sc-em Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Now I realise there is much more to this speaker buying than I remember, when you used to take your amp and turntable unto the local hi fi shop and try out speakers. I have decided that I still want to stick with AR so wondered if these were worth a punt. You guys are expert enough to know if they are what they report to be? If they are I am tempted as long as my Rotel RA820 would do them any justice at all? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PRICE-DROP-Acoustic-Research-58ls-Speakers-/322328387589?hash=item4b0c44e005:g:saoAAOSwzaJX2pMp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 It's not a bad price, especially if you're close enough to be able to save on shipping by picking them up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 Not really close enough, but at the right price the postage would be worthwhile. Better than re foaming my 18's then? A much netter speaker? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 The 58 series was the 1980s version of the classic AR-3. Several steps up from the 18. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fedeleluigi Posted January 3, 2017 Report Share Posted January 3, 2017 1 hour ago, sc-em said: Not really close enough, but at the right price the postage would be worthwhile. Better than re foaming my 18's then? A much netter speaker? Anyway, I'd refoam the 18 LS. If the drivers are OK they are very good loudspeakers. Luigi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Well a deal done on the 58s and foam ordered for 18s so best of both worlds A thoight though. Will my trusty Rotel RA 820 be up to driving the 58s. Great fir the 18s. Ut can have 4 speakers attached but probably no point in having 2 differeing classes of speaker i am guessing. Was looking at a NAD 3020e on ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
genek Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 The Rotel specs say 25wpc @ 8 ohms. Not going to do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 Oh right. So do I need to match the ohms of the amp to the speakers? or is that a daft question for those who know. The 18s are 9 ohms so match the Rotel. Yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_C Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 I believe you will need more power to get the best out of the 58s. If you use an underpowered amp dynamic music will sound strained tending to distort in the loud passages, whereas it should just go loud cleanly and effortlessly. A quoted spec of 25W into 8 Ohms just means that it is capable of delivering 25 W into a nominal 8 Ohm speaker load. It will probably deliver 35W into a 6 Ohm speaker and even more into a 4 Ohm speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 So yo get the best I really need a 4 ohm amp. The NAD 3020e seem to do a range from 4 to 16 ohms. How does it manage that? Will I have to find a classic amp site now? Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_C Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 The amp power will depend on the speaker load. If you connect a 8 ohm speaker then the amp's will deliver power according to its spec into an 8 ohm load. If you connect the same amp to a 4 ohm speaker it will usually be capable of delivering more power into that 4 ohm speaker load. For the 58s I would look for an amp rated at least 100W into an 8 ohm load. I do not know the impedance of the 58, but you just need ample power, more than the NAD 3020 can deliver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 8, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 So now i do need to do some amp research. My Rotel will work but not do the 58s justice. I still like the idea of sticking with 80/90s stuff. I guess there will be amp suggestions on here despite not being an amp site. Bugger. It will be my cd and turntable next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted January 8, 2017 Report Share Posted January 8, 2017 You do need a little bit more power to bring the best out of them! Here is a pair I repaired just over 2 years ago. Not played them offer enough. But they are monsters compared to the 18s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 They look great. Can't wait to get mine. What do you or would you run yours on? I assume all the speaker people on this site arent going to put so much effort into speakers only to use a baff amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djcheung Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 I haven't used them since I repaired them. I have connected them to a BeoMaster 4500 receiver at the moment just to kind of 'run-in' the foam surrounds. They are sounding slightly fuller now after a few hours of listening.I am not too hot on the amp area. The only other meaty amp that I have is a pair of Crown XLS-2500 which I can connect but maybe a bit overkill. I am sure that others here can advise much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 There does seem, as with speakers, a bewildering array, from the NAD, Sansui, Pioneer, Marantz etc. but which of them. The Pioneer A400x does seem man enough and has better cable connection at the rear rather than the jaw types of my Rotel. Research will continue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeff_C Posted January 9, 2017 Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 As you already own the Rotel, you can try that with your 58s, but be prepared for it to 'run out of steam' as you turn the volume up. You may find that when you turn the volume up, at some point the sound will get harsher rather than just louder. There are a few things you need to be wary of when connecting amplifiers to source equipment. For instance modern digital sources like CD players and streamers output about 2V maximum. That amount of output voltage is a gross mismatch for most amplifiers. Some amps that Naim have produced have input sensitivity as high a 75mV. So when you feed it with 2V, that 2V is 26 times more voltage than is needed to get the maximum power from that amp. The excess voltage can often overload the amp and can cause distortion, sometimes even well before the amp is delivering its potential maximum output power. When and how the distortion kicks in, will depend on where in the amp's circuitry the volume control is placed. Unless you are technically minded, the easy way to avoid early onset distortion from the amp is to get one with large enough reserves of power. Watts are cheap these days, and even budget amps can sound as good as very expensive boutique amps IMO. The aim is to get an amp that will go as loud as you want it to go (and play clean and undistorted) with the types of music that you are likely to listen to. NB - A CD player will output 2V or thereabouts when the CD is fully modulated, (in layman's terms when the CD is as loud as it will go), 'all bits lit', 16 bits of data each containing the value 1). In quieter passages on the CD the voltage output to the amp will be considerably less than 2V. There lies the problem for the amp designer. Imagine designing an amp with 2V input sensitivity, in the belief that when the amp encounters a fully loud CD it will cope with the signal voltage admirably, but the amp owner plays solely acoustic guitar music and none of his CD collection has any signal which exceeds 1V at the CD output. In that scenario the amp owner will never realise the full power potential of his amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sc-em Posted January 9, 2017 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2017 Some of that I actually understand Jeff. lol. In essence I tend to play vinyl and cds for 60's 70's 80's music. Rock Zep, Queen, Bowie, but also quite a lot of classical. Can't beat a good Mozart piano concerto...not forgetting the Beatles of course. So I don't need some modern amp. My kids can stick to their BOSE plug in Ipad stuff...good sound though. Keep me old and rocky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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