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New member Username: Tdey1618New York, NY United States Post Number: 1 Registered: Feb-12 | Hello, I am new to this forum and a novice at home audio. I have some questions that may seem very basic. I got my hands on a Sonance 260X3 Amplifier in my cousins basement the other day. Additionally, I have a turntable at home that currently is not attached to any receiver or speakers. And finally, I have a 2X12 speaker cabinet (that I use to connect guitar amps). My question is: How can I utilize the Sonance 260 and Speaker Cabinet to connect my Turntable and listen to some records? I assume I would need a Preamp or Receiver to connect to the Sonance first right? Could you guys recommend a suitable preamp or receiver that I would be able to use with the Sonance? I am looking for vintage, cheap, used, after-market but quality. When it comes to the speaker cabinet, what are my connection and cable options as far as utilizing the two speakers in the cab for stereo sound? Typically, with guitar I'd connect one speaker cable to the cab and the sound would come out mono out of both speakers. I know these might be loaded questions, so I appreciate any response I can get with regard to anything here. Thank You. |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 17135 Registered: May-04 | . The Sonance amp was designed for use as a whole house amplification system - background music. Its quality is not terrific for actually listening to music. IMO you would be better off simply buying a receiver or integrated amplifier with a self contained phono pre amp. If you want to buy used gear, there are simply too many components (40-50 years worth from dozens of companies) out there and you will have access to only a few of them at any one time. That makes a specific recommendation all but impossible. Your cabinet is meant for use as an instrument speaker system. It is wired in mono which means you would have to internally separate the two drivers from each other. Unless you physically separate the drivers several feet from each other, you will always have mono sound. This means also doing some minor surgey on the cabinet to install the input jacks for each speaker. Guitar speakers are of limited frequency response since a guitar is of limited frequency response. The open back nature of most guitar cabinets makes this even more of a problem as it allows the rear wave of the driver to cancel low frequencies occurring at the front of the driver. The smaller the speaker, the higher the low frequency cut off. The larger the speaker, the less quality in the high frequencies. Either way, a guitar speaker will have a very narrow dispersion pattern which means what high frequencies it can produce will be beamed in a narrow pattern directly in front of the speaker and fall off rapidly to either side of the driver. Stand off to the side by a small amount and the high frequencies - what there is of them - will begin to disappear. Check the specs for any guitar speaker, most will have nothing beneath 70Hz or so (which itself is very hopeful) and they top out at about 5-7kHz. This is not a "high fidelity" speaker. "HiFi" means a spec of at least, say, 40-20kHz +/- 3dB. Additionally, most guitar speakers are described as possessing certain desirable (when they are used with a guitar) distortion characteristics; breakup, crunch or whatever you care to call it. This characteristic is designed into the driver and you cannot alter it by using a different amplifier. Overdrive the system slightly beyond moderate volumes and your system probably begins to distort. That's what will happen with any amplifier and this will limit your volume levels. This is the exact opposite of what you should be listening for in a home music reproduction system. In a home system, the speakers should be the last thing to create excessive and intentional distortion. You can kludge this system together and it will make sound. IMO it will generally sound like crap. Save your money and buy a real audio system. Check the forum archives for suggestions regarding which amps and speakers are considered good bargains. In a pinch, you can put together a working system for under $500, sometimes less. . |
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New member Username: Tdey1618New York, NY United States Post Number: 2 Registered: Feb-12 | Thanks so much for the reply Jan Vigne. You are absolutely right about guitar speakers, but I thought I'd give it an ask. My cab is closed back, but in general is lacking in the high frequencies, especially for guitar. When it comes to a receiver should I simply look for anything that has a phono preamp, or are certain receivers better suited to play vinyl than others? Another confusion .. I should only need to look for Passive Speakers right? Since the receiver would provide the power, or am I missing something else yet again? |
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Platinum Member Username: Jan_b_vigneDallas, TX Post Number: 17136 Registered: May-04 | . Since you're on a budget, you should look for anything that suits your needs and fits your desired cash outlay. Sure, some receivers had better phono pre amps than others though at this stage of the game I see you as just wanting some decent sounding music over ultimate quality. Older receivers had discrete components in their phono pre amps; individual resistors, caps and transistors or tubes. By the time we arrived at the wattage wars of the later 1970's, how many on paper watts and how cheaply a receiver could be assembled became more important than less identifiable issues such as discrete components vs integrated circuits. IC's made assembly of audio gear cheap but not always with good sound or great reliability. And that's a very broad comment because how well a component has been designed is a variable that can be discussed and discussed and never a resolution found. If it measures right, must it sound good? Some think yes and others are certain measurements are merely numbers on a piece of paper which assure nothing in regards to sound quality. Tubes generally have less impressive specs than solid state but in both home audio and music instrument amplification tubes still have a significant portion of the market due to the perceived sound quality they are capable of producing. So for now, I would say just find yourself a receiver or integrated amplifier (an integrated amp has the same functional components as a receiver but lacks a tuner) that would appear to be in good operational order. Beware of components over, say, twenty years of age as those resistors and caps are likely to have drifted in value or they are approaching the age where replacement/repairs will be necessary. That doesn't mean they should be ruled out completely but you would want to know just how the component has been used and whether it has been in storage for years (bad) or recently updated (good). Also, there are a few receivers and integrateds which were produced after the introduction of CD's in the early '80's which had an input labeled "Phono" but they lacked an actual phono pre amp. They intend the user to supply their own phono pre amp and they are only indicating this is an input which would accept the voltage output of such a device. Therefore, make certain what you buy suits your needs. Do you absolutely need passive speakers? No, not at all. There are numerous powered speakers on the instrument side which would be acceptable as well as the AudioEngine line for home gear. They all have a self contained power amp and, to make them operate with a phono system, you would only need a pre amp which would accept the output from the table and - after suitable gain application and RIAA eq - pass it on to the power amp. With a digital source, you would plug directly into the speaker's power amp inputs. You haven't mentioned which table you own or which cartridge you're using so I'll assume you have a magnetic phono cartridge. You could buy something as inexpensive as a $39 phono pre amp for now and send its output to a powered speaker. A mixer with a phono input would also work though most mixers also lack some quality when it comes to phono inputs. A stand alone, full function pre amp with a phono section would be sufficient if you were going with powered speakers. Any of these are available on line, check CraigsList or Audiogon for a wealth of selections. If you need some assistance in selection, a site such as Audio Classics might be more to your liking or there are dozens of vintage audio retailers on line. Another option you might consider would be one of the T-amps available from on line retailers or Parts Express; https://www.ecoustics.com/electronics/forum/home-audio/668896.html#POST1966268 These could form the base for a lower priced system when paired with a (phono) pre amp and passive speakers. The chips in these amps are similar to most of the amplifiers being used in the current wave of self powered speakers. The lowest wattage amps here would require a speaker with a reasonably high electrical sensivity spec while the higher powered amps are capable of driving most any speaker to at least reasonable volumes in any room. Does that help? . |