Systemic Development > Bipolar System Disorders

Life at the end of the tunnel

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inguz:
Hi all.  Counting down the hours now to a big system-change, food's cooking, so I thought I'd tell you all about it :-)

My system for the last while has been: Transporter (unbalanced out) -> homebrew LM3886 amp -> Gallo Ref3 speakers.  The gallos are quite tricky beasts to get singing:  they're nearly omnidirectional, and I don't have a whole lot of space to sit them a long way from the walls, so passive room treatment is a definitely worthwhile investment.  But once I got the early reflections tamed (with a couple GIK panels), they're absolutely wonderful.

They measure great too.  The impulse response is just about a perfect single spike, with hardly any hang-over ringing.  Room correction (inguz plugin, with filters generated by DRC and an Acourate filter Uli generously built for me - so a few different flavors to play with) controls the bass quite a bit better, but doesn't really change the tonality much - which I think is a sign of a fairly well-balanced setup.

Precise, pinpoint imaging.  Depth, and a real sense of ambience from the recording.  Crystalline highs, punchy lows, excellent placement of stand-up and electric bass.  (I've been listening to a lot of Pentangle recently.  It sounds quite extraordinarily good on this system).

But there's still something uninvolving and sterile about it, unless the volume's cranked way up, and I can't do that too often.  This isnt the fault of the room correction - it's either the speakers or the amp or the source.

A couplee weeks ago I heard Mike's Zu setup (with RedWine amps, not the 45).  It was completely different.  Ugly -- cranky and colored and rough and in-your-face -- in a beautiful way.  (Don't take this personally, Mike!  I wouldn't live with the Zus myself, but it was one of those great experiences that makes you break out grinning for days).  Some things I'd call imperfections helped make it completely involving and musical.

So, I'm selling the Gallos.  (For a good price, if anyone's interested!).  And tomorrow... getting a delivery...

WEEZ:
..of ..what? c'mon now...

inguz:
An old pair of Klipschorns.

Which should be really interesting.  The serious horn folks pooh-pooh the inadequacies of a three-way to cover full range, that the mid horn really isn't big enough to meet the bass at 400Hz, and that the drivers are cheap and cheerful.  It's common knowledge that the time alignment is abysmal.  Yet they have a dedicated following of aficionados, so there must be *some* redeeming qualities, right?

Regardless whether they sound *really* good in my smallish room, I'm certain the sound will be more direct and involving than the Gallos.  They're just about polar opposites in terms of dispersion.  And digital correction will be a whole interesting thing to tinker with here, too (especially since I don't plan to move to a digital crossover).

The amp plan is
- compare single-amped and bi-amped (bass / mid-high).  I have four channels of LM3886, two with voltage-out and two with a 2ohm output impedance.
- Maybe build an elliptical active crossover (if DSP can compensate the bass time delays, an extreme-slope crossover should be the best complement, I think).
- And I have a Quad405 with a 1kVA power supply and LME49710 opamps, gathering dust in the basement.  Probably too noisy & dirty without doing Keith Snook's mods, and way more power than these will need, so I think this stays on the shelf for a while.

And source is still Transporter.  Of course part of the "clinical" sound of my current system is the way the Tp's DAC sounds.  But I'd rather keep this one for now and find synergy.  (In listening tests with a friend, the TP's digital out was noticeably better than a Vinnie-modded SB's).

Double Ugly:

--- Quote from: "inguz" ---Of course part of the "clinical" sound of my current system is the way the Tp's DAC sounds.  But I'd rather keep this one for now and find synergy.  (In listening tests with a friend, the TP's digital out was noticeably better than a Vinnie-modded SB's).
--- End quote ---
Have you considered modding the Transporter?  

I figured a stock version would sound sterile and analytical, so I had mine modified en route.  Even though I haven't heard a bone stock unit, comments from you and others lead me to believe I did the right thing (plus I had a return agreement w/ the modder if I hadn't liked it :D).  I owned a highly-modified SB2/Ultimate PS from Bolder Cable and my unit compares very favorably with it, so I'm not without some basis for comparison.  I don't believe anyone who's heard Bolder's best offering would describe it as "clinical".

I've no doubt mine can be taken even further (what can't?), but I'm pretty sure it isn't nearly as analytical-sounding as what you and others are experiencing with your units.

-Jim

richidoo:
I found the GIK panels to really suck out the life in my large room. I can't find a place anywhere in there to put them, so they are stacked in the guest bedroom. Too much absorption for me, although I'm sure I can use some bass tidying. In a smaller room, I can imagine it would have an even larger deadening effect. I always wonder if that is due to the full spectrum absorption whereas some other brands have a layer that reflects higher freqs. I just don't know why.

Good luck with the horns. I've read great things about them.  New speakers, wow, now that's scary!

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