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Non-audiophile needs help with older system.

I recently inherited a number of 10-15 year old high end audio components. I am not an audiophile but do appreciate high end sound. I do not have a dedicated room for this system. But, it was free and I'd like to figure out how to use it without spending a lot of money on it. I am not looking for audio perfection, just to optimize what I have. This will be used for two-channel music only. I'll try to describe the setup as best I can but I'm sure I do not know the proper terminology.

The components are as follows:

Pair of Aerial Acoustics floor speakers. Towers. No model number. I'm thinking 7B maybe. Have contacted Aerial to see if they can help me identify them. They have a tweeter, midrange and two woofers. Rear bass port. Separate connectors for woofers and midrange/tweeter. 

Madrigal Proceed HPA 2 amp. 250 watts. Weighs a ton.There are very large shielded(?) 'biamped'(?) cables from the amp to the speakers.

Audio Research LS16 Stereo PreAmp. There are large shielded XLR cables from the pre amp to the amp.

Onkyo home theater 'receiver' that I do not like. Remote is lost. Set up is tedious.

There is a very basic Arcam CD player and a Sony phono.

I've got it all hooked up. Bass seemed poor just running CD through pre-amp. If I run CD player to Onkyo to pre amp and adjust bass with Onkyo the sound is incredible (to me).

This system will be used for casual listening, CDs, records, radio, and iTunes via cell phone. I know that is like using a Porsche 911 to get groceries....but it was free. And there will be times when I can sit down for serious listening but that will be infrequent.

I plan on replacing the Onkyo home theater receiver with a basic FM Tuner/Bluetooth/receiver (probably a Sony). This will be for radio and iTunes so even though it is probably not a quality unit I don't think that will matter since the input (iTunes) won't be all that great anyway.

My main questions have to do with how to route the CD, the tuner and the phone through the system.

The preamp has RCA input connectors for all three. But if I run the CD and the phono directly through the preamp there is no way to adjust bass and treble and as mentioned running the CD directly through the preamp resulted in great high and midrange quality but low bass. So should I run the CD and phono into the receiver I'm going to buy and then just run the receiver out to the preamp in?

Sorry for the long post and appreciate any help you guys can give.

George


n80
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
Thanks. That is my plan. 
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
I should probably ask this question somewhere else but when I click on "Start a new discussion" I get this: "You are currently not allowed to do that."

Not sure if I've done something wrong or exceeded my limit.

Anyway I have found an ACOUSTIC RESEARCH TELEDYNE SYNTHESIZED TUNER T-06, new in the box for under $150.

Is this worthwhile? I can find any number of tuners for $50 but this one looks like a deal but I have no real idea what it is.
Ag insider logo xs@2x
mark_hubbard
52 posts
 
That new old stock (NOS) Acoustic Research Teledyne Synthesized Tuner T-06 on eBay for $130 shipped may not be such a good deal. The important thing to clarify is that the mid-fi mass-market company called "Acoustic Research" is/was completely unrelated to the hi-fi company Audio Research (maker of your excellent LS-16 Mk II preamp), and the name similarity has often confused newcomers to high-end audio. If you have some time to explore, a wonderful and reliable source of information and reviews can be found at http://www.fmtunerinfo.com, which can help guide your choices when shopping for a higher-end tuner. Some (but not all) older "analog" tuners outperform synthesized tuners like the Acoustic Research. The only downside to adding a good FM tuner to your high-end system is that, for best results, you'll want to have a good antenna (ideally on your roof) to receive the best sound quality from your local stations, depending on where you live. Your honesty and enthusiasm for getting the most out of the fine system you inherited is refreshing!

Best wishes,

Mark Hubbard
Eureka, CA
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
Thank you Mark. Looking at the Acoustic Research web site I started to wonder if I was equating them with Audio Research. Now I know. I will avoid it.

I am now looking at an Audio Dynamics T-200 from the same place, also NOS. I’ve read some decent reviews on it.

I’m also looking at an old AccuPhase T-101 on eBay. It looks like these usually go for around $300. Currently no one has bid on it and there is no reserve. Reviews for these were good in their day. I’ll keep an eye on it.

Again, I’m not that concerned with the quality of the radio we listen to since that is mostly just background listening rather than serious listening. On the other hand it would be nice to have something that somewhat matches up with the system.

Going down to the cabin today to mess with it all and will bring it home where I can start to make a more serious assessment.
n80 OP
2,107 posts
 
Here is an update:

I brought the system to my house and threw out an old love seat to make room for it.

The room is 10'x20'. The system is on a short wall at one end and my listening chair is on the short wall at the other end, in other words I'm listening at about 17 feet from the speakers which are about 8' apart and slightly toed in.

What a difference this makes. More than enough bass now. No subwoofer will be needed.

Also, the soundstage (as I understand that term) is much improved. At the cabin it was okay but there was a very tiny sweet spot and because the hearing in my left ear is worse than the right I had to face the system at an angle to the left or the soundstage was very 2D.  Now, in this room at home where I am a good 6 feet further away the soundstage is very discernible and the sweet spot does not seem to be so tiny. The bass is now full and rich and there is a thump to it. The speakers are about a foot out from the back wall and closer to the side walls than at the cabin. As mentioned, maybe the corners help. I can hardly believe the difference. 

Thanks again for all the advice.

Also, I'll probably skip buying a tuner since I do not listen to the radio much at home. All I need now is a phono preamp. I probably am not going to spend much on that as the TT is nothing special and I don't see myself getting much into vinyl.......but the new copy of Astral Weeks I bought on Friday sure does sound good (I used the Onkyo home theater pre-out as a phono preamp but left the Onkyo at the cabin.)
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