On the advice of some RAP'ers i'm getting an adcom 535II for my LS3/5A's to
use as studio monitors. After doing some research it looks like I'm going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct? If so, can anyone recommend a good
preamp to "match" the 535II or possibly a 545II? Budget is tiny ($100 used)
Thanks!

--

Jonny Durango

"Patrick was a saint. I ain't."

http://www.jdurango.com

After doing some research it looks like I'm going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

Probably not, unless you're going to be playing vinyl.


Actually I will be playing SOME vinyl but I'd rather not spend $100 to play
records on my $20 turntable every so often....maybe I can rig something up
with my mic pre (RNP) and an A/B box or run it through my Mackie 1604 if
need be.


preamp to "match" the 535II or possibly a 545II?

Which is it? The 535II is a much better sounding amp IMO.

Yeah, I've heard that the 535II is generally better, especially for my lower
wattage LS3/5A's (it's cheaper also)....so I will go with the 535II

--

Jonny Durango

"Patrick was a saint. I ain't."

http://www.jdurango.com



"Kurt Albershardt" wrote in message
...
Jonny Durango wrote:
On the advice of some RAP'ers i'm getting an adcom 535II for my LS3/5A's
to
use as studio monitors.

It's a great little amp.



After doing some research it looks like I'm going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

Probably not, unless you're going to be playing vinyl.




preamp to "match" the 535II or possibly a 545II?

Which is it? The 535II is a much better sounding amp IMO.

Jonny Durango wrote:
On the advice of some RAP'ers i'm getting an adcom 535II for my LS3/5A's to
use as studio monitors.

It's a great little amp.



After doing some research it looks like I'm going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

Probably not, unless you're going to be playing vinyl.




preamp to "match" the 535II or possibly a 545II?

Which is it? The 535II is a much better sounding amp IMO.

In article writes:

On the advice of some RAP'ers i'm getting an adcom 535II for my LS3/5A's to
use as studio monitors. After doing some research it looks like I'm going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

No, but a class of device has emerged due to the situation making
you think you need a preamp. They're usually called "monitor
controllers" and can be as simple as a volume control in a box (with
proper input and output connectors) such as the $100 ballpark NHT and
A-Design or as sophisticated as the Crane Song Avonet for several
thousand dollars. Usually these devices include input source switching
and often switching for different monitors as well as other assorted
(to the manufacturer's tastes, dreams, and price point) goodies such
as metering, talkback, phono preamp, switching for both powered and
passive monitors, digital inputs, and so on.

If you're only able to spend $100, if a volume control is all you
need, look at the NHT or A-Designs. If you want more switching, look
at the Samson C-Control. The volume controls are fully passive and
won't do anything but change the volume. Most of the multi-function
controllers have some active circuitry in the signal path, for worse
or not-so-worse.




--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

"Jonny Durango" wrote in message
...
After doing some research it looks like I'm going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

Probably not, unless you're going to be playing vinyl.


Actually I will be playing SOME vinyl but I'd rather not spend $100 to
play
records on my $20 turntable every so often....maybe I can rig something up
with my mic pre (RNP) and an A/B box or run it through my Mackie 1604 if
need be.

Probably not. Phono signals need to have RIAA equalization applied, which
the RNP won't do, and phono cartridges (well, moving-magnet ones) need to be
loaded by 47k, which is higher than the RNP supplies. Go buy a phono preamp,
or a hi-fi receiver, on ebay.

If your recording rig has a level control on it, though, you don't need a
preamp for your recording work.

Peace,
Paul

The NHT PVC (passive volume control) is a nice little device. They do show
up on e-bay every so often - I've bought 2 of them that way. I think you
can buy them direct from NHT for $99 or so.


"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1106317773k@trad...

In article
writes:

On the advice of some RAP'ers i'm getting an adcom 535II for my LS3/5A's
to
use as studio monitors. After doing some research it looks like I'm
going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

No, but a class of device has emerged due to the situation making
you think you need a preamp. They're usually called "monitor
controllers" and can be as simple as a volume control in a box (with
proper input and output connectors) such as the $100 ballpark NHT and
A-Design or as sophisticated as the Crane Song Avonet for several
thousand dollars. Usually these devices include input source switching
and often switching for different monitors as well as other assorted
(to the manufacturer's tastes, dreams, and price point) goodies such
as metering, talkback, phono preamp, switching for both powered and
passive monitors, digital inputs, and so on.

If you're only able to spend $100, if a volume control is all you
need, look at the NHT or A-Designs. If you want more switching, look
at the Samson C-Control. The volume controls are fully passive and
won't do anything but change the volume. Most of the multi-function
controllers have some active circuitry in the signal path, for worse
or not-so-worse.




--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

wouldn't a passive volume control just allow you to reduce the signal,
whereas the whole point of a preamp is to boost the signal to line level? If
I want a passive volume control I'll just wire up an inline variable
resistor.

--

Jonny Durango

"Patrick was a saint. I ain't."

http://www.jdurango.com



"Henri Minette" wrote in message
...
The NHT PVC (passive volume control) is a nice little device. They do
show
up on e-bay every so often - I've bought 2 of them that way. I think you
can buy them direct from NHT for $99 or so.


"Mike Rivers" wrote in message
news:znr1106317773k@trad...

In article
writes:

On the advice of some RAP'ers i'm getting an adcom 535II for my
LS3/5A's
to
use as studio monitors. After doing some research it looks like I'm
going to
need a preamp as well, is this correct?

No, but a class of device has emerged due to the situation making
you think you need a preamp. They're usually called "monitor
controllers" and can be as simple as a volume control in a box (with
proper input and output connectors) such as the $100 ballpark NHT and
A-Design or as sophisticated as the Crane Song Avonet for several
thousand dollars. Usually these devices include input source switching
and often switching for different monitors as well as other assorted
(to the manufacturer's tastes, dreams, and price point) goodies such
as metering, talkback, phono preamp, switching for both powered and
passive monitors, digital inputs, and so on.

If you're only able to spend $100, if a volume control is all you
need, look at the NHT or A-Designs. If you want more switching, look
at the Samson C-Control. The volume controls are fully passive and
won't do anything but change the volume. Most of the multi-function
controllers have some active circuitry in the signal path, for worse
or not-so-worse.




--
I'm really Mike Rivers - )
However, until the spam goes away or Hell freezes over,
lots of IP addresses are blocked from this system. If
you e-mail me and it bounces, use your secret decoder ring
and reach me he double-m-eleven-double-zero at yahoo

"Jonny Durango" wrote in message
...
wouldn't a passive volume control just allow you to reduce the signal,
whereas the whole point of a preamp is to boost the signal to line level?

Right. Let's backtrack: for what are you using this setup? In other words,
what's feeding the 535?

Peace,
Paul

Right. Let's backtrack:

good call...here's what I envision

Delta 66 soundcard ---|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
CD player ------------| Mackie 1604 | --- (preamp?) 535II limiter
LS3/5A's
Record player --------|;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;|


the limiter is there to protect the speakers from from my dumb ass....I hear
that is really easy to blow up a pair of ls3/5a's, possibly while drunk =)

Anyhow...I could use the mixer as a preamp for everything but the record
player.......but again, I'm not sure if this is necessary. I'd rather not
run my pristine signal through a crappy mackie preamp if I don't absolutely
have to....so what do you suggest?

ps: for direct monitoring there will be an RNP pre before the delta 66

--

Jonny Durango

"Patrick was a saint. I ain't."

http://www.jdurango.com



"Paul Stamler" wrote in message
...

"Jonny Durango" wrote in
message
...
wouldn't a passive volume control just allow you to reduce the signal,
whereas the whole point of a preamp is to boost the signal to line
level?

Right. Let's backtrack: for what are you using this setup? In other words,
what's feeding the 535?

Peace,
Paul

"Jonny Durango" wrote in message
...
Right. Let's backtrack:

good call...here's what I envision

Delta 66 soundcard ---|'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''|
CD player ------------| Mackie 1604 | --- (preamp?) 535II limiter
LS3/5A's
Record player --------|;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;|


the limiter is there to protect the speakers from from my dumb ass....I
hear
that is really easy to blow up a pair of ls3/5a's, possibly while drunk =)

Okay, but limiters work on line-level signals, not speaker-level signals, so
it should really go at the input of the 535, not the output. Unless you use
the old trick of putting a light-bulb in series with the speakers...which
you probably don't really want to do with LS3/5a's, drunk or otherwise.

As for eliminating the Mackie from the equation, yeah, do it. Folks have
mentioned a passive preamp on this thread, really just a selector switch
with a level control, and that's what I'd recommend.

Peace,
Paul

"Paul Stamler" wrote:

As for eliminating the Mackie from the equation, yeah, do it. Folks have
mentioned a passive preamp on this thread, really just a selector switch
with a level control, and that's what I'd recommend.

Peace,
Paul

I've been using an Adcom 535 and an Adcom GTP-400 for some time. The
GTP-400 is one of Adcom's lower end preamp/tuners, and has two tape
inputs as well as a CD input. Adding an Adcom GDA-600 D/A allows me to
input 4 different digital sources, output one S/PDIF digital, and one
(unbalanced - RCA) analog output that I run to the "CD" input of the
preamp/tuner.

The GDA-600 will pass 24 bits, but I think it truncates the last four
bits when it does D/A. Works fine for the application I use it for, and
total (used) cost for all 3 pieces was just over $300.

I replaced a Mackie 1201 VLZ Pro ahead of the amp, mostly because of the
physical setup of the space. (Shelfs above the work area.)

Doug