Author Topic: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub  (Read 39700 times)

Offline dBe

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #90 on: April 08, 2018, 09:10:55 PM »
To paraphrase the good Dr Frankenstein....they’re alive!! they’re alive!! He was, of course, talking about the KEF LS 50s. After finishing my painting touch ups, I awoke them from their slumber and hooked these tiny tots up and they are singing!

It was a bit of a rough start as I couldn’t use my very stiff, solid copper power cords, the Uber had different receptacles, the McCormack wasn’t warmed up and there was a slight hum in the left speaker. But all that be damned, I fired it up and after 45 minutes, things started sounding pretty good. The initial placement of the KEFs is 18” from the side and front walls and a slight toe in. They’re 7’ apart and I’m 11’ feet back. I haven't fiddled with the KEF foam port inserts. I just set them up this way and sat down and listened...after a 5 month, sad hiatus....

These tiny tots are tuneful. The tonality, timbre, resolution and soundstaging are very good, especially for a uni driver like this. As I had thought, it has a similar presentation to the SP Techs. I can crank the 50s and they handle it just fine. The soundstage is large and similar to the SPs.

The only hiccup so far is Tidal is either slow sending data or my router is having connectivity issues.
I’ll put a lot of hours on these and hopefully will continue to be very pleasantly surprised. And yes, they could benefit from a sub, but it’s not an absolute necessity.

Nick
Andrew Jones is The Man when it comes to concentric drivers.  His designs make music.  Enjoy my friend.  The subs can come later.  Let the speakers break back ins can endear themselves to your ears, heart and soul... Then add the ear candy in a while.

Rock and listen on... :thumb:

Offline tmazz

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #91 on: April 09, 2018, 04:52:02 PM »
Nick, I was having trouble with Tidal over the weekend as well. Twice I started to get buffering breaks in the music, after 3 or 4 breaks I decided to to shutr down the streamer and reboot it. This seemed to solve the problem as both time the new connection to Tidal was solid.

Not sure if the connection problems were at my end or their end, but either way the reboot seemed to fix things.
Remember, it's all about the music........

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Offline richidoo

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #92 on: April 09, 2018, 05:46:12 PM »
I had a dropout last night playing Tidal. I asked my son if he was downloading something enormous, he said (sheepishly) yes. Enough to hog all 50Mbps   :rofl:

Offline Nick B

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #93 on: April 09, 2018, 07:28:10 PM »
I have had a fair amount of trouble with Tidal and with my internet provider as well. From 10:15 to 11:30, there can be significant drops down to even 1mb. They are supposedly adding another trunk line, but then again, they told me that two years ago. The only other option is dsl, which I’ve never tried.

I am curious about Qobuz, which may be available in the US this summer. Haven’t read much about it and then there’s the issue of availability with either Roon or Auralic.
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline tmazz

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #94 on: April 09, 2018, 09:22:50 PM »
I have had a fair amount of trouble with Tidal and with my internet provider as well. From 10:15 to 11:30, there can be significant drops down to even 1mb. They are supposedly adding another trunk line, but then again, they told me that two years ago. The only other option is dsl, which I’ve never tried.

I am curious about Qobuz, which may be available in the US this summer. Haven’t read much about it and then there’s the issue of availability with either Roon or Auralic.

What kind of internet connection do you have now?
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline tmazz

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #95 on: April 09, 2018, 09:25:17 PM »
I had a dropout last night playing Tidal. I asked my son if he was downloading something enormous, he said (sheepishly) yes. Enough to hog all 50Mbps   :rofl:

Rich, I have gigabit Fios and I was getting dropouts, so I think that pretty much points to congestion problems somewhere other than in the connection to my house.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline Nick B

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #96 on: April 09, 2018, 09:29:38 PM »
I have had a fair amount of trouble with Tidal and with my internet provider as well. From 10:15 to 11:30, there can be significant drops down to even 1mb. They are supposedly adding another trunk line, but then again, they told me that two years ago. The only other option is dsl, which I’ve never tried.

I am curious about Qobuz, which may be available in the US this summer. Haven’t read much about it and then there’s the issue of availability with either Roon or Auralic.

What kind of internet connection do you have now?

It’s cable. I think the other providers would be even worse. On the other side of town they have fiber optic and it’s perfect. I have the same issues tonight and right now can’t play anything. I will be starting a new thread on streamers and i know you have the Bluesound, so I’d appreciate your comments there.
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline tmazz

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #97 on: April 10, 2018, 04:31:57 AM »
If you have cable modem service now don't even think about trying DSL. Most cable companies are now offering minimum line speeds of 25-50 Mbps for their internet service. DSL for the most part starts out with a max speed of 3 Mbps, if you are about 3 feet away from the phone companies local switching center and the actual speed you get in your home decreases as you get further away. If you think cable speeds are too slow you will lose your mind using a DSL line.
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline richidoo

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #98 on: April 10, 2018, 06:04:32 AM »
DSL is old technology. They aren't making new parts for it anymore.

If they are installing fiber in your town, then it should come to you soon unless you're way out of the way. I got fiber installed on my street last year. Big improvement over DSL.

Meantime, upgrade your LAN so that your cable modem has no other job to do beside gateway. Don't make it route or switch or wireless or DHCP or anything that will cause it to mess itself up. If rebooting your router fixes problems then the router is suspect.

You can test your network connection speed with http://www.speedtest.net/ but your internal network can slow that way down.

Offline Nick B

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #99 on: April 10, 2018, 09:44:29 AM »
Good to know about dsl. I won’t bother trying it. Fiber will never be available to me due to the exclusive rights to various areas provided to certain companies by the city.

I have tried the speedtest app and actually registered a 0.. yes, zero. As to upgrading my LAN, I’m not sure what that means. I switched to an ASUS RT 87U router a couple of years ago, but its really not much better than my old Linksys.

Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline tmazz

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #100 on: April 10, 2018, 11:14:24 AM »
Never say never as far as the fiber goes. Municipal franchise agreements are usually written for a certain term and are up for renegotiation every certain number of years. Get in touch with your local govt officials and let them know that next time the franchise agreement comes up for renewal you oppose the granting of an exclusive franchise because you feel that local competition would be of great benefit to the residents (and more importantly to them, the voters.).
Remember, it's all about the music........

• Nola Boxers
• Sunfire True SW Super Jr (2)
• McIntosh MC 275
• ARC SP-9
• VPI HW-19 Mk IV/SDS/SME IV/Soundsmith Carmen Mk II ES
• Pro-Ject Pre Box S2 DAC/Rasp Pi Roon Endpoint
• DigiBuss/TWL PC&USB/MIT Cables

Offline Nick B

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #101 on: April 15, 2018, 09:36:10 PM »
A further update on the LS 50s. Gary...aka gander on this forum.... drove up from Las Vegas today and brought along new stranded wire power cords and a digital cable and interconnects that are made of flexible carbon fiber with graphene with 100% cotton sheathing. I wasn’t expecting much improvement as his cables are pretty darn good already.

Due to my initial rack placement and other factors, I had thrown together various power cords including his
solid copper cords. The digital and ic that I was using were unshielded and made from very fine gauge
copper wire. The wires are resolving and musical as well.

The first thing we switched was just the digital and it was an obvious improvement in clarity and soundstaging. I was very, very surprised and recalled that ....iirc....Tom had recently mentioned he hadnt noticed much difference in digital cables. Well, this one might change his mind. We then added the carbon fiber ic’s and it was more of the same... just a very nice improvement in clarity and presentation. I asked Gary to help me move the rack a bit more away from the wall so I could put that 8 gauge solid copper power cord back on the McCormack amp and it produced great results. There is a wonderful synergy with the McCormack and this cord. The bass is much more pronounced, taut and full. Gary’s new stranded cord wasn’t a match  for the solid copper in this application.

We also tried an amp he lent me, the Pass Aleph 30. This was a final pre-production unit. It was my first time with a solid state class A amp and just reminded me that I’d had a VAC 90 class A tube amp back around 1990. Anyway, we both enjoyed the sound a lot. It resolved slightly better than the McCormack and had a “darker” sound which I wasn’t used to.  But I do believe it was a more natural sound. Leonard Cohen’s voice had an even more gutteral quality and the sound had a wonderfully organic quality. Now a 30 watt stereo amp with 84 db efficient speakers isn’t a great match  as to spl’s
and it wouldn’t do justice to trying to crank it up playing the Stones or some ZZ Top. So Gary took it home, but did mention he has Pass 60 watt monos. It’s tempting for sure and I won’t take a loss on selling the McCormack.

And finally, that pesky Roon/Tidal streaming problem was back today. I was getting at least 30mb, so that wasn’t the issue. I will try and assign a static ip though with the help of a fellow AN member who volunteered his services a few days ago



Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline rollo

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #102 on: April 16, 2018, 07:30:50 AM »
  Sounds like a fun and educating day. I like carbon/graphine as well for digital. That is what we used exclusively until the dedicated transport and DAC can use Ethernet [ I2S ] connection.
  30W of class "A" is enough to drive those speakers. Lots of headroom in Pass Amps.
Gary how do you terminate the ICs ? Pictures unless your going to sell them.


charles
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Offline Nick B

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #103 on: April 16, 2018, 09:32:42 AM »
  Sounds like a fun and educating day. I like carbon/graphine as well for digital. That is what we used exclusively until the dedicated transport and DAC can use Ethernet [ I2S ] connection.
  30W of class "A" is enough to drive those speakers. Lots of headroom in Pass Amps.
Gary how do you terminate the ICs ? Pictures unless your going to sell them.


charles

Charles, 30 watts of class A isn’t enough for playing rock 😪
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS

Offline Nick B

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Re: want recommendations for small 2 way speakers and powered sub
« Reply #104 on: April 19, 2018, 12:22:03 AM »
nick, sorry, i wasn't ignoring this thread; for some reason i never got notifications of new posts - this thread or any other, either.   :shock:  i just decided to check in to see wazzup.  i hope you're enjoying the ls50's. 

doug s.

Hi Doug,
Was wondering where you’ve been. Enjoy reading your posts. Hope all is well for you. Is the notification issue resolved? I was going to give an update on the LS 50s, so I’ll do that now.
I like these speakers and like them more than the Nolas and my single, full range drivers. They are fun to listen to. But there  are two things that I’ve noticed: the resolution doesn’t appear to be quite as good as my old SP Techs and the midrange appears to be slightly veiled. Now the resolution issue I’m pretty sure of, but as to the slightly veiled midrange, I’m not as sure. It’s just more of an impression. Now these are slight issues and I may be all wet, so to speak, but heck, this isn’t an exact science.
So part of me wants to get a small sub and maybe talk to Danny about upgrading the crossover as was mentioned on a thread at AC. But....the other part of me wants to try a Philharmonitor BMR or a ?? not sure haha. But I will say the longer this goes on, the less likely I’ll want to spend the money on the new Fritz BE or the Aurum Cantus Vola 3 (I believe that’s the model).
Anyways...that’s my situation right now
Nick
Orchard Starkrimson Ultra amp
Supratek Chardonnay preamp
JMR Voce Grande speakers
Border Patrol SEi dac
Holo Red streamer
Hapa Aero digital coax
WyWires Silver cables
TWL Digital American II p cord
Audio Envy p cords
Roon, Tidal, Qobuz
PI Audio UberBUSS