Mosaic - Newbie question

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venkat

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hi All,

I am absolutely new to the HT/ Audio area, please bear with the following stupid question :rolleyes:

Do the Mosaic speakers come with their own in-built woofers? In addition to the speakers what else is required to be able to play them - amplifier? woofer?

Would be thankful if anyone can suggest good amplifiers in the sub 500$ range. If woofers are required, please suggest them too.

Also I do not have a AV receiver right now. However in future I plan to set up a HT system with the mosaics as the front or rear speakers.

thanks a lot.:)

Venkat
 
hi All,

I am absolutely new to the HT/ Audio area, please bear with the following stupid question :rolleyes:

Do the Mosaic speakers come with their own in-built woofers? In addition to the speakers what else is required to be able to play them - amplifier? woofer?

Would be thankful if anyone can suggest good amplifiers in the sub 500$ range. If woofers are required, please suggest them too.

Also I do not have a AV receiver right now. However in future I plan to set up a HT system with the mosaics as the front or rear speakers.

thanks a lot.:)

Venkat
1. No, the Mosaics do not have any powered woofers.
2. You need an amp to play them.
3. Rotel are good amps in the sub-$500 range, go used.
4. Go to Tweeter to get the Mosaics for only $999, instead of the usual retail of $2000.
5. Welcome!

JOey
 
thanks Joey.

The mosaics are 175 Watt - 5 ohm speakers. So how does one choose the right amplifiers? Can I drive both speakers from a single amplifier?

Also, for a HT setup, is the amplifier required even when you have a sub woofer and a AV receiver?

Venkat
 
thanks Joey.

The mosaics are 175 Watt - 5 ohm speakers. So how does one choose the right amplifiers? Can I drive both speakers from a single amplifier?

Also, for a HT setup, is the amplifier required even when you have a sub woofer and a AV receiver?

Venkat


Just 1 decent amp will drive them. The 175w rating... dont mind that.

Joey
 
Thanks again Joey.

I think I will start with a pair of Mosaics and an used Pioneer VSX-80TXV. I am thinking this will later on allow me to upgrade to a full fledged HT system by adding a sub woofer and a center speaker. The reason to choose Pioneer is it supports HDMI.

Bestbuy-Magnolia is also offering the Mosaics for 500$ each. Actually this is what got me started :)

Venkat
 
Venkat,

I would not base my purchase of a receiver just because it can do HDMI switching. If you have more than one HDMI source and only one HDMI input I would go with an external HDMI switch. See the attached link. They make ones that will also switch your digital audio input. I use this brand and I find it works great.

http://www.octavainc.com/HDMI switch 5port.htm

Now you are free to get a good pre amp and amp.

Cherian
 
Thanks Cherian.

Joey suggested Rotel, but I am not able to find them at the place I live. The next best or popular choice seem to be the Denons or the Pioneers. Of these two I think Pioneer seems to be offering a better deal for the price.

Venkat
 
Venkat,

Just make sure to buy it soon.... the Mosaics are retailing at $2K and it's not going to be long before it goes back up there in price.

Joey
 
Thanks Cherian.

Joey suggested Rotel, but I am not able to find them at the place I live. The next best or popular choice seem to be the Denons or the Pioneers. Of these two I think Pioneer seems to be offering a better deal for the price.

Venkat

welcome, Looking for Rotel..... check www.audiogon.com, most of us have had good dealings with the site.

as far as Denon vs Pioneer, I have a Pioneer Elite receiver (VSX-59) which is more than adequate for me on HT, although I am not at all impressed with it's music listening ability.
 
I brought the mosaics today :)

The setup is this: Mosaics, Klipsch sub10 subwoofer, Pioneer VSX-816-K, and monster cables.

I ran the setup in analog mode and the sound was not impressive :(
...it almost sounded like any other speaker. I have tried different speaker positions and know the one I like the most. I also have doubly verified connections, but the problem remains...the speakers are sounding ordinary :(

I would be thankful if someone could answer these...:
1. for playing just music, how much difference does it make between analog (the red/white) channels and the coaxial
2. did anyone have experience with the Pioneer VSX-816-K?
3. The reciever manual says it is ideal for 8ohm speakers but I can also specify 6 ohms.
4. good audio tracks which would put the martin logans to good use

thanks in advance

Venkat
 
1. Can you post pics of your setup so we may see how the entire thing is positioned and the room they are in.

2. Also, I assume you have hooked up a CDP or DVDP to the Pioneer via the Red/White RCA Composite cables into the Pioneer. Can you make sure that you are NOT using any sound "manipulating" algorithm like Prologic, etc...

3. What do you mean that they sound like every other speakers? In what specific way?

Venkat...
I do not know how much experience you have in audio, but I'll outline several things that you need to listen for to get a good baseline in appreciating good audio gear.

1. Bass - Good bass should not be overbearing or one-notey. Bass should not overwhelm the rest of the frequency spectrum, hence, if you have the Klipsch Sub10 overcalibrated, you're muddying the rest of the sound (be sure to keep the bass low).

2. Midrange - This is where most of the instruments and vocals reside. If you have good speakers, you should have clean and clear midrange reproduction. Instruments should sound real and voices should sound good.

3. Highs - This is where most of the harmonic tones of instruments lie. This also creates the air or the ambience of the music you are reproducing. This should never be overbearing and your ears shouldnt hurt from an overly airy/detailed spike in the frequency range.

4. Soundstaging - This is basically the phenomenon in which the performers appear to be playing in between the speakers (IF properly positioned) when played in stereo (meaning TWO speakers in the front only). The singer in most songs is usually right in the middle (MAKE sure to sit in your chair where you are basically in the middle of the two speakers (side to side, laterally).

5. Imaging - How tight and realistic each of the instruments and vocalist is being simulated in the front soundstage. Usually, the better your amp and the better your preamp, then the TIGHTER your image is.

Take those 5 basic audio critiquing steps and you will hear how much better the Mosaics are than regular speakers.

Joey
 
Thanks a lot Joey.

I used your guidelines, here are my observations. I would say the imaging and the highs are the not as good as I heard in the showroom.

1. Imaging: the sound image is not as tight as I had heard it in the showroom

2. Soundstaging: seems as if the left speaker (the one infront of the sub) is more dominant

3. Highs: not much.

4. Midrange: the vocals are not as good we heard it in the showroom.

5. Bass: the receiver bass is set at +2 (in a range of -6 to +6). On the sub, there is a low pass filter knob, what is a good Hz value to set this at?

Others:
1. I switched from analog to Digital Coaxial output from the the dvd player to the receiver and there was a noticeable change in the sound (I like this one better). I am going to try a good coaxial cable today.

2. The audio mode on the dvdp is set to "stereo"

3. I am attaching a sketch of room layout.

Kindly let me know if I can do anything to improve.
 

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Last edited:
Venkat,

This is going be a lot... so I would appreciate it if you gave me a call on my cell. Email me and I'll give it out to you ([email protected]).

Based on your pic, I can see several things that could be messing with your sound. The angle at which the entire thing is setup and the corner that helps make the left speaker louder.

Give me a call, my friend. We'll sort this out together.

Joey :)
 

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