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63 About this deal
Now, let me start off by saying that everything written is my own opinion, and my opinion only. There is no need to get angry, sad, unhappy or anything like that. Furthermore, my experiences are based around with less than 10 pairs of very different speakers, many listened just briefly for home testing purposes. (KEF Q100, KEF C30, Monitor Audio BX2, Elac BS 182, ATC SCM7, Linn Majik 109, Amphion Helium 3, Totem Arro, few others I don't recall..)
Rega – award winning hi-fi, designed and made in England
No. That implies that the noise should be well below the audible threshold when the system is quiescent. -70dB would be a good start. My worst of integrated amps is down 75dB. The best 80dB. Both are dead-silent when quiescent. Cutting to the chase, amplifiers are not fine wine. They either add artifacts or they do not. They are either straight-wires-with-gain or they are not. To the extent that they are, they are good. To the extent that they are not, they are bad. A couple of things right off the bat: If, with no input and at 0-volume you are getting anything other than dead-silence at your speakers, the amp is defective. Full Stop. No well made amplifier (and a great many mediocre amplifiers as it happen) should have any sound/buzz/fuzz/hum at any level under those conditions. And no matter how well things are thought to be, an occasional defect gets past quality-control once in a while. So, if you are accurate in your description of this artifact, return the amp for a *replacement*, NOT a rework. You are entitled to a 100% new, defect-free unit, not one that has been repaired. My Revox A720 into my Citation 16 is also dead-silent when quiescent into Maggie MG-IIIs. So, it is entirely possible. For there to be audible noise at all times is a defective design, however it is wrapped and presented.What better way to finish off this budget vinyl hi-fi system than with a brilliant pair of budget standmounters from Q Acoustics? The speakers boast terrifically refined and insightful sound for sensible money, and work seamlessly with the Onkyo and Audio Technica kit in this system. quote="Hepokatti"]Now, let me start off by saying that everything written is my own opinion, and my opinion only. There is no need to get angry, sad, unhappy or anything like that. Furthermore, my experiences are based around with less than 10 pairs of very different speakers, many listened just briefly for home testing purposes. (KEF Q100, KEF C30, Monitor Audio BX2, Elac BS 182, ATC SCM7, Linn Majik 109, Amphion Helium 3, Totem Arro, few others I don't recall..) To feed off the Rega's infectious sound, we've opted for a slightly left-field but entirely entertaining choice: the Neat Iota Alphas. They’re a fair bit shorter than your average floorstander, but the sound they produce is surprising: large-scale dynamics, excellent timing and heaps of fun. Sure, there are more transparent speakers, but the way these little Neats tie all musical strands together is hugely enjoyable to listen to. I went through a stem-to-stern rebuild of the LK-150 as it had a minute 60hz buzz when quiescent. But it also put AC on some of the tube filaments. That partial-cure was as simple as reversing the leads to the filaments - leading me to believe that the buzz was inductive - which it was. So further isolation cured that altogether.
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About covers much (but not all) of the high-end audio industry's attitude towards their customers. Bluntly, I can get noise from my speakers with the volume up, especially in the phono mode. But with the volume at 0, or with no signal other than in phono -not really. If I short the inputs on the power-amps they are dead-quiet. As it should be. Second major issue has been a pretty poor stereo image and 3-dimensionality. I know we're talking about cheap speakers here, but let me tell you, KEF Q100's with NAD were trying really hard to convince me that there was a small band playing in my room - they tried so hard that a 300€ amp and 500€ speakers can. It was pretty impressive. What Rega did? Instruments move around the stereo image when different pitches and dynamics occur, with every speaker so far, while the vocalist has a hard time standing still in the middle. The vocalist also sounds like a smurf, or being on his knees. Not to mention the obvious problem of cheap amps - most units have bad volume pots, so that the channel balance is bad on low listening volumes. Well, the hum issue is one thing I could've lived with. The issue is so small, that you can't hear it to the listening spot, even when there's no music playing. Fridges, air condition, traffic outside etc are much louder.. not to mention vinyl roar. But, it's like a rotten cherry on the top of a poo cake now.When I first plugged in my Rega, I heard something totally different. The sound was amazingly exciting and with a good drive! I immediately noticed that some "power" was gone, but I thought to myself that maybe it will return after some burn-in. No, it didn't. As for the excitment, well it's always a good thing, right? No. Listening fatigue. The excitment ended up being harshness and shrillness, but more on that later.
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