Mono Blocks vs 2 Channel Power Amp

Hi Arj

That's the problem I am facing, I don't know whether Amp needs a replacement or the speakers. So my plan forward is first try a stereo amp with my existing speakers or if possible try monos. If that doesn't make me happy then I need to start afresh for sure.
This is a practical and grounded approach.
Remember you have sunk monies into your rig.
Maybe it is not living up to your expectation or doesn't sound the way you envisioned it to in your room.

Before faulting the speakers and/or electronics or the entire chain, try out a few things.
1. Klipsch can sing if tamed in your room
Try a different amp; borrow from dealer or local FMs; Chandigarh will have some FMs
Given that Klipsch are hi-sensitivity speakers, good clean amplification in the 1W to 32W is good enough
Horn tweeters are a personal choice; some people like them, some don't
2. Denon can power other speakers
Try a different set of speakers; again reach out to a local group; maybe borrow a set of simple stand mounts and try them in 2.0/2.1 config
3. Take the sub out of the equation and just run 2.0 with emphasis on speaker placement and positioning
You have FS, sub may be overkill in your listening space

If all these fail to convince you about your existing rig:
1. Get the speakers that sound most natural to your ears with your genre of music
Don't trust dealer demo CDs, tracks, etc; do not rule out smaller speakers
2. A simple 2-channel IA (with or without DAC) in the range of 70-100Wpc should suffice for everyday listening
Monos are sexy, beefed up, but do you really need them
Just because the speaker is rated at 150/200W doesn't mean you'll run them at these levels
3. Consider simplification; actives or all-in-ones like the KEF wireless systems are a delight to listen to
Check these out to see if they impress you

Do not hurry and act on impulse; it just drains the wallet.
Identify what you need (tone, timbre of sound)
Check budget (if selling, what the loss and then buying new stuff)
Confirm that it may work with your room (throwing electronics at a physics issue will not work)

Cheers,
Raghu
 
This is a practical and grounded approach.
Remember you have sunk monies into your rig.
Maybe it is not living up to your expectation or doesn't sound the way you envisioned it to in your room.

Before faulting the speakers and/or electronics or the entire chain, try out a few things.
1. Klipsch can sing if tamed in your room
Try a different amp; borrow from dealer or local FMs; Chandigarh will have some FMs
Given that Klipsch are hi-sensitivity speakers, good clean amplification in the 1W to 32W is good enough
Horn tweeters are a personal choice; some people like them, some don't
2. Denon can power other speakers
Try a different set of speakers; again reach out to a local group; maybe borrow a set of simple stand mounts and try them in 2.0/2.1 config
3. Take the sub out of the equation and just run 2.0 with emphasis on speaker placement and positioning
You have FS, sub may be overkill in your listening space

If all these fail to convince you about your existing rig:
1. Get the speakers that sound most natural to your ears with your genre of music
Don't trust dealer demo CDs, tracks, etc; do not rule out smaller speakers
2. A simple 2-channel IA (with or without DAC) in the range of 70-100Wpc should suffice for everyday listening
Monos are sexy, beefed up, but do you really need them
Just because the speaker is rated at 150/200W doesn't mean you'll run them at these levels
3. Consider simplification; actives or all-in-ones like the KEF wireless systems are a delight to listen to
Check these out to see if they impress you

Do not hurry and act on impulse; it just drains the wallet.
Identify what you need (tone, timbre of sound)
Check budget (if selling, what the loss and then buying new stuff)
Confirm that it may work with your room (throwing electronics at a physics issue will not work)

Cheers,
Raghu
Hi Raghu

I will follow the most rationale approach. Thanks for ringing this in my head.
 
Vivek, did you try to reposition the speakers and remove Center table?
BTW, have your speakers broken in? They sound average when they are brand new. It takes about 100 hours for the break-in
 
Vivek, did you try to reposition the speakers and remove Center table?
BTW, have your speakers broken in? They sound average when they are brand new. It takes about 100 hours for the break-in
Interestingly they sound better than before. Not much hours on them though may be 100 or so but may be different placement ever since I disliked them.

Didn't get time to move the table
 
Last edited:
Hi Arj

I will tell you how it started. There are just two dealers in Chandigarh. One sells Klipsh
,Polk,Dali etc the other one sells Mission and MA. I was totally dumb when it comes to hi end stuff at that time as compared to now but not that smart yet as you guys are.. I came from old Philips speakers with power house thing with cassettes. Then to PC music. I liked Klipsch over MA and preferred the Klipsch Dealer in terms of dealing but that's not true anymore since he washed off his hand to help me. Anyways, at that time my budget was around 3 to 4 lacs Max and I spent that money.

The other dealer did mention that Klipsch are more suitable for HT but I didn't believe him thinking how this can be possible when sound is sound. It was my bad to think this way.

Other thing, the Klipsch dealer was not interested in selling a stereo amp as I wanted digital inputs like tuner Bluetooth spotify etc. I am surprised now that none of the dealer suggested combining my system with a network player. This is how I landed buying an AVR with useless digital inputs for me at least and Klipsch Speakers because they sounded clear and looked great to me in comparision to MA and mission. I will be very honest here if I upgrade my speakers ( looks like inevitable) I would miss the copper color of the drivers and the cerametallic material they look great to me at least. I know


If I had some space I would have loved to keep the pair.

Hope all of you now can feel what kind of situation I was in and now I am in.

Thanks to everyone for your efforts to help me out.

Completely understand your situation now and the first buy can be tough as during that time we are trying to understand what we want.

If you are happy with your speaker then please keep it and reduce your budget to 1L and below for your amp . You do not need more than 50W so that may help you with finalising an amp..while you research go for the Warmer sounding amps as that can tame the brightness.
 
Vivek, did you try to reposition the speakers and remove Center table?
BTW, have your speakers broken in? They sound average when they are brand new. It takes about 100 hours for the break-in

They sound better for English genre than Hindi/Ghazals etc. They favor American music : -(
 
Vivek,
There are quite a few objectives to be accomplished:
  1. Listening at low volumes (possible with Klipsch) but your seating position dictates higher DB levels to achieve fullness of music.
  2. Instrument separation and Sound stage (to do with speaker placement and removal of center table)
  3. Listening to Ghazals/Female Indian Singers (this can be achieved to some extent through equalization and letting the speakers break-in completely)
While AVRs are no match to stereo amplifiers, Denon X4500H is no slouch and is definitely not awful sounding for music. Even speaker cables can take edge out of the highs (Knowledgeable FMs can chip in on the cable change). Take the equalization route to improve the balance towards mids.
 
Vivek,
There are quite a few objectives to be accomplished:
  1. Listening at low volumes (possible with Klipsch) but your seating position dictates higher DB levels to achieve fullness of music.
  2. Instrument separation and Sound stage (to do with speaker placement and removal of center table)
  3. Listening to Ghazals/Female Indian Singers (this can be achieved to some extent through equalization and letting the speakers break-in completely)
While AVRs are no match to stereo amplifiers, Denon X4500H is no slouch and is definitely not awful sounding for music. Even speaker cables can take edge out of the highs (Knowledgeable FMs can chip in on the cable change). Take the equalization route to improve the balance towards mids.
Arun

You are after my center table. Give me your address it will be a gift to you from me. :)
 
Arun

You are after my center table. Give me your address it will be a gift to you from me. :)
I already have a glass center table put on sale. My house is looking like a furniture shop now that I have moved out sofas to foyeur to accommodate lazy boy recliners that I have got. Any more furniture and I would have to look out a PG accomodation!
On a serious note, the Glass top on center table is definitely a serious trouble maker!!
 
I already have a glass center table put on sale. My house is looking like a furniture shop now that I have moved out sofas to foyeur to accommodate lazy boy recliners that I have got. Any more furniture and I would have to look out a PG accomodation!
On a serious note, the Glass top on center table is definitely a serious trouble maker!!
I will surely spend some time listening to without the table.
 
Vivek,
There are quite a few objectives to be accomplished:
  1. Listening at low volumes (possible with Klipsch) but your seating position dictates higher DB levels to achieve fullness of music.
  2. Instrument separation and Sound stage (to do with speaker placement and removal of center table)
  3. Listening to Ghazals/Female Indian Singers (this can be achieved to some extent through equalization and letting the speakers break-in completely)
While AVRs are no match to stereo amplifiers, Denon X4500H is no slouch and is definitely not awful sounding for music. Even speaker cables can take edge out of the highs (Knowledgeable FMs can chip in on the cable change). Take the equalization route to improve the balance towards mids.
From equalization you mean turning off the Audyssey and playing with Graphic eq?
 
Vivek,
Can you try taming the tweeters in some way?

If playing from a computer source, apply EQ and roll off the highs gradually from about 4 kHz to 20 kHz.

If your AVR has some sort of tone control, decrease the treble knob.

If neither of the above is feasible, take a regular kitchen/table tissue paper and temporarily stick one sheet of it to cover the tweeter (without touching the tweeter itself) to reduce the SPL from the tweeter. Add one more sheet(s), if needed.

I'm suggesting this because whatever limited Klipsches I have heard (RF series, IIRC) were quite strident in the highs. They were hard and sharp for my listening sensibilities and for my kinds of music.

Use small sections of masking tape to stick the tissue at the four corners. Masking tapes can be easily removed without leaving any messy residues.
 
Vivek,
Can you try taming the tweeters in some way?

If playing from a computer source, apply EQ and roll off the highs gradually from about 4 kHz to 20 kHz.

If your AVR has some sort of tone control, decrease the treble knob.

If neither of the above is feasible, take a regular kitchen/table tissue paper and temporarily stick one sheet of it to cover the tweeter (without touching the tweeter itself) to reduce the SPL from the tweeter. Add one more sheet(s), if needed.

I'm suggesting this because whatever limited Klipsches I have heard (RF series, IIRC) were quite strident in the highs. They were hard and sharp for my listening sensibilities and for my kinds of music.

Use small sections of masking tape to stick the tissue at the four corners. Masking tapes can be easily removed without leaving any messy residues.
Hi

My main source is Spotify connect in AVR. To play with the EQ, I'll have to turn off the Audyssey. I am quite happy with Audyssey now especially with Dynamic Volume set to ON. But for sure EQ can be given a try. I'll try if masking the tweeter muffles the sound or not.

Thanks.
 
More resolving equipment if you buy with source such as Spotify will make your musical experience more tiresome

So stick with forgiving speaker or electronics
Just a suggestion based on your main source
 
More resolving equipment if you buy with source such as Spotify will make your musical experience more tiresome

So stick with forgiving speaker or electronics
Just a suggestion based on your main source
Hi Rikhav

Could be.

I use Spotify as its the most convenient and economical source :)
 
Absolutely no issues with your choice of source .
One should enjoy music whatever way it is
But the idea is with more resolving equipment it will make lossy content more fatuguing, so better to stick to forgiving equipment and enjoy music

If you want enjoy a long city to city drive in India anyone will prefer a s class with air suspension which won't be a corner Carver but at the same time it will make the drive more relaxing and comfortable .
Rather then driving a stiffly sprung AMG GTR pro which would make the driving experience more thrilling alright (making you feel whatever the tyres are doing) - relate this to a resolving equipment which will make lossy source very harsh sounding

So the AMG GTR pro you will enjoy for a short drive but when it's a long drive the preferred choice will be the S class

Hope you get my point
 
Purchase the Audiolab 6000A Integrated Amplifier at a special offer price.
Back
Top