RANEd on the Pagodas.......

[30Weight]

The modification process never seems to stop with this stuff Picked up a RANE AC23 Active Crossover from a friend of mine at a most reasonable price. Thought I'd give it a try. Replaced the missing knobs,de-oxed the pots and switches and re-flowed a bunch of cracked solder joints on the main board. Where the I/O jacks are located,looks like it'd seen a lot of road gigs. Pulled the SEA 2800 Parametric EQ from the system,also the middle "spacer" pair of 901s. Wanted to open up the reflecting part of the direct/reflecting sound a bit more. Added the RANE X-over to it. Still using the Parasound P3 pre amp. The L/R outputs to the RANE,then to the amps.

The RANE low freq outputs are run to the Boston Acoustic PV400 pair of subwoofers. I set them to direct,bypassing their internal control circuitry. Control their level/x-over/mute and delay settings from the RANE now. The RANE has those controls for each of the frequency sets + L/R master output level controls. The mid freqs are run to the Denon POA 2200 (200wpc) and then to the lower pair of 901s. The high frequency outputs are run to the Kenwood Basic M2A Bob gave me awhile back (also 200wpc) and then to the top pair of 901s.

Took some time to dial them in. The RANE has so much adjustment available that it doesn't take much to get it out of adjustment. A couple of hours with Ummagumma and Larks Tongues in Aspic got the job done I listen primarily to classical,jazz and 60's/70s rock. That oughta time stamp me WOW,just WOW! Overwhelming! Everything clear and distinct,from contra-bassoon to piccolo. No matter what music you play it's as if the artist was in the room with you and you have the A list celebrities table. Anyone who disparages Bose 901s should try something like this. Their opinion of them would be revised. There is no muddiness to the sound....all the way to very,very,very loud. Just good clean,live-sounding music.

Bob stopped by yesterday and we played with it a bit. Everyone has different hearing,nice to have an extra set of ears to help fine tune the system. The nice part of it is that the system can be adjusted for individual tastes. The other part that I like was that it didn't cost hardly any money.....just took some time. I need a much bigger room now.......

 

[laatsch55]

What's the delay range on the Rane?

 

[30Weight]

...just happened to have the manual in front of me. "Adds 0 to 2 ms of time delay".......still playin' around with those settings.

 

[laatsch55]

I'm thinkin if you were replacing a 3 way passive a delay would go a long way into getting coherence from an active setup...

 

[laatsch55]

BTW...beautiful setup Lee...

 

[30Weight]

Thanks,it's a good place to disappear into. The 901s never had a passive x-over,that's why I wanted to try this using them......well that and I just got tired of looking at them stacked in the corner,unused. They came with that hokey BOSE eq box. That was supposed to split everything up. I'm still adjusting the adjustments at the moment. Playing with the delay settings earlier. My fingers seem to be a bit too busted up and calloused to do well in the "rch" finer tuning range. Ears long ago hammered into tin aren't much help either

 

[laatsch55]

Amen to that. I owned a brand new pair of 901's in the 70's. First new speaker I ever bought. I know they had no crosses. I was thinkin about my K's.....

 

[grapplesaw]

I'm thinkin if you were replacing a 3 way passive a delay would go a long way into getting coherence from an active setup...

That's were I am headig soon

 

[grapplesaw]

Amen to that. I owned a brand new pair of 901's in the 70's. First new speaker I ever bought. I know they had no crosses. I was thinkin about my K's.....

Still got mine from the 70's - series one with equ. Box. I amgoing to hang them from the ceiling in my shop someday.

 

[laatsch55]

I had a Spec 2 pushing them...didn't trade em out till I bought some Ohm Model "F"'s...

 

[30Weight]

I'm glad I'm not the only pack rat that's been carting these things around over 1/2 my life,thinking some day to use them again They'll sound great in your shop! Friend of mine has 2 pair hanging from the ceiling in his. Drives them with a pair of hi power Mcintosh amps. I bought the pair of PL700s he was using before he shifted to the Mcintosh setup. That's what started the PL collection,years back.

Yeah Lee,think about doin' this with the K-Horns. It's a fun toy to play with. I know nothing about K-Horns,have a set of early Fortes and a pair of KG-4s. I like them,but horns sound a little too bright and harsh to some life adjusted part of my hearing spectrum. Like to hear some K-Horns one day. Was lookin' at a pair of LaScallas awhile back. They wanted $800,each. Industrial black finish to them. Kept the money in my pocket. While I was connecting everything I was thinking that if I was using speakers with an passive x-over that would still function as a filter,limiting the active x-over flexibility. I don't know,might try that next Wouldn't be much work to build a patch panel and split the individual speaker feeds out the other side and run them direct to the speakers. Bypassing the OEM setup. Tough part might be keeping cabinet alterations minimal,if that's a concern.

With the RANE EQ,EV unit,QSC amps and this x-over I seem somehow to be drifting into pro audio gear. Gonna take me back to my roadie days.........

 

[laatsch55]

Love my K's, nothing stock about em anymore, totally different drivers and crossover....

 

[fitz43]

I had a Spec 2 pushing them...didn't trade em out till I bought some Ohm Model "F"'s...

I hope to hear a set of Ohms some day......

 

[laatsch55]

I'd love to have another set...

 

[Nick Danger]

I'd love to have another set...

Another speaker on my wishlist, Lee.

 

[laatsch55]

Mine too.....They'd be perfect for your setup. With enough amp they'd be enough to get you in trouble with the neighbors. They wouldn't vibrate your eyeballs , but for 90% of my listening, they'd be fine...

 

[30Weight]

Played with the tri-amped 901 system today. Needed more mid-range and bass. Pulled the Denon and Kenwood amps. The PV 400 subs too. Now using the QSC MX2000A to drive the mid-range 901 pair. 375 wpc at 8 ohms,the 901 series 1s will handle 475w,safe there. The QSC MX700,at 175wpc/8 ohms is driving the high freq pair of 901s. Went to 12" woofers for the bottom end. Left channel is a JBL L8400P. The plate amp was bad on it. Yeah,got screwed on that deal awhile back. Pulled the amp and monoblocked the speaker with an Outlaw Audio 2200 amp,200w. Guess that story finally had a happy ending. The right channel lows are handled by a Definitive Technologies Powerfield 12. 300w out of its amp. I set the Rane for a low crossover at 125hz,both subs are maxed at 150hz. Didn't want to push them at their limits. The mid/hi freq crossover point is set to 2500hz,figured that was a good place to start.

DOUBLE WOW!! Sounds amazing,clear and well balanced thru the whole spectrum. Much better than the last revision. I think it's gonna stay this way for awhile. It really doesn't seem overwhelmingly loud,until you walk into another room or outside the shack. Then it sounds LOUD. I'd stack this setup against most others out there,particularly price wise. It was all done on a tightwads budget,mostly with gear I had laying around the shack or purchased used and cheap. I haven't tripped the 15A room breaker yet.....still working towards that goal. Guess it is possible to turn a sows ear into a silk purse..........

 

[laatsch55]

Love your resourcefullnes!!!!!!!

 

[30Weight]

Thanks Lee. I'm in good company here.

Boredom+poverty+ingenuity/time=good results. My kinda algebra........

 

[laatsch55]

Lee , I love the way you thinkl!