My "New" Hifi (again)

Well as you all know, the MS10i and Exposure didnt really work out for me - my room just was not suitable, and it was too rare that I really got to enjoy my tunes at any kind of reasonable volume, in the end, as good as the new kit was, it just didnt work out (I've still got it, i'm keeping the amp for someone, but feel free to make an offer for the speakers ).

Anyway I've got some old Mordaunt Short shielded monitors in the loft, very small things - probably a 4" driver, not much bass (80 hz), but I always remembered the sound being pretty nice for what they were. I also remember them not being particularly cheap for what they were either. The model number escapes me but anyway.

I was going to get some more PC speakers, but I am going to ressurect these little monitors instead. They are nice and easy to drive too, so I've just bought myself a little T-Amp, since they seem to be not too bad for the cash, and most importantly, they are nice and compact.

What kind of mains adapter will I need, or will it come with one (i bought it from a UK ebay source)?

 

You're going to use a T-amp over an Exposure integrated?

 

You want a 12vdc of say max 1.5 amps...positve centre pin

If you feel the need to fit a good pot in the tamp let me know I've just done one and its not hard. Make a huge difference to the sound.

 

My thoughts exactly! I thought your original system was the best, why have you gone on a downgrade spiral? Surely it would have been sensible to keep the kit you orginally had-not sell them at a loss and enjoy the music?

 

I think the point is, that paul uses his headphone rig 90%+ of the time.

T-amp £30 or so I'd guess?

xx bought sh for a bargain price and should be able to sell it on for the same and make his MOney back.

So, maybe a downgrade.... but maybe the other kit is overkill for the very limited use it gets?

 

Right, here are the problems with it:

1. Unfortunately, once the novelty had worn off, I realised that it didnt really sound any better in my room than my old Aego 2! I have tried mucking about with positioning of the speakers, using them all over the room, but I cant seem to get a satisfactory result.

2. I also cant enjoy my music at the volume levels I like.

3. As a result of the first 2, I barely ended up using it at all. Therefore, it was sitting collecting dust, while my headphones get all the attention because they arent half the compromise.

TBH, having a good speaker rig is superfluous to my needs at all right now, as its just not usable for me. Its all very well you guys who have the luxury of nice big rooms and relative isolation from others, but I dont, and never have had thus far, that luxury.

Not only that, I can actually sell the amp for more than I got it. So in effect, I've actually slightly profited from it overall.

I was going to get PC speakers (like the Aego M system), but there seems little point when I have some mini monitors that can be powered by a T-AMP for a fraction of the price.

I know this seems like madness to some of you, but you'd have to actually be here to listen to it and see what I mean for my decision to make any sense.

 

I enjoy the music a lot more on my headphones than having it played through speakers at practically background levels. The type of music i listen to does not lend itself to being played quietly.

 

Well be careful how loud you play it on your headphones.... or say goodbye to your hearing

 

I had a 1.5 amp supply and it wasn't enough you could see the power LED dim when the amp was turned up. I changed the supply to a 3 amp which worked great.

 

Got it set up now. Got my T-Amp through the post today, and bought an expensive £25 supply from Maplin, that didnt have any damned connectors with it. Luckily I had a spare set from an old Mascot PSU that I had to go with some old alarm clock thing I bought a few years back, so luckily for me one of those fitted.

So I've got it set up on the end of my soundcard with a Cambridge Phono - Jack cable and some £2 maplin speaker cable, and I've got to say, for near field listening, with my old Mordaunt Short CS-1 monitors that i had in the loft, this makes a surprisingly decent rig for not much money The sound seems quite detailed, and theres a reasonable amount of bass considering the low power of the amp and the fact that these monitors only go down to 80 hz or thereabouts!

Certainly an excellent alternative to PC speakers for sure!

 

Update: I've just tried the Sonic T with the MS10i's and it has to be said the MS10i's are much better than the CS-1's, I can tell straight away.

In fact dare I say it, but at low levels, I actually think when used nearfield, the Sonic T sounds no worse, and maybe even slightly better than the Exposure Fair enough its not going to hit the same SPL, but for nearfield its not like I need that much loudness anyway.

I didnt expect that!

 

Give the T-Amp 100 hours or so and it will be loads better than it is now.

Enjoy.

Jim`

 

Cool. To be honest, I cant actually quite believe what I am hearing at the moment. This thing sounds MUCH better than I expected it to!