bennattj
New Member
I had been running my subwoofer with the high level inputs by simply branching off the amp (see pic of old amp connection) with a banana splitter (which should be 12 gauge I believe). I decided I wanted to try out the line level input to sub since my preamp has two parallel outs. This original high-level configuration was leftover from before I got my active preamp.
This is probably one of the most dramatic sound improvements I have ever heard!!! And it wasn't the sub, it was the speakers that sounded noticeably tighter, there was texture in the bass that wasn't there before, and overall it was just extremely articulate (and these are 60-year-old, re-capped and re-sealed, KLH Model 17s...so not exactly high fidelity speakers). The clarity improvement was so significant that I could finally hear a distinction between my Bluesound NODE's internal DAC and my Schiit Mimir: the ending piano notes on Dick Dale's "Miserlou" were like crisp water droplets from the Mimir, compared to a slightly harsh glare from the NODE (which almost sounded like a slightly out-of-tune piano smearing the pitch).
So I asked Gemini what likely caused this, and it came up with three possible answers.
1 (most likely now to me): the connections were adding contact resistance and lowering the damping factor of the amp (it really adds enough resistance to affect this so dramatically?)
2 (this sounded pretty reasonable for a bit, but I'm not completely convinced): The high-level path to the sub was creating a ground loop between the sub and amp (they were on different outlets). This sounded plausible except there was no hum or anything--it was dead silent when off.
3 (the more I thought about this, the less it made sense): the back emf of the speakers was sinking into the sub's step-down circuitry. i.e. the step-down circuitry was interacting with the speakers.
This seems like it can't possibly be true: a) the high impedance of the sub's path should mean the back emf cannot possibly flow in that direction and b) this would be a problem with every sub using high-level inputs (it seems--even if I daisy-chained my speakers to them since the signal has to be split one way or the other).
So after hearing the difference, I was like, well damn, maybe I should throw away these banana plugs. So I went ahead and tried connecting with straight wire. I'm less certain but I think that improved it yet again (not as dramatic). I'm thinking I'll go back to the banana plugs with spade adapter at the speakers (those posts are pretty worthless, so the spade adapter is actually a better connection than trying to hook 12-gauge-wire around the posts and tighten).
Look how ridiculous this looks lmfao but I really think it may have improved (or maybe the amp connection was more important?).
So what do y'all think? Are banana plugs really as bad as people say they are?
This is probably one of the most dramatic sound improvements I have ever heard!!! And it wasn't the sub, it was the speakers that sounded noticeably tighter, there was texture in the bass that wasn't there before, and overall it was just extremely articulate (and these are 60-year-old, re-capped and re-sealed, KLH Model 17s...so not exactly high fidelity speakers). The clarity improvement was so significant that I could finally hear a distinction between my Bluesound NODE's internal DAC and my Schiit Mimir: the ending piano notes on Dick Dale's "Miserlou" were like crisp water droplets from the Mimir, compared to a slightly harsh glare from the NODE (which almost sounded like a slightly out-of-tune piano smearing the pitch).
So I asked Gemini what likely caused this, and it came up with three possible answers.
1 (most likely now to me): the connections were adding contact resistance and lowering the damping factor of the amp (it really adds enough resistance to affect this so dramatically?)
2 (this sounded pretty reasonable for a bit, but I'm not completely convinced): The high-level path to the sub was creating a ground loop between the sub and amp (they were on different outlets). This sounded plausible except there was no hum or anything--it was dead silent when off.
3 (the more I thought about this, the less it made sense): the back emf of the speakers was sinking into the sub's step-down circuitry. i.e. the step-down circuitry was interacting with the speakers.
This seems like it can't possibly be true: a) the high impedance of the sub's path should mean the back emf cannot possibly flow in that direction and b) this would be a problem with every sub using high-level inputs (it seems--even if I daisy-chained my speakers to them since the signal has to be split one way or the other).
So after hearing the difference, I was like, well damn, maybe I should throw away these banana plugs. So I went ahead and tried connecting with straight wire. I'm less certain but I think that improved it yet again (not as dramatic). I'm thinking I'll go back to the banana plugs with spade adapter at the speakers (those posts are pretty worthless, so the spade adapter is actually a better connection than trying to hook 12-gauge-wire around the posts and tighten).
Look how ridiculous this looks lmfao but I really think it may have improved (or maybe the amp connection was more important?).
So what do y'all think? Are banana plugs really as bad as people say they are?