Hi all! I've recently been assembling some first-time music systems for my 2 daughters & their hubbies (well unless fiancé or my #1 daughter get the collywobbles in the next 4 weeks... ), & got hold of some active studio near-field monitor derived active bookshelf 2-way units off eBay brand new at about 1/3rd of the 2015 asking price, as is my wont. Inevitably they're a bit light at the bottom end, but I discovered that Fostex also offer miniature 5" subwoofers in their current range at about £130 a pop, so took the chance on a couple of those & big improvement - obviously not room shaking, but convincing if you twiddle the knobs carefully in the correct order.
The (now discontinued) PX-5HS speakers have balanced XLR inputs, in keeping with their studio monitor lineage. To run them in I initially connected them to the balanced analogue XLR outputs of my Brokkly DAC, with its volume control reactivated in the analogue domain. They played loud enough that my ears clipped well before their Class D amps (35W + 18W, after in-built electronic crossover) ran out of steam - retreating to my bathroom revealed that the sound quality was still fine, once I'd stopped the bleeding from my ears :D . Bear in mind that my sprogs are not (at least yet!) audiophiles & young folks tend to move around a bit, so key objectives were 1. genuinely musical output; 2. minimal visual intrusion & cabling; & 3. adjustability to suit rooms of unknown size & shape. I can't stretch to another couple of Brokklies but do have a couple of unused Transporter SE's they can have, still leaving me with a spare "knobbed" Logitech model to back up my Slim Devices branded one. So after a couple of weeks, I thought I'd swap the connections to my Transporter's analogue XLR outputs although it's a bit of a lash-up since my analogue XLR cables are all only 1 metre long. Here's the point of this post: the audible effect was immediate: as if a couple of plastic refuse sacks had been wrapped around the speakers. Obviously I'm used to having pretty high-end gear, so in comparison to no music system at all, I'm sure that the kids will still love it. I certainly know what to point them to if they ask for an upgrade path, though. Since much more knowledgeable folk than I have avowed that the Transporter's DAC is effectively perfect from the standpoint of audibility, what on earth is wrong with the Transporter's subsequent analogue stage (which is the only other possible culprit)?? If I can hear the effect on speakers I bought for just over £200, I'm losing interest in attempting to "prove" anything to you lot, especially since I have had so little interest from forum users in participating in my proposed ABX test. Looking back through the years, it would appear that the general approach on this forum used to be quite open-minded: by contrast, it seems now to consist of a rump of the former members, most of whom dug their fox-holes so long ago that nothing I did now would have any resonance with any of you anyway, irrespective of statistical analysis I might present. I'm disappointed to have formed this conclusion, but I'll get over it - I've been disappointed before (several times actually). If you can't hear it, you can't hear it. There is no point in arguing against a fact. If other people did hear it, they would be dismissed as frauds or else some flaw in the test would be alleged - you can't be an audiophile with poor hearing, after all, it would clearly be a contradiction in terms. And you have all had that self-appointed status for so long, well, it just stands to reason doesn't it... ? :rolleyes: Happy listening to you all nevertheless, Dave :) ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Golden Earring's Profile: http://forums.slimdevices.com/member.php?userid=66646 View this thread: http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?t=106519
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