Super high end sound system...sounds bad?

[N80]

Down at my cabin I have been using a Toshiba tuner/amp that I got in 1980 with a set of Bose bookshelf speakers that I got in 1990. It has decent sound for just using at the cabin but the left channel in the Toshiba is cutting out. Well, my cousin recently gave his high end stereo system to my brother-in-law who never used it and he said I could have it.

I was shocked at this system. It consists of an Audio Research Tubed Pre-Amp, a Proceed Monaural Amplifier that is almost too heavy for me to pick up. There is an Arcan CD player and a Sony turntable neither of which are anything special. There are two 4 foot high tower speakers with two woofers, a mid range tweeter and a high range tweeter. There is a base port opening behind each speaker. The speaker cables are literally bigger around than my thumb and each one has big metal brick attached inline mid cable. I needed help carrying the speakers (but my back is out).

Anyway, I get it all hooked up correctly, pop in a CD, and then total disappointment.

For the record I am not an audiophile by any stretch but I have an idea of what good quality sounds like. And the high end and mid-range on this system are amazingly crisp and clear even at low volumes. But there is very little base. Less than my old Bose bookshelf speakers. Even my wife noticed. First I tried Brahms symphony #4, the Robert Plant, then Pink Floyd, all on production CDs. All the same. Then The Struts on a CD burned off iTunes. Same thing.

There are no tuning adjustments on the pre-amp or the amp. In fact, the amp has only one button: power.

So what am I missing here folks?

 

[sd455dan]

Down at my cabin I have been using a Toshiba tuner/amp that I got in 1980 with a set of Bose bookshelf speakers that I got in 1990. It has decent sound for just using at the cabin but the left channel in the Toshiba is cutting out. Well, my cousin recently gave his high end stereo system to my brother-in-law who never used it and he said I could have it.

I was shocked at this system. It consists of an Audio Research Tubed Pre-Amp, a Proceed Monaural Amplifier that is almost too heavy for me to pick up. There is an Arcan CD player and a Sony turntable neither of which are anything special. There are two 4 foot high tower speakers with two woofers, a mid range tweeter and a high range tweeter. There is a base port opening behind each speaker. The speaker cables are literally bigger around than my thumb and each one has big metal brick attached inline mid cable. I needed help carrying the speakers (but my back is out).

Anyway, I get it all hooked up correctly, pop in a CD, and then total disappointment.

For the record I am not an audiophile by any stretch but I have an idea of what good quality sounds like. And the high end and mid-range on this system are amazingly crisp and clear even at low volumes. But there is very little base. Less than my old Bose bookshelf speakers. Even my wife noticed. First I tried Brahms symphony #4, the Robert Plant, then Pink Floyd, all on production CDs. All the same. Then The Struts on a CD burned off iTunes. Same thing.

There are no tuning adjustments on the pre-amp or the amp. In fact, the amp has only one button: power.

So what am I missing here folks?

Possibly A sub woofer if the towers have limited bass extension

May want to verify the speakers polarity phasing- reversed phase will cancel low frequency

 

[Richard]

Have you seen (as in, no grill to hide them) your woofer drivers? Is the surround on them intact? Are they even working? Is there a fuse in the system (though I think those are usually geared towards saving the Tweeters since those tend to be most fragile)

Do you have another speaker you can hook to system to make sure everything prior to speakers is working ok?

What brand are the speakers?

Being 4' high and two woofers.... they should provide some form of thump.

Then again.... if they are (what are called) "White Van" speakers.... then they could simply be toast.

Can you get a picture of the front/back of speaker.... can you also remove a woofer perhaps and look inside to see what kind of crossover is in there? (White Van speakers will have very minimal inside them....indeed, I've heard, sometimes even adding a brick or something to give an illusion of weight to them)

So for me, it really all starts with what brand are they.

Oh, and I'm in the camp (unlike some) who cares nothing about thumb sized wires (or cables as they may be called)

I'd liken it to putting some pretty lace around your rotary cutter.... might be nice to look at....but it's a waste of time (with regard to function), therefore it's a waste of money. But since your cost is acceptable....!! Free is always nice.

I just noticed the "brick" inline on the wires.

Can you just get some plan 12 or 14g speaker wire to bypass those? that metal brick is interesting to me (in a negative way)

 

[MossRoad]

Down at my cabin I have been using a Toshiba tuner/amp that I got in 1980 with a set of Bose bookshelf speakers that I got in 1990. It has decent sound for just using at the cabin but the left channel in the Toshiba is cutting out. Well, my cousin recently gave his high end stereo system to my brother-in-law who never used it and he said I could have it.

I was shocked at this system. It consists of an Audio Research Tubed Pre-Amp, a Proceed Monaural Amplifier that is almost too heavy for me to pick up. There is an Arcan CD player and a Sony turntable neither of which are anything special. There are two 4 foot high tower speakers with two woofers, a mid range tweeter and a high range tweeter. There is a base port opening behind each speaker. The speaker cables are literally bigger around than my thumb and each one has big metal brick attached inline mid cable. I needed help carrying the speakers (but my back is out).

Anyway, I get it all hooked up correctly, pop in a CD, and then total disappointment.

For the record I am not an audiophile by any stretch but I have an idea of what good quality sounds like. And the high end and mid-range on this system are amazingly crisp and clear even at low volumes. But there is very little base. Less than my old Bose bookshelf speakers. Even my wife noticed. First I tried Brahms symphony #4, the Robert Plant, then Pink Floyd, all on production CDs. All the same. Then The Struts on a CD burned off iTunes. Same thing.

There are no tuning adjustments on the pre-amp or the amp. In fact, the amp has only one button: power.

So what am I missing here folks?

First, do you have the manuals for those components? If not, see if you can google them up. You may just have a switch that's not in the correct position.

On your old system, with the left channel cutting out, have you tried spraying the volume control with
DeoxIT? My neighbor buys, sells, trades, collects old audio equipment and DeoxIT works really well.

 

[N80]

Thanks for the replies guys. I thought about a subwoofer but these speakers shouldn稚 need one.

The speakers are Aerial Acoustics. Seem extremely well made. All of the individual speakers are working but no thump from the woofers. Sounds like mid range coming through them.

The cables are Transparent Super BiCable. The 礎rick is integral to them and I知 guessing is some sort of isolator. The output cables between the amps are same brand but smaller. They have isolators too.

There are four contacts on the back of the speakers: Positive and negative for tweeters and Positive and negative for woofers. They are marked this way. The speaker cables attach to the main amp with two connectors (pos/neg) and branch into four connectors at the speakers. Polarity is correct.

I went back to my brother in laws basement and found a huge Onkyo integrated amplifier and ran CD player through that into amps. No change in sound quality. It has surround sound settings that help a little. You can adjust bass levels but if you adjust it high enough it distorts....even at low volume.

Stumped. Will google for manuals when I get home.

Probably going to take the whole mess back to my brother in law痴 basement.

 

[sd455dan]

Thanks for the replies guys. I thought about a subwoofer but these speakers shouldn稚 need one.

The speakers are Aerial Acoustics. Seem extremely well made. All of the individual speakers are working but no thump from the woofers. Sounds like mid range coming through them.

The cables are Transparent Super BiCable. The 礎rick is integral to them and I知 guessing is some sort of isolator. The output cables between the amps are same brand but smaller. They have isolators too.

There are four contacts on the back of the speakers: Positive and negative for tweeters and Positive and negative for woofers. They are marked this way. The speaker cables attach to the main amp with two connectors (pos/neg) and branch into four connectors at the speakers. Polarity is correct.

I went back to my brother in laws basement and found a huge Onkyo integrated amplifier and ran CD player through that into amps. No change in sound quality. It has surround sound settings that help a little. You can adjust bass levels but if you adjust it high enough it distorts....even at low volume.

Stumped. Will google for manuals when I get home.

Probably going to take the whole mess back to my brother in lawç—´ basement.

Doesn't seem like the amplifiers are the problem - looks like those could be a full 250 watt per channel.

Stereophile favorably reviewed that speaker brands 5T and 7T and looks like the speakers could have retailed at between $1700 and $3400 Ouch.

Some speakers get great reviews and don't always sound good to everyone in every room combo,
I used my Bose 901 series six's in my garage because i never really could get them to sound right in the house and then sold them to be replaced by much better sounding(to me) Pinnacle and Infinity speakers.

 

[Turbys_1700]

Back in the day I ran EPI speakers with a 45 watt receiver. Those EPI 100's were great. Later upgraded to an 80 watt Onkyo and EPI 200's. I now have a small 8" sub woofer with a set of Axiom's. Great sound. I bet your woofer's are not connected or the crossover is malfunctioning.

 

[MossRoad]

... The speaker cables attach to the main amp with two connectors (pos/neg) and branch into four connectors at the speakers....

The speakers may be set up for bi-amplification. You're supposed to run the woofer from one amp, and the tweeter/midrange from another amp.

 

[deanocraft]

I know you said polarity is correct on the speakers, but I would do a quick test and reverse the wires on one connection of one speaker only, either at the amp or the back of the speaker, it doesn’t matter which. Then see if you have better base response. If not, I’ll take it all off your hands!

 

[N80]

I changed the output from the Onkyo component from the 奏uner input of the pre-amp to the 叢rocessor input on the pre-amp. This takes volume control off the pre-amp and it is only on the Onkyo (which we would have called a receiver back in the day). The sound quality is much better now with the bass turned up a few clicks.

The bass also wakes up when you really crank the volume up. I think this system must have been for a big room at big volumes.

It also does not have a radio tuner. So I think it is going to have to go back to my brother-in-law痴 basement.