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Deang

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Posts posted by Deang

    Nice Cornbreadwalls on AudiogoN...

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    LOL, you can relax Jazman - yes, I was playing up to that 'other' thread where I was smacked around in grand style by the Heritage brotherhood Smile.gif

    I am well aware of what many here feel about those beasts and was really just helping out my my distant family members by letting them all know of a good deal on speakers I know they love.

    My jesting is strictly in fun.

    ------------------

    deanG

    RF7's Are in the House

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    The maple is gorgeous.

    I had previously been using a set of RC7's and finally decided to do something I swore I would never do - own a set of towers with dual woofers covering lots of midrange. For the most part I prefer planars or monitors with mid/woofers no larger than 8".

    I made this decision after an afternoon audition where the RF7's left me smiling and feet tapping. It was hard for me to let go of my predjudices, but I could not argue with what I was hearing.

    The RF7's have a very quick sound for a tower design. They do not have that bloated, fat, woody sound you sometimes hear with even the best towers. The bass goes deep, sounds powerful, and yet remains surprisingly tight for a ported design. This they do without sounding like a box. Very impressive.

    With the two 10's and the slightly higher crossover (as compared to the other Reference models), I thought I would surely lose some detail in the lower midrange. I listened to some very familiar material and I could not tell any difference (in the midrange) from what I had been hearing with the RC7's. I know there is probably a difference but it must be miniscule. The mids are just as smooth as a baby's bottom and the RF7's manage to maintain this smoothness even as the bass is vibrating the floors and walls. I tried to smear the mids by juicing the SPL, but my 40 watt Anthem tubie couldn't do it. If there is objectionable IM distortion - I don't hear it.

    The treble is of course wonderful.

    The RF7's throw a nice image. The depth of the image caught me off guard and is fairly impressive for a $2200 set of speakers. I didn't notice the depth of the image during the audition - I can't really account for that. It's very noticable in my listening room however.

    The most dynamic speaker in the Reference Series line is actually the RB5, and when I traded mine in on the RC7's - I realized I had lost some of that when I got the RC7's home. I did however get the detail of the new driver/horn. It was an acceptable trade off. The RF7's come very close to the dynamics of the RB5. I was very happy to get some of that back. Very good slam/attack across the board.

    The RF7's are no Cornwall, Khorn, or LaScala - but then, they don't purport to be. They are part of a new breed and based on my listening experience - are perfectly capable of standing on their own cwm20.gif

    ------------------

    deanG

    This message has been edited by deang on 02-08-2002 at 02:06 PM

    Generally Speaking...

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    That Monarchy is still on my very short list. I will ultimately have to decide between it and that DIY kit we just talked about - I can't have them both.

    I will probably keep the Bryston and buy the kit. I think it's time I actually learned something Smile.gif

    ------------------

    deanG

    Generally Speaking...

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    ...speaking generally can at times be very misleading. Let's take the following statement:

    "Tubes sound better than SS"

    Yesterday I found out that this isn't always true.

    Being perfectly happy with what I had, I decided to 'upgrade'. Since I'm doing almost as much time with the DVD player (movies) as I am with CD's - I decided I wanted to get a little more slam and transient attack back into my system. I purchased both a Bryston 3B-ST amp and BP-20 preamp off of AudiogoN.

    The original plan was to roll the tubes in my Anthem Pre1L and mate it with the 3B-ST. When the BP-20 showed up on AudiogoN I more or less bought it out of curiosity, and figured it would be easy enough to sell off if I didn't like it.

    The Bryston preamp showed up today, and I spent my lunch break swapping out the Anthem with the Bryston. I fired everything up and let the Amp1 warm up for about 20 minutes or so before I started a CD. So what we have at this point is a SS preamp mated to a middle of the road tube amp running stock Russian EL34's, a pair of Sieman 12au7's, and a stock Chinese 12ax7.

    Now the way folk talk in general, (and I am actually exluding the likes of Mobile, Colin, and many others on this board who I am sure know better) - you would think that even a middle of the road tubed preamp would sound better than any or most SS units. However, that's not what I found.

    In a way, I wanted the Bryston to sound bright and grainy so I could justify going to the next level - what I found was a smooth, effortless, open, and natural sounding treble. The bass was obviously tighter and there was less 'glare' at the higher SPL's.

    The unit is obviously a better sounding unit than the Anthem Pre1L. It probably doesn't sound better than the superior tubed offerings - but it certainly sounds better than the Anthem.

    I guess I can't be sure a retube wouldn't have pushed the Anthem over the top - but the Bryston does very, very good with the Amp1.

    The 3B-ST should be showing up within the next week and I really have no idea what to expect. I have heard there is a special synergy between the BP-20 and 3B-ST and that is what I am hoping for.

    Whatever the outcome - I'll be back either to whine or shout praise.

    later, Dean

    This message has been edited by deang on 02-07-2002 at 04:18 PM

    Good sounding power amp for Klipsch

    in Home Theater

    Posted

    If I were doing multichannel I would definitely split up my amps. Get a 2 channel for the mains and a three or 5 channel (if doing 7 total) for the rest of it.

    I don't know what to think when a 5 channel amp weighs as much as most decent 2 channel amp.

    Also, do not buy new. Use www.audiogoN.com - slightly used gear can be had for less than 1/2 the money and allows you to really stretch your money.

    I could not afford Anthem or Bryston new - but I managed to get both shopping at AudiogoN.

    ------------------

    deanG

    Which Solid State Amp?

    in 2-Channel Home Audio

    Posted

    Mobile

    It is odd that you would center your whole post around the point of less being more and at the same time say for a few hundred more I could have had a 4B-ST.

    The 3B-ST is 120 watts, which I am sure you will agree is more than enough. Actually, 4B-ST's are going for roughly $1500 - which is actually $500 more than I spent (or was willing to spend). It would have actually been a waste for me to spend an extra $500 for power I really don't need.

    Now that I got that out of the way - I can tell you without any doubt that if you knew my music tastes and my listening habits - the last thing in the world you would recommend to me would be 25 wpc Smile.gif

    I'm no expert - but it seems to me that even an RF7 could benefit by being driven by an amplifier that has plenty of reserve power.

    ------------------

    deanG

    This message has been edited by deang on 01-30-2002 at 08:58 PM

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