2. amps-preamps
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music hall 25.2 cd/amp + klipschorns = :

i picked up a pair of 1994 klipschorns a little while back and have been running them off of my home theater amp, a onkyo tx sr-805, until i could find a dedicated amp and cd player for them. they are in a room that is 14 x 16 tucked nicely into the corners and have sounded AMAZING just powered off of the home theater onkyo. unbelievable bass and the midrange & treble are very clear and open. after reading a couple of reviews and looking into entry integrated amps and cd players i picked up a music hall a25.2 50 watt integrated amp as well as a music hall cd25.2 cd player. each of these has gotten very good reviews for their price range and so i was optimistic they would sound much better than the onkyo with the klipschorns. after hooking them up tonight and listening for awhile i have very mixed feelings. some of my initial impressions are that the music hall units are very well made and solid pieces. the amp puts out zero background noise which can sometimes be a problem with the sensitive khorns. the mids are very very impressive with clear separation of instruments. thats all quiet good, but on the downside the treble seems too bright for my taste. i wouldnt say its harsh, but when you turn up the volume much, sounds such as cymbals and female voices can best be described as having a sharp edge to them. added to that, the bass that i was used to with the onkyo seems to have disappeared and seems to now simply be mid bass. with no treble/bass controls on the music hall theres no way for me to adjust either of these issues. i am using the basic power cord and low end interconnects that came with the music hall pieces which i doubt help things, but im afraid of putting much more money into this combo if this is going to be its signature sound. i thought about adding a tube buffer to warm up the sound a bit but do not see that improving the lack of bass any. should i simply sell the music hall pieces and look at a tube amp that will not sound so edgy and have more bass or is it worth trying some decent interconnects, power cords, tube buffer first? any input appreciated
msutton

Showing 2 responses by sebrof

sebrof's avatar
sebrof
834 posts
 
I had KHorns in a room a little smaller than yours (13 x 12) driven by a 2A3 SET. Much of what I heard was fantastic, especially in the midrange, voices and guitars sounded very real. I really liked the combo, but over the course of months I just couldn't shake the fact that there was an edge to the music. I tried to 'fix' it by using resistors in series with the tweeter and midrange, by sealing the bass bin to increase the bass relative to highs, by toeing out the tops. Nothing worked. I sounded great, but it seemed that there was a price to pay (that edge) for the realism and detail.
I'm not familiar with your receiver but it may be that the receiver simply muffled (not muffled, but can't think of a better word at the moment) the highs and supressed the edge you hear with the MH. IOW, the MH is letting you hear the KHorns good and bad.
I also have a Yamaha R-2000 receiver, and I didn't use it much but when it drove the KHorns there was less edge, but there was also less magic.
I think the KHorns can be great speakers in the right room with the right gear. My room was too small, yours may be as well.
I did have a MH 25.2 CDP for audition a few months ago and thought it was a fantastic unit for the price. But it was because of the edge we're talking about that I sent it back and got a Rega. Marginal improvement. I now have a pair of single driver speakers, and think that if I had these speakers when I auditioned the MH CDP I probably would have bought the MH.
sebrof's avatar
sebrof
834 posts
 
you might want to check out the Klipsch Forums. Lots of people there with direct experience with all things Klipsch.

http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/
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