Author Topic: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009  (Read 18698 times)

Offline bmr3hc

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #30 on: September 13, 2009, 06:59:18 PM »
Shane, the G2G was great! I was the last to arrive after 9:00 with my friend Gene. Always great to see some familiar faces who enjoy listening to music and meet new faces. The last time I was there I heard the Harbeths with a smaller underpowered amp and was not impressed. This time, the Harbeths were very impressive. I took note of the vocals and the piano notes especially.
The DAC comparisons was just as impressive with difference in prices being 10x less than the Oracle. I could hear a difference with Oracle sounding better on some music but not by much in my opinion. That says a lot for the other two DACS.
Glad to hear Carl made it home down the street. He was making such incredible twisting moves on the floor, level matching the DACs, I figured he would be in rehab today.
Rich, I tried to get over to compare the RM-9 and the RM-200 but just could not make it. I really wanted to hear the two amps side by side with the KT88 in the RM-9. Maybe another time.
Shane  are you out of the dog house tonight? Man, the things some guys do for their friends.

Henry
"If music be the food of love, play on."  Shakespeare

Offline Rob S.

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #31 on: September 14, 2009, 07:04:57 AM »
Ditto what others have said about the evening-   A big thanks to Shane and Melissa for hosting the event.  It was great to hear two awesome setups in a home.  It was great meeting most of your group.

First time hearing the Harbeths, they do music justice on most recordings.  Rock was OK, everything else i found to be excellent.   Loved hearing the DAC comparisons.  Let's just say that I saved about $5k on my trip to NC, mostly due to the auditioning the DAC's side by side.  Could have come home with the wonderful DAC1000, but was more impressed with how close the Buffalo DIY DAC performed in comparison for a fraction of the cost.

Got a chance to see/ hear Carls video rig in his kick @ss room, minus his top dog Piegas, but I loved seeing the first part of Blackhawk Down.  Fantastic video.  Even got some complementary popcorn and peanut M&m's for my 5hr drive home ( starting at 7pm. )

Rich's room will be incredible when he finishes it.  I was blown away with seeing the beginnings to his false wall room treatment.  The way he's fitting these panels around the trim molding and the way they will fold away from sight should have very high WAF factor.   Most of the comparisons Rich and I did on Sunday will need to be done again after he finishes the wall.   He really should STOP buying more gear until it's finished.   The sound from his current system will go to new heights with the panels in place.   Man.... the stack of boards and OC703 in his garage is HUGE,  getting the time to complete it will be the tricky part...  :)  I hope to have my special room treatments done before Rich does.  I'm building 2 4'x4' panels to put at the point of 1st reflections.  It will replace a realtraps 2'x4' microtrap.  I'm hoping to increase my listening area and give it a little more life, instead of the standalone bass trap ( realtraps is just a thin bass trap w/ no diffusion characteristics)

With our amp comparisons,  both ARC and MR amp sounded very good.   I was surprised to hear my amp sound so nice with ~12ga cheapo speaker wire.   should I send back all my JPS cables now?  kidding....

Rob S.

No new money spent on audio!!  but starting in 2012!!

Offline hometheaterdoc

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #32 on: September 14, 2009, 09:47:01 AM »
The Harbeth Monitor 40.1 is a very interesting speaker to me.  Harbeth in general would never be my first recommendation for someone who listens to mostly alternative or rock.  While punchy when it has to be, that's not what it was built to do.  It's also designed to be listened to at more moderate volumes.  This isn't a college dorm speaker to pound out SPLs (which is kind of how I felt a couple times on Saturday given the volume level we were listening at).  If you want that aggressive growl and hard hitting punch, buy a pair of Ushers or, in the lower price brackets, get a pair of Era Design loudspeakers.  I conveniently carry both brands :)  Von Schweikert is also a choice for larger models in the kind of price class that the 40.1s play.

What the Harbeth does better than any other speaker I've owned in quite some time, is be infinitely listenable for extended periods of time.  It has a really clean, natural sounding midrange.  Vocals and piano are especially wonderful.  I've had more marathon listening sessions since I've brought on the line than at any point in the past number of years..... which explains why it has taken as long as it has to get my rooms setup properly :) hehehe  Prior to this, I never sat down and listened for even more than 2 hours at a time... I've done that a LOT with the Harbeths... even Melissa has come and listened with me for more than an hour at a time.  She NEVER did that with other speakers... although she *really* likes the Era Design 5 speakers for movie watching in the family room. 

With small ensemble jazz, female and male vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, etc. it is truly excellent.  Yes, it can be a bit polite.  But I don't ever get a headache listening to these speakers like I do with many others.  To me, classical sounds more real on these or is presented in a way that I find much more enjoyable than I've heard on other speakers.  I actually listen to classical with these speakers whereas I avoid it for the most part with other speakers.  Don't ask me why. 

The Monitor 40.1 is a bit of a chameleon in that while it may sound good with just about anything in front of it, it can change its character quite a bit depending on the electronics in front of it.  Never to the point of sounding really bad... but it definitely takes on some of the characteristics of things in front of it.  Where the Usher Be-20 is a bit ruthless because of its extreme resolution and it shows every last bit of what the electronics in front of it are doing, the Harbeth gives you a lot of that information, but also finds a way to integrate and enhance the overall presentation....

The 12" bass driver makes the 40.1 a very different animal than all the other Harbeth models... The smaller Harbeths just don't really do deep bass and as such, really aren't geared for rock and roll and hard hitting music.  Put a sub on them and it's a bit of a different issue... but again, the design goals for them aren't really to excel in that way.  The 40.1s at least give it a good effort.  They're less efficient and more amp demanding because of that bass driver.  But it has some grunt and can be quite punchy with the right gear.  However they really aren't designed to play that kind of music.

I tend to think of Harbeth as destination speakers... while they do a lot of the audiophile things and do most of them exceptionally well, they really are for someone that isn't going to be on a relentless pursuit of the last iota of razored edge detail and super hyped drive and impact.  They're the speakers you retire with and just spend your time listening and enjoying.  If your music collection consists of nothing but death metal and hard rock, there are other choices that may work better.

The next meet should be a good opportunity to compare the Harbeth with something that has more drive and suits that rock type music...  But those speakers couldn't make it in time for this get together....  I also should have subs finished and dialed into the room to use with the smaller Harbeths...  so many things, not enough hours in the day to get it all done...

Shane Sangster
Used to be Night & Day Audio.......

Offline RichardS

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #33 on: September 14, 2009, 10:33:49 AM »
Another thank-you to Shane for hosting a fun event, and for the amp stands.

Re:Harbeth 40.1: If I mostly listened to vocals, I'd like these a lot. Very smooth, warm and elegant mids with lifelike presence. They were reasonably quick and had decent midbass punch too. The system sounded a bit too warm and downward-tilted for me on other music though (again, not sure how much was the speaker and how much the room) with a bit of bass overhang and boom. A brief listen to a classical piece showed a really rich violin that really grabbed me--nice. I think my listening preferences are in some ways opposite to Shane's. I can handle some brightness in the highs but am very critical of boomy bass and over-ripe lower mids with longterm listening.

The DAC comparo was really interesting. It was tough with three in the mix. They were closer than they had a right to be. Interestingly, when going from C (Buffalo) to C (Oracle) it was easy for me to notice that I didn't like B as much (washed out) but when going the other way (C-to-B) I didn't notice it nearly as much. I guess I'm able to perceive a downgrade better than an upgrade (at least in this case). Talking with Rich on the way home, he said he noticed it more dramatically the other way around.

Offline hometheaterdoc

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #34 on: September 14, 2009, 11:12:23 AM »
Re:Harbeth 40.1: If I mostly listened to vocals, I'd like these a lot. Very smooth, warm and elegant mids with lifelike presence. They were reasonably quick and had decent midbass punch too. The system sounded a bit too warm and downward-tilted for me on other music though (again, not sure how much was the speaker and how much the room) with a bit of bass overhang and boom. A brief listen to a classical piece showed a really rich violin that really grabbed me--nice. I think my listening preferences are in some ways opposite to Shane's. I can handle some brightness in the highs but am very critical of boomy bass and over-ripe lower mids with longterm listening.

most of it was the room... which I am going to fix... unfortunately, I didn't build the raw bass trap frames and stuff them... I just covered them in the fabric... the guy that did it for me, as thankful as I was for the help when I wasn't around, built them wrong and not to the dimensions I gave him necessary to get deep bass under control.  Plus the suspended floor is just awful in that room... some serious cross bracing and cement support structures are going in the crawl space under that room to tighten things up... That is one of the last projects that should happen within the next couple months now that the cooler weather is just starting to settle in.   With as much treatment as was put in for all other frequencies, it really makes the bottom end issues stand out more than they would.... when there was no treatment up, you couldn't even focus enough to hear the bass issues because of all the other mess that was happening....

The speakers themselves do have a bit of that boom/flab because of the cabinet construction.  They can be a bit juicy down there... but most of it definitely is the room.  If I take them over to Carl's place on the concrete slab and walls behind his decoupled walls, I think it would sound very different.....

Come to think of it, that's a great idea for a get together as it's just down the street and easy to transport them that short distance...  Carl? :)
« Last Edit: September 14, 2009, 11:14:14 AM by hometheaterdoc »
Shane Sangster
Used to be Night & Day Audio.......

lonewolfny42

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #35 on: September 14, 2009, 07:47:36 PM »
Nice to see that Rob made it down to NC.... :beer:

Sounds like a good time had by all.... 8)

So....did anyone take any photo's ? Thanks..... :D

Offline bpape

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #36 on: September 14, 2009, 07:48:29 PM »
I was kinda wondering the same thing.
I am serious... and don't call me Shirley

Offline hometheaterdoc

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #37 on: September 14, 2009, 07:52:51 PM »
Steve took some photos, including a series of the obligatory shot of my derriere... it's becoming a get together tradition to get a shot of me leaning over an equipment rack trying to hook up cables....

I'm sure he'll post one or two at some point....
Shane Sangster
Used to be Night & Day Audio.......

lonewolfny42

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Re: Audio Get Together - Saturday, Sept. 12th, 2009
« Reply #38 on: September 14, 2009, 08:00:18 PM »
Quote
I'm sure he'll post one or two at some point....

........................... 8)  :beer: