Art,

My apologies for the late reply. Been workin a lot. Over 30 hours in the past two days. I'll try to respond as best I can on a significant sleep deficit. As an additional alibi, my knowledge of electronics and music are not as vast as yours but I'll do my best to convey my impressions.

In terms of the Marantz, I'm not sure how much difference that device made. IMO, a decent CD player doesn't need to cost a great deal and shouldn't make as big a difference as speakers, dacs, and amplification. For a few hundred dollars you can get a pretty good player and I doubt I could tell the difference between a $200 and $1,200 dollar CD player. I also do not know exactly how the player was connected...

In terms of the Hegel and T1 interaction, they go together like peanut butter and chocolate! The T1s are very revealing. The tweeter is open and airy. Any noise floor and distortion is very noticeable. The noise floor on the Hegel is eerily quiet. If it's not on the recording, it not heard. This is true with the remainder of the Hegel's reproduction. It's powerful, accurate, and very smooth. I've heard others describe it as almost tube like but there is no coloration.

I feel like I have achieved some similar qualities with my Integra when set up properly as described, the sound stage is deep, rich, dynamic, and revealing. The noise floor is not as good. To me, a low noise floor is like a high contrast ratio in a picture. I like my blacks pitch black as it makes the rest of the scene more dynamic (pops). A low noise floor does the same for music.

In the normal 6-ohm setting and through the HDMI, the noise floor is noisier and the sound is compressed. It's noisier, unnatural, not as deep or rich. Almost like drinking skim milk versus whole milk. I'm sure having two Integra amplifier channels running and set at 4-ohms is a better match for the T1s in a full range crossover setting. The resistance measurements of the T1s show that they spend a lot of time below 6-ohms and dip into the 3-ohm range in a few places.

Anyways, I hope that describes it well enough. I think my Integra is getting me about 85 percent there and it will certainly take a significant investment to move up... Let me know if this makes sense, Art. Thanks again for your time and recommendations. I am loving my T1s when I'm home to listen.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Art,

In addition to my longer post, you can try the same settings on your Onkyo as I did on my Integra and see how it sounds to you. I'd be curious what you hear and how well you can describe it. Likely much better than I.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hey T Cobe,
I appreciate your humility when you write, but in fact you are a REALLY good writer and describe what you are hearing VERY well.
Good job, and thanks!!!!
As far as the noise floor in your rig, it MIGHT be that you are just pushing the Integra too hard. I would try the 8 ohm setting and not double wired or bi-amped as you called it. I don't think you are really bi-amping if I read your comments correctly, but it doesn't matter what you call the way you have it hooked up, you might be trying to wring too much out of the one amp.
Just a thought.
But keep the reports coming, thanks!
Keep having fun, God Bless,
Wayne

T Cobe wrote: Art,

In addition to my longer post, you can try the same settings on your Onkyo as I did on my Integra and see how it sounds to you. I'd be curious what you hear and how well you can describe it. Likely much better than I.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi T Cobe,

My Onkyo offers two speaker impedance settings: 4 ohms and 6 ohms. The Onkyo manual suggests choosing 4 ohms for speakers presenting less than 6 ohms nominal impedance, or choosing 6 ohms for speakers presenting 6 to 16 ohms nominal impedance.

The Triton One specs in the Brochure state that the nominal impedance is compatible with 8 ohms. So, I have set my Onkyo to 6 ohms.

Are you suggesting that I set my Onkyo to 4 ohms?

If I read your message correctly, you have set your Integra to 4 ohms? If so, why, since the specs state that the T1s are nominal 8 ohms?

Also, how are you making the determination about the "noise floor". You are ahead of me in this regard. Do you have a test CD or some other method for identifying these noises? Are you detecting certain types of distortion and if so, what types and how?

Thanks,

Art

www.stereophile.com/content/goldenear-te...speaker-measurements

Here you go, Art. First paragraph says it all regarding the impedance. The T1 is 8-ohm compatible...Give my settings a try and let me know what you think. Remember to bi-amp as well.

Regarding noise floor, turn up the volume and play something that has a spot with a silent portion. Can you hear a hiss? It should be dead silent. That's a noise floor, or at least what I was talking about. I may be misusing the term.

Cheers,

T Cobe

Hi T Cobe and Wayne,

T Cobe: Following is copied from your post on Page 2 regarding your bi-amp connections:

I did find that switching my Integra into 4 ohm mode and bi-amping my T1s with my unused channels, I get much better dynamics, depth, and imaging. I ran a comparison between both 14 and 12 Guage wire and I believe the 12 guage sounded better. Food for thought in case you are still using the zip chord. Thank you for your recommendations and happy listening!

Having re-read the above comment, I must admit I am puzzled about the hook-up. What speaker connections on your Integra are you using to drive the T1s when you say you are bi-amping with unused channels?

Why aren't you driving your T1s with the main L/R Front speaker connections on your Integra?

If you have the T1s connected to any of the surround-speaker terminals, then the only way to get L/R stereo to them is to set the Integra into the All Channels Stereo mode. Even then, you may be introducing unwanted signals into your T1s. And, you certainly cannot use the "Pure Direct" Mode to listen to your T1s with this setup. The Pure Direct Mode only sends signals to the Front l/R speaker terminals ( and to the sub if you are in the Analog Sub mode).

Why not simply connect your T1s to the Integra Front Speaker terminals, set the Integra into the Pure Direct mode, then listen again to the sound quality before you do anything else?

I agree with your thoughts about 12 gauge wire for the T1s. I ordered high-quality copper 12 gauge speaker wire from Monoprice, along with a set of their gold-plated banana plugs. I like the result of using this wire and the plugs for my Triton Ones.

Best,

Art