Speakers for a loft
October 31, 2007
I'm new to the world of high-performance audio and could
use your assistance. I have over 200 gigs of digital music and use a Sonos system to
transmit it throughout my 1200-square-foot Brooklyn loft. For the two bedrooms I have
Paradigm Atom v.5s which are fantastic -- great sound and a good price. Now I am looking
for a set of bookshelf speakers for the living room, but I am concerned that the
combination of the high ceilings (12 foot) and the size of the room (500+ square feet)
will impact the sound quality. Will another set of Atoms or AV123's xls still perform?
What else should I consider? Both these speakers are rear ported and the living-room
speakers will literally be put in shelves. Should I be looking at adding a subwoofer?
Sorry for the lack of knowledge and appreciate all your help.
Shaun
In a large loft-type space such as you have the biggest
concern will be filling the space at lower frequencies. Rooms as large as yours can suck
up bass frequencies like a sponge, leaving you with bleached, threadbare sound -- not what
you want. Exacerbating the problem would be the lack of enough output capability overall
to fill the room with the sound that you want. The solution to both of these issues is to
add a subwoofer. A sub will obviously add a level of low-bass capability to your sound
system that a set of bookshelf speakers just can’t produce. This will give you
warmer, more full-bodied sound. Second, crossing over the smaller speakers to the sub will
usefully extend their dynamic range because they won’t be asked to reproduce the
lowest frequencies: They’ll play louder and cleaner as a result. If you like the
Atoms, get another set and add a Paradigm subwoofer to match. I’m sure you’ll be
thrilled with the results.
New subwoofer with vintage equipment
October 26, 2007
How do I connect a new Yamaha subwoofer to my vintage
Kenwood integrated amplifier? The subwoofer has only the RCA inputs and the Kenwood has no
subwoofer output. The amplifier is a Kenwood KA-7100 and the woofer is a Yamaha YST-SW012.
My main speakers are Wharfdale Diamond 6Rs and Paradigm 5" speakers on the second set
of speaker terminals. I'm just trying to get a little more bass with these small speakers
Earl
Unfortunately, I don’t think you have many options. If
you used the tape outputs you’d have no way to control the volume of the sub, and if
you don’t have speaker-level inputs on the Yamaha then you can’t go that route.
Without preamp outputs on the integrated you just don’t have the facilities to hook
up the sub. Sorry.
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