I'm still running my Exposure X from the 80s & still feel as though I can't be more happy because I'm getting the best sound possible since I upgraded to the new Elac 53 series 3.0 floorstanding Speakers which I've now had for 1 week & loving everything coming from my system.
Exposure is a fine product. Have you had it serviced? I don't know what the cap duration is for their product. For Naim, it's about every 10 years or so. Sometimes 15. Just a thought. Thank you for taking the time to comment and add to the video and channel. Please do tell others about our work as there is something for everyone in the 228 other videos.
Thank you for adding your comment to the video and channel. I've heard nice things about Hegel so I am not surprised. Please feel free to subscribe and please do tell others about the channel. We have nearly 230 videos up to date.
To my understanding, separates offer slightly more dynamics and separation, but at the cost of signal loss/distortion due to the long cable between the preamp and power amps.
Most interconnecting products operate in the 50K to 100K ohm range so the length of the interconnect is extremely nominal. Conversely, long speaker cable runs based upon a typical 8 ohm load can be very significant. Now, if either approach is in the same cabinet with the same speaker cable lengths, then you raise a valid point. If one uses mono block amplifiers that can be positioned near the speakers, the advantage goes to that path and, potentially, quite significantly. There is, of course, some effect of the connections themselves if we are talking interconnects. As for dynamics, separation, or other characteristics, it really comes down to the design and build quality which can run the entire gamut for either approach. The original Naim Nait was notorious for embarrassing separates so these possibilities do exist. Thank you for contributing to the video and the channel. Please do subscribe and tell others about our work. There are nearly 230 videos now with many more in production or planned.
I don't like to be trapped with an integrated featured magical box. Being confined can be an awful feeling so I prefer separates. I like separate McIntosh MC 901 Monos, line stage Conrad Johnson gat2 pre-amplifier, lumin x1 streamer /dac with a separate power unit, and an AV processor. I think combining streamer/dac makes sense here to avoid Inter Connect issues and they probably handle it better within the streamer. If I had a Manhattan apartment a high-quality integrated may make sense.
I certainly understand your preferences as I have owned both paths including a Marantz 7C combined with Marantz Model 9s. I did a video about the advantage a mono amplifier has in placement near the speaker. You might want to enjoy that one.
Well, there are two schools of thought on that. You might want to dig back into 90s material where the topic of jitter was quite common. The risk you run with separate pieces, unless carefully considered, is making sure the clock timing is correct. Theta actually made a product to help deal with that.
Well, thank you for the compliment and hopefully you will enjoy the other 230 videos with so many more to come. This topic actually came from a viewer who wanted to know my thoughts about this question. It was a good one and so I gave my opinion. All are welcome to suggest topics as long as they are not too esoteric. I already have a bag full of those if I so choose to launch them. Please do subscribe and tell others about the channel. I try to keep things fairly simple and honest from my experiences. Then, there are some folks who really make great observations in the comments. They are worth the read.
have you overlooked a prosaic reason for separates? one can upgrade over the years in stages - allocating greater relative budget to only one or the other function at each stage - informed by taste, or independent factors (new listening space, new speakers, etc), or a particularly appealing evolution in SOTA of one vs the other. seems the opportunity for flexible "development & tuning" of one's system over the years is greater via separates - stretching one's budget at the same time.
Hey Grumpy, you raise a very valid and important view. The building block approach. You are correct that in making purchases, make a good one each time which means other areas may have to wait. I have tried to tell people, time and time again, you don't make money replacing equipment. The used market will pay little for what you own so don't take half steps. This was the approach we used for years with Naim Audio, and others as systems were built out. Today's economic necessities, particularly here in the states, have become significantly more expensive limiting the effectiveness of the building block approach or at least stretching out the time line. It is, regardless, a very important view in a world that seemingly wants it all now.
@@audibleeleganceinc thx... it's how I've done it since getting my Sansui AU-222 in '70 (that I still have & use). being semi-poverty stricken back then but desiring the best at whatever level I could reach, building by blocks became core to my hobby. I've acquired & kept enough (as you point out, not all used equipt is worth a fortune) quality hardware to build up about 7 solid systems (mostly choice vintage + a reference system) - one for every listening space in the house. swapping around separates over the years has educated my ear to that elusive system synergy - not to mention the influence of listening spaces & set up. if you love music & stereos ya oughta make it fun! {btw, I truly respect your wisdom derived from many years in the biz - the anecdotes about the folks & insights to so much hardware evolution. it establishes a kinda baseline for understanding the latest products - at least for those of us who've been around that long! cheers & have a great holiday}
@@grumpy9478 Thank you for your kind words. After so many years in the hobby and 40 years as a business, I thought it best to share my experiences with as many people as I can before either I cannot remember them or I am not around to speak them. This format is so wonderful as a way of sharing, certainly, I hope, one of the better ways it has been used.
Lou, I believe I'm going to begin calling you sir, and/or Mister Hamilton! You'd know full well that I absolutely love my Rogue Audio, Sphinx V3 that I recently had upgraded to their new "Magnum" version, by the wonderful and kind folks at Rogue Audio. I'm just a "mid-Fi" guy who's most interested in the quality of sound. This unit is quite good! And, I'm a "happy camper". One of the nicest features in the Sphinx is the quality of the built-in phono stage - very nice! Another nice "detail" is that with the Sphinx being a hybrid-Class "D", you can upgrade the tubes if you'd like. Here again, Rogue folks are great since they'll get to know you, what type of sound you like, and will test-match tubes for you. If I ever were to upgrade, based upon conversations with the Rogue Audio folks, I'd get a variation of their Cronus - the "Cronus Dark". Thanks for all of your sharing and caring!
Rogue is a wonder company and I am so happy that we got pissed on my Prima Luna. We went looking. Even Sandy Gross of Polk, Definitive Technology, and Goldenear fame had very nice things to say about them from a fellow manufacturer view.
I never had an integrated amp; I went from receiver to separates. But the performance of integrateds has come a long way, as you point out, and despite my preference for monoblock amps, a good integrated would be an option were I to downsize my system. Connectivity would be a key for me since I have 5 sources.
Thank you for adding your comment to the video and channel. I have had integrateds quite often and then onto monoblocks, rather special ones at that, Marantz Model 9s along with a 7C. I never found connectivity to be an issue with either but that was some time ago. Now we have streaming, dacs, subwoofer outputs, heck, even remote control! At least the days of iPod inputs and adapters has passed. Oh, lest I forget, there's now bluetooth. So, the picture is quite a bit different today.
IMO: Streamer to amp to speakers. Modern streamers have everything you want in a preamp, so forget it (and thus also forget the integrated). Maaaaybe add in a phono amp, if you want vinyl. Most streamers have enough inputs, and volume and tone controls, along with subwoofer outputs too. If you really want, some allow for external DAC, but to me thats one more source of noise.
That certainly is one approach and some follow it. It does place that streamer in the position of a preamp and then the question comes up as how good is it at that function. Thank you for your comment as you do raise and interesting approach.
Own systems that are comprised of both. Man-cave has a system that is all separates. Living room an integrated/receiver. If I am honest with myself, the performance of both rigs are on par with each other. For me it really depends on the need to conserver space and WAF. There was just no way I could get her to accept the look of the big heavy tube amps that my main rig is centered around. 😂
Thanks for contributing to the video and channel. Yes, life can be full of all sorts of compromises and yet some integrated amps can hold their own quite nicely. Please do subscribe and tell others about our other 230 videos with so many more to come.
Separates are great but for the pure simplicity, I want integrated. I am thinking of buying the Naim Uniti Atom. I don't listen loud. range from 70dB to, if I am really rowdy, maybe 82-83dB. Average 75dB just about 99% of the time. I am buying the Dynaudio EVOKE 5's first, then the Naim 2nd. I was going to look at Rega but they won't give anything but 8ohm and 6ohm ratings so that makes me think the 3.2 ohms are likely not a good match.
I can certainly understand your reasoning about the selection of equipment. Keep in mind that most dynamic loudspeakers loading is nominal. What it does by frequency is an entirely different matter. Most dynamic speaker impedance curves look like a pretty rough ride on a rollercoaster.
Well, you can have a clean look both. I did many times. But, it all depends upon anyone's circumstances. As for Apple lossless music or any other streaming services, please see my video on streaming and vinyl where both have issues. What a lot of people forget is while the streaming maybe "lossless) (I am reminded of Sonys claim about CD being "perfect sound forever") the question unanswered is what are they streaming. Thus, see the video.
Well, not quite sure I understand your comment and perhaps you could expand upon it. As for modifying product, well, used or after the warranty is expired. I've only known of a few who really understand what they are doing when they attempt modifications. In one case, after the 17th mod, it blew up. It was returned to the manufacturer who found that most of the modifications were great and actually adopted some for their production. They also took the time to tell him why the last mod failed. That owner created a lot of patents. Have I modified things? Yes, but never in the circuitry itself and in todays day and age, where there are running production changes without model designation changes, I'd be a bit timid about doing such.
I'm still running my Exposure X from the 80s & still feel as though I can't be more happy because I'm getting the best sound possible since I upgraded to the new Elac 53 series 3.0 floorstanding Speakers which I've now had for 1 week & loving everything coming from my system.
Exposure is a fine product. Have you had it serviced? I don't know what the cap duration is for their product. For Naim, it's about every 10 years or so. Sometimes 15. Just a thought.
Thank you for taking the time to comment and add to the video and channel. Please do tell others about our work as there is something for everyone in the 228 other videos.
Thanks Lou !! nice and concise!!! I love your point... all my setups can go 2 channel or home theater ...
Once again, thank you for your comment. A viewer asked the question and I thought it would make a good subject.
I was at my local audio shop and they were running a Hegel 600 into A Focal speaker pair. I couldn’t believe how they sounded amazing 😮
Thank you for adding your comment to the video and channel. I've heard nice things about Hegel so I am not surprised.
Please feel free to subscribe and please do tell others about the channel. We have nearly 230 videos up to date.
To my understanding, separates offer slightly more dynamics and separation, but at the cost of signal loss/distortion due to the long cable between the preamp and power amps.
Most interconnecting products operate in the 50K to 100K ohm range so the length of the interconnect is extremely nominal. Conversely, long speaker cable runs based upon a typical 8 ohm load can be very significant. Now, if either approach is in the same cabinet with the same speaker cable lengths, then you raise a valid point. If one uses mono block amplifiers that can be positioned near the speakers, the advantage goes to that path and, potentially, quite significantly. There is, of course, some effect of the connections themselves if we are talking interconnects.
As for dynamics, separation, or other characteristics, it really comes down to the design and build quality which can run the entire gamut for either approach. The original Naim Nait was notorious for embarrassing separates so these possibilities do exist.
Thank you for contributing to the video and the channel. Please do subscribe and tell others about our work. There are nearly 230 videos now with many more in production or planned.
I don't like to be trapped with an integrated featured magical box. Being confined can be an awful feeling so I prefer separates. I like separate McIntosh MC 901 Monos, line stage Conrad Johnson gat2 pre-amplifier, lumin x1 streamer /dac with a separate power unit, and an AV processor. I think combining streamer/dac makes sense here to avoid Inter Connect issues and they probably handle it better within the streamer. If I had a Manhattan apartment a high-quality integrated may make sense.
With CD based systems, separating CD transport and dac is actually a clear advantage.
If you love the sound then you don't feel trapped.
You feel FREE from needing all the clutter.
I certainly understand your preferences as I have owned both paths including a Marantz 7C combined with Marantz Model 9s. I did a video about the advantage a mono amplifier has in placement near the speaker. You might want to enjoy that one.
Well, there are two schools of thought on that. You might want to dig back into 90s material where the topic of jitter was quite common. The risk you run with separate pieces, unless carefully considered, is making sure the clock timing is correct. Theta actually made a product to help deal with that.
@ jitter is an interesting point and I guess if it's a stereo amplifier they would be dealing with us issue??
Love Integrateds! ...and that's coming from a pro raised on separates and still owns separates, except one-- Accuphase E280.
Well, thank you for the compliment and hopefully you will enjoy the other 230 videos with so many more to come. This topic actually came from a viewer who wanted to know my thoughts about this question. It was a good one and so I gave my opinion. All are welcome to suggest topics as long as they are not too esoteric. I already have a bag full of those if I so choose to launch them.
Please do subscribe and tell others about the channel. I try to keep things fairly simple and honest from my experiences. Then, there are some folks who really make great observations in the comments. They are worth the read.
have you overlooked a prosaic reason for separates?
one can upgrade over the years in stages - allocating greater relative budget to only one or the other function at each stage - informed by taste, or independent factors (new listening space, new speakers, etc), or a particularly appealing evolution in SOTA of one vs the other. seems the opportunity for flexible "development & tuning" of one's system over the years is greater via separates - stretching one's budget at the same time.
Hey Grumpy, you raise a very valid and important view. The building block approach. You are correct that in making purchases, make a good one each time which means other areas may have to wait. I have tried to tell people, time and time again, you don't make money replacing equipment. The used market will pay little for what you own so don't take half steps.
This was the approach we used for years with Naim Audio, and others as systems were built out. Today's economic necessities, particularly here in the states, have become significantly more expensive limiting the effectiveness of the building block approach or at least stretching out the time line. It is, regardless, a very important view in a world that seemingly wants it all now.
@@audibleeleganceinc thx... it's how I've done it since getting my Sansui AU-222 in '70 (that I still have & use). being semi-poverty stricken back then but desiring the best at whatever level I could reach, building by blocks became core to my hobby. I've acquired & kept enough (as you point out, not all used equipt is worth a fortune) quality hardware to build up about 7 solid systems (mostly choice vintage + a reference system) - one for every listening space in the house. swapping around separates over the years has educated my ear to that elusive system synergy - not to mention the influence of listening spaces & set up. if you love music & stereos ya oughta make it fun!
{btw, I truly respect your wisdom derived from many years in the biz - the anecdotes about the folks & insights to so much hardware evolution. it establishes a kinda baseline for understanding the latest products - at least for those of us who've been around that long! cheers & have a great holiday}
@@grumpy9478 Thank you for your kind words. After so many years in the hobby and 40 years as a business, I thought it best to share my experiences with as many people as I can before either I cannot remember them or I am not around to speak them. This format is so wonderful as a way of sharing, certainly, I hope, one of the better ways it has been used.
Lou, I believe I'm going to begin calling you sir, and/or Mister Hamilton! You'd know full well that I absolutely love my Rogue Audio, Sphinx V3 that I recently had upgraded to their new "Magnum" version, by the wonderful and kind folks at Rogue Audio. I'm just a "mid-Fi" guy who's most interested in the quality of sound. This unit is quite good! And, I'm a "happy camper". One of the nicest features in the Sphinx is the quality of the built-in phono stage - very nice! Another nice "detail" is that with the Sphinx being a hybrid-Class "D", you can upgrade the tubes if you'd like. Here again, Rogue folks are great since they'll get to know you, what type of sound you like, and will test-match tubes for you. If I ever were to upgrade, based upon conversations with the Rogue Audio folks, I'd get a variation of their Cronus - the "Cronus Dark". Thanks for all of your sharing and caring!
Rogue is a wonder company and I am so happy that we got pissed on my Prima Luna. We went looking. Even Sandy Gross of Polk, Definitive Technology, and Goldenear fame had very nice things to say about them from a fellow manufacturer view.
I never had an integrated amp; I went from receiver to separates. But the performance of integrateds has come a long way, as you point out, and despite my preference for monoblock amps, a good integrated would be an option were I to downsize my system. Connectivity would be a key for me since I have 5 sources.
Thank you for adding your comment to the video and channel. I have had integrateds quite often and then onto monoblocks, rather special ones at that, Marantz Model 9s along with a 7C. I never found connectivity to be an issue with either but that was some time ago.
Now we have streaming, dacs, subwoofer outputs, heck, even remote control! At least the days of iPod inputs and adapters has passed. Oh, lest I forget, there's now bluetooth. So, the picture is quite a bit different today.
Start with integrated. Ensure it has pre-outs so when the itch happens upgrade to an external amplifier.
A fine recommendation and worth the addition to the video and channel. Thank you.
IMO: Streamer to amp to speakers. Modern streamers have everything you want in a preamp, so forget it (and thus also forget the integrated).
Maaaaybe add in a phono amp, if you want vinyl.
Most streamers have enough inputs, and volume and tone controls, along with subwoofer outputs too.
If you really want, some allow for external DAC, but to me thats one more source of noise.
That certainly is one approach and some follow it. It does place that streamer in the position of a preamp and then the question comes up as how good is it at that function.
Thank you for your comment as you do raise and interesting approach.
I want one of those yamahas with the vu meters
Now there's a throwback to the 70s and they are not alone in doing it!
Own systems that are comprised of both. Man-cave has a system that is all separates. Living room an integrated/receiver. If I am honest with myself, the performance of both rigs are on par with each other. For me it really depends on the need to conserver space and WAF. There was just no way I could get her to accept the look of the big heavy tube amps that my main rig is centered around. 😂
Thanks for contributing to the video and channel. Yes, life can be full of all sorts of compromises and yet some integrated amps can hold their own quite nicely.
Please do subscribe and tell others about our other 230 videos with so many more to come.
Separates are great but for the pure simplicity, I want integrated. I am thinking of buying the Naim Uniti Atom. I don't listen loud. range from 70dB to, if I am really rowdy, maybe 82-83dB. Average 75dB just about 99% of the time. I am buying the Dynaudio EVOKE 5's first, then the Naim 2nd. I was going to look at Rega but they won't give anything but 8ohm and 6ohm ratings so that makes me think the 3.2 ohms are likely not a good match.
I can certainly understand your reasoning about the selection of equipment. Keep in mind that most dynamic loudspeakers loading is nominal. What it does by frequency is an entirely different matter. Most dynamic speaker impedance curves look like a pretty rough ride on a rollercoaster.
yes for the clean family room look.
but no as a hobby because the fun is mix and match separates
---
source=Apple Music lossless quality
Well, you can have a clean look both. I did many times. But, it all depends upon anyone's circumstances. As for Apple lossless music or any other streaming services, please see my video on streaming and vinyl where both have issues. What a lot of people forget is while the streaming maybe "lossless) (I am reminded of Sonys claim about CD being "perfect sound forever") the question unanswered is what are they streaming. Thus, see the video.
Mod that BS streamer! 😊
Well, not quite sure I understand your comment and perhaps you could expand upon it.
As for modifying product, well, used or after the warranty is expired. I've only known of a few who really understand what they are doing when they attempt modifications. In one case, after the 17th mod, it blew up. It was returned to the manufacturer who found that most of the modifications were great and actually adopted some for their production. They also took the time to tell him why the last mod failed. That owner created a lot of patents.
Have I modified things? Yes, but never in the circuitry itself and in todays day and age, where there are running production changes without model designation changes, I'd be a bit timid about doing such.