Benefits of external amps

KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
Well, I pulled the trigger on a svs sb2000 pro
THEN I ran their recommended subwoofer app for my Sony’s. They suggested the1000 series. I did read somewhere there is no such thing as too much bass! Here we go head first into the so called rabbit hole. I’d like to thank everyone for the responses and comments once again. I value these informative forums !
chris
I honestly believe that the SVS Merlin app mainly uses the cost of the speakers to figure out which of their subs to recommend!
However, I believe that the recommendation of what crossover frequency to use is a worthwhile starting point!
 
C

Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
I honestly believe that the SVS Merlin app mainly uses the cost of the speakers to figure out which of their subs to recommend!
However, I believe that the recommendation of what crossover frequency to use is a worthwhile starting point!
Well umm the svs sounds different than my Sony core series sub. Haha! I ran through calibration just now I haven’t really listened to it yet but it gave me very low crossover points again.
 

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Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
Well umm the svs sounds different than my Sony core series sub. Haha! I ran through calibration just now I haven’t really listened to it yet but it gave me very low crossover points again.
The svs app says to start at 100 so I changed front center and surrounds to 100 and I’ll give it a listen. Again any advice is welcomed !
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
The svs app says to start at 100 so I changed front center and surrounds to 100 and I’ll give it a listen. Again any advice is welcomed !
What are you wanting to know? As long as you're using the same speakers it's probably always going to recommend a low crossover point like that. At this point I've seen it so many times I wonder why avr manufacturers even bother with doing it automatically. It almost always needs changed and most normal (non-ocd) folks who just run setup and never touch it again are stuck with sub standard bass.

*Edit: Also, 100 Hz sounds a lot more like it for your speakers. If you're having any issues with localization you can try 80 hz (lower frequencies are less directional) and probably sound just about as good.
 
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Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Well umm the svs sounds different than my Sony core series sub. Haha! I ran through calibration just now I haven’t really listened to it yet but it gave me very low crossover points again.
I'm assuming "sounds different" means "holy cow!"..? I am curious about your impressions, coming from the Sony Core series to SVS!
 
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Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
I'm assuming "sounds different" means "holy cow!"..? I am curious about your impressions, coming from the Sony Core series to SVS!
I don’t quite understand this. I was just listening to “sweet emotion” by Aerosmith. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard this song and yet never like this! It’s gotta he a cliche for me to say there is music in there I was never aware of. Unbelievable. I’m extremely impressed. If this is just a taste of what it’s intended to sound like I just found myself a new money pit. Thanks all!
 
KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
The svs app says to start at 100 so I changed front center and surrounds to 100 and I’ll give it a listen. Again any advice is welcomed !
The LFE channel when playing movies has content up to 120Hz, so I generally set the surrounds and center to 120Hz for the XO. The only speakers I treat differently is the mains because I only use stereo for most music (except for few that were processed with 5.1 as SACD or are vidio music discs).
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I don’t quite understand this. I was just listening to “sweet emotion” by Aerosmith. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard this song and yet never like this! It’s gotta he a cliche for me to say there is music in there I was never aware of. Unbelievable. I’m extremely impressed. If this is just a taste of what it’s intended to sound like I just found myself a new money pit. Thanks all!
Ha! That's what we love to hear! I get almost as tickled as you are when I read impressions like this! I always tell people that real, true quality bass is always underestimated and a good sub can clean up your whole system. So many people dismiss me when I say it too. Seeing you this happy validates many of my posts, lol.

How are you with getting it placed? Did you find a good spot? Ever heard of the sub crawl? You might even get better performance if you can find a sweet spot for it.



That should give you a little to chew on. With a little time and effort it's possible to squeeze out more performance from a good sub and the best part is it's free!
 
lovinthehd

lovinthehd

Audioholic Jedi
I don’t quite understand this. I was just listening to “sweet emotion” by Aerosmith. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard this song and yet never like this! It’s gotta he a cliche for me to say there is music in there I was never aware of. Unbelievable. I’m extremely impressed. If this is just a taste of what it’s intended to sound like I just found myself a new money pit. Thanks all!
So this is still with the Sony speakers, just new subs? Congrats for a significant increase in smiles :) If you don't have better speakers yet.....
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
So this is still with the Sony speakers, just new subs? Congrats for a significant increase in smiles :) If you don't have better speakers yet.....
Boy oh boy... I was getting there HD! Ha ha!

Those DCM TFE series speakers tho...


 
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Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
So this is still with the Sony speakers, just new subs? Congrats for a significant increase in smiles :) If you don't have better speakers yet.....
Yes the only thing I’ve done is replace the core series sub with a sb2000 pro. I do however see more efficient better sounding lcr in my future.
 
C

Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
Ha! That's what we love to hear! I get almost as tickled as you are when I read impressions like this! I always tell people that real, true quality bass is always underestimated and a good sub can clean up your whole system. So many people dismiss me when I say it too. Seeing you this happy validates many of my posts, lol.

How are you with getting it placed? Did you find a good spot? Ever heard of the sub crawl? You might even get better performance if you can find a sweet spot for it.



That should give you a little to chew on. With a little time and effort it's possible to squeeze out more performance from a good sub and the best part is it's free!
Thank you for this ! I am limited on space in this particular room but in switching around the dual Sony subs I have I did find a proper spot for the svs. Still bewildered by this thing too.
 
C

Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
Thank you for this ! I am limited on space in this particular room but in switching around the dual Sony subs I have I did find a proper spot for the svs. Still bewildered by this thing too.
I’m looking at the Infiniti rc263 to replace the Sony core center. I’m wondering if you all here would consider this an upgrade or more of a lateral move?
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I’m looking at the Infiniti rc263 to replace the Sony core center. I’m wondering if you all here would consider this an upgrade or more of a lateral move?
It depends... I want to say the Infinity might be an upgrade, but not a big leap. Probably more lateral, but honestly I haven't heard it so...

I wouldn't buy another brand of center channel unless I were planning to replace all 3 up front and buy the matching l/r main speakers as well. The Sony Cores I have heard and they're not bad for the price. As far as looking for a true "upgrade" I'd aim a little higher. Or I'd buy a pair of the DCM TFE60s You could go phantom for your center for a while or buy a third one for a perfectly matched from stage then pat yourself on the back for making a killing on some awesome speakers!

I can pretty much guarantee you the TFEs will be an audibly noticeable upgrade.
 
C

Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
It depends... I want to say the Infinity might be an upgrade, but not a big leap. Probably more lateral, but honestly I haven't heard it so...

I wouldn't buy another brand of center channel unless I were planning to replace all 3 up front and buy the matching l/r main speakers as well. The Sony Cores I have heard and they're not bad for the price. As far as looking for a true "upgrade" I'd aim a little higher. Or I'd buy a pair of the DCM TFE60s You could go phantom for your center for a while or buy a third one for a perfectly matched from stage then pat yourself on the back for making a killing on some awesome speakers!

I can pretty much guarantee you the TFEs will be an audibly noticeable upgrade.
i was also considering the 162 Infiniti’s. I’m not sure what it is about those dcms. I. Just. Can’t.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
i was also considering the 162 Infiniti’s. I’m not sure what it is about those dcms. I. Just. Can’t.
You know who probably has experience with both? @KEW (Kurt)! @zieglj01 too. I just summoned them both so let's wait a bit and see what their input is. I'm not familiar enough with the speakers in question to give you an honest impression. My gut tells me that the TFEs are the superior speaker, and maybe even by a lot. I have the lesser model in the TP160S' and am pretty blown away with them. Hands down they're a better speaker than the Sony Cores. The TFE is a significant step up from the TP. It'll cost you north of a thousand bucks a pair to really get to the next level after the TFEs.
 
AcuDefTechGuy

AcuDefTechGuy

Audioholic Jedi
So this is still with the Sony speakers, just new subs?
Well, getting new subs will improve the sound of the speakers, while getting new speakers will improve the sound of the subs. :D
 
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KEW

KEW

Audioholic Overlord
i was also considering the 162 Infiniti’s. I’m not sure what it is about those dcms. I. Just. Can’t.
You know who probably has experience with both? @KEW (Kurt)! @zieglj01 too. I just summoned them both so let's wait a bit and see what their input is. I'm not familiar enough with the speakers in question to give you an honest impression. My gut tells me that the TFEs are the superior speaker, and maybe even by a lot. I have the lesser model in the TP160S' and am pretty blown away with them. Hands down they're a better speaker than the Sony Cores. The TFE is a significant step up from the TP. It'll cost you north of a thousand bucks a pair to really get to the next level after the TFEs.
I had the following three speakers set up for awhile in a tower comparison:
Infinity R253 (small tower from the same series as the R162)
DCM TFE100
JBL Studio 580

I had earlier compared the R162 against the DCM TP60S and I felt the TP60S was 1/4 of a notch below the Infinity. By that I mean they were very, very close, but the Infinity had a slight advantage over the DCM. You can read my comments here:

The TFE (Time Frame Evolution) series is a step up above the TP (TimePiece) series and this showed in the comparison of the towers. I have to give the nod to the TFE over the Infinity and a very slight nod to the 580 over the TFE.
The TFE and 580 have a lot of the same character. They both have good energy, playing music with a sort of enthusiasm (if I can personify speakers). The Infinity seemed perhaps a little staid in comparison. I am not sure that I can say the JBL and TFE are more accurate than the Infinity, but they are more engaging to me and if you are looking for something to play energetic music on I would give the TFE the nod over the Infinity Reference series. If you are looking for something a little more reserved, I would go with the Infinity. I don't know, but I might suppose that JBL and DCM use a little bit of a "house curve" while Infinity is totally flat?!
Obviously this is a very subjective account, but I think the TFE would be preferred by most. @TheWarrior came over and listened to them blind and Rated them as JBL best, TFE a close second, and Infinity a more distant third. I didn't feel that the Infinity lagged so far behind the others as he did (these are, after all opinions), but ranked them in the same order.
I've got to say that if you are looking at the TFE bookshelf speakers, you should consider the TFE100 towers as the last time I checked they were only another $30 to $40 over the bookshelf version. I am usually a big fan of bookshelf speakers, but part of that equation is that you pay a lot more for the towers, but at $40 difference, it is hard not to get the towers. If and when you were to resell them, I think you would get that $40 back quite easily!
 
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C

Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
I had the following three speakers set up for awhile in a tower comparison:
Infinity R253 (small tower from the same series as the R162)
DCM TFE100
JBL Studio 580

I had earlier compared the R162 against the DCM TP60S and I felt the TP60S was 1/4 of a notch below the Infinity. By that I mean they were very, very close, but the Infinity had a slight advantage over the DCM. You can read my comments here:

The TFE (Time Frame Evolution) series is a step up above the TP (TimePiece) series and this showed in the comparison of the towers. I have to give the nod to the TFE over the Infinity and a very slight nod to the 580 over the TFE.
The TFE and 560 have a lot of the same character. They both have good energy, playing music with a sort of enthusiasm (if I can personify speakers). The Infinity seemed perhaps a little staid in comparison. I am not sure that I can say the JBL and TFE are more accurate than the Infinity, but they are more engaging to me and if you are looking for something to play energetic music on I would give the TFE the nod over the Infinity Reference series. If you are looking for something a little more reserved, I would go with the Infinity. I don't know, but I might suppose that JBL and DCM use a little bit of a "house curve" while Infinity is totally flat?!
Obviously this is a very subjective account, but I think the TFE would be preferred by most. @TheWarrior came over and listened to them blind and Rated them as JBL best, TFE a close second, and Infinity a more distant third. I didn't feel that the Infinity lagged so far behind the others as he did (these are, after all opinions), but ranked them in the same order.
I've got to say that if you are looking at the TFE bookshelf speakers, you should consider the TFE100 towers as the last time I checked they were only another $30 to $40 over the bookshelf version. I am usually a big fan of bookshelf speakers, but part of that equation is that you pay a lot more for the towers, but at $40 difference, it is hard not to get the towers. If and when you were to resell them, I think you would get that $40 back quite easily!
Wow thank you for this and the link ! After reading all these posts, well, I’m considering the tfe bookshelves. ( the towers just wont work I’m this small room). I was completely invested in this core series and now I’m starting over again as I just wasn’t happy with it.
 
C

Chris in Dallas

Junior Audioholic
Wow thank you for this and the link ! After reading all these posts, well, I’m considering the tfe bookshelves. ( the towers just wont work I’m this small room). I was completely invested in this core series and now I’m starting over again as I just wasn’t happy with it.
Then I start looking at cantons and bws. Ugh
 
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