Post by colinf on Jan 17, 2019 22:07:14 GMT 12
The Melody looks fabulous inside! It reminds me of the way Quad IIs are built.
AMR-iFi R&D
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 4, 2019 6:54:59 GMT 12
I blame it all on Foveaux. I'm sure he had no ill intent in mind when he lent me his copy of Get Better Sound (Jim Smith) but by the time I'd read through the chapters relevant to my situation I realised there was only one course of action. So come 7 last night the doors of the music room were thrown open wide, various bits and pieces moved onto the lawn to give me elbow room and the change around began. An hour and a half later the speakers have been moved through 90 degrees so they're now along the long wall with the tv placed between. Various cd racks, lp storage boxes and the Project Vac have all been moved to new positions. The speakers are now around 70cm from rear wall to front of cabinet and have close to an equal amount of free space side to side (around a metre) seating position is about the same as the previous setup but the speakers are a little further apart. I'm hoping that this arrangement will cancel out some of the reflections from the peaked roof.
Quick listen last night at moderate volume seemed to have some promise. Deeper bass response although I do have a concern that the TV may be interfering with central imaging. I could always move the speakers a bit further forward. Immediately noticed plus is that my room now appears more spacious and with a bit more de-cluttering to go things can only get better in that reguard.
|
Post by deano1974 on Mar 4, 2019 7:02:40 GMT 12
Hi Cooks sounds like your onto something there, any pictures of the progress so far
Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 4, 2019 7:23:15 GMT 12
I do have some pics but for some reason my phone wont send them with my gmail account. Will try tonight at home when I can tether the phone to the computer.
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 4, 2019 13:21:28 GMT 12
|
Post by foveaux on Mar 4, 2019 14:02:19 GMT 12
...Quick listen last night at moderate volume seemed to have some promise. Deeper bass response although I do have a concern that the TV may be interfering with central imaging. I could always move the speakers a bit further forward. Immediately noticed plus is that my room now appears more spacious and with a bit more de-cluttering to go things can only get better in that reguard. Aha...audio feng shui coming along nicely Cooks. ("trust your ears Grasshopper...." ) Looking great: Yep, ditch the TV. No place for that in an audio mancave...or mount the TV flat on the roof directly above your head with chair in full recline? ...'cause you know you'll fall asleep...
"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]
"Free - I miss that band, but when I look back, we were very young" [Paul Rodgers]
848 posts
|
Post by michaelw on Mar 4, 2019 14:07:04 GMT 12
nice !
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 4, 2019 14:26:22 GMT 12
...Quick listen last night at moderate volume seemed to have some promise. Deeper bass response although I do have a concern that the TV may be interfering with central imaging. I could always move the speakers a bit further forward. Immediately noticed plus is that my room now appears more spacious and with a bit more de-cluttering to go things can only get better in that reguard. Aha...audio feng shui coming along nicely Cooks. ("trust your ears Grasshopper...." ) Looking great: Yep, ditch the TV. No place for that in an audio mancave...or mount the TV flat on the roof directly above your head with chair in full recline? ...'cause you know you'll fall asleep... Sorry, can't ditch the TV now, in fact looking at a larger screen. Where else can I watch my Studio Ghibli movies in peace. In all seriousness, too many interesting music DVDs etc and they need to have at least passable sound which really isn't the Polk Soundbars forte. Ok for speech though.
|
Post by Owen Y on Mar 4, 2019 15:05:36 GMT 12
Nice! Maybe throw a tablecloth over it when listening.
|
Post by michaelw on Mar 4, 2019 15:43:39 GMT 12
duvet ?
|
Post by foveaux on Mar 10, 2019 21:01:56 GMT 12
A flying visit to Invers yesterday, incl. a couple of hours with Cook's in his mancave: and a v. quick update: "Well, I'll be buggered" indeed Cooks has the audio feng shui sorted with his new Sonus Fabers. They sound exquisitely musical in his system and of course just look magic!
"I see music as a lifetime affair." [Rory Gallagher]
"Free - I miss that band, but when I look back, we were very young" [Paul Rodgers]
848 posts
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 10, 2019 22:04:49 GMT 12
Foveaux has been kind enough to leave his Sanders pre amp and one Sanders power amp with me for an extended audition. Needless to say the SF are being feed a whole lot more oomph than the Melody can provide. Will give an update in time but thoughts of another pathway for the hifi are being thoroughly racked over. Going to try using the Oppo HA-1 as a pre amp in place of the Sanders pre once I have a handle on that.
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 11, 2019 19:18:15 GMT 12
Quick pic of the Sanders pairing. The power amp is rated at 450w into 8 ohms and a huge 900w into 4 Ohms. Just a bit more than the Melody's 50W. A quick half hour listen showed they needed a little time to warm up and then sounded cleaner than the tube amp and interesting seemed to poke more volume through the Sonus Fabers without losing any quality, everything holding together impressively . The power amp is a hefty beast as well, something around 25Kg. Set up is messy but dictated by what cables I have to hand . Still much more listening to go though.
|
Post by cartridgeguyonline on Mar 13, 2019 7:30:25 GMT 12
Why have you got a stainless steel toaster in your listening room ?
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 13, 2019 8:23:49 GMT 12
Why have you got a stainless steel toaster in your listening room ? lol. Hunger It's the tube cage for the Melody amp. Never use it though, why hide that warm glow away plus I like to give the tubes as much free air space as possible. The KT88s throw out quite a lot of heat. The cage is painted same as the amp with what appears to be an automotive finish.
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 22, 2019 6:21:22 GMT 12
Another extended session last night trying to get a handle on the differences and or improvements between the tube and ss amps. I've trialed both the Sanders pre and Oppo HA-1 feeding the Sanders power amp running a Cloth Ears balanced pair between the pairs. Narrowed the demo tracks down to a couple of Dire Straits, Emmylou Harris/Linda Ronstadt and Buddy/Julie Miller via the Cambridge 752BD. Differences between the Oppo and Sanders pre, not a huge amount in my setup at least. Sanders a tad smoother, mainly on vocals. I could probably live with the HA-1 as a pre but am starting to have regrets about selling my wonderful little Mapletree pre amp with it's NOS early 50s 12SN7 tubes. Thoughts around the Mapletree have popped up as I find the ss pairing just a bit dry compared to the Melody SP9. The tubed amp adds more shading to the sound. What did surprise me quite a bit was the extra bottom end that the tube amp has although just a hair less controlled than the Sanders. Almost all the reviews I've read over the years concerning the little Sonus Fabers comment on how they blossom when feed by a powerful amp, which the Sanders most definitely is. I know my Coromas are more efficient than their predecessors and maybe than explains why I haven't experienced what I was expecting and again there's always that ever present word, synergy.
Having got this far I do intend to continue the demo and hope to borrow a db meter this weekend so I can make sure that I can at least try and closely match volume between the two setups. I am still seriously tempted to add a ss amp into the system, both as a change of flavour from time to time , and as a backup to my current Melody if anything goes belly up with that in the future. Been doing much research in that area and do have a candidate in mind.
|
Post by Owen Y on Mar 22, 2019 9:32:50 GMT 12
More intrigue....
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 22, 2019 11:36:32 GMT 12
More intrigue.... No, too much free time and chronic indecision.
|
Post by michaelw on Mar 22, 2019 14:15:08 GMT 12
oh, the suspense !
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 22, 2019 15:20:52 GMT 12
oh, the suspense ! I know, it's getting to me as well.
|
Post by cartridgeguyonline on Mar 22, 2019 15:47:40 GMT 12
And me, i'm just wondering how far he is going to push the boat out here ? Pure Audio, Dartzeel ? I take it its a big integrated to save on recabling ?
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 22, 2019 17:45:48 GMT 12
And me, i'm just wondering how far he is going to push the boat out here ? Pure Audio, Dartzeel ? I take it its a big integrated to save on recabling ? Boat wont be going very far from shore, leaky inflatable with one oar, half an inch of free board in a choppy sea. Big integrated has been investigated and probably discounted.
|
Post by colinf on Mar 22, 2019 22:33:18 GMT 12
Cooksferry, glad you are enjoying hearing the differences between the amp setups. For me personally I have always needed a bit of texture and harmonic ease in the sound which has made me end up with tubes generally. That's not to say SS isn't capable of that, some SS amps do. My late friend Peter in Nelson always swore by having a valve pre and a SS amp for less efficient speakers. He had a Dynaco pre and Plinius poweramp on B&W speakers. My own findings are that if you can get a powerful enough valve poweramp and a valve pre that combo is satisfying. I'm torn between my hybrid valve-mosfet amp with it's lively power and my SE 211 amp with its inimitable harmonic shadings and wonderful piano tone.
AMR-iFi R&D
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 24, 2019 8:15:31 GMT 12
Cooksferry, glad you are enjoying hearing the differences between the amp setups. For me personally I have always needed a bit of texture and harmonic ease in the sound which has made me end up with tubes generally. That's not to say SS isn't capable of that, some SS amps do. My late friend Peter in Nelson always swore by having a valve pre and a SS amp for less efficient speakers. He had a Dynaco pre and Plinius poweramp on B&W speakers. My own findings are that if you can get a powerful enough valve poweramp and a valve pre that combo is satisfying. I'm torn between my hybrid valve-mosfet amp with it's lively power and my SE 211 amp with its inimitable harmonic shadings and wonderful piano tone. Had another good play around Friday night and Saturday. Just using three songs that I'm very familiar with and it's been interesting. Helpful having the SPL meter as a guide to having some sort of level check between the two systems. A bit more playing to go yet as I want to put the Sanders pre amp back in. Have a feeling that the Oppo HA1 may be a weak point, we shall see. Findings this time at odds with earlier thoughts but I am down to taking notes , matching levels and giving each amp at least an hours warm up before using. If I get really energised I should drag the Tannoys back out and give them a run with the Sanders amps as well. Not sure what I'm going to do with them. I do have the occasional though of getting something like the PS Audio Sprout and using them as a bedroom system.
|
Post by cooksferry on Mar 25, 2019 6:45:15 GMT 12
Another session on Sunday and think that'll do it. Just narrowed the last couple of sessions to three tracks Moby- Why Does My heart Feel So Bad (vinyl) Neil Young-On The Beach (original NZ lp) Harris/Ronstadt- 1971 (cd Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions)
Used the Moby track as it has a lot of lower level energy. Harris track higher level female voices and one that I've always had trouble with towards the end when the McGarrigle Sisters contribute background vocals and finally On The Beach as a track I'm very familiar with with good vocal and instrument separation. I did try and match everything with a SPL meter, averaging between 65 and 75 at my listening position but with some peaks over 80 and sometimes dropping in the higher 40s.
On Saturday I'd used the Oppo HA-1 as the preamp and yesterday switched back to the Sanders pre. Differences to my ears weren't huge but the Sanders did have a little better control which was most evident on the Harris track.
Differences against the Melody Tube amp- On all the tracks the Melody extended further into the highs , the Sanders in contrast sounded rolled off with both pre options . On the Moby track both amps dug down surprisingly deep with such small speakers but the Sanders just had more, in fact for me, too much, almost over whelming the room, even at fairly modest levels. I was surprised how much I had to crank the volume on the Sanders to level match the Melody which never got past 9 on the dial. In contrast with the Sanders pre I was up around 84/100 on its control. Which leads me to the next bit. For whatever reason the Sanders, with either pre amp, just doesn't seem to be a good match for the Sonus Fabers speakers. The sound I was hearing very much matched what I hear via my Project RS phono stage if I drop the gain from the usual 60 down to 50. Sure you can crank the volume more but there's a loss of life to the music, everything sounding flat. This has caused some head scratching as what I was getting was nothing like I heard from Foveaux's Sanders system. I know, totally different setups etc but given the output ratings of the power amp I had expected a different response.
After several hours of trial and error I've learnt a couple of things. The Melody, or maybe just tubes, work quite well with the Sonus Fabers. Secondly, always, and I mean always get a home audition before buying. Where to from here. A wiser head than mine has suggested that I actually stop these tangential flights of fancy and just sit back and enjoy what I have for a few months and get to know the system without trying to action too many changes at once. Thanks F, advice taken.
PS, before taking the Sanders gear back to their Queenstown home I do intend to bring the Tannoy XT6F pair back out and see how they fare.
|
Post by Owen Y on Mar 25, 2019 8:35:11 GMT 12
Where to from here. A wiser head than mine has suggested that I actually stop these tangential flights of fancy and just sit back and enjoy what I have for a few months and get to know the system without trying to action too many changes at once. Thanks F, advice taken. I would second that.
|
Post by cooksferry on Apr 11, 2019 15:50:11 GMT 12
Looks like the Tannoys have gone. Just have to sort a few things with the buyer tonight and pack well over the weekend. Still like their looks and wish I could have tried them in a bigger, and probably better, room.
|
Post by deano1974 on Apr 11, 2019 16:49:19 GMT 12
Looks like the Tannoys have gone. Just have to sort a few things with the buyer tonight and pack well over the weekend. Still like their looks and wish I could have tried them in a bigger, and probably better, room. I think the move to the SF's was a wiser choice 😉
Manager & Product specialist at Rapallo AV & HI-FI
|
Post by colinf on Apr 11, 2019 19:21:11 GMT 12
The SFs are a lovely speaker. Now you can relax and enjoy the music! 😊
AMR-iFi R&D
|
Post by cooksferry on May 4, 2019 10:33:19 GMT 12
quick update re the Sanders amps. I didn't twig that their was adjustable gain via the pre amp which explains why I was having to crank the volume so far around to get a reasonable playback level. While I was running around 84 Foveaux confirmed that he was driving his Sanders speakers around the low to mid 60s. That I had them in how gain would explain why I thought the Sanders seemed a bit soft. Ah well, live and learn. Some of us more slowly than others it seems.
|