Silly setup question

[Ardacer]

I got a set of ss-h2900 speakers for free recently.

 

 

 

This is how they look without the mesh. These ones in particular aren't mine.

They're a bit dusty, so some cleanup is needed, but for now, other than my hyperx clouds and dt770 pros, I use logitech s220 (plan to get hd 650 when I'll be able to).

 

 

So. ss-h2900 are HUGE for PC. Would it make any sense at all to get/build (I'm quite proficient in electronics) an amp and use these guys as my main PC speakers (I don't care about volume, just quality)? I already have a dac, but I'm quite sure it's not gonna run the 220 watts (2*110). They're 8 ohms as well.

 

Thx for any input.

[brownninja97]

might as well, it seems like they would be pretty awesome speakers.

[Ardacer]

I'm asking if perhaps they'd be better/as good/worse then some of the better "PC" "gaming" speakers out there... Thx for the reply

[Ardacer]

So I did... I bought a great class A solid state linear handmade amp from a pal's father, for a bargain (300 usd instead 2000) so ..  Things sound 3 levels above the small logitech things.. The thing is, that amp is such a fantastic piece I'll have to buy better speakers just to do it justice

 

 

 

 

 

[MayflowerElectronics]

Could've grabbed a $20 lepai to do the same thing

[Ardacer]

Considered it, but was afraid of clipping. Plus, this was basically a steal for the money (I feel like I robbed the guy. I even asked him to take extra 100 usd cause I felt just plain wrong), and can be upgraded one day into something brutal (not as great as tubes, but as close as it gets)

 

 

p.s. the thing has gold+iridium contacts, completely shielded silly expensive transformer,  expensive silver knobs, etc etc.. useless bling but everything about it is top notch, I can't even get it to go into clipping. ever. Dude even showed me his 3 Watt tube amp and 94 db speakers from 1960.  These things ... I had no words. I know that in hi-fi it's a joke but it was still amazing

[ShearMe]

Do you really listen to them backwards?

 

[Ardacer]

Why not? Research the field of confusion or something like that. Basically your ears (brain) don't have the ability to hear whether an object is in front or behind, just left to right. Your imagination/other senses make up for the rest

[Lutkeveld]

Subwoofers maybe, but you can definitely locate full range speakers. 

To be honest: what a stupid purchase. Hope you enjoy it tho.

[Ardacer]

 

i know what i'm talking about. And i wonder who has a stupid idea here... Buying a 2000 usd worth of equipment for 300... If i don't like it, i can sell it... I can buy better speakers and have a sorta respectable system too..

[Ardacer]

but thanx for the wishes

i'll try to enjoy it. I just hope you get a chance to hear a proper hifi setup. It WILL. Blow your mind.

[Lutkeveld]

 

 

How do you know it's worth 2000usd? I quite like DIY amps, do you know which design/chip it's based on? Do you have any pics?

 

A proper hifi sound is determined largely by the speakers and room. Amplifiers don't add/subtract much, only SPL wise.

 

I can also guarantee you that you're able to locate your speakers. Blindfold yourself or someone else, spin them around and ask them were the speakers are. 9/10 they will have it correct.

[creatip123]

Why not? Research the field of confusion or something like that. Basically your ears (brain) don't have the ability to hear whether an object is in front or behind, just left to right. Your imagination/other senses make up for the rest

 

I think we can, though, due to the design of our earlobes (facing forward), that the sound coming from the front and behind arrive in a different manners to our eardrums. Easiest way to tell is when somebody is calling you, you can almost immediately tell if that person is in front or the back of the way you're facing. 

 

Looking at your room picture, I'm guessing you're going for some reverb effects. I do the same with the speakers in my studio, facing them at an angle toward the concrete walls, and I got some reverb effects. When I'm standing at the sweet spot, the sound is actually quite nice. 

[Ardacer]

How do you know it's worth 2000usd? I quite like DIY amps, do you know which design/chip it's based on? Do you have any pics?

 

- 2000 usd - box is aluminium, glass, knobs are silver/something, jacks are gold iridium, transformers are silly expensive, etc. can posts pics if interested, electronics is the cheapest thing inside infact, but is based on some plans from a japanese guy who sells these things at 2000 usd, that's the price to buy one. Parts cost around 300-400 usd so that's why he charged me that much. If you cheap out on components and use standard grade stuff you can drop the price drastically. Still it's a good, beautiful amp. I can ask him for schematics as well if you want, I gather it's not hard to build

he needed this box for a while cause it's specially desined to be as linear as possible

The problem comes at fine tuning, and the expenses at knobs/box/transformers/jacks, cables, etc... He does stuff like this usually, with tubes : (this unit costs 15 000 usd, has 25 layer-special metal mix cores- special isolation ridiculous transformers, original tubes (not chinese) etc

 

 

 

A proper hifi sound is determined largely by the speakers and room. Amplifiers don't add/subtract much, only SPL wise.

 

Agreed, agreed, my speakers suck. But that amp was a steal, and it's just a good beginning.

 

I can also guarantee you that you're able to locate your speakers. Blindfold yourself or someone else, spin them around and ask them were the speakers are. 9/10 they will have it correct.

 

Check below

 

Looking at your room picture, I'm guessing you're going for some reverb effects. I do the same with the speakers in my studio, facing them at an angle toward the concrete walls, and I got some reverb effects. When I'm standing at the sweet spot, the sound is actually quite nice.

 

Spot on, that's what I was trying to do.

 

I think we can, though, due to the design of our earlobes (facing forward), that the sound coming from the front and behind arrive in a different manners to our eardrums. Easiest way to tell is when somebody is calling you, you can almost immediately tell if that person is in front or the back of the way you're facing. 

 

Fantastic thinking! That was my idea too for quite some time. I'm guessing that yeah, if you train your brain hard enough, and perhaps completely blind people too, can develop such sense at some level, but hardly really. Brain processes audio signals a bit weird. Nobody knows exactly how they are coded. At least while I was learning that it wasn't known (5 years ago). What's known however, is that our ability to sense where sound is coming from depends on the oh-so-little difference in time that it takes sound to reach one or the other ear. Nothing else really. we only have 2 ears. that gives us only 1 dimension to place sound. 2 points. 1 dimension of orientation. that angle of our earlobes might help in such a way that the sound amplitudes get a little different effect wether the sound is coming from infront or the back, but any normal person can hardly ever tell the difference blindfolded. If you wiggle your head around, you might get a bit better idea of your surroundings as your parietal cortex creates a map of it, and said differences in amplitudes help (same goes for eyes, we have only two eyes, but our brain has learned how to use them to create space around us, and also they are both oriented front so it's a bit different). But for static listening, wat, no, it's just the same. You should try it. Spin around. have someone call out your name. see if you can guess if he's at front or at back. Might get suprising results

 

Now, disclaimer, I don't wanna be a douchebag. I'm a young neuroscientist, and yes, I MIGHT be wrong. But I think I'm not. If I am, by all means, correct me.

 

Just google up binaural listening and cone of confusion to see for yourselves

[Whit3Rav3n]

Actually if you look into it there are more methods for the ears to determine sound direction than simple time delay. For determining front/rear location the ear resonance pattern is also used and there is a shift in frequency response. Also the cone of confusion is not really applicable here because nobody keeps his head perfectly still while sitting at the pc and listening to music. 

[Ardacer]

Yeah if you have a significant movement big enough to produce said shifts and enable that sense.. but I guess there's still bound to be more problems with this setup. I'll have to study proper speaker placement some more, and any advice is welcome

But for now these bulky craps are a significant improvement over pc speakers so me happy
And I can hardly wait to get some proper speakers to place them in some normal position

[Ardacer]

Update : New speakers arrived.

 

 

 

These thing are brutal. Handmade, just as that amp.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now I just need a good dac and some proper placement

 

Sub has horns on the bottom of the both. Cables are diy of silver.

 

Mid speaker has a magnet the size of the membrane. I don't feel like disassembling that (yet)...

 

[Lutkeveld]

Hope it looks as nice as it sounds

[creatip123]

Hope it looks as nice as it sounds

 

Not the other way around?? 

[Ardacer]

It's not as good as a good pair of headphones, and it never can be. The only better thing is the soundstage, as expected.

But it's amazing. Almost as good, and you don't have to wear something on your head the whole time.

 

I'll have to get a dac cause my xonar card keeps picking up crap from the pc unfortunately...

[Lutkeveld]

Not the other way around?? 

 

Whoops, I need to get some sleep 

[Ardacer]

just tried the virtual barber shop and seems good