EV- I don't know your speakers or their sensitivity. While you could do damage over driving speakers with an excessively powerful amp, I think what you describe (limited range of volume control) might be a function of the amount of gain from the pre-amp. I have a similar situation even with a 0 gain and -10 dB gain switch on my pre-amp that is supposedly designed for the mono blocks it is paired with. I got some Harrison Labs attenuators and have these on the ICs from CDP and DAC at the input to the pre-amp. They've given me a bit more control range on the volume knob and I don't hear anything untoward happening to the sound as a result of their use. Some folks prefer Rothwell attenuators. Good luck with your system.
Too much power?
Forgive me for what is probably a silly question.
I've been out of the entry level audiophile scene for nearly 17 years and I'm not sure about the set up I'm currently running as I had to replace my mains.
Long story, short, I had a pair of M&K S-125 speakers stolen 2 weeks ago when my house was burglarized. I decided to try something different and bought a pair of Definitive Technology SM45 speakers. I'm powering the SM45 speakers with a Parasound HCA-3500. I'm using an old Yamaha RX-V592 as a preamp. Between the Yamaha CD player I installed a Musical Fidelity X-ACT DAC followed by a Musical Fidelity X-10D (for a little warmer sound). All cables are by Monster Cable.
To me it seems that I may have too much power driving the speakers. The reason I believe that is that the volume dial does not have to move more than 75 degrees up from 0 to have the system on the loud side. The speakers are rated at 150W and the amp is rated at 350W.
Am I over-driving the new SM45 speakers?
Should switch over to the Carver TFM-35 I have powering the M&K S-80 center speaker?
Your thoughts would be appreciated
I've been out of the entry level audiophile scene for nearly 17 years and I'm not sure about the set up I'm currently running as I had to replace my mains.
Long story, short, I had a pair of M&K S-125 speakers stolen 2 weeks ago when my house was burglarized. I decided to try something different and bought a pair of Definitive Technology SM45 speakers. I'm powering the SM45 speakers with a Parasound HCA-3500. I'm using an old Yamaha RX-V592 as a preamp. Between the Yamaha CD player I installed a Musical Fidelity X-ACT DAC followed by a Musical Fidelity X-10D (for a little warmer sound). All cables are by Monster Cable.
To me it seems that I may have too much power driving the speakers. The reason I believe that is that the volume dial does not have to move more than 75 degrees up from 0 to have the system on the loud side. The speakers are rated at 150W and the amp is rated at 350W.
Am I over-driving the new SM45 speakers?
Should switch over to the Carver TFM-35 I have powering the M&K S-80 center speaker?
Your thoughts would be appreciated
Showing 3 responses by ghosthouse
EV - Here's a relevant discussion that includes comments by Almarg. It might be more helpful than the one I originally had in mind. https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/good-impedance-match-for-precision-fidelity-c-7ar AND here's a link to the first discussion that I was remembering: https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/passive-tubed-pre-amps-to-power-amp-at-same-time Hope these are of some use. |
EV - I have mine installed on the inputs to the pre-amp. There was some previous discussion about attenuators on another thread (6 months ago?). Almarg had some useful input (as he usually does) on placement of the attenuators. I'm fuzzy on the details though I think input to the pre-amp was the way to go. There might be a downside to doing it at the amp...but I really don't recall with any certainty. Do a search. If I can find it, I'll post a link to that thread here. If we can't resurrect it, send an email to Al. He'll likely reply to the thread here rather than your email, but either way you'll get some good input. ALSO - my read of your original post is that you aren't UNhappy with the sound but were mainly concerned the lack of volume control range indicated your amp might be too much for your speakers. Mofimadness addressed that, I believe. I can't tell you a new pre-amp WON'T improve sonics greatly AND possibly give you a wider control band on volume, but that's not the current concern as I read things. If I've got that wrong, please advise. |