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Interesting discovery this morning with my DCM speakers

A

Anubis

Super Member
I first hooked up my Sansui SE-8 EQ to see if I could get it to fire up after going thru and cleaning it. It was the first time I hooked it up. I hooked it to my Pioneer SX-1050 driving a pair of DCM TF-600s and gave it a go. It was stubborn at first as the left channel was not responding. I finally got it going. It's ok, nothing special. I need to work with it some more. I've taken it back out of the system for now.

I then decided to swap out my Pioneer SX-1050 for my little Marantz 2238b to see if it would power the DCM speakers. Not only did the little 30WPC Marantz drive the DCM TF-600s, but did it better then the Pioneer monster!:music: 1/4 up on the volume knob was more than enough! Two little notches past that and it was too loud.
I'm wondering if someone can tell me something.
It doesn't seem right that my little low powered Marantz would be able to drive those speakers like that. I'm thinking either the DCM Timeframe 600s are one of the most efficient speakers ever or this whole audio theory thing is becoming counter-intuitive for me.
 
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The only DCM speakers I have are first series Time Windows, and the sensitivity is fairly low on those. If I swap the TW's for my Boston A-150's and keep everything else the same, the Boston's are a lot louder at the same volume position.

I've never experienced more output with less power. I went from a 90 wpc receiver to a 150 wpc amp and I gained output,
 
89grand said:
The only DCM speakers I have are first series Time Windows, and the sensitivity is fairly low on those. If I swap the TW's for my Boston A-150's and keep everything else the same, the Boston's are a lot louder at the same volume position.

I've never experienced more output with less power. I went from a 90 wpc receiver to a 150 wpc amp and I gained output,
Click to expand...

Yeah, that's what I can't figure out. The difference in the volume knob position is tiny between the Pioneer SX-1050 and the Marantz 2238b mind you, I probably should have stated that first.
That said though why would there be no noticable vast difference in volume or gain between a 110wpc and 30wpc receiver with these speakers? The only ting I can think of is sensitivity or efficiency.
Don't get me wrong, its delightful and I like the sound of my little Marantz slightly better than the Pioneer anyway.
I should hook the DCMs up to my Yamaha cr-2020 and see what happens. Maybe later.:music:
 
volume knob position doesn't really mean much - the preamp gain and the taper of the volume control pot will determine how loud it sounds as a function of how high the volume control is turned up.
 
mhardy6647 said:
volume knob position doesn't really mean much - the preamp gain and the taper of the volume control pot will determine how loud it sounds as a function of how high the volume control is turned up.
Click to expand...

:thmbsp:This is almost certainly the explanation. Another thought is that the SX-1050 has a -20db muting switch next to the volume knob. If that circuit is engaged, it will take a much higher volume setting to achieve the same loudness/wattage. I know I've forgotten to switch muting off once or twice on my Sanyo JCX-2600K.
 
CygnusDen said:
:thmbsp:This is almost certainly the explanation. Another thought is that the SX-1050 has a -20db muting switch next to the volume knob. If that circuit is engaged, it will take a much higher volume setting to achieve the same loudness/wattage. I know I've forgotten to switch muting off once or twice on my Sanyo JCX-2600K.
Click to expand...

No, muting was not engaged at any time. Like I said the position difference was tiny.
 
mhardy6647 said:
volume knob position doesn't really mean much - the preamp gain and the taper of the volume control pot will determine how loud it sounds as a function of how high the volume control is turned up.
Click to expand...

I know the knob position means almost nothing, it's just a visual aid. What I'm more interested in is what my ears heard.:D
 
Take comfort in knowing that you have a little Marantz 2238b that says " I think I can .... I think I can " . Good Karma indeed .
 
Hi,

The smaller amplifier simply has a less useful range on its volume knob,
like a lot of amplifiers/ receivers. My amplifier starts clipping typically
around 4 o'clock, many amplifiers can't get past 12 o'clock.

rgds, sreten.
 
zebra03 said:
Take comfort in knowing that you have a little Marantz 2238b that says " I think I can .... I think I can " . Good Karma indeed .
Click to expand...

Not only that, but it does sound better than my monster Pioneer in certain respects. I don't know, there just seems to be something a little special about Marantz and Sansui. Don't know what it is, but they have a very pure and dynamic sound to them. I don't own a Sansui yet, but I have heard an 8080db that was just heavenly. I have a Yamaha CR2020 that's nice as well, but you really have to tweak it everytime you switch albums and such. I'm still working with it. It may be due to the fact that I'm driving Pioneer HPM 100s as well and in desperate need of an EQ. (I disgress)
 
Anubis said:
Not only that, but it does sound better than my monster Pioneer in certain respects. I don't know, there just seems to be something a little special about Marantz and Sansui. Don't know what it is, but they have a very pure and dynamic sound to them. I don't own a Sansui yet, but I have heard an 8080db that was just heavenly. I have a Yamaha CR2020 that's nice as well, but you really have to tweak it everytime you switch albums and such. I'm still working with it. It may be due to the fact that I'm driving Pioneer HPM 100s as well and in desperate need of an EQ. (I disgress)
Click to expand...

There is more than one instance where people have found that the lower powered receiver and integrated amps from a company actually have better sound quality than the higher powered units. This has happened in many product lines, so your experience is no surprise. I would suspect that the Marantz has a stout power supply, and great care was taken in listening and voicing sessions, ie it wasn't just built to spec out well. The quality of parts in those units were probably quite good as well. I am not a receiver or vintage electronics person, but this is something I have experienced more than once in the past. For instance Tandberg makes great receivers, and always sounded better than the mid line offerings from the big Japanese companies, but the kicker is those Danish receivers were expensive! Enjoy which combination works the best for you, and have a great time listening to them.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Danish? :dunno:

John

Mister Pig said:
There is more than one instance where people have found that the lower powered receiver and integrated amps from a company actually have better sound quality than the higher powered units. This has happened in many product lines, so your experience is no surprise. I would suspect that the Marantz has a stout power supply, and great care was taken in listening and voicing sessions, ie it wasn't just built to spec out well. The quality of parts in those units were probably quite good as well. I am not a receiver or vintage electronics person, but this is something I have experienced more than once in the past. For instance Tandberg makes great receivers, and always sounded better than the mid line offerings from the big Japanese companies, but the kicker is those Danish receivers were expensive! Enjoy which combination works the best for you, and have a great time listening to them.

Regards
Mister Pig
Click to expand...
 
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