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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 10, 2017 8:26:14 GMT -6
I just looked around, and can get an ADCOM GFA-5300 for less than I'd pay for the GFA-435. It would take around a week to get her, about the same time the 435 would arrive.
I don't know, which is the newer model, or which one will sound better. I'm inclined toward the 535 because I just like the smaller size and honestly, I'm sure that it'll push the NS-10's just as well as the 80 watt 5300 will. Still, If figured I'd ask before moving on..
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 10, 2017 14:22:33 GMT -6
I agreed to the offer from the store that was selling the modded Adcom GFA-435 yesterday, but their store is closed until next Wednesday. They apologized and offered to rescind the offer, freeing me to buy something else. I'm torn between waiting and just buying from someone else. Still, being Thursday, even if I bought one from someone else and the mailed it tomorrow, I probably wouldn't receive it before Tuesday next week or Wednesday, depending on location of the sender. I live less than an hour away from the store, so when they do ship it'll only take a day or two. Ugh.. I just can't seem to catch a break this year. Every single thing I've done keeps hitting snags. Hopefully that energy will change as I near my birthday next month. I'm hoping to have a birthday/album release party. I need some speakers to finish two mixes and master.. clocks are ticking.. I guess I'll take a quick look at eBay in case something else popped up since I last looked. Since I made my offer, I'm kinda stuck on getting this one that's already modded. Even if its not a top of the line Jim Williams mod, it should be an improvement over the stock piece. I wish it had 1/4" inputs or XLR inputs. I'll either use a standard 1/4' cable with an RCA adapter, or buy new cables with 1/4" > RCA terminations already. How would you guys hook up an amp like this with an interface like my UAD Apollo? I also still have the Mogami 1/4" to XLR cables I used when I had my active speakers. Since they're good cables, is there such a thing as an XLR > RCA adapter, and is that any worse or better than the other types on connections I mentioned? Yes, there is indeed such a thing as an XLR>RCA adapter, sold by Switchcraft in their adapter line. The problem is that they're relatively bulky and heavy and put a real strain on cheesy (by design) female RCA jacks. (I'm pretty certain there are also knockoffs from companies like HOSA, but that just adds flimsiness to the list of other drawbacks.)
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 10, 2017 14:29:07 GMT -6
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Post by winetree on Aug 10, 2017 16:25:15 GMT -6
Martin, An R.C.A plug, Wire strippers, solder and a soldering gun would do it 15 minutes. I'd find it hard not to be able to solder and be in the music business. It started with me at 10 years old when I had to solder my first broken guitar cord.
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ericn
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Post by ericn on Aug 10, 2017 19:54:40 GMT -6
Martin, An R.C.A plug, Wire strippers, solder and a soldering gun would do it 15 minutes. I'd find it hard not to be able to solder and be in the music business. It started with me at 10 years old when I had to solder my first broken guitar cord. And the perfect way to learn to solder!
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 11, 2017 10:12:09 GMT -6
I like my Mogami 1/4" > XLR's, and I'll probably use them when I eventually get another powered set of monitors. Is I think I'll just get an adapter.
Do you guys think it's worth waiting 2-4 weeks for the Witchcraft instead of just getting the Hosa right away?
* The Adcom GFA-435 I bought won't be here until next Thursday or Friday.
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Post by ragan on Aug 11, 2017 10:29:24 GMT -6
I like my Mogami 1/4" > XLR's, and I'll probably use them when I eventually get another powered set of monitors. Is I think I'll just get an adapter. Do you guys think it's worth waiting 2-4 weeks for the Witchcraft instead of just getting the Hosa right away? * The Adcom GFA-435 I bought won't be here until next Thursday or Friday.You can still use your Mogami, just put an RCA end on. Keep the XLR connectors and you can swap it back later when your monitoring setup changes.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 11, 2017 11:52:49 GMT -6
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Post by ragan on Aug 11, 2017 12:25:15 GMT -6
I meant just solder RCA ends on and solder the XLRs back if you want to switch back but yeah, adapters will do the job too.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 11, 2017 16:06:09 GMT -6
I figure why mess with that. I doubt an adapter will make things much noisier, and my original Mogami cable will be in tact when I get back to active monitors at some point.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 13, 2017 9:44:17 GMT -6
Back in the late 80's when I used NS-10's, they seemed nicely made, but now I see them as what they were designed to be, a cheap little speaker meant to be integrated in a whole package Yamaha system.
They seem like simple little wooden boxes to me now, nothing very special. I am curious to see how my mixes will sound on them though. My ears have evolved since those days.
I won't have the amp until Friday to try them out.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Aug 13, 2017 9:59:51 GMT -6
Back in the late 80's when I used NS-10's, they seemed nicely made, but now I see them as what they were designed to be, a cheap little speaker meant to be integrated in a whole package Yamaha system. They seem like simple little wooden boxes to me now, nothing very special. I am curious to see how my mixes will sound on them though. My ears have evolved since those days. I won't have the amp until Friday to try them out. Don't you have some moderarely high end hi fi system? Couldn't you use that amp to get up and running? Or even that while rig to mix with?
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 13, 2017 12:59:42 GMT -6
Funny you should mention that Jesse, I was debating that very same idea. I have a sweet little system, Sonus Faber Toys, (they cost $1,400 and have the same midrange and tweeter as their $10,000 speakers, without the low end, so I added a REL subwoofer and people can't believe the realism and soundstage. I also have a Peachtree Audio NOVA integrated amp.
Those speakers sound great and wouldn't make a bad set of monitors, but I also use the amp for watching movies and TV and for listening to vinyl, so I was reluctant to repurpose them.
Since the amp will cost me under $200 and my friend said I can keep the NS-10's as long as I need them, I figured leave well enough alone and just buy the amp.
Thanks for thinking on it though :-)
* the "STUDIO" NS-10's are labeled to placed sideways. The original was labeled so the name reads properly when standing up. There isn't very much room on my desk left, so I'm probably going to use them standing up. Were they specifically designed to be laid sideways, or did they just change the labeling because that's how people were doing it?
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Post by jeremygillespie on Aug 14, 2017 6:13:49 GMT -6
Place them however it woks best for you Martin. Don't think you'll be hearing much of a change with them being vertical or horizontal.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 14, 2017 6:57:26 GMT -6
Well, at least I know they're working. I had to fix the wheels on my stereo system cabinet. One broke, so I had to replace it.That meant removing everything from the credenza, all my stereo components had to be removed and then put back, as well as hundreds of little things in the other parts of the credenza. Since the wire were hanging, I popped the NS 10-'s on briefly, and at least I know they're working.
My Adcom amp should be here Friday. It's been frustrating not being able to mix for almost two weeks.
Maybe I'll borrow my stereo speakers, just to see how they sound.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 16, 2017 20:39:24 GMT -6
Well, I got the modded Adcom GFA535 amp and set up the NS-10's. I can't tell if the amp is dark, or the NS-10's just don't have the transparency I've grown used to. Also, these are physically old speakers, and I don't know, but maybe paper cones get tired after 25 years. Still, they're way better than the little IKmultimedia iLoud speakers I tried, so I'm Ok with the NS-10's, I guess. I probably need a little time to adjust.
I'm listening too The War on Drugs right now, and I KNOW the drums are not as receded as they sound..I'll mess around with speaker position tomorrow.
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Post by winetree on Aug 16, 2017 21:51:56 GMT -6
Are the tweeters working? After replacing mine, (hitting a 10k tone bed at full volume) and costing a $110.00 apiece to replace, I fused them. A blown fuse at 25 cents is a lot cheaper.
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 17, 2017 0:49:02 GMT -6
Martin, use a cable, not an adapter. And compromising a good Mogami cable with a cheesy Hosa adapter makes no sense. As to "upgraded RCA inputs", there is no such thing. They're all mechanically compromised, it's inherent in the design. They may be more expensive, they may be gold plated, but they're still flimsy crap. A REAL upgrade would replace them with 1/4" jacks. Don't take my word for it, ask Bob O what he thinks of Hosa products. I do own a bunch of Hosa patch bay cables but they're essentially disposables purchased because I couldn't afford 144 real TT cables and they're kinda ok until they're not, at which point they're not worth trying to fix.
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 17, 2017 0:58:18 GMT -6
I figure why mess with that. I doubt an adapter will make things much noisier, and my original Mogami cable will be in tact when I get back to active monitors at some point. Becasuse adapters, especially cheap adapters, are just problems waiting to happen. Ever hear the phrase "false economy"?
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 17, 2017 10:35:40 GMT -6
Thanks John, I needed that ! Really, thanks.
I'm hearing a hum. It could be the Hosa adapter, (which I'll return), or it could be a few other things. There are a lot of cables and power cords in proximity, and it's not easy to keep them from crossing. It could be the amp itself, it's obviously not new and has had some mods, so who knows. Something had been done to the power supply, but I don't know what exactly. The amp looks almost new.
I had a shelf in my rack that I kept the Stam SA73 preamp and my UAD satellite on, because they're not rack mountable. I decided the shelf would be good to put the amp on, so I took the satellite and preamp out and put them on top of my Apollo for now. I didn't feel like taking all the other components out to put the shelf on the bottom to hold the amp. It's currently in the second from the top position under the Apollo.
First, I'll try 1/4" cables with a simple 1/4" to RCA adapter in my closet to see if the hum goes away. If not, I'll have to try the amp away from the system to troubleshoot, ugh..
I'll probably by 1/4" > RCA cables like you recommended John, but I'll wait a week because the Mogami's are around $55 each.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 17, 2017 12:26:39 GMT -6
** problem solved, I removed the Mogami cables and started again with standard RCA cables and put a simple 1/4 adapter on the end, and NO HUM at all!
Cables usually need a little break-in time and since these speakers haven't been used for a decade, I'd guess they're stiff and could use a little break-in too, although I don't know for sure if that's true with already used speakers.
I'l grab a proper 1/4" to RCA cable a little later on. I'm using Monster cable RCA's right now, and I'm no fan of Monster, they always sound congested.
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Post by jcoutu1 on Aug 17, 2017 14:11:26 GMT -6
...Cables usually need a little break-in time...
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Post by donr on Aug 17, 2017 21:03:48 GMT -6
Martin, An R.C.A plug, Wire strippers, solder and a soldering gun would do it 15 minutes. I'd find it hard not to be able to solder and be in the music business. It started with me at 10 years old when I had to solder my first broken guitar cord. When I was 9, I assembled Eico and Gromes amp and tuner kits for my Dad and my next door neighbor. My only mishap ever was soldering an RCA pin plug unsecured and having the pin's molten solder spring up and hit me in the face and eye. Luckily, not the cornea or pupil. Object lesson.
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Post by Martin John Butler on Aug 17, 2017 22:05:08 GMT -6
Yikes. lucky break Don. I've been messing around all day and breaking in the amp, cables and speakers a little. It's definitely better than anything heard under $900, and I think I can work with the NS-10's which I couldn't with the under $600 Presonus, JBL, Adam, and a few others I heard recently.
it's interesting going back to separate power amp. I'm adjusting to that sound I used in the late 80's, Adcom and NS-10's. The amp gets hot though. It's second from the top in my rack, just under my Apollo. I already had a shelf there, so it was an easy install.
Should I put it on the bottom? I'd have to move all my other gear though..
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Post by johneppstein on Aug 18, 2017 23:00:10 GMT -6
** problem solved, I removed the Mogami cables and started again with standard RCA cables and put a simple 1/4 adapter on the end, and NO HUM at all!
Cables usually need a little break-in time and since these speakers haven't been used for a decade, I'd guess they're stiff and could use a little break-in too, although I don't know for sure if that's true with already used speakers. I'l grab a proper 1/4" to RCA cable a little later on. I'm using Monster cable RCA's right now, and I'm no fan of Monster, they always sound congested. I don't believe speakers need to be re-broken in. Monster used to make some pretty good raw speaker cable. Unfortunately that was in the late '70s - very early '80s. Their line level stuff has always been for suckers, IMO.
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