Small room dilemma - I have seen the future !

[Rocker]

http://www.decware.com/paper14.htm

This is the article that I was thinking about.

[Gerry D]

Thanks a million Rocker.
I will read that later on.

Think I will have to arrange to borrow various speakers and set about wrecking my head in earnest.

My son has a pair of Tannoy 603's. Just thought of that !
I will start there for testing positions and see where I'm at.
Then I can start looking for my own replacements.

I heard the Audionote AN-E's at the NI Audio Show and was impressed.
Might give the AN_J's or AN_K's a listen when I know more.
Expensive though.
I would definitely have to shift the SA Rangers.
Maybe a bargain there for somebody.

I know that Fran has built his own horns - very big. I might investigate a smaller set ?
My problem is a difficulty [read lack of confidence and steady hands] with electronics.
Mechanical end of things is OK for me. But wiring on a tiny scale ? Noooooo!!!!!!

[Fran]

Generally there's no wiring at all in a horn - just 2 wires from the back to the driver. Actually I have a small pair of bookshelf horns here if you would like to try them out. They were a bit lost in my room, sounded very good with a small sub, very easy to drive with your set amp i'd say. Will go right up against a back or side wall...

[Gerry D]

Ah Fran. That'd be great.
I would love to try them.
If that was a solution and it's really that simple then I would definitely explore DIY more.
Maybe I could call out to you when it suits you ?
Let me know if there's a day/time that's best please.
Cheers,
Gerry

[Dowser]

Sonus Faber Concertinos - early bi-wire versions. I just happen to have a set you can borrow to try if you like. Front ported, work well against a wall (but sound better in open space). Never driven them with a 300B amp, but have used ~35W valve hybrid DIY push-pull to good effect previously.

Richard

[Gerry D]

Thanks Richard.
Very generous.
I might take you up on that.
I'm going to play with Fran's little horns over next week :)
Then I could play with your things !

Seriously though, I appreciate the kindred spirits and generosity extended on this here forum.
Gerry

[Fran]

You forget - we know where to get you!

Ah but seriously its great to be able to do this...

[Seán]

Another consideration ye may have thoughts on:

If I go into the smaller room I will still want to have speakers in the main living room for general listening.
Is it OK to run approx. 16 metres of speaker cable from an amp such as mine ?
Would need to exit the house through an external wall, run along the outside, and re enter adjacent to my current speakers set up.
Would use something like the LIDL speaker wire probably, unprotected from elements.

Would signal degrade or diminish over that length and in such conditions ?

Is there a really good speaker swithcing unit around ?
I don't wish to get into swapping cables on the amp if I can avoid it.

Thanks again,
Gerry

Hi Gerry, I just popped in for a snoop and discovered your thread. I have a Primare I21 integrated amplifier driving four sets of speakers around the house:
Music Room: A pair of SA1750's;
Dining Room: A pair of SA1530's;
Kitchen Ceiling: A pair of in-ceiling B&W speakers
Landing: A pair of in-ceiling B&W speakers

The cable to the landing is encased in external trunking. The rest of the cable runs through trunking in the walls and ceilings.

Semd me a PM if you want more info or to pay a visit.

[Gerry D]

Hi Sean.
Sorry so late in replying to your generous offer.

I borrowed those bookshelf horns from Fran and I'm in the process of checking out variations in various places. Fun.

Perhaps when I get more experience on this in the next couple of weeks I could pick your brains ?

I'm going to experiment with long runs of cable in and out of windows initially.

Thanks again,
Gerry

[Gerry D]

Oh yeah !!!!
Meant to ask, as I don't want to damage any kit [Especially Fran's loudspeakers], is it safe to run very long runs of speaker wire from a SET amp to speakers ?
Would it pull too much current or some thing so as to damage any kit ?

Shows you what I know. Huh ?