Recent content by Alex F.

Purchase a two-channel preamp or an integrated amplifier that has a home-theater bypass (also known as a unity-gain input), and you're good to go--no need to change cables around. The stereo components will drive the front left and right speakers while the HT receiver will power the surrounds...

Ask Velodyne: call 408-465-2800 (California).

Good news. Be aware that if you utilize too low a crossover frequency you could induce driver overload on loud passages. The "woofers" in the satellites and center speaker are rather small and will reveal audible volume limits if asked to reproduce too much upper bass at louder levels. When...

Steve: I assume that the receiver's setup menu was not set accidentally to "off," "none," or "phantom mode." If all is OK in this regard, as Wayne suggested manually increase the receiver's center-channel volume level. Set the receiver's crossover to 140 Hz to start (200 Hz may be too high...

I own the Polk LSi25s. Also have owned Paradigms in the past. The Paradigm Studio 100s were a bit of a letdown. I had high expectations based on what I had read here on HTF and elsewhere. They're OK, but to my ears not as refined as the LSi25s or a few other brands. (A search on HTF should pull...

I'll "third" the Salamander racks. Our Twin 20 and Single 40, in walnut with matching side panels and doors, are gorgeous, of very high quality, and expandable to various configurations. Without any help from me, my wife assembled them. A woman with beauty, brains, and mechanical abilities...

It depends upon your bass requirements. On more than one occasion, my wife has complimented our Velodyne FSR18's deep, powerful bass during a movie, only to be told by me that the Velodyne isn't powered up. It was the LSi25's bass that impressed her. Using Stereophile's Test CD #1, our LSi25s...

Michael: I've had a pair of the LSi25s since early 2002. As I've posted here previously, their generally warm, mid-hall sonic signature is very similar to offerings from Vandersteen, Vienna Acoustics, and Sonus-Faber. I'm very fond of the Sonus-Faber loudspeakers, with the exception of the...

Thank you very much for the kind wishes, Lee.

I personally prefer the sonics of the LSi series to the products I've auditioned in the Nautilus line. I listened extensively to the Polk LSi9 and B&W 803 (and 804, for a more limited time), but ended up choosing to purchase the LSi25 over all of them based on overall sound quality. (I haven't...

Kevin: It may not be an ideal way to test, but you could use your TV if it has an audio line input.

Kevin: As I recall, you recently purchased an Onkyo stereo receiver for your father. You can feed two preout channels at a time to any Onkyo line input to test if the entire H/K preamp section is working OK.

Yes, I am referring to the top model (your AVR-7000) that replaced the previous top model (AVR-30) about 1995 or 1996, if memory serves. I spent a few hours auditioning speakers back then and one dealer used both models to drive the speakers I tried while another dealer used the AVR-30. Both...

If the H/K 7000 is the one I think it is (replaced the AVR-30 about 1995-96?), it is, to my ears, an exceptionally fine-sounding receiver, and I'd take it over any vintage unit.

I'm going to generalize a bit, which can be dangerous, but I have owned and played with an endless stream of receivers at all price levels from 1970 through the early 1980s. Models tested were from Marantz, H.H. Scott, Pioneer, Sansui, Technics, Harman/Kardon, Kenwood, Sherwood, and Sony...