Cerwin Vega owner


Good afternoon,

I consider myself a bit of a sound nerd and have been involved with music since I was young. I never sat down and put money into any particular hifi or audiophile system, but I do love music and I have a clear opinion on how it should sound.

About 3 months ago I came across a pair of VS-120s and picked them - great condition and all. All I had around to drive these with was a Yamaha amp (Rx-V371).

I hooked this up using some 16-gauge cables and the first thing I listened too was some lossless audio files from Apple with analog connection to the Yamaha from my Macbook. The amp has a "straight" setting with all controls being disabled. No Sub is present. So my playback has no EQ or filtering.

My listening space has all the problems with 1 wall being 3 windows, 2nd wall being behind the speakers, 3 wall being open to a dining room and the backwall (isnt a wall) open to my office double doors, 10 foot ceiling, uncovered wood floor, no speaker "spikes".

No matter what I play, it sounds terrific including opening this amp all the way up. I was expecting this to blow fuses. It doesn’t. I haven’t measured the SPL from my listening point, but it goes waay up. Still sounding clean.

I have been through about all tracks I have ever seen mentioned as "reference tracks" and I dont miss anything from what I can tell.

I would love to add some critical listening "skills" to my very basic setup here to show me what I could possibly be missing out on. There has to be a reason I am 10-20k under "good", but I don't seem to hear that...

no_r_way

 

As far as THD, it will be most noticeable whenever your volume is turned up and the source is muted.  It will be a hiss. 

I would never use anything less than 14-gauge speaker wire, depending on distance and wattage.  I am not sure how to describe the difference in sound with words between different gauges of wire, but you will hear it with good speakers!  16 gauge is way too thin.  I like to use oxygen free finely stranded thinned wire of at least 12 or 10 gauge. The material, construction, manner of extrusion and other variables of the wire has a lot to do with it also.

Specs are a good reference point but should not be the deciding factor when you buy something but a THD of .9% is very high and undesirable though. To me the musicality of any audio component is the most important aspect.  People can give you suggestions, but everyone's system, room and ears will be different.  Musicality is something that only you can judge in person in your specific room, ears and with your equipment.

This link gives you some basic info, but there are many other specs such as damping factor, slew rate, amplifier class etc. to consider that you can google.  YouTube is also a good source. Understanding Amplifier Power Output Specifications (lifewire.com)

If there is a specific question that you have feel free to send me a message.  I'll do my best to answer for you!

 

I suggest you stay away from critical listening skills a remain happy with your system. 

ellajeanelle

As far as THD, it will be most noticeable whenever your volume is turned up and the source is muted. It will be a hiss.

Huh? You need a signal to measure THD. While all THD is noise by definition, not all noise is THD. Hiss is not THD, which by definition is harmonic distortion.

 

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cleeds

What I can say is that with all things being equal, an amp with lower THD will have less hiss with NO SIGNAL when you put your ear next to a tweeter. The components inside of an amp are not silent.

    • Hiss is one form of distortion. It often manifests as a faint, high-frequency noise in the background.
    • High THD can contribute to increased hiss because it distorts the audio signal, including any inherent noise. As THD decreases, the overall noise level also decreases.

ellajeanelle

... an amp with lower THD will have less hiss with NO SIGNAL ...

I'm not sure what your point is. Any amp is likely to have less his with no signal.