Speakers and amplifier combinations

[Dadvw 2,876]

Question: do some of you here with multiple pairs of speakers and amps find that certain amps sound better with certain speakers? 
 

I only own one brand of speakers but was curious about different amps and my speaker combos.

 

I am  thinking about trying my amps one at a time with my speakers and the same music as a demo to see if there is any difference.

[Maddmaster 1,001]

Remembering listening to  M1.0t mkII and M500t mkII I have to say the answer is yes. Looking at spec's and all being equal or close it shouldn't matter or sound different but in reality there is  difference in sound quality.

[jeffs 3,229]

I think there are combinations that are better than others. Speaker impedance, listening level, speaker efficiency, and a number of other factors come into play here. In the end it's all pretty subjective. I have a number of speakers and amps. To my ear the m500t "wins" in most of my cases, but there are exceptions. I think the m1.0t mkII is an excellent match for Polk SDAs, beats out the tfm-45 by a hair (IMHO).  I have an inefficient set of speakers that seem to pair best with a m1.5t. Who knew?  A/B testing can be challenging. Unless the amps all have the same gain, switching back and forth can be a difficult evaluation. Level differences are often interpreted as differences in tone.

Edited April 19, 2020 by jeffs
typo

[kve777 6,888]

41 minutes ago, Dadvw said:

Question: do some of you here with multiple pairs of speakers and amps find that certain amps sound better with certain speakers? 

       

Simple answer: Yes. One of my first stellar combos was Carver M-500t and Polk Monitor 10's. The Polk/Carver combo is very good in my opinion, and the opinion of many others. There are numerous more...

 

41 minutes ago, Dadvw said:

I only own one brand of speakers but was curious about different amps and my speaker combos.

     

Paradigm's, apparently, they are decent enough, but rather pedestrian in my experience. You can do much better.

 

41 minutes ago, Dadvw said:

I am  thinking about trying my amps one at a time with my speakers and the same music as a demo to see if there is any difference.

   

There is a big difference! First you have to find out what type of speaker you like best. There are horns, planars, panels, electrostatics, ribbons and all kinds of other drivers. Personally, I'm partial to soft dome mids and tweeters as well as ring radiators. Your ears are unique, as well as your taste in music. Also important is volume, how loud do you want it? I like it loud, like live venue loud. All of these things make a difference in choosing speakers.

 

One factor that isn't important is budget. Nope, you will spend a fortune. Yes, you will. 

 

Here's an incomplete list of speakers I feel play well with Carver Amps that you can buy for about a grand or less:

 

Klipsch Heresy- high efficiency horns, if you like these, you can go down the path dropping cash like breadcrumbs on big Altec's and Klipschorns, maybe even JBL's..

Polk Monitor 10's- nice warm speakers, lots of DIY mods and factory support on a long line of small to monstrous speakers, both vintage and modern. 

ADS L810- Vintage soft dome drivers at their best. Gateway to lots of great East Coast speakers like Snell, Advent, KLH...

Bose 901- They can suck up a ton of power. Go ahead, experience them. Then move on to something better. Even the engineers at Bose listen to anything but.

JBL L100- The best of the West Coast sound. Very clean sound. You can spend a lot going down this road!

Carver Amazings- Because, you know, Carver. AL-III's if you have a smaller room. 

[Sk1Bum 11,403]

To add to Kevin's list:

 

Martin Logan ESL's sound better with an M-500t mk II over the M-1.0t mkII opt002.

Klipsch RC-3 center channel sounds better with an M-500t mkII over the M-1.0t mkII opt002.

Infinity RS-IIIa's sound better with the M-1.0t mkII opt002 over the M-500t mkII or stock.

ESS LS4 Tempest sound better with the M-1.0t mkII opt002 over the M-500t mkII or stock.

 

My ears. YMMV.

[Dadvw 2,876]

Thank you Kevin for the information! I had a set of 901s in the 80’s. I liked them, just didn’t have the power to drive them and the right room setup for them. 
 

I had a pair of JBL’s don’t remember what model they were. Nice 3-way speakers I found at a garage sale for $25.00 for the pair. Again, no power to drive them so not sure what they sounded like.

 

i guess I do need to branch out to other brands and experience them.......grin

Thank you for the additional info Sk1bum! 
I will look into the other brands and see what is available to audition locally and the local ads......grin

[kve777 6,888]

15 minutes ago, Dadvw said:

 I had a set of 901s in the 80’s. I liked them, just didn’t have the power to drive them and the right room setup for them. 

Uh, oh. 🙀  Liking 901's isn't good. You were supposed to not like them, and learn from your experiences. 😣You may need professional help.🤓

 

 

 

Not to pick on you, but there is something missing in your signature:

Don't just hear the music, listen to it.........

 

Great Room 2-channel audio: Carver TX-11a, Carver C-1 BillD (Bonzoro), JAVA tube buffer (4Krow), ADC SS-315x equalizer, Yaqin MS110B tube amp, Yamaha K-2000 DBX Cassette, Carver SD/A 490t CD, Sony DTC-690 DAT, Yamaha MDX-793 MiniDisc, Yamaha MCX-1000 Media Player/Recorder, Paradigm Monitor 9 series speakers, Paradigm 3200 sub-woofer.

 

[Daddyjt 9,612]

Infinity Kappa (6, 7, 8, and of course 9) series (Not the Kappa “.1” series, ie: 7.1, 8.1, etc) pair nicely with 1.0t mkII, M4.0t, TFM45, Silver 7t/9t.

 

Klipsch (any Heritage series or RF/RB series) with a M500t mkII.

 

Polk SDA SRS with M1.0t mkII.

 

NHT 2.5(i) with M500t mkII, M1.0t mkII, M4.0t/TFM 45, Silver 7t/9t.

 

 

[Brian_at_HHH 2,691]

46 minutes ago, kve777 said:

One factor that isn't important is budget. Nope, you will spend a fortune. Yes, you will. 

 

I really hate it when he's right like that!    

[kve777 6,888]

John, I'm going to bomb your email with local speaker deals. 😱 Be very afraid!

[Sk1Bum 11,403]

1 minute ago, kve777 said:

John, I'm going to bomb your email with local speaker deals. 😱 Be very afraid!

 

Hey Kevin, ya mind cc'n me on those emails? I'm just over a couple of hours south of John.

[Dadvw 2,876]

5 minutes ago, kve777 said:

John, I'm going to bomb your email with local speaker deals. 😱 Be very afraid!

Ok......😂

20 minutes ago, kve777 said:

Uh, oh. 🙀  Liking 901's isn't good. You were supposed to not like them, and learn from your experiences. 😣You may need professional help.🤓

 

 

 

Not to pick on you, but there is something missing in your signature:

Don't just hear the music, listen to it.........

 

Great Room 2-channel audio: Carver TX-11a, Carver C-1 BillD (Bonzoro), JAVA tube buffer (4Krow), ADC SS-315x equalizer, Yaqin MS110B tube amp, Yamaha K-2000 DBX Cassette, Carver SD/A 490t CD, Sony DTC-690 DAT, Yamaha MDX-793 MiniDisc, Yamaha MCX-1000 Media Player/Recorder, Paradigm Monitor 9 series speakers, Paradigm 3200 sub-woofer.

 

What am I missing?

[jeffs 3,229]

John - I have no sympathy - you did this to yourself. You probably need to stop construction on the home theatre room. You already have a bunch of amps, only seems right that you have speakers piling up as well. They tend to be a lot more difficult to hide...

[kve777 6,888]

11 minutes ago, Dadvw said:

Ok......😂

What am I missing?

Uh, a CARVER AMP!

[loner_t 2,568]

The combinations I currently have (or had)....

• M500t MkII, ADS-L810s/ADS-L710s/ADS-1290s, BillD C1
• 2 x M500t MkII (or 2 x TFM-42s), SDA-1Cs, BillD C1
• 2 x Silver 9Ts, BillD C11 (or a refreshed C16), Snell Type Ds
• M4.0t (refreshed by @Nahash5150), BillD C11 on any of these speakers
• Vintage Heresys on any Amp/Pre-amp combination listed here
• CRM2s with 2 x TFM-42s (or Sunfire 2 x 300), and a Sub (preferably a TSEQ10)
• My bad - forgot the KEF-LS50s.

 

Waiting on Bob's 'half-stacks'. 😉

@kve777 did you want to list your Pendragons?

 

@Dadvwyou have opened a wormhole. 😅

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by loner_t

[kve777 6,888]

1 minute ago, loner_t said:

 

@kve777 did you want to list your Pendragons?

 

Nah, we need to find out what John likes before we go there.😎

[Sk1Bum 11,403]

4 minutes ago, loner_t said:

@Dadvwyou have opened a wormhole. 😅

 

 

or a moneypit. 

[kve777 6,888]

24 minutes ago, Sk1Bum said:

 

Hey Kevin, ya mind cc'n me on those emails? I'm just over a couple of hours south of John.

Start your own thread, so we can go down another hole. Tell us what you have and your listening tastes...