Dual speaker system
Has anyone tried a dual speaker system with a pre-amp with two outputs? Mind you, not four speakers playing at the same time, but having a system with two separate amp/speakers combinations for different moods and music—e.g., a SS tied with floor standers and a tube amp with monitors.
I’m trying this now with my monoblock Mc connected to Sonus Faber floor standing speakers and then the alternative is a low fi tube amp paired with some Q Acoustic speakers.
Of course the Mc/SF is much better, but I kinda like having a different sounding system to switch to and I like the idea of having more gear to tinker with!
Well, if you look at my system https://www.audiogon.com/systems/9511 you will see a Piano on the left wall. That's a no no, however, luckily I don't get any sympathetic vibrations out of it: play a CD fairly loud, hit pause: nothing. Play my 1/3 octave test disc, pause: nothing. Very lucky. My Home Theater speakers, other end, are aimed across the room, blocked by a short piece of wall, so they don't excite each other. 'best practice' is .... it's something to be aware of.
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Yes...I agree, as experience has taught me that it is a Big No No to have more than 1 set of speakers in the same room for "Optimal Condions". Many years of selling Stereos at the Retail level in "Sound Rooms" convinced me of that! The magnatude of difference, understandibly varies with each instance, but having 6 or 10 pairs in one room is definately worse than one pair. With regards to 5.1, 7.1, 11.1 etc... well that is an A/V thing and definitely NOT a 2 Channel Hi Fi thing. I learned early to "have a minimal number of speakers in my Stereo Room" for the Best Outcome. (Oh yeah... generally speaking, having Musical Instruments in your Stereo Room is also Detrimental for Audio Accoustics... Guitars, Drums etc... sorry but it is true. They look Great but are Not Helping with The Sound). To each his own but... I have only one pair in the Music Room (at any one time) and have eventually went so far as to reduce my TV Room to 3.1... never been Happier. YMMV
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@elliottbnewcombjr that is true BUT there are so many other things in a listening space that impact the frequency response and overall sound of the room/speaker that a couple of small woofers don't really make a discernible (or measurable impact). In any case, I have thick leatherette covers for the woofer boxes of the Cambridge which stay there except for my kids usage (when they remember to remove them). I tuned the room (passive treatments) with this in mind. My bigger concern is the behavior of the large drivers and radiators on the pair of subwoofers, the 2x12 cabinet for my electric guitar and the echoes and resonance created by my acoustic and Spanish guitars (thus they stay inside their cases). 2x12 is also covered in thick leatherette. |
@w123ale One of the reasons I picked Parasound amps was because you can loop them together. They have a set of RCA out on the back.
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@elliottbnewcombjr In my application, the woofers on the Cambridge get excited with the IRS and vice versa but at a much lower level. I have not found it to add coloring or become obstructing. |
’best practice’ I said. some audio shops roll each pair of speakers into a listening room so they are not exciting any others when you hear them. yours in your space: play with both pairs adjacent as normal, fingers on the cones, any movement? then remove the inactive pair, any perceived difference? If so, find a solution. If no perceived difference, you got lucky. |
I have a similar situation and setup but (perhaps) for different reasons. In my dedicated room I have my system on one side of the rack and a system for the family on the other side. That way they don't mess with my stuff and dont use my speakers for movies. My side Stream+SACD+DVDA-Allnic Pre-Manley+Threshold amps-Infinity IRS Beta Their side Heos/stream-Denon ABR with DSP correction-Cambridge soundworks+Sunfire Subs The HEOS also feeds Control4 for whole house
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To avoid a switch, I left a run of speaker cable from my speakers to a hook on the wall behind them that I could reach easily. Next, pull up the desired set of speaker wires from the desired amp (different colored tape on wire ends) and a spot of color tape on the front of each amp for feeble minded reminder. wbt type bananas with set screws and center pin tightening when using spades (connection at speakers/amps, I like the two set screw type
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@elliottbnewcombjr now we are talking! So your first point is important — does a second set of speakers affect the primary speakers? Looks like the answer is yes. My primary speakers are SF Amati paired with Mc 601s and I was thinking of a completely different second amp/speaker combo, but what if I added a Mc275 tube amp to the Amati and manually switched between the amps. That would be fun. Have you considered a speaker cable switch? I’d worry the switch would degrade SQ though.
@kota1 all same room! @cptrips I”d be interested to hear more about how you are daisy chaining. I love the idea of two amps and two speakers and being able to switch between them all for different combinations |
It’s ok to make a decision, however: having two pairs of speakers in the same room, is not best practice, the cones of the inactive speakers react to the output of the speakers playing. Perhaps make sound wave absorbing/blocking covers that cover one pair while playing the other pair. I’ve done the opposite: 3 optional amps into one set of speakers: wbt tightening banana plugs end of 3 pairs of color coded speaker wires optionally connected to pigtail connector of speakers’ wire, (connecting joint located waist high so I could reach/change with ease. McIntosh SS MC2250 (250 wpc)/Fisher 500C Tube Receiver (35 wpc)/Fisher 80AZ Mono Tube Amps (30 wpc). Everyone always chose tubes over SS. And, I have some content in 3 formats: CD/LP/R2R Tape, i.e. Sgt. Peppers; Original Moody Blues; Inna Gadda Da Vida ... even though the R2R specs are the lowest quality signal to noise ratio, and tape hiss can be heard between tracks and quiet passages, everyone picks LP over CD and R2R over LP: tubes/R2R is my best sounding combo! It's the improved degree of Involvement that occurs, not cleaner specs. |
I have speakers by Paradigm in media room, desktop, and kitchen Martin Logan-garage Boston Acoustics- patio Definitive Technology- sun room I want to get a pair of klipsch stand mounts to pair with my klipsch powergate integrated amp for my desktop system. Biggest disappointment has been a dedicated two channel preamp in my home theater, I have tried 4 so far (parasound, sunfire, sony, and anthem), not one of them sounds as good as my marantz 7702 processor in 2 channel mode. Must be the audyssey room correction is super dialed in but the anthem preamp did have ARC. |
Yes I do. I have a pair of bi amped Kappa 8s (Parasound SS) and a pair of Kappa 7s (Behringer A800 class D) next to them. I daisy chain the amps together. So I can listen to all the speakers together or choose which pair I want listen to. Another amp daisy chained in for outside speakers and the tape out on pre amp goes to another Intergrated amp in gaming room. |
That is a silly proposition. Good systems play everything well. If they can't they are not good systems. One great pair of speakers is always better than two mediocre ones. Same for amps. @glennewdick We use to run stacked Quads all the time. The HQD system is a classic. Hartley subwoofers, stacked Quads and Decca ribbon tweeters each one driven my it's own Mark Levinson 25 watt class A amp designed by John Curl. All this is acting like one speaker system. The OP is contemplating two entirely different speaker systems for different moods.
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@kota1 nice! I use Roon to stream to multiple systems in my house. What I’m experimenting with now is two sets of speaker amp combinations in my hifi system. I am liking toggling between my laid back tube amp/smaller speaker combo and my more precise solid state/large speaker set up. Keeps me on my toes. |
Yes, I have a whole house DTS Play-Fi audio system and its a blast to tinker with. 9.2.8 HT/immersive audio system with a Play-Fi streamer going into a Sony Signature dac connected to active Paradigm 40 speakers in the media room. The HT processor is a Marantz with Audyssey room correction (paid upgrade with calibrated mic).The HT is connected via XLR. The active speakers also have RCA on the back so flip the switch and now being driven by the Sony Signature dac via its preamp outs. The streamer has ARC room correction so now I have a two channel system completely seprate chain from the HT in the same room. Desktop system- 2.1, Paradigm Active A2 speakers and a Klipsch Playfi integrated amp using preouts. Back Porch/Sunroom- two active deftech W9 speakers using the built in play-fi streaming function. Mancave- Onkyo play-fi friendly HT receiver running a 5.1.4 JBL immersive home theater. Patio- boston acoustics outdoor speakers connected with a play-fi friendly deftech preamp and a parasound amp. Garage- Martin Logan playfi friendly soundbar for both streaming music and connected via hdmi to the TV. The app was glitchy years back but has been refreshed so many times now it works fine. You can also use the system with the spotify app or DLNA as well, unlike BluOs which is not DLNA friendly. I have a Bluesound Node and don’t like the fact that you can’t use DLNA in their system. I often use bubble upnp on my phone to steam from websites not in the play-fi app, NP. Sometimes I just use alexa voice control and don’t even use the app as play-fi is alexa friedly as well. Play-Fi website:
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