Logitech Squeezebox Duet & iTube?

[kreacherx]

My prev post made me feel page 3ish - loads looked but no-one talked to me?
I bought a Duet cos the little radio was great as background!
I paired it up with the iTube 182 & TDL RTL2 speakers but something sounds wrong???
after my heart fail loads of my memory went phhhhht :mental:so has someone out there got a working brain somewhere?
with spikes bass=good upper mid=hard, without upper mid=good bass=none??
all advice accepted!!!:)

[Stratmangler]

Hi David

Do you have any other sources connected to the iTube 182 ?
If yes, do you have the same sonic issues ?

I'd be looking at the amp as the problem TBH - valve amps need decent ironwork (transformers) and they do not come cheap.

I can't see that being the case at the SSP for this amp.

[kreacherx]

Hi David

Do you have any other sources connected to the iTube 182 ?
If yes, do you have the same sonic issues ?

I'd be looking at the amp as the problem TBH - valve amps need decent ironwork (transformers) and they do not come cheap.

I can't see that being the case at the SSP for this amp.

it was prev connected to my imac via Stans 7520 & worked great?
diff speaker cable

I am rebuilding my memory ( seriously) & cant find ref to SSP? gotta find the cct diag for the Amp -:scratch:

[Stratmangler]

SSP = suggested selling price.

If you've been happy with the sound of the amp/speaker combination and nothing materially has changed then it should still sound fine.

Have you tried the Receiver through the 7250 ?

[kreacherx]

SSP = suggested selling price.

If you've been happy with the sound of the amp/speaker combination and nothing materially has changed then it should still sound fine.

Have you tried the Receiver through the 7250 ?

I am using QED 79strand cable now, prev using audioquest blue but it seems a pity to cut up the audioquest for 2x2m (saving it for the Krell later!)
will try the 7520 in a mo! gotta find it's power supply?:steam:

[Stratmangler]

How long is the Audioquest, and why do you have to cut it up ?

[kreacherx]

How long is the Audioquest, and why do you have to cut it up ?

2x6m & to roll it it would make a fair chunk to hide (diam is 20mm) & a swine to strip & connect as a temp measure! another prob of mine is I only have 1 arm caused by our friendly big "C"therefore prepping a co-ax speaker cable is a PIA!! I'm looking for an easy route to perfection!!:lol:

[kreacherx]

Soon as I put on the spikes the Bass comes back, tight as a .... then upper mid gets hard! can't find power supply???? this place is a tip!!

[Stratmangler]

Can you just pop in the Audioquest cable as is to see if it cures your problem ?

[kreacherx]

:(Still looking for the power supply for Stan's DAC:steam::steam:
I was inturrupted cos someone left the freezer door open overnight (there's only me in the house!!) & I had to chop thru the ice to reclaim my food!? then defrost:lolsign: (a Wo(man)s work is never done???? now back to important stuff HiFi!

[kreacherx]

Has someone got the original power supply of the Beresford 7512 DAC & is this it
Model SMP-20W012-UK 12v 1.7A 20VA

[Stratmangler]

Has someone got the original power supply of the Beresford 7512 DAC & is this it
Model SMP-20W012-UK 12v 1.7A 20VA

That sounds like the beastie - the voltage is certainly correct.

[kreacherx]

put Stan's DAC in cct! getting better!! using optical link! heard coax is better? still hard UMR, might have to drag the Audioquest up! any other suggestions??:confused:

[Stratmangler]

Are you running Squeezebox Server ?

[kreacherx]

Yup,from my Mac!

[Stratmangler]

If you go into settings/player/audio set the volume control to 100% and also preamp volume control to 63.

There shouldn't be too much difference in SQ between Coax and Toslink.

[kreacherx]

Found the audio setting page but cannot find any gain settings?

[Stratmangler]

You should be looking at a page like this

http://i960.photobucket.com/albums/ae88/Stratmangler/AudioSettings.jpg

[kreacherx]

Was @ that page! but setting Volume @ 100% takes it from my controller? also there is no preamp gain on my page ... curious? after the 1hr warm-up the sound has mellowed esp with Stan's DAC in! it reports in my page -- LAME is not installed but i assume that's only for encoding! the system seems to like female - growl! plays Donna Summer & Eartha Kitt..... Specially with Stan's DAC?????

[Stratmangler]

Maybe not so curious - you are running your SBS on a Mac, mine is on a Windows PC.
I'm using SB3 too, not a Duet.

The Lame thing is not a problem - it's used for transcoding formats to MP3 on the fly, and I've never had a need for it. The player can play MP3 as a native format.
My files are nearly all flac.

I leave my DAC permanently powered up, as it takes a while to warm up.

[kreacherx]

Stan's DAC is quite subtle - the separation is great & now it's settled positioning is stable. Valve is warm & I am impressed by the Duet!there is betterment to be had, but sitting back listening to Eartha Kitt is goood! If u feel the emotion in the music it must be doing something right! Can't wait to set up the Krell, but what speakers??? Maggies are out of my price range! might even buy another squeezebox player for it! thanks for your help so far! discussing hifi is an important part of it!

[Stratmangler]

How big is your room ?

[kreacherx]

this computer room is 7'6" x 9'6" with draped curtaining on all 4 walls
The future "Krell room" is 16' x 18'
Ceilings of 9'6"

[Stratmangler]

Maybe a pair of OB (Open Baffle) speakers would suit ?
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?t=6143

[kreacherx]

looks interesting! But cone speakers need a "back" to them to throw I: think, the higher freq as in magneplaners seem to just need vibration to fire but Bass speakers like a cannon need a recoil (my explanation sounds like a load of tosh but i think i know what i'm saying) when i went to aus iheard martin logan - but they had a encased bass speaker! have u heard the full freq speakers? (well they're called sumfin like that!)

[Stratmangler]

Cabinets increase gain, but also add colouration.
There are a number of the members here who use OB's.

[kreacherx]

The one speaker i was really impressed with was a horn speaker i saw in the bristol hifi show many years ago it sounded really sweet with a good bass end too running in abut 4w (amazing) they tried to battle the coloration with the IMF now TDL transmission line speakers but they're gone bust i think... another speaker i liked in the past were ANALYSIS a full freq ribbon speaker from Greece they worked well with the krell... Exxy though. Ahwell will have to look into your open baffle need a lot of driving i'd say?

[Stratmangler]

I've heard similar to these driven by a 1 watt Single Ended Valve Amp, and they sounded magnificent.
http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?p=121786#post121786

All you'd need is some decent drivers.....

[kreacherx]

In my original training we all had to build a 2 valve amp, including bending & making the mountings from sheet aluminum, so much more satisfying than a pcb & transistors & I.C's, the sound wasn't half bad!there's me sitting in front of an iMac
spose i started in that era & watched electronics evolve!
BTW sorry for the time lapse between your reply & mine!

[Ali Tait]

OB's can be very sensitive depending on the drivers used.A friend has OB's with Fostex and Eminence drivers at around 94Db/W/m

[kreacherx]

My Power source is A Krell KSA100 in Class A wth hopefully a wide freq res, what would it do to the open baffle Speakers??? would be fascinating to hear a pair!

[dave2010]

Seeing this thread notionally about the Squeezebox Duet I wonder if someone can tell me exactly what the Duet is? This may sound odd - I've got a classic SB3 and just ordered a SB Boom for other rooms. Whilst deciding what to do with the money burning a hole in my pocket I looked at other systems, including the Radio (OK - bit cheaper) and the Duet. Like some other kit I've seen recently I really couldn't work out what it is and what it's supposed to do. Neither the Radio nor the Boom seem to have an optical out, but that doesn't really matter for the intended purpose.

I have a suspicion that it provides essentially the same functionality that I have with my PC, laptop and network based disk drives, but I really don't know.

I could have been in the market for a radio (FM + DAB) plus internet streaming capability, and there are some - e.g Pure, Roberts, but I figured that I'd have to install yet another server somewhere, so thought I'd stick with the system I've got now, so that the new box, when it arrives can be got into action very quickly with existing ripped material and internet streams.

So, to reiterate, what exactly is a Duet, and what functionality does it have?

[Stratmangler]

For Duet look here http://www.logitech.com/en-gb/speakers_audio/wireless_music_systems/devices/3817

Personally I'd go for a Touch, as it plays 24/96 files without server side downsampling.

[kreacherx]

:)the Duet has WiFi & Ethernet i/p Coax, Optical & analog o/p will play apple, FLAC,wav,mp3 etc is controlled by a superb remote control with 2.4" display shows what is playing etc. this can control some other squeezebox products in the cct. including squeezebox Radio. I sent mine thru Stan's Dac & after a bit of burning in it sounds good! really listenable!:band:

[dave2010]

So for practical purposes it is like a Classic Squeezebox (NLA) with a colour LCD display and a rechargeable battery in the remote. For me no real advantage over the SB3 - which I now feed into my Caiman.

I'm awaiting the Squeezebox with interest. The idea that I could simply turn the volume up high enough on the living room kit to hear it in the kitchen or elsewhere clearly doesn't work.

I might go for a Touch later on, though I suspect these two are going to do me for quite a while.