I will take pictures of the back and set up so u guys can see when i get home from work today. Some people on Facebook ARC fan group said I don’t have good speakers but I doubt it. What do u guys think? |
I did try all of that. Speakers setup connection is correct. I did link them and not biwire. |
Has two output. Main and record. I used the main XLR to the amp vt100. |
No, not that. CD player rca into SE1 on the LS15. I just don’t understand why it has no bass. |
No, the CD player into those SE1 input of the LS15. why is has no bass?
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When u said rca interconnect meaning the type of cable im using? Im using generic brand rca cables. |
@chip_2950
what do u mean SE jumper on the VT100? |
The seller gave me receipts that all new factory arc tubes were replaced Late December 2018. So its roughly 8-9 months. I also tested at his house before buying and it sounds amazing. Do u think because i dont have the DAC Luxman D-06? Because he was streaming from Tidal optical into that DAC and into the LS15. I don’t understand why when the units set up in my house it doesn’t sounds like that. Would the DAC makes that much different?
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@lowrider57 he was using rca into the preamp not balance. I asked him and he said the DAC will fix my problem. Im not sure if he’s right |
@lowrider57 u are absolutely right about the Dac help gain. At the seller house setup, he only turn on 30% and i can hear music pretty loud. But when my setup i had to crank up to about 70% to hear loud. So definitely this confirmed that DAC increase gain. But i cant explain why my arc setup is low bass response. I’m kinda sad and disappointed that i spend a lot of money but im not getting the sound i want. Idk what’s wrong... |
@lowrider57 thanks for your input. I will try the 4ohm today. This wont damage the speakers since it rated at 8ohm?
The thing i discovered is when i connected to the Mac1500 (1965 model from mcintosh) and it does produces fuller bass and treble. Sounds very nice using the same Blu-Ray player. But using with the ARC the bass just strip down a lot. So im worry that maybe either the LS15 or the VT100 are having defects that im not aware? I dont want to be negative and assume seller is selling because of this issue... but i just cant help it thinking about it. |
@lowrider57 i will try different source today to see if the sound changes. Maybe ill use another bluray player |
@atmasphere im not quite understand what you’re saying... can u explain. Thanks |
@jea48
the tubes was replaced 8 months ago with brand new tubes from arc. I do hear bass from the bass driver but overall sound quality the bass is missing that punch greatly compared when im using another amp like the old vintage 1965 MAC1500
The difference between my set up and the seller is he he Tidal streaming into the DAC then goes into the preamp LS15. Could it be the DAC that i didnt use and the source is Sony Blu-Ray player?
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@lowrider57 from preamp to amp is XLR cable. Everytime i turn on the preamp one of the tubes sparks. That seems like one of the tube is defect? |
@andirocks with the MAC it has tone control: treble and bass. Good idea i will try it and let u know. Thanks |
@lowrider57 so the V3 is sparking white lights when turned on. |
@lowrider57 i just bought this unit off from someone yesterday and he told me nothing wrong with it. So i guess he lied to me :((
i dont have any spare tube. If I replace this tube myself, do i need to rebais or anything i need to know? Perhaps this may fix my bass response problem?
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@pokey77 no power condition. Power right into the wall. Im not getting bass. |
@jea48 so i arranged the wires like you said as follow:
speakers neg ( - ) is connected to ( 0 ) common on the amp.
Pos ( + ) on the 8 ohm terminal on the amp. This resulted same bass but when I reversed the wire it like slightly increased bass. Why is that? Just slightly not a lot. I compared this sound to the Devialet Gold Phantom and the phantom has so much more bass.
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So as i was doing all these troubleshooting the LS15 keeps shutting off randomly every few minutes. This prob new since i got it yesterday. What is this guys? Im beginning to worry... :(( |
@lowrider57 what about v3 and v4? so replacing the V3 won't fix my bass prob? |
@lowrider57 so do u think replacing the bad tube would fix the bass response problem? Could this be the culprit of the low bass sound overall? |
well, they were replaced by ARC service center in December 2018. So I will replace the pair V3 and V4. hope it would fix the bass response problem because right now it has no bass at all... comparing to the bluetooth gold phantom speakers it probably about 60% bass. |
@lowrider57 i owned the gold phantom so i compared it to the arc and kef r900. The gold phantom has a lot of bass streaming from my iphone. Even when i connect the same sony to the Mac1500 amp it still has a lot better bass comparable to to the vt100. Could it be something wrong with the vt100 and ls15?
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I still cannot figure out why the system doesn't have any bass like it should. thank you so much for you help and time. I really appreciate you and everyone who provided advices. wish I could get fix soon... |
So i would need to buy a new pair? Cannot replace just one tube?
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@lowrider57 I'm buying the Electro Harmonic 6922 tubes now on eBay. Pair for $42. The V3 tube is defects, so this could explain the weak bass response I'm getting...? |
@akiravelvet the speakers he has is Pure audio project - Quintet 15 ive tested the r900 speakers with another amp and its sounds wonderful much bass and strong. Switched to the ARC i just bought its missing about 60% bass compared to the original amp i have (MAC1500). And tonight I discovered the LS15 one of the tube (V3) has white sparks when i turn on. So now i can only conclude that either the preamp LS15 or VT100 amp is defects. I contacted the seller and he’s not responding- avoiding me. So I’m kinda bumped and feel down that this happened to me. I wanna ask him for money back but i doubt he’ll give back. |
@audioconnection the tube flashing and sparking is normal? Also speakers are rated at 8ohms though |
I called ARC and asked them about the tube flashing/sparking and they said that’s not normal.
As for the set up, i placed the speakers about 7-8 ft apart in a 18ft x 20ft room.
Same set up, I switched out the arc and use the mac1500 and has a lot of bass response especially low. Switched back to arc and it has about 60% decreased in bass. All speakers wires are all properly connected. Can someone here explain this?
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@lowrider57 tube V3 in LS15 still sparking when turned on but with the EQ added the sounds boost to an amazing level. :)) |
@newbee thanks for your explanation. But the different is so huge. It’s like the ARC has no bass at all. The Mac1500 does have tone control but i flat them just to compare and it still boost a large amount of bass. I called ARC and they said that tube 6922 doesn’t requires re-baised but that’s not normal for it to sparks. I called Kef and they said not recommended to use the speakers in 4ohm when the speakers are rated at 8ohms.
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@jea48 well, i dont even have the jumpers. Would it damage the system if i dont have jumper connected while using rca? |
@almarg, the random shutdown is resolved for now. But about the jumper, i dont have anh jumpers connected to the xlr. |
@newbee you said it right out of my mind and I couldn’t have said it better. Yes, i love the vintage tube sound of warm and low soft bass response from vintage MAC1500 but i needed more details. I thought this ARC equipments would give me that sound im seeking for but its so flat and no bass. I can understand these equipments are not colored or has any tone control but i feel that the bass should be a little more fuller. The sound doesn’t feel full like it should coming from a floor stand speakers. I compared the ARC sound with the 2 Devialet Gold Phantom speakers and the ARC has about 50% less bass. The gold phantom has good soft bass response i want but it doesn’t has the holographic sounds and details like from the tube amp system. My goal is to have both in this system but i guess the r900 and Arc don’t work synergistically...?
Just right now, i used another old 80s preamp from Sony and the sound is boomy boost of full bass and tone control was on neutral (imagine if i crank that bass up). So this confirmed the vt100 is working and my LS15 preamp is not giving that sound. Perhaps because of the faulty V3 tube? I already ordered the new tube on the way. I’m hoping replacing this faulty tube will fix my bass response problem.
You guys has been so helpful and awesome... Thank you so much.
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@jea48 yes. The shorting jumpers were removed. I used RCA interconnect. This will effect the sound if jumper not removed? |
I don’t have any jumper connected to those balance output |
No, the owner didnt give me anh jumpers |
Guys!! Seems like my bass response problem solved. I installed an EQ and this boost the signal tremendously which now i can do tone control. This is my current set up and it now sounds amazing like it should. Fuller sound with deep bass response and clear treble with details.
CD to EQ to LS15 to VT100 out at 4ohms to R900.
(From preamp to amp using XLR and the rest are RCA interconnect)
Although i solved the bass response problem but I’m not satisfied with the sound completely since the EQ makes the sounds too artificial (even though it sounds very good). I want to be natural sounding as much as possible. Perhaps i should look into a preamp that has tone control? Or i should get a good DAC to boost the signal into the preamp? Any recommendations?
thank you again for being so helpful and wonderful. Love this community. 👍👍 |
@lowrider57 im waiting for the DAC to arrived. We’ll see if its fix the problem for good. Thanks |
But I’m still replacing the v3 tube just to be cautious since ARC said that’s not normal. |
