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Post by boomzilla on May 8, 2019 5:21:51 GMT -5
Boom, Did you think that the Rega DAC sounded better after being on for some time?.... Not that I recall...
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Post by boomzilla on May 8, 2019 5:25:30 GMT -5
Well... As I persuaded Karen Hutchinson back in my younger days - it's time to "just do it." Well, guessing at your advanced age I can probably guess that you talked Karen into Doing The Jerk: Actually, as I recall, she persuaded ME! But I was REALLY easy to persuade...
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Post by Bonzo on May 8, 2019 9:59:29 GMT -5
I'll have to admit I'm quite dubious about that whole subject.
I would be very interested to hear if anyone has ever conducted a real double blind test... To determine for real whether there was an audible difference between one that's been on for twelve hours and one that's been on continuously for twelve weeks. (If there were bets to be had I'd cheerfully put $50 on "no".) However, regardless of any of that, you're better off finding out for yourself, rather than spending the rest of your life wondering what you might have been missing. Oh, so are you implying in the distant realm of possibility that some of us are hearing (pun intended) things? Let me tell you buster, aka Emotiva Polytechnical Guru Writer and General KIA in charge, my ears have been certified as 100% accurate to the confirmation of real audible differences. I don't need no double blind or even no triple blind tests. I can immediately hear any differences in any DAC in my home, before or after the old lady moved that big china cabinet (bought in Japan, made in China), at the dealers, at the audio show, at my buddy's home or even at someone's home sound room stupid enough to spend $2500 plus on a DAC. I used to spend lots of time in the original Magnolia Hi-Fi store in the Magnolia area of Seattle. Len Tweten (great guy) the owner, told me why he got out of the photo business and into the stereo business. He knew that it was hard to fool photographers as to what they could actually see in their photos with their very own eyes (that was before Photoshop of course). He quickly figured out that he could fool almost all audiophiles or aspiring audiophiles and even most pedophiles that they could hear actual honest to God differences even in products that were a simple re-branded identical product. The rest was a very successful business. BTW #1: over 90% of folks in Seattle when asked what they think think of when they hear the word Magnolia, mention the song Silver Magnolia by the Greateful Dead, man. 5% mention a song (if you want to call it a song) named Magnolia by Playboi Carti. Don't bother to Google it. It's not in English and won't be able to understand a word of it, dude. BTW #2: I have connections in the CIA. It is still top secret but the original Levkoff family left (another pun) the old country after the KGB exposed their treasonous treachery. The entire family was deported in a sudden sendoff after their selloff of their entire stash of gold and silver. PS#1: To stave off any hate mail and any who haven't noticed the end of my name (Nut), I only tease folks I really like and respect like KL. Correction: the Grateful Dead song is called Sugar Magnolia, not Silver Magnolia.
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Post by Bonzo on May 8, 2019 11:15:27 GMT -5
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Post by boomzilla on May 29, 2019 5:27:25 GMT -5
It's been a WHILE now, and I'm STILL really liking the Audio-GD HE-1 preamplifier.
I've been back and forth (multiple times) about subwoofers, but I've no doubt at all about the JL Audio CR-2 electronic crossover. It does the job with minimal effect on the high-pass leg.
The Emotiva PA-1 amplifiers are STILL outplaying amps costing up to and sometimes more than 10x their price.
I haven't ordered the Schiit Yggy yet - Tax time wiped me out, and I'm still waiting for client payments (typical consulting boom-and-bust cycle).
Going to New Orleans for a conference in June and hoping to visit some "real" audio stores there in my spare time.
Life is good.
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Post by boomzilla on Jun 1, 2019 1:46:57 GMT -5
We were happy to receive a visit from both Mr. and Mrs. garbulky the other night. Although the visit was brief, they got to hear the JBL L100 Classic speakers. Although the Garbulkys considered the speakers mostly a yawn, I'd have to say, in the speakers' defense, that they're just not fully optimized yet. The speakers didn't particularly like the Audio Research VT80SE tube power amp, but actually did somewhat better with the Emotiva PA-1 amps, which is how the Garbulkys heard them. I think that to get the best of the speakers, I may need to engage the Audio Research DAC9 tube DAC and the Audio-GD HE-1 preamplifier. The Garbulkys heard the PA-1s driven directly by the Oppo UDP-205 analog outputs. Although some speakers do well with that combo, other speakers definitely like the soundstage expansion that the Audio-GD preamplifier gives. I'm supposing that the JBLs are in the latter group. And speaking of balanced-output DACs, is the Schiit Yggdrasil still close to the top of that particular pile? Thanks again to the Garbulkys for their always-enjoyable visit, and thanks in advance to the Lounge for the DAC update. Boomzilla
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Post by garbulky on Jun 2, 2019 15:40:30 GMT -5
We were happy to receive a visit from both Mr. and Mrs. garbulky the other night. Although the visit was brief, they got to hear the JBL L100 Classic speakers. Although the Garbulkys considered the speakers mostly a yawn, I'd have to say, in the speakers' defense, that they're just not fully optimized yet. The speakers didn't particularly like the Audio Research VT80SE tube power amp, but actually did somewhat better with the Emotiva PA-1 amps, which is how the Garbulkys heard them. I think that to get the best of the speakers, I may need to engage the Audio Research DAC9 tube DAC and the Audio-GD HE-1 preamplifier. The Garbulkys heard the PA-1s driven directly by the Oppo UDP-205 analog outputs. Although some speakers do well with that combo, other speakers definitely like the soundstage expansion that the Audio-GD preamplifier gives. I'm supposing that the JBLs are in the latter group. And speaking of balanced-output DACs, is the Schiit Yggdrasil still close to the top of that particular pile? Thanks again to the Garbulkys for their always-enjoyable visit, and thanks in advance to the Lounge for the DAC update. Boomzilla Thanks again for hosting us at last minute notice! It slipped my mind to take pictures of those gorgeous speakers. The first thing that struck me with the JBL's was just how good looking they were (in a vintage way). But of course, they were brand new speakers. These speakers retained at least some of the vintage sound that had made it so popular back then. I noticed my toes were tapping and I couldn't help but feel like this was what a lot of my favorite older songs sounded like when played back on the decent gear of the time. The speaker was capable of wide imaging and had me grooving along with hits from the 70's. It had neat knobs directly on the front. My only complaint with the looks was to get the big writing of the speaker model off its front. The rest of the looks, from the huge woofers to the "large monitor" on stands looked quite fantastic imo. I mean look at that! The sound though not a yawn (it never is!), was admittedly not quite what I look for. I might well be wrong because sometimes synergy makes a big difference. The speaker wasn't the king of resolution or extended bass or what you would think of in a modern high end speaker. But I don't think it was meant to be! This is meant to be a nostalgic nod to the groovy times and I think it's supposed to put you in the mood of when you were spinning up that LP that you just bought and put on your brand new JBL's as they played some Beatles, Led Zeppelin, or some sweet jazz. It reminded me of some other JBL's I heard and out of them, I think this one was probably one of the better performers. Thanks for letting me check it out!!
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Post by boomzilla on Jun 2, 2019 17:07:11 GMT -5
More than welcome! Today, I hooked up the tube DAC and I'm forced to make the following conclusion - The JBL L100 Classics do NOT like tubes. I've now tried them with tube DAC + tube power amp / SS DAC + tube power amp / tube DAC + SS power amp / and SS DAC + SS power amp. The worst sound was with the all-tube combo. The best with the all-SS combo. Put a tube anywhere in the room with the JBLs and they just sound constipated, closed-in, and even glassy. Not what I expect from a $4K pair of speakers! The good news is that with some SS amplification, they can sound pretty spiffy.
Review to come.
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Post by brubacca on Jun 2, 2019 18:51:57 GMT -5
Its definitely wierd. My Monitor Audio RS8s sound really good with my UnitiQute 30W SS Amp and not as good with my Rogue Cronus 100W Tubes. Crazy stuff. I was going to try a tube pre, but now you have me a bit scared off.
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Post by boomzilla on Jun 2, 2019 21:54:52 GMT -5
Some speakers and tubes are matches made in heaven. The best speaker to tube amp match I've ever found is the Klipsch La Scala and just about any tube amp. The next best was the Tekton Pendragons and my home-made 12-watt tube mono blocks.
But some speakers just aren't tube compatible. And there's no good way to tell other than listening.
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Post by dsonyay on Jun 4, 2019 9:30:18 GMT -5
Some speakers and tubes are matches made in heaven. The best speaker to tube amp match I've ever found is the Klipsch La Scala and just about any tube amp. The next best was the Tekton Pendragons and my home-made 12-watt tube mono blocks. But some speakers just aren't tube compatible. And there's no good way to tell other than listening. I'm thinking of the Tekton Lore mini as a possible update.. I hear these are great speakers as well.
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Post by garbulky on Jun 4, 2019 14:03:08 GMT -5
Some speakers and tubes are matches made in heaven. The best speaker to tube amp match I've ever found is the Klipsch La Scala and just about any tube amp. The next best was the Tekton Pendragons and my home-made 12-watt tube mono blocks. But some speakers just aren't tube compatible. And there's no good way to tell other than listening. I'm thinking of the Tekton Lore mini as a possible update.. I hear these are great speakers as well. The tektons are pretty nice but my money is on the emotiva T1 or t2. A little bit more coherent in the sound. It really is a very good speaker. If I had to replace my Axioms and couldn't spend as much the emotiva T2 would be what I would go for and I'm super picky.
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Post by boomzilla on Jun 4, 2019 16:17:02 GMT -5
Hi dsonyay - Once I get the JBL review done, you'd be welcome to drop by & hear my Emotiva T2s. Boom
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Post by dsonyay on Jun 5, 2019 8:04:45 GMT -5
I'm thinking of the Tekton Lore mini as a possible update.. I hear these are great speakers as well. The tektons are pretty nice but my money is on the emotiva T1 or t2. A little bit more coherent in the sound. It really is a very good speaker. If I had to replace my Axioms and couldn't spend as much the emotiva T2 would be what I would go for and I'm super picky. Speakers will be used in a 12 ft x 12 ft room. Kinda wonder if T0 would be more suited or T1
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Post by garbulky on Jun 5, 2019 14:30:33 GMT -5
The tektons are pretty nice but my money is on the emotiva T1 or t2. A little bit more coherent in the sound. It really is a very good speaker. If I had to replace my Axioms and couldn't spend as much the emotiva T2 would be what I would go for and I'm super picky. Speakers will be used in a 12 ft x 12 ft room. Kinda wonder if T0 would be more suited or T1 You would be surprised at how small those t2 and t1 speakers are.
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Post by dsonyay on Jun 5, 2019 20:56:23 GMT -5
Speakers will be used in a 12 ft x 12 ft room. Kinda wonder if T0 would be more suited or T1 You would be surprised at how small those t2 and t1 speakers are. Hmmm.. gonna have to take another look at their dimensions.. and compare them to my RF-62 speakers
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Post by boomzilla on Jun 15, 2019 15:54:35 GMT -5
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Post by Raven on Jun 16, 2019 10:56:46 GMT -5
It's been a WHILE now, and I'm STILL really liking the Audio-GD HE-1 preamplifier. I've been back and forth (multiple times) about subwoofers, but I've no doubt at all about the JL Audio CR-2 electronic crossover. It does the job with minimal effect on the high-pass leg. The Emotiva PA-1 amplifiers are STILL outplaying amps costing up to and sometimes more than 10x their price. I haven't ordered the Schiit Yggy yet - Tax time wiped me out, and I'm still waiting for client payments (typical consulting boom-and-bust cycle). Going to New Orleans for a conference in June and hoping to visit some "real" audio stores there in my spare time. Life is good. You may find this thread usefull link
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Post by boomzilla on Jun 19, 2019 6:00:33 GMT -5
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klinemj
Emo VIPs
Honorary Emofest Scribe
Posts: 14,740
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Post by klinemj on Jun 19, 2019 6:38:36 GMT -5
Makes me want to try KT-150's in my Prima Luna.
Mark
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