Help with amp selection polk LSIM speakers

[lovinthehd]

Reviews online? That's a serious source for an amp sounding "bright" or "not"?

 

[davehall83]

Reviews online? That's a serious source for an amp sounding "bright" or "not"?

So i found a guy wanting to sell his on ebay a parasound A31 for $2399 shipped. Would you go for that vs the full price $3250? The amp is in very good condition based on the pictures the only thing i found that could be bad about this is parasound is very specific that their warranty only applies to the original owner...

 

[lovinthehd]

Got it i looked at those crowns before not bad. I am stuck between the parasound and emotiva lol. The parasound no doubt or even the ATI's, D-Sonic will all have that quality i am looking for. The emotiva i dont know at all and not sure. I know i didn't like their T2, C2 and B1 speakers i had them and sent them back because the clarity was just not there and ended up with the polk lsim series which was right up my alley. I have been looking at safe and sound their b stock as well as new stock for parasound. There are the parasound classic amps which i could save almost $1,200 on the 3 channel need for now if i go with the parasound 2250 v2 i guess the main difference is one has a different style amp vs the other but not sure what difference if any i would see between that and their halo A31. The emotiva for about $700 more i can go with the XPA-DR3 which gives me alot more power. I know my speakers goto 300w and thats it but having more head room is not a bad thing. One thing i cant find anywhere is more than 250 watts per channel into 8 ohms for a 3 channel or 2 channel amp. The emotiva however you would get that. I did see reviews online about it "sounding bright" and someone who went from emotiva to the parasound said it sounded more natural and smooth if thats the case i may have to stick with parasound or something of that make.

Crown 2502 would be in excess of 400wpc into 8 ohm (in excess of 700wpc into 4ohm, and 1200wpc into 2 ohm)

 

[lovinthehd]

So i found a guy wanting to sell his on ebay a parasound A31 for $2399 shipped. Would you go for that vs the full price $3250? The amp is in very good condition based on the pictures the only thing i found that could be bad about this is parasound is very specific that their warranty only applies to the original owner...

Still pretty expensive for what it is, even aside from warranty.

 

[davehall83]

Still pretty expensive for what it is, even aside from warranty.

Which is why i am having a hard time pulling the trigger on it. Then i dont know if i can trust the guy he could send me a brick in the box lots of scams out there. I looked at the ATIs and to get what i want is going to cost about the same. The only thing is if i go with parasound b stock 2250 v2 amps two of them for 899 a piece i can reduce my cost significantly or just go with the emotiva xpa gen 3 or their xpa-dr3. The thing that bothers me with emotiva is i have seen some reviews if you search parasound vs emotiva where a few folks said the emotiva's made their speakers sound bad after they ran a parasound amp and thats what bothers me with the emotivas. I had a crown xls 2502 but i sent it back too much noise from it

 

[davehall83]

Still pretty expensive for what it is, even aside from warranty.

The only other option is an anthem mca 325 for $2499 .....that would be 225 watt per channel thats the only other thing i looked at

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Did everyone magically missed the SPL calc OP posted earlier - with existing 140wpc AVR get should get 112db spl at the listening position. How much louder do you think you need to go?
THX recommends reference level at 75db spl (home level) and ability to play 20db more for shorted louder parts.
http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/2013314thx-reference-level/

at 112db your permitted exposure time is about 1minute - longer than that you will going to get hearing loss.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/PermissibleExposureTime.htm
OSHA is a bit more lenient about it and allows up to 15-30minutes of continued exposure.

 

[lovinthehd]

Which is why i am having a hard time pulling the trigger on it. Then i dont know if i can trust the guy he could send me a brick in the box lots of scams out there. I looked at the ATIs and to get what i want is going to cost about the same. The only thing is if i go with parasound b stock 2250 v2 amps two of them for 899 a piece i can reduce my cost significantly or just go with the emotiva xpa gen 3 or their xpa-dr3. The thing that bothers me with emotiva is i have seen some reviews if you search parasound vs emotiva where a few folks said the emotiva's made their speakers sound bad after they ran a parasound amp and thats what bothers me with the emotivas. I had a crown xls 2502 but i sent it back too much noise from it

What noise from the 2502 did you experience?

 

[lovinthehd]

Did everyone magically missed the SPL calc OP posted earlier - with existing 140wpc AVR get should get 112db spl at the listening position. How much louder do you think you need to go?
THX recommends reference level at 75db spl (home level) and ability to play 20db more for shorted louder parts.
http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/2013314thx-reference-level/

There's that, too THX reference level is 85 dB average, with allowance for 20dB peaks, tho.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

There's that, too THX reference level is 85 dB average, with allowance for 20dB peaks, tho.

85dB is for real theaters, home system are typically allows to be 75db reference. in the article.
Even with 85dB reference level, you still need "only" 105db SPL at the listening position.

 

[davehall83]

Did everyone magically missed the SPL calc OP posted earlier - with existing 140wpc AVR get should get 112db spl at the listening position. How much louder do you think you need to go?
THX recommends reference level at 75db spl (home level) and ability to play 20db more for shorted louder parts.
http://www.acousticfrontiers.com/2013314thx-reference-level/

at 112db your permitted exposure time is about 1minute - longer than that you will going to get hearing loss.
http://www.sengpielaudio.com/PermissibleExposureTime.htm
OSHA is a bit more lenient about it and allows up to 15-30minutes of continued exposure.

I wont run it that loud not even close, its only for clarity and sound quality and to ensure these polk lsim speakers get the power they need to drive them clean thats what its for not necessarily volume.

 

[davehall83]

What noise from the 2502 did you experience?

I was getting the hum noise from it but i suspected it was from the rca's i unplugged then plugged back in the rca and it did go away unplugged but speaker still powered by amp. Also it just didn't seem as warm as the marantz

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I wont run it that loud not even close, its only for clarity and sound quality and to ensure these polk lsim speakers get the power they need to drive them clean thats what its for not necessarily volume.

You existing AVR's amp already has the power to power them safely.
read this please:
https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/connecting-an-external-amp-to-a-receiver

Out of all of Polks speakers, LSi and LSi/M are only ones I would ever recommend, but only at the 1/2 of retail price.

 

[lovinthehd]

85dB is for real theaters, home system are typically allows to be 75db reference. in the article.
Even with 85dB reference level, you still need "only" 105db SPL at the listening position.

82-85 dB average is still the reference level, whether or not you "need" it in a home theater environment. Many can do with less than that, tho, but is not the calibrated level used in avrs either. Never did like Nyall much.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was getting the hum noise from it but i suspected it was from the rca's i unplugged then plugged back in the rca and it did go away unplugged but speaker still powered by amp. Also it just didn't seem as warm as the marantz

Sounds more like a ground loop hum.

 

[davehall83]

You existing AVR's amp already has the power to power them safely.
read this please:
https://www.audioholics.com/home-theater-connection/connecting-an-external-amp-to-a-receiver

Out of all of Polks speakers, LSi and LSi/M are only ones I would ever recommend, but only at the 1/2 of retail price.

Hmm interesting article so im basically purchasing stupid power from what this is saying.....but there has to be some benefit to giving just the front stage a bit more power for the clarity etc. Also yeah no way i didn't buy those LSIM's full price i got an adorama deal off slickdeals.net they had a package for $2K that included the two 707 towers, two 703's and the 706c. Then i purchased another package sold the other speakers on ebay i the package and kept two more 703's to get my 4 surrounds. I ended up paying total for 4 703's, 707's and 706c 2K thats it lol

 

[davehall83]

Sounds more like a ground loop hum.

Your right it is, i got a ART PRO T8 ground loop isolator i just bought in case this is the issue again for whatever amp i end up with

 

[lovinthehd]

Your right it is, i got a ART PRO T8 ground loop isolator i just bought in case this is the issue again for whatever amp i end up with

Or just use a cheater plug to lift the ground to make sure. As to the clarity thing, meh, only at sufficient spl might that make a difference.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Hmm interesting article so im basically purchasing stupid power from what this is saying.....but there has to be some benefit to giving just the front stage a bit more power for the clarity etc.

what clarity? Only time sound quality could be an issue if AVR's amps would fair to provide sufficient power to speakers and would clip. This is not subtitle - you'd hear very clearly and I HIGHLY recommend to turn down the volume RIGHT AWAY.
Now, LSi/m not the easiest speaker to power, but you don't own low-end AVR either.
If I were you, I'd think that the pair of PB2000's probably doesn't give justice to bass in your very large 5-6k Cu Ft space. I'd rather spend the money upgrading them to pair of ported 15" subs, like HSU vtf-15 mk2

 

[davehall83]

Or just use a cheater plug to lift the ground to make sure. As to the clarity thing, meh, only at sufficient spl might that make a difference.

I did try the cheater plug the ground loop was still there.