored seperate settings on the amp for music and movies, ie music I listen to in two channel and has a -8db drop compared to movies. If I get a movie or music that has either too much bass or not enough it is easy to change bass volumes with the Denon remote so I have all the flexability I need.
I am going to my cousins in a few weeks to help him with his set up and we will be playing around with not utilising the SRT control boxes for bass management, I will let you know how we get on if you like, just thinknig outside the box now that I realise what the subs are capable of with a bit of extra power.
If you get the time, have a play without the control center and see what you think, I know there is the fine tuning to be lost but maybe there is a way to remove the low cut by modifying the control unit, maybe schematics from Ken will help, if you have the power to run the low stuff then why not utilise it, it really is great, I am still being amazed with how great it sounds. And if the Cinepro has as much power as the NAD then 10hz is just around the corner......
