Thanks Mike. I reckon I prefer what I understand to be a ‘warmer’ sound. Do you know what settings would achieve a warm sound from Tilt?
This is what the manual shows
Tilt
Tilt adjusts the whole frequency response in a natural way. There are seven types of Tilt that can be set in dB (Bass,Treble):
[(+3,-3)] , [(+2,-2)] , [(+1,-1)] , [(0,0)] , [(-1,+1)] , [(-2,+2)] , [(-3,+3)].
The default setting is [(0,0)].
When I was cramming up on Tilt today online I came across a great offer for the Quad Artera Stereo Power amp from a renowned Hifi dealer. A customer had returned within 30 day so they were selling for only £1099 (RRP £1649), so I jumped at it.
However I may have made a schoolboy error when it comes to matching the Quad Power amp with my speakers, which are Gato FM-50’s. The Quad power amp is 8 Ohms but my speakers are 4 Ohms which with my limited understanding of these things might mean the speakers impedance is too low. It does say though that it is nominal impedance of 4 Ohms, does this mean this is the lowest but may be higher? Perhaps someone could clarify? I’ll put the specs from the amp and the speakers below. Can anybody see a problem with matching this power amp with my speakers due to the mismatch in ohms between them?
Quad power amp.
SPECIFICATIONS
(Measurement made with 230V supply, one channel driven and applied to either channel)
Rated Output Power 140W 8 ohm (<1% THD,1kHz)
Total Harmonic Distortion <0.003% (100W, 1kHz)
<0.03% (100W, 20Hz-20kHz)
Frequency Response -0.5dB (20Hz-20kHz, ref. 1kHz)
-3dB (20Hz-70kHz, ref. 1kHz)
Input Sensitivity 980mV(RCA line in)
Input Impedance 10kohm (Balanced)
15kohm (Unbalanced)
Signal to Noise Ration(S/N) 115dB (A weighted, ref. 140W)
Power Requirement
240V~50-60Hz
230V~50-60Hz
115V~50-60Hz
100V~50-60Hz
Maximum Power Consumption 750W
Standby Power Consumption <0.5W
Gato FM-50 Speakers.
|FREQUENCY RESPONSE| 32 Hz – 35kHz|
|SENSITIVITY (2,83V) |88dB|
|RECOMMENDED POWER AMPLIFIER |50 to 300Watts|
|NOMINAL IMPEDANCE | 4 ohm|
The 8ohm on the power amplifier is just the standard used so you can evaluate across offerings.
The quad will be happy at 4ohm and will put out 200 watts so matches the speakers well.
Cheers Ged, appreciate the info.
Power amps make almost as much of a difference in sound as preamps do. Anyone who says differently has bad hearing or lack luster equipment where they can’t decern the differences due to the lack luster gear used.
When I switched out my Quad Artera Pre for the Pass Labs XP-20, there was a large jump in improvements all the way around, though not as large as I had expected. That was until I upgraded my Emotiva XPA-2 Gen 2 amp to a pair of custom Odyssey Audio Stratos monoblock amps. Those two amps completely transformed my system into something truly spectacular, to the point that I no longer have a desire to upgrade anything in the system.
The best line of advice I can offer you is just buy and try different equipment in your own system so YOU can hear and determine what sounds like what in your room.
“Supposedly without coloring the sound…”
Nothing like blatant contradiction, huh?
If you’re using tone controls to make the sound warmer or cooler, you are in fact coloring the sound. That’s kind of the point of tone controls.
One of many reasons I don’t use tone controls, and the fact that my Pass Labs preamp doesn’t have them anyway.
I run the Artera Pre flat with a pair of Audiolab 8300Mbs in balanced mode via XLR. All I can say is it sounds fantastic.
My understanding is that warmth comes from a more forward midrange; which tilt does not really effect. So…