That’s why they probably chose it tbh; MOLEX is a standard, and kind of a lazy one but most Hifi-enthusiasts that have never built or upgraded a computer would even know what one was (for the KEF crowd).
I will say that simple speaker wire with either spring terminals or banana plug terminations would work just as well and that’s what most active subwoofers use for speaker-level input/outputs but they probably wanted something that would be “idiot-proof” for people that just want a plug-and-play solution. This was probably just a cheap solution for Swan that could be had in bulk and carry an analog signal.
Edit: and if they are just standard 4-pin MOLEX connectors and you want to make extensions, there are 2-pin MOLEX that should be compatible AFAIK. Is that what the terminations going into the satellites are? Like this but either in white or black?
Yup, that’s a MOLEX alright. For an extension, someone could always split the connector into the Sub (cut off the clip and then have two pairs of runs) and then make appropriate 2-pin extensions with similar gauge wire, I would think. Unfortunately, a cursory look at Swans website didn’t show any pre-made options, which makes sense if the satellites are just attached. They definitely just want people to be ‘one and done’ out of the box.
I feel like I just had this conversation with someone on Reddit over Vanatoo’s plug on the T1E+ haha, except theirs is a standarized 4-pin Cannon Plug that people assume is proprietary. Their issue was wanting a white one though for their decor instead of the standard black color; Vanatoo sells two different lengths and it’s fully removable between the master and slave speaker units.
Hahaha that’s what I said (although I told him to either re-sleeve it or just use white heatshrink). He sounds like he knows his way around a crimper and soldering iron though, so I think he’s actually gonna make a custom one. The speakers don’t even come in white, they’re either black or have a veneer wrap but the heart wants what the heart wants and I think he was fine making a project out of it but wanted to know if Vanatoo offered a prebuilt one or would tell him the termination/pinout.
Then one end of the Y splitter to the Swan OS-10 and the other end to an active sub, such as this
Would that work? That is, can I simply switch between the Swan M10 Plus and the Swan OS-10+Sub combo? (when the JDS Switch is switched to the Asgard 3 amp.)
That should work just fine AFAIK, as long as the sub sees the ~2 VRMS (which it should from the Y-split) then you’re good. Worst case scenario, maybe have to turn up the sub a lil’ bit if the signal from the Y-split is a little weaker than a straight connection, the RCA Y-split is a classic method of integrating a sub off a preamp with no dedicated variable output. Are you going to use the Ali switch as your volume control, or max that and use the Asgard 3? Either one works tbh.
Honestly the most convenient way to control volume for me is to just adjust the windows volume (or Linux in my case) and have the preamp via my asgard 3 (and jds atom) on max volume including the switches. The speakers arent at max though.
Haha yeah, volume control via OS can be poor in terms of how linear it is. In windows iirc, every step is ±2%. With Linux I at least have ±1%. its convenient since I have a volume wheel very close by. I got this for that purpose. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005596637674.html
Since my current keyboard doesnt have a volume wheel.
Only worry with this method is if the software bugs out and starts blasting the volume…but havent happened so far
If your using software control though you will be losing DR and bit depth so potentially adding artifacts on system rounding as well as adding noise on the reamping.
If we are being real tho it’s all no biggie for general SQ but just so you are aware for your bud dev purposes.
oh I know depends on how shitty the software is but i have no issues with linux and that ±1% is fine enough for me to do my R&D faster and easier. Compared to using a knob that is much harder to align (and slightly further away so takes more time and u know how short our audio memory is…)
Got my backup drive for my orange pi 5 plus, gonna set up my backup and write about that then im mostly done with the writeup. (DAMN IT, bought the wrong case this is for sata drives…)
Also bought another smart plug so I can measure my Synology DS423+ power drain.
After factoring the power consumption from my 2x16TB seagate and 1x18TB toshiba drives (using the datasheet for the idle powerconsumpion) Looks like the Synology DS423+ is taking about 15W idle compared to the 6W idle in the Orange Pi 5 Plus. I didnt factor in the NVME drives but both have a similar small one with 1TB in the Pi and 2 TB in the DS423+ and both have similar ram amount with the pi at 16gb and the DS423+ at 18gb.
Oh but the Pi measurements is WITH the Waveshare UPS. @rattlingblanketwoman
Just got some second-hand Alter Rider 3’s and Grand Archer 1’s in this afternoon; both are worthy of their Rikubud heritage. GA1 is definitely a vocals and air master, and while it’s not very bassy, the punch in the midbass is actually pretty satisfying with normal black foams and the subbass is there, just not a focus. Alter Rider 3 I had the chance to demo before (thanks again @GooberBM ) but I didn’t really have the headspace to give them their due since I was on the road for work in another country at the time. Fantastic all-rounders that you can add warmth to with denser foams (currently got them on white foams). Treble is among the most natural I have heard in a bud, neither diminished nor overdone even with denser foams.
Looks like it should work fine; as long as you get enough juice to adequately power Swans, I see that it has an aux out (which you could then run RCA to the sub). The only thing that bothers me is they don’t seem to have a manual for download (although the amp comes with a printed one?) and with that high-pass knob, they don’t specify if that controls the speaker outs only or the aux as well. If the high-pass doesn’t just control the speaker outputs, then you would have to run everything full-range and blend the Malmo sub by hand/ear without other gear in the chain. The sub also only specifies 50hz @ -3db where the speakers are rated for 60hz @ -3db so I’m not sure how much that sub is worth adding with room gain. That said, you could also run the speakers with the high pass at ~80hz and send the rest to the sub to keep them happy and give you more power headroom on the speakers/amp.
Edit: I have to imagine that the high pass only controls the speaker output (otherwise why have it?) but without a manual or blurb in the description to specify, I’d rather be certain before committing.
That A5 has 78x2W with the stock charger. (can go up to 250x2W@4ohm with a more powerful charger.)
That swan has 50x2W peak power (according to the amazon description). So the A5 should be more than enough without any charger upgrades.
Exactly.
Yeah…not too much info, i did mail them about it though. Dont see them say anything about it here as well.
Yeah makes more sense for it to only apply to the speaker out.
That “off” at least implies u can turn the filter off. Funny though cuz I asked them on ali and the chatbot said it cannot turn off the high pass filter the first time I asked, then the next time it said no lol. the chatbot did say the high pass filter works with both aux and speaker out…but this doesnt make much sense…
I did the same thing with those orico models - they sneaky with it but the build quality is good - though thermal was not as good as expected.
