austingonzo Posted May 27, 2019 Report Share Posted May 27, 2019 Heya, Back for more pearls of wisdom, please. The CD-7s are back from Texasound after a recap. Supposedly they benched to spec, so now I'm trying to put them to use. I had them connected to my 90's Rotel RX950-AX for two-channel listening with my modern Denon turntable. I was wary of integrating them into the home theater setup in the same cabinet (Pioneer Elite VSX-LX301) due to their 4ohm profile. While the Pioneer should drive them, I was just being cautious. Yesterday I decided the growing speaker clutter was too much to handle, so I moved them over to the Pioneer AVR, rotated the other speakers around and ran Pioneer MCACC to perform room correction. (My sub is a PSB Subsonic 8.) I tried large and small settings, and crossover settings at 50, 80, and 100 Hz. When I listened to music in any configuration, the Allison's had lost their charm. This was regardless of whether I used 2.1 or (Pure Direct) stereo settings. The presence of the sub took over and the benefits of the acoustic suspension sound were completely lost. I'm now considering reconnecting the Allison's to the Rotel, running pre-out from the AVR to the Rotel and re-running MCACC in this configuration. This should give me the ability to revert to 2-channel listening when I desire, but I'll have no room correction in 2 channel mode. What recommendations can you offer here? Also, while I like the Rotel, I find myself watching Goodwill's online auctions for inexpensive (<$100) vintage NAD and Luxman receivers as replacements. I suspect those would really be lateral moves. What affordable vintage gear do you feel is a good pairing with these speakers? Thanks, austingonzo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austingonzo Posted June 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 Update: the Pioneer Elite AVR has no pre-outs, so I'm back to square one. I have noticed since then that the CD-7's sound best to my old ears when driven at a higher volume than the volume at which I typically listen. I have won on auction a different vintage AVR, the Pioneer VSX-D1S. It should take a week or so to arrive. I am curious whether the higher wattage, lower THD and voicing of this receiver will improve the details produced by the Allisons. I simply cannot afford to listen to them regularly at the volume at which they sounded the best with the Rotel. I would still appreciate suggestions for better/best pairings from more experienced users. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newandold Posted June 11, 2019 Report Share Posted June 11, 2019 4 hours ago, austingonzo said: Update: the Pioneer Elite AVR has no pre-outs, so I'm back to square one. I have noticed since then that the CD-7's sound best to my old ears when driven at a higher volume than the volume at which I typically listen. I have won on auction a different vintage AVR, the Pioneer VSX-D1S. It should take a week or so to arrive. I am curious whether the higher wattage, lower THD and voicing of this receiver will improve the details produced by the Allisons. I simply cannot afford to listen to them regularly at the volume at which they sounded the best with the Rotel. I would still appreciate suggestions for better/best pairings from more experienced users. Thanks. Best suggestion I can offer you in your shopping travels, is to get yourself in the average of 120 watts per channel @8ohm with those puppies. Whatever you come up with, if you can get into that range and even better with a Subwoofer integrated, you will get the best out of those systems they have to offer. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted June 12, 2019 Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 19 hours ago, newandold said: get yourself in the average of 120 watts per channel @8ohm As austingonzo pointed out, the CD7s are 4 Ohms. Brochure for the Sevens here: https://www.usahifi.com/sites/default/files/product/512/manuals/Allison 7 8 9 Loudspeakers Brochure.pdf I don't know how the CD-7 differed from the Seven but I'm guessing the impedance stayed the same. Austin: Placement is critical with Allisons. I think yours have to be flat against a wall. Check out the recommendations fro AR-3a speakers, also 4 Ohms. I use an Adcom 555 but there are very powerful new Crown and Behringer amps that folks like. I use 4 Ohm Cizeks and front speakers in my home theater. My Onkyo AV receiver can handle 4 Ohms but "one of these days" I plan to use the pre outs to add a Sonance amp I picked up cheap at GW. Good luck. Kent Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newandold Posted June 12, 2019 Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 36 minutes ago, JKent said: As austingonzo pointed out, the CD7s are 4 Ohms. Brochure for the Sevens here: https://www.usahifi.com/sites/default/files/product/512/manuals/Allison 7 8 9 Loudspeakers Brochure.pdf I don't know how the CD-7 differed from the Seven but I'm guessing the impedance stayed the same. Austin: Placement is critical with Allisons. I think yours have to be flat against a wall. Check out the recommendations fro AR-3a speakers, also 4 Ohms. I use an Adcom 555 but there are very powerful new Crown and Behringer amps that folks like. I use 4 Ohm Cizeks and front speakers in my home theater. My Onkyo AV receiver can handle 4 Ohms but "one of these days" I plan to use the pre outs to add a SOnance amp I picked up cheap at GW. Good luck. Kent Yes I’m well aware the 7s are nominal 4ohm.... I said 120 watts of AMPLIFIER power at 8ohm rms per channel would be a great match for those. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austingonzo Posted June 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 13 minutes ago, newandold said: Yes I’m well aware the 7s are nominal 4ohm.... I said 120 watts of AMPLIFIER power at 8ohm rms per channel would be a great match for those. It (VSX-D1S) has two modes of output via a switch: Mode A delivers 130 watts at 8 ohms to the fronts. Somewhere online I read that it doesn't double at 4 ohms, but I'll have to find the reference. Maybe it goes to 170 or 200??? https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1002196/Pioneer-Vsx-D1s.html?page=51#manual Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austingonzo Posted June 12, 2019 Author Report Share Posted June 12, 2019 3 minutes ago, austingonzo said: It (VSX-D1S) has two modes of output via a switch: Mode A delivers 130 watts at 8 ohms to the fronts. Somewhere online I read that it doesn't double at 4 ohms, but I'll have to find the reference. Maybe it goes to 170 or 200??? https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1002196/Pioneer-Vsx-D1s.html?page=51#manual Quoting myself is poor form, right? Anyway: http://www.hifi-classic.net/review/pioneer-vsx-d1s-435.html Clipping noted at 210 watts @ 4 ohms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
austingonzo Posted July 20, 2019 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2019 (edited) A month later: the Pioneer arrived, it was filthy on the inside and had no audio output. A can of Deoxit cleaned the boards. A trip to a tech revealed it was missing jumpers. In short, feeding the CD-7s more power did help them open up. Just as important, though, the receiver has loudness controls for lower volume output. I'm still keeping an eye out for better speakers, but I do enjoy the CD-7s. austingonzo Edited July 20, 2019 by austingonzo clarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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