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mulveling

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Everything posted by mulveling

  1. Yeah, super-tweeters could make a lot of sense in that setup. Crossover will be critical. I'm pretty strictly a sweet-spot listener at home, so I'm not the best reference for the dispersion characteristics. I would test the super-tweeters by standing behind them, then taking a CD case and angling it in front of the dome and back towards me - you can hear the super-tweeters quite clearly like this, even with the main speakers playing simultaneously. It's kinda interesting to hear what parts of the music make it above 10k. You could wiggle the angle of the CD case a bit, and still hear them, but any more than that and it drops off rapidly. So I get there impression that there is SOME dispersion, but it's limited, at least in the case of the ST100/200. You don't have to have the tweeters sitting at ear level, but I've always seen/used the ST100/200 angled (usually down) towards ear levels for the seating location. Again, FWIW - Gordon has also said that properly setup super-tweeters expand the system's sweet-spot. I'm not sure how this works, but he does know an awful lot more then me about acoustics & electronics.
  2. For what it's worth, my local tube/speaker tech/designer guy has previously posted (GordonW on audiokarma) that having extension beyond 20k reduces phase error, and that the cumulative phase error for a system adds up from each component. That would be the argument for having speakers extend well past 20k, though as of now I don't understand the physics involved. If that is the case, then I would think that placement of the supertweeters on a speaker would be very precise, and should also take seating position into account.
  3. I had some Tannoy ST100 on my Kensington SE speakers for a while. I got them last year "on special" from Stone Audio UK, and they arrived looking like B-stock-ish, re-branded ST200. Overall, I'm still undecided. They can be a bitch to setup, because it's VERY bad if you can hear them distinctly in your seating location - they shouldn't be noticeable until you remove them, so they say. I had mine crossed over at 18KHz and at 91-93dB sensitivity (speakers were 93dB, go up to 22k on their own). The crossover isn't a brick wall - they definitely extend way into the audible range. For the pros - they added a bit more punch to the sense of dynamics, and definitely GREAT extension plus a bit of sparkle on top. For the cons - coherence took a ding and the result was a bit less musical, also in my system things got a bit hot in the upper mids & treble region. However, the cons could very likely have been my fault (setup). Tannoy has a nice gauge that specifies precise placement on virtually every Prestige speaker EXCEPT the Kensington (which is also a rather tall Prestige speaker, proportionally). It was a guessing game I didn't have a lot of patience for. As for the hot treble, that may have been spotlighting/exacerbating a foible in my analog setup. Lately I've switched from a Benz PP-1 to a smoother-sounding PS Audio GCPH (on loan), went from 100 ohm loading to 50 ohms, and lowered the tonearm (VTA adustment) by a notch. This combination of tweaks has helped immensely. I also remember seeing a review with Kensington measurements (older non-SE version) where they had a bit of a bump in that region, so that would indicate they won't combine well to an upstream system with a similar bump. However, by then the ST100 were already sold to fund my amp upgrade I may give them a 2nd shot in the future. This weekend I heard a properly setup ST100 on Glenair 15s with my Rogue amp/preamp and excellent sources. The ST100 were set to 18K crossover and 91dB sensitivity into the 95dB speakers (go up to 25k on their own). So, clearly they were dialed way down to avoid any hot spots up top. It sounded glorious, but I know for a fact it would still be glorious without them. IMO these are going to be fairly subtle differences. After hearing Glenair 15s with ST100, and both Glenair 10s and Kenstington SEs without, IMO the Apollo monoblocks make a VASTLY greater improvement than any effects of the supertweeter. Then again, the 'blocks are a lot more money. Always keep in mind that 2K or so could go to a super cartridge upgrade
  4. Many thanks, guys and gals Leigh and I had a great weekend. She got me some pretty sweet loot, with more to come. I've done plenty for myself too, heh. Went shopping for vinyl and hit the bins pretty hard this last week - lots of nice scores! Particularly happy to find 3 more Robyn Hitchcock LPs - been looking since I picked up "I Often Dream of Trains" late last year. Also picked up an oddball hard rock album on recommendation that I'm really loving, called "Hard Attack" (early 1970s) from a band called Dust. More importantly, my 200 lbs of Rogue Apollo tube monoblocks arrived at my dealer's shop on Thursday. They are, in a word, glorious. Both triode and ultralinear modes are just different shades of awesome. Never heard anything like that before, and this is on smaller Tannoys than the ones I've got at home. Will be PERFECT for my musical tastes and preferences - it will play loud with NO compression, all manner of speed, and hit hard as all hell. There's so much info in those lower octaves that I'm not getting presented as splendidly with my current amp (much as I like it). I'm leaving the monos with the dealer for a week so that he can run them in and demo to other customers (cash for floor models is tight right now). Then on Saturday the dealer will be having an all day showcase of a system consisting of: * The Apollo amps * Rogue Hera preamp * Tannoy Glenair 15 speakers with supertweeters * PS Audio prefect wave dac & transport * Vinyl setup to be determined - it won't suck. Possibly Ortofon Jubilee/Winfield cart. I've got a good bit of work to get accomplished by Friday, anyways. It'll be worth the wait. Life has been pretty good thus far this year
  5. Anybody ever try the DB Systems resistive loading kit? I've got one on loan from my dealer (didn't even know he HAD the damn things). My Ortofon (5 ohm coil) into my old phono stage sounds MUCH better at 50 ohms than 100. Better bass response, and takes the slight bright edge that was there off a number of recordings, without sounding dull. It costs $50 which is clearly a high markup, but still nice for guys like me that suck at soldering. The included y-Adapter cables are cheap & crappy - not confidence instilling, but I had some Radioshack RCA splitters on hand so I could toss the cables (I'd recommend that route to others). The resistive plugs themselves seem nice enough - kit comes included with pairs of 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 ohm values. Use Ohm's law and your phono stage's input loading to figure out how to get the loading you want (they could have at least MENTIONED Ohm's law in the manual/leaflet). A lot of the active MC stages seem to stop at 100 ohm loading, so this kit is nice for trying values below that. It's a must for an MC phono stage like my Benz with fixed 22K loading (why did they DO that??). My dealer said that many low MC carts just keep getting more linear into lower loading - the tradeoff being that you eventually start to lose noticeable gain and signal/noise ratio. Still this should be negligible if the loading/coil factor is at least 5x (even less might be fine). I might try 20 ohm loading later, but to be honest the 50 ohm plug is a really, really nice balance so far. I might be able to hold off on phono stage upgrade a bit more, yet.
  6. A birthday toast to the Scottish dude who doesn't love/own Tannoys, from the non-Scottish guy that is infatuated with said Scottish speakers
  7. A good day, today. Very nice. All Friday I got far too caught up in my work (even though nothing in particular was pressing) - and was cranky and on edge all day. Today I was able to let go, relax, and enjoy the weekend. Got a wakeup call at 1PM from Tom - that's actually earlier than my typical rise time on weekdays Took my girl Leigh down to a full spa/skin treatment with a gift certificate I got her a year ago - it had expired but she's friends with the lady who works there. While I waited, I enjoyed a gas station lunch in my car with the Sunday paper and the "First Wave" XM channel via my free 3 month trial. On the way back I stopped at "Sounds Good" - a local record shop - and gathered quite a nice score. Much 80s, but good stuff all around. I don't normally get out there much since they're only open on Saturdays. Leigh was a real trooper, as the ordeal lasted a few hours. She went nuts when we found a "Black Flag" LP. Can't wait to go though these records. In fact that's what I'm about to do - tubes are warming up right now and just last night I discovered that a (hastily/poorly assembled) 50-ohm loading box (as opposed to 100 ohms) might eek some more quality life yet out of my old Benz phono stage...
  8. Wow. In this case: 1,000 words << a single picture What are some of these guys thinking when posting their audiogon ads.
  9. Hum/buzz problems have popped up for me quite a few times in various incarnations of my speaker rig. The added component for a speaker rig (amp/preamp), and any multiple sources can really complicate things. Generally if the following doesn't eliminate all hum/buzz for me (within reason), then the problem is in a component: Source: 2-prong plug (phono stage in my case, though a PS Audio GCPH did just fine with a 3-prong plug) Preamp: 3-prong plug Stereo Amp/ Monoblock amps: 2 prong plugs I haven't had multiple 3-prong plugged sources in my system, which could complicate things further. The entry-level PS Audio cables are really nice for their removable ground pin. I've not yet been able to achieve absolute silence with a 3-prong plug on a power amp. Interestingly enough, the GCPH had a hum of its own until the internal toroidal transformer was rotated into a more optimal position (must have gotten out of whack) - that hum was a bit different than usual as it varied with system volume level (since it originated inside the box of the source). Good luck!
  10. Gosh, I'd almost like to get 'em all at once for a real comparison. But that would be very bad behavior on my part, very bad... The Ortofon cart I use specifies 100 ohm loading as "optimal", but 150 ohms is tantalizingly close...
  11. Yep, that's been my experience as well. I've never come CLOSE to audibly clipping a headphone amp (barring severe impedance mismatches, of which I have observed with OTL tubes and low-impedance headphones). With a typical headphone setup you can hurt your ears badly a good deal before you hear clipping. However, I THOUGHT a stout 55 Watts into an easy 93dB/Watt and > 8 ohm speaker load, would be more than enough for any sane situation. Not so, and it's relatively easy to reach audible clipping with dynamic peaks of orchestral works, even well before the ears get uncomfortable. I have a direct-to-disc Sheffield Labs recording of "Firebird Suite" that is just sick in its dynamic range - more power would certainly yield a more convincing rendering of this piece. Headphones are efficient in terms of "milliwatts" and "millivolts". Yet many headphone amps can still push out a full watt or more!
  12. Ok - it's time for me to look at phono stage again. The Benz PP-1 T9 I've been using for a year (and the T8 before that) has stayed because it's musical and more resolving than the Dynavector P75 Mk I, Aragon 47K, and Rogue Stealth. The Aragon was smooth but too dark, and the Stealth had great overall voicing but was not as resolving, was more 2D, and had a bit of buzz. The PP-1 does have an extremely low noise floor for 62dB of gain. HOWEVER, after auditioning the modest PS Audio GCPH in my system this weekend, it's clear that: 1) The GCPH is at least as resolving as the PP-1 2) The PP-1 is rendering a bit of a nasty treble spike/peak/resonance/harshness somewhere in the upper frequencies, that the other stages DON'T. I thought this was a side effect of the resolution, and that it might be revealing my cart, my table setup, or the nature of the recordings, but then the GCPH is very resolving and yet utterly smooth through the whole range. 3) The benz has a warmer midrange and projects a slightly more 3D stage, but the GCPH is tonally very neutral and has slightly tighter, punchier bass. 4) the GCPH unit had a hum, but that was correctable by rotating the toroid transformer. 5) Goddamn, now that I've heard the treble anomaly gone, it's almost impossible to go back to the PP-1. To be fair I was using nice silver XLR cables with the GCPH, and good copper RCA cables with the PP-1, but the difference was substantial enough that I don't think ICs were the cause. Now, my DIY 100-ohm loading box for the PP-1 could be suspect, but there's not a whole lot of other options with the PP-1 (hardwired to 22K loading, which is TERRIBLE for many low-MC carts) So my options are: 1) Buy a GCPH 2) Wait for Rogue to release their new "Ares" tube/SS hybrid stage, positioned higher than the Stealth, since I love the voicing of their tube products and they might send me a unit to audition (since I have their flagship Apollo monoblocks on order). 3) Some combination thereof 4) The new Eddie-Current stage looks interesting, wish I knew about it sooner...
  13. Nice. I've been using 2-3 of the 242s, along with a pair of tri-traps and a quad of Auralex panels for the back. The off-white canvas blends in reasonably well with my front wall. Add in plenty of normal "living" stuff and it's a pretty decent acoustic environment without looking too odd (I setup 2ch in the living area). The panels are very very effective absorbers. Just don't go overboard with the pure absorption - lots of "stuff" is great for bringing diffusion into the mix! Hearing a Meridian 588 a a head-fi meet (2003-ish?) was my first "OMG" moment with a source. Very memorable. It was setup with a maxed DIY PPA, an HD650/Zu, and the entry-level HGA silver ICs. It sounded like pure glorious music to me at that time - nothing else I'd heard had come close. I was using a Jolida JD100a and RKV Mk II with my HD650 back then. The PPA/588 setup was both far more resolving, and far SMOOTHER at the same time. Unfortunately that experience somehow motivated me to go for a G08/HR-2 setup. I absolutely should've gone for the PPA - much smoother. The G08, while very very nice sounding, just didn't blow me away like the 588 had. Not sure if that was all the amp's fault - wish I could have had a 588 in-home for comparison. That, and the high price of the G08 time...I just never felt confident that $3.4K for the G08 was fully justified. $1.8K used for the glorious sound of that 588 however, would have been great. I never had that "OMG" experience with a source again until I got into vinyl. Funny story - apparently Ray Samuels ordered his G08 from TTVJ at the same time, in black (my order was silver), and Todd mixed them up so I ended up with Ray's intended black G08. When it arrived, I liked the look of the black, so I just kept it.
  14. Yes - very very sweet. I'm going by memory here - but I think that same guy posted a pair of rosewood Tannoy D700 up for sale last year. I recognize that room. I think the (bigger) Memory speakers were in the back in those shots. The D700s are seriously big and bad, but I guess not quite enough for a dude so hardcore as this! I guess it looks like he prefers the B&W speakers since the GRFs are for sale. Edit:Nope, looks like the B&W are for sale too. My god, WTF has he got incoming?
  15. I actually have no experience with the studio lines from Tannoy My dealer Pete (whom I absolutely trust) does, though he does not carry the studio gear. Even if Tannoy ends up being your bag, it really is all about the Dual-Concentric units, which starts at the Precision line (just above the Reveals). Pete looooves those Precisions. They even took an 8" DC driver from the studio line and built a custom home speaker around it. DC is really Tannoy's focus. To be honest, if I were not going with a DC unit I'd be looking at other brands!
  16. Going to pull the trigger tomorrow on a pair of Rogue Apollos. If I were a good boy I'd wait until I'd sold more gear, but since they'll probably take a while to build I should get the ball rolling... DigiPete, those 6h30P-DR are gorgeous. My frikin' preamp eats 8 of those, so stock EH it is for me, for now
  17. Yep...good eye! I had the AQ cables terminated with small spades on amp end to fit the vintage/McIntosh screw terminals They don't fit onto even the Atlas's very modest binding posts. So, luckily I still had your old LAT cables with nice modern terminations. I have no complaints about the sound, obviously. Cables aside, the new setup is clearly superior. Ideally I'd like to sell the AQ to recoup some funds, but curiosity and all...
  18. Yes I have, though it was a year ago with different speakers, amp, and preamp. It sounded good (odd distortion issues into the Gilmore Reference aside) but I preferred the Benz PP-1 T8 version - and I later got the T9, which itself sounds better than the T8. It would be interesting to give it another go for an all-Rogue system, but I'm just skeptical about it beating the T9, which has been seriously solid and is ridiculously quiet. I absolutely love the Rogue tube gear I've heard, but the Stealth is the odd man out in the lineup, being the only SS piece.
  19. Thanks Steve! These digs have been amazing since moving in last fall. The convenience of loft living on a town square without any pesky neighboring tenants. Good build quality (circa late 1800's) too That's a Sony C79ES 5-CD changer under the SOTA. It's an early/Mid 90's piece. Been loving the carousel changer action - it's quite nicely done. Features "simulated" wood side panels that look kinda like rosewood, if you squint - I'd much rather they used real wood there, as I'm sure you can understand! The sound is nicely relaxed; warm and endlessly smooth yet with a good punch to it. So I finally broke down and decided to add a digital player. When I walked in to my hifi shop 2 weeks ago I told them I wanted something cheap yet musical, preferably a vintage piece lacking the typical modern digital sizzle. Cutting-edge resolution was not a requirement. After looking/listening to a late 80's Carver and an 80's Harmon Kardon I decided on the Sony. It was a bit more - at $100 consignment it's probably got a premium over the used market prices - but still WELL worth it for the quality and convenience rendered. It's exceeded my modest goals and I've been enjoying some old CDs (not acquired on vinyl), a great deal. I can unreservedly recommend this player for anyone in a similar situation. Yeah...that mess above the deck is my Benz PP-1 phono with a custom 100-ohm loading box. I'd like to tidy that part of the system up, for sure. The Aragon 47k sure LOOKS a lot cleaner sitting on top of the deck. The piece under the tape deck is the matching Sony ES tuner - currently on loan - and unfortunately it's likely going back. I don't get as good FM reception in my loft as I was hoping for - it's a shame since 90.1 plays some nice classical tunes.
  20. Almost certainly. They're larger than the bias fuse mounts used in this amp, but otherwise very similar in shape/structure. They might be the same part as either of the power supply fuses, but I'm not gotta open up the guts right now to find out
  21. Yay - new gear acquisitions to help ease the burdens of life... As to why I bought it... Well I must admit I like to listen fairly loud at night, as I'm all alone for blocks from 12am to 5am. I thought the 35 Watts of the restored Eico HF-87 (cathode biased, quad of EL34) was enough into the 93db/Watt Tannoys, as the sound it yielded was for the most part super-clean. Funny thing I only recently discovered about hard-clipping on these tube amps, though - it sounds a LOT like the light crackling you get from minor flaws on a record. So, when it did clip it was somewhat camouflaged, though I still should of made the connection WAY earlier...yep I still feel pretty stupid for that. It's not very common and it doesn't always happen or not happen when I would have expected, exactly. For example I can run material like Kiss up to what my ears will tolerate and not clip (even at just 35 Watts/ch), whereas 2 segments (in particular) of Gilbert And Sullivan's "The Mikado" will do it starting just a hair above moderate volume levels. Segments with a sustained and rolling, rumbling base of low frequency sounds with a sudden outburst of midrange/treble heavy transient peaks - THAT is what really spurs it. So you could think of these as more typical of movie soundtrack-ish type situations, though it's certainly a problem for certain non-soundtrack albums too. I added a digital player (Sony C79ES - 1990's 5-disc changer) last week, the first time in a year I've had a digital hookup in the main system, and THAT is what exposed the problem in short order. When you hear "record crackle" on a CD, you know you've got another issue!! Fortunately the upper range Tannoys are seriously tough - a 2" round-wire tweeter voice coil is fairly heat-dissipating. They're rated at what is likely an honest 135Watts continuous, 400 peak, and a 35W tube amp can't dump anywhere near that even with a pure square wave. So, no worries about their well-being. So in comes the Atlas... It was clear right from the start that the extra headroom afforded by the Atlas belies its 55Watt rating. This amp can go noticeably louder than the Eico, completely clean, on even the worst stress-test segments from The Mikado. It's definitely more than the < 2db difference indicated by the power ratings. It sounded like well more than 3db of extra headroom, and it is - I later found out Stereophile measured the Atlas at 86Watts/ch, which makes sense as I believe the Eico does hit an honest 35W. There may be even more effective headroom than this in certain situations, if the Atlas does a better job handling certain areas of the impedance curve, which it may well (sure sounds like it). Beyond the power issue, man the Atlas SOUNDS amazing. There's a solid improvement of each of the following areas, and the magnitude of these improvements was more than what I got from upgrading my preamp (which is a matching Rogue 99 Magnum): * Dynamics - dynamic swings are wider and cleaner than ever. The details "in the middle" are more cleanly delineated. Clearly there was some compression with the Eico during high demand passages. Without a more powerful yardstick to measure by, and as good as the Tannoys sound on their own merits, I was in the dark about this. * Vocal presence - The "singer/chorus is in my room" phenomenon is at its highest level, and it's downright CREEPY (and/or ecstasy inducing, depending on the material) at night with the lights off. * Imaging - Yep, stuff is placed even more precisely within a now slightly larger stage. * Bass slam - This should go without saying after the power/clipping discussion. * Response to upstream components. I've been swapping between two phono stages - the Aragon 47k and the Benz PP-1 - and christ, the differences are shockingly significant for them both being set at 100 ohm loading. The Aragon has a lush, warm midrange, a bit at the expense of imaging, treble extension, and resolution. The Benz kills on the latter 3, but doesn't have the same midrange warmth and can be just a *touch* bright with a few records. So, in summary: Mike is dumb and should have bought this damn amp when he got his Kensingtons. Mike has a surplus of boat-anchor style equipment he'd like to sell locally, but the economy isn't especially accommodating right now Bought the Atlas from my favorite local hifi dealer (and Rogue is a built-in-USA company ), which may be considered financially dumb considering the Audiogon option, but it felt good to support the local dealer, especially one who really DOES add real value in expertise and services. Times are tough for him right now I've been away from posting for quite some time, and have been missing it more recently. Life the past several months has been full of ups & downs, trials & tribulations. Pictures:
  22. And that probably should go for operation, too...but other than the risk factor, vinyl and mild to moderate inebriation go together SO WELL I was "mild to moderately" inebriated 2 weeks ago when I lifted up my Kontrapunkt c from an end groove and accidentally plunked it right into the label area. Labels don't sound good - in fact it's a rather horrid screeching static. Fortunately, no damage was done and all is primed for a nice time tonight (and into morning) - I'll make sure to really focus whenever a lifting/dropping of the needle is involved I've been partial to my Metallica and Iron Maiden 45's this week. Hard week at work, and all...
  23. I don't believe there would be an "audiophile speak" sound quality differential of any significance (within range of reasonable settings), but here's what I've determined from using a tube pre with a tube power amp (each with their own level controls): * Cut down amp gain and use higher level on preamp to minimize the effect of preamp tube microphonics (which is the likely source of such problems), which is independent of the preamp level setting. * Also cut down amp gain and use higher level on preamp to mitigate the risks of preamp tube failure - a "firecracker" preamp tube feeding unattenuated into your power amp could be bad news for your tweeters. Nothing you can do about a gain/driver tube in the amp itself going bad, of course. * Also cut amp gain down to mitigate noise floor from preamp Basically, make the amp as insensitive as you can comfortably (with ample headroom for soft records) get away with. Different situation then yours, though
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