amp clipping or low freq causing pumping speakers


My cd source plays back fine at loud volumes with modest amplfication. My analog MC setup needs much more volume and until I switched out my premap from a Dodd battery powered to my present highly resolving
Doshi Alaap I had little to no pumping / displacement in my bass drivers (Salk HT3's).

Now they noticably vibrate in and out with some breakup distortion. Not as much with jazz but more so with dense rock music. Unfortunately quieter passages are too far in the background when played requiring higher volumes (perhaps I need more preamp gain). CD's with their higher compression sound fabulous on the Doshi and with less volume required

I have seen this once before when at an audiophile meeting a friend brought over an Infinity pre that went down to subsonic frequencies and my speakers were vibrating

my dilema is I need to turn my turntable up louder than my cds(which sound great and don't clip).

Could it be the added dynamic range and more low end of analog sending the speaker into viration mode

Or is the amp clipping not being able to reproduce the load sent to it?

I have a Moscode 401 HR amp, I have a higher powered BAT VK600 with a friend 1200 miles away.

thanks

Tom
128x128audiotomb

Showing 1 response by undertow

It sounds like you have 2 problems...

1- not enough gain just for the system with that cartridge if you crank and don't get the volumes you want, but ....

2- You need to read this thread below and it will solve the woofers pumping basically guaranteed with no sonic effect, but again will not solve problem #1, your other preamp has a subsonic filter most likely, and the other does not, its basically just capacitors in a certain value directly connected at the phono input RCA's in most preamps with built in active phono statges that gets rid of the surface noise off an LP pumping the woofers, take it from experience.

Not sure but possibly the good outboard subsonic filters can add a tad of gain due to most of them are active designs, being it will need to be plugged into the wall I believe. If your really concerned I would call KAB acoustics U.S.A and see if they will let you try one, might be a restocking fee however. Its possible Mr. Doshi since being a custom preamp most likely hand built can put the cutoff Capacitors in the preamp for you on the phono inputs. But the value would have to be determined in order to get the right cutoff... Fact is most of this noise is likely down around 10 to 3 hz.. Were taking its the Wind blowing effect with the groove going thru your cart puffing away, the preamp is just amplifying it, no sonic benefit, nor is it a benefit to your woofers working out on a daily basis for nothing! And of course this is an in-efficient power loss too, so might up your dynamics in the real music eliminating it.

By the way your speakers obviously don't play that low, but this energy goes somewhere and its in a pulse effect causing your speakers to act this way, I have first hand experience and solution on this.See thread

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?eanlg&1267683244&openusid&zzUndertow&4&5#Undertow