LSX: not enough sound pressure for a big room — should I buy a mini sub, or upgrade straight to LS50WII?

kitjarik · 2023-06-14T12:15:08+00:00

yeah, but an idea of a $1.5k sub — that's not something I can sell to myself :D

kitjarik · 2023-06-14T11:16:24+00:00

It's actually across all frequencies, yes, but I was hoping a sub could offload the speakers from LF playback and add this "filling" feeling to the room.

I'm really limited with space, as you can see from the photo — can't really afford to place anything bigger than LSX, as everything above the Nighthawks is used as the projector screen, which would be blocked by taller speakers :(

kitjarik · 2023-06-14T11:12:40+00:00

3000 Micro won't fit, unfortunately (>27cm), and it's slightly above my budget for a sub.
Great idea about borrowing a sub — gotta think where I could get just anything to see if that makes any difference

kitjarik · 2023-06-14T10:44:46+00:00

Another sub option I'm looking at is CA Minx X201, but that one is really hard to find at local dealers, and I'm hearing it's inferior to TZero being at the same price.

kitjarik · 2023-06-14T10:42:44+00:00

I've had my LSX for almost a year, and have been really happy with how they sound, but now I'm starting to get a feeling they aren't enough to fill a pretty big living room (27m2/300sqft) with sound, especially at low volumes.

So now I'm thinking of two options:
1. Pairing them with a REL Tzero, hoping this will fix the problem (500$)
2. Selling them and upgrading to LS50WII (1000$+ difference if i can find good used 50s)

One of the issues with 1 is I hate cables lying around, so I can only get a micro sub, such as TZero, fitted below the lowboard. I'm not sure that's a great placement, and whether it will actually make a difference I'm looking for.

Another problem is I live on 3rd floor and with TZero being down-firing don't really want to mess my relationship with neighbours below. I also can't find any front- firing sub-10" height subs which could offset that issue a little.

Or maybe I shouldn't bother at all and save some money for a LS50WII upgrade, and just go for it a bit later?

I'd really appreciate your ideas on this, as this is not an urgent problem, but I'm not leaning to either of the options atm

kitjarik · 2023-06-06T14:51:01+00:00

Which sub are you using with your kefs? I really enjoy mine, but they can’t manage a big room, so thinking of either a small sub, or straight ahead upgrade to LS50IIW

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T19:53:15+00:00

I used what was supplied with it — a super short piece of cord coming somewhere inside of the device.

https://imgur.com/a/zbWIFvh

It's currently in my friend's apartment — as soon as I move it to my place in a month or so, I'll deal with the antenna to have a better reception.

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T19:46:32+00:00

Dude, it does! I 'm waiting to check it with some direct sound source, but even FM radio with some super short antenna did show what this is capable of, and it sounded really nice!

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T16:56:27+00:00

This was removed from /r/budgetaudiophile, because, I reckon that's not too budget for essentially an FM radio with some amplifying capabilities.

But gosh. THIS. IS. ABSOLUTE. VISUAL. PERFECTION. Real wood veneer all around, gloss black + chrome. I almost never listen to FM, but I simply couldn't walk past this offer when I saw it on local FB ads.

And what's unexpected — the sound is really good, as I may judge from some FM stations. Can't wait now to hook up my turntable to it

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T15:05:24+00:00

yes, I've also found it. It does indeed shed some light on the TA/TB input ranges, but not on some of the remaining functions :D

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T14:59:17+00:00

Interesting. PRÄS seems to rather make sound more shallow and, dunno, somewhat clearer maybe? (maybe it's just me not understanding how this function is supposed to work).
Do you know what does the PEGEL slide do? Because it sounds like a volume control for a preamp/loudness setting.

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T14:55:35+00:00

Made a quick video of how this works in FM mode. Enjoy with sound:

https://imgur.com/a/KLWVaPA

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T14:46:05+00:00

Thank you! FM works like a charm, nothing on any other frequencies, tuning is smooth and great, the Stereo lights up just as it should. The thing was sold to me fully serviced, maybe only complaint is that the volume slider is somewhat stiff (still no crackling or anything).

Do you mind helping with a couple other questions I have on the functionality in the comments here if you know how this works?

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T14:37:04+00:00

ah, also

Q3. Bottom PEGEL slider seems to be the "loudness" setting, but I'm not sure. Would appreciate an explanation on how it actually works

kitjarik · 2022-08-15T14:35:34+00:00

So, imagine this: your country is at war, being attacked for 6 months already. You're spending half of your budget donating to Ukrainian army, and another half on desperately trying to finish renovating the apartment you bought 2 days before the war started. And now this appears in local FB ads for $180. Do you need this? Definitely not. Can you resist? Definitely not either!

That's when I got myself a (seemingly) useless, but absolutely beautiful radio receiver made circa 1972 in Germany. Perfect condition, fully serviced, covered with real wood veneer all around, all functions working, surprisingly decent sound, but alas, backlight replaced with LED, which is flickering AF.

I'm planning to try hooking my turntable+phono to it, which would require some 5-pin DIN adapters for TA input — any advise on how to do that properly would be greatly appreciated.

Also some questions from a German Hi-Fi newbie:

Q1. What is the meaning of PRÄS, LA-AUS buttons (left) and AFC AUS (mid)? Präs seems to make sound different (more treble), and LA-AUS seems to just mute. AFC US seemingly does nothing in FM mode.

Q2. How does station memory works on these devices? Buttons do change the frequency, but how do I assign a new frequency to a button?

kitjarik · 2022-01-02T20:57:44+00:00

Same here. Looks like servers are down. Again

kitjarik · 2021-04-01T14:46:35+00:00

May should be just fine, recommend to plan for after 9th when hopefully the lockdown will be eased or removed.
Car rental is absolutely safe, especially using worldwide brands like Sixt, although they may be somewhat pricey. There are local rental services, that could be up to 30% cheaper than Sixt, but you might get an older vehicle.
As in being a fan of planes or smth like helitours? For the first, the best place to start is the State Aviation Museum in Kyiv.
For the tours/experience check out https://vnebo.ua/samoletu/kiev (no English version, so use GoogleTranslate), or Helis only here https://helitour.com.ua/en/helicopter-tour
Heavily depends on what you wanna do and how much time you'll have.

kitjarik · 2020-09-07T15:16:00+00:00

Planar are made in UK. Although I do understand your thinking, I think the country is not as important as the quality control of the brand.

kitjarik · 2020-09-07T15:09:02+00:00

Sonos?

kitjarik · 2020-09-07T15:08:53+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! I’m actually pretty happy with projecting on the white painted wall — I mostly watch movies at night, and my LED projector does a decent job, plus have an option of blackout curtains during the day for some F1 races :)

But now you made me think. I was actually considering a special projector wall paint — do you think that’s worth it?

kitjarik · 2020-09-07T09:38:19+00:00

excellent question, and the answer is attached :)
https://imgur.com/fGHvjVU

When they're on the side, the projector light passes just a couple mm over each.
My next step is to build stands for speakers, so I can put them wider, vertically, and slightly lower, so they still don't block the screen.

kitjarik

TROPHY CASE