Rega EL8 frankensteiners

[EMG Slave]

Cheers guys for the positive comments, yep, what I am after, at the end of a long day, is to come home (usually frazzled), and have 2 good friends say, "listen, you relax, get a glass of wine, dim the lights, and let us massage your mind all the way to a place you love", and for now these are fine, but looking at some of the audio excellence you guys have, I may be transported to a local lake, which is fine, but looks like some of you can take a trip to genuine sonic Nirvana, executive class and return, refreshed and ready for another 24 hours in the crucible, which is why I love music so much, its a great healer and its important to try to only consume the best you can possibly get, so looks like I'm in the best place for advice,,,,so I'm glancing at my Pioneer receiver and my only excuse is I got it for the digital inputs, which is no defence, so, what amp do you recommend for these?, budget around £200, is second hand best?, I'm thinking the speakers are much better than my amplifier, and I am womanless at the mo, so better grab as many goodies as I can while the goings good, , cheers in advance

ps, the crossovers?, yes, they have a 4.7 cap I believe, what value would I need to tame it a little? ,The 'clam shell' amp?, thats what the guy I got them off recommended, are they hard to find?, seems E bay is a place to look but its like a lucky dip at times, I'm in northern England, is there anywhere nearby that stocks quality second hand kit?, Lintone Audio's just over the water but I just know I'll walk in and they will be demoing some £30.000 system which will make my Rega's sound like a piano falling down a flight of stairs, if I can get the right amp, then its one more strong link in the chain.

mostly I'm using my computer with a M-audio 24/96 card digitally to the Pioneer vsx-415,(yes, I know, told you I was new to this), I am using some very thick unidentified speaker cable, but as I compose music on the computer I always stick to 24bit 48hz wherever possible, for recording music I have a elderly Roland vs1880, which, when I take time to get the levels correct, just sounds great through the Rega's.

[zebbo]

Welcome EMG Slave and well done. Don't know if the Doc would have any reservations about these, they're obviously quite old, but just £205 with 6 hours left.
HERE.

[_D_S_J_R_]

If you're lucky to get the above, you can forget everything except the source (you've provided little info on ancilliaries).

Changing the 4.7 cap for a 'better' one will lift treble even further as batter caps tend to have less resistance in them. This added level is often confused with added 'deeeeeetail,' but my gut feeling would be to leave well alone and only adjust level if you can get a comparison with, say, some RS3's or intact EL8's (difficult, but the opportunity may arise one day )

Pioneer have made some very good amps in recent years, so don't feel cheated. Spec wise, the NVA's won't look as impressive, but it's the removal of distortion (and music?) removing components that make NVA such an addictive choice for many. I've said ad nauseum that these aren't for everyone, but neither are the EL8's, so please don't worry

[Daniel Quinn]

Hi ,Emg , I am no expert so don't rely on my word

A first order butterworth x-over [cap on tweeter / coil on mid woofer ] with a 4.75u cap will crossover at around 4khz , which is on the high side . This is according to DIY audio x-over calculator [ http://www.diyaudioandvideo.com/Calculator/XOver/] Commonsensically ,taming it would seem to require a lower one , but i don't recall seeing to may lower ones and if you raise the x-over frequency with a lower cap , then this may leave part of the frequency spectrum diminished/ missing as it is common for bass mid drivers roll off rapidly at 4khz .

Alas these measurements don't tell you much and certainly cant predict what you will hear , so it it best to try a few , you can buy cheap as chips ones from 4 to about 10 uf , try a few and see what you think , then buy a good one .

p.s - i have assumed the driver are 8ohms as 6 ohms or lower doesn't make sense re figures . But you can try the calculator .

[_D_S_J_R_]

Please fellas, Rega weren't and still aren't a bunch of numpties where speakers are concerned, whatever you may think! A simple crossover as used here 'features' a huge overlap between the drivers and the small-dome fizzer that Rega used to use helped with the rolloff at lower frequencies I reckon. Substituting a different cap could well improve things (but you MUST have a reference to judge it against IMO), or it could totally screw up the sound.

Like I said before, ASK REGA. The new style tweet may well just drop in with no adjustment, but if any crossover tweaking is involved (I still maintain the EL8/Alya/Kyte/Ara driver is extremely similar if not identical to the current model in the RS1 and 3, but I'd be delighted to be proved wrong here), I'm sure they would help you.

[Daniel Quinn]

Dave it's only people having fun and learning. Don't take it p personally

[EMG Slave]

Listening to Bob Marley, there are 3 more people present it seems in places, very soulful, maybe not everyones cup of designer energy drink smoothie, but it just skips along, and I, for once think it sounds better with the bass boost button off, now, thats impressive,,,, to me, at least, might post some pics, cheers for the advice Guy, again, there's a lot to learn, and now maybe I realize this (is(can be)) very serious,,, and I'm sorry if I've sounded like a jerk, but maybe,, well, have you ever stood in front of an old Marshall when its in excellent mode, its the most un hi-fi thing I've ever heard, like a mass of rabid mids and bass, ,cheers for all the the encouraging comments?, , are you thinking of starting a room for the cloth eared?,,,,when does it start?, I have a window,,,

[_D_S_J_R_]

Cloth eared?

You love the MUSIC and that's all anyone needs to know, most of the time

[slinger]

Cloth eared?

You love the MUSIC and that's all anyone needs to know, most of the time

+1 to that.

Incidentally, not had that experience with a Marshall but I did kill an AC30 one night that was sounding particularly sweet. Ended up plugged into the P.A.