Manuel Delaflor

I think the Heresy's have a more detailed sound than the new offerings. Their mid's Horn excels at presenting music. I also like them slightly above my ears level, up from the ground. You only need to add a powerful sub to this mix and voiala, close to audio Nirvana.

Hey, I just visited the Avantgarde's site and I can't find this picture nor the info on the sub... just where did you get this picture???

WOW THAT is what I want!

prodj101 Because your room acoustics. Some are aware of this an use several treatments to have a "nicer" room, acoustically speaking. Still, some people forget that the sound of the room can't be "avoided" or "cancelled". Every room will impose its own sound to the speakers. The conclusion of this apparently innocuous statement is that the room is part of the speaker. So, the very same speaker that sounds incredible in a well designed room will sound like a totally different speaker in another room (the imaging, soundstage, clarity, detail, transparency and such stuff will be different). This alone, makes the so called "accuracy" an impossible goal.

That is an interesting device. All bass fanatics should buy it and then tell me what it sounds like The concept seems interesting, but it is not needed IMO, unless you want to add bass (which seems interesting, at least theoreticaly) to earlier CD recordings which lacked bass and sound extremely harsh on most systems. Other than that, you will not be listening to the original recording, but something like making a remix with more bass. The results I say again might me interesting. (if some accuracy fan reads this... relax, Im not saying it will be more this less that lol) I own a Tempest based DIY sub and I don't see how such a device is needed for everyday listening. I got plently of bass right to 20Hz (around 110dB's) and good response down to 18Hz. Going an octave lower will yield zero improvement (at least for me) because I have a rumble filter set at 17Hz to protect my Tempest.

Looks like you want to open the can of worms Anyway, here I go, leading for some trouble as always... Accuracy is a Myth. That is my statement.

Music? I will never listen enough Prokofiev, Rachmaninov, Ravel, Beethoven, Chopin, Saint Saenz, Liszt, Part, Bach, Puccini, Wagner, Vivaldi, Handel, Verdi, Mozart, Debussy, and big etcetera. Oh, and talking about "more modern" music a little Genesis, Peter Gabriel, Marillion, Pink Floyd, Dimitri from Paris, Nine Inch Nails, Cirque du Solei, Shpongle, Juno Reactor, Skinny Puppy, and some more both electronic and heavy. Oh, and about jazz, I really don't know about it, but I surely love the music of Oliver Nelson. In fact, if someone here has listened to him, I would like some recomendations.

Of course that is enough! When I bought my Heresy's I used to drive them with a home made 5wpc tube amp. That was plenty for normal listening levels.

Mobile is testing the ADE-24, a member sent one unit to him... maybe he is just enjoying all his CD's with it!

I have my sub amp at 40Hz. In my room, I have good bass from the Heresy's to around 50Hz. They don't fall that fast because their sealed enclosure, so you have to account for this in order to not have an emphasized mid bass region.

"do the heresy's match up to the rf 7's in sound quality, and how might they match up for timber?" Well, both are different in lots of aspects. I do prefer the sound of Heresy's, just because one reason, The mid Horn. In my view, it is in the mids where the "musicality" live, so to speak. The big RF7's on the other hand are more loud, can be driven with less amplification, have a better tweeter (compared at least with the original Heresy) and have a lot more bass. So, it is your choice...

Mike, Good to see someone has experience with the unit. I think your offer is a terrific idea, ol' Mobile will have the opportunity to make his own testing, which is the only way to know if something really works or not, leaving aside comments or reviews of anybody else. Mobile, I look forward for your impressions.

Im usually eager to read about any tweak everybody is doing in order to find the best possible sound. Some of us do this all the time, and I think the reason is simple. We want to know if for small amounts of money we can improve our already expensive gear. So I read constantly about cables, interconnects, power chords, line conditioners, digital clocks, coins under the equipment, etc. etc. Always looking for the last word in the tweaks arena. But on the other hand, I tend to trust double blind tests, I like to buy something that provokes palpable changes, something that is doing an improvement so real that if I take my new tweak out of the chain I can easily note it and feel the urgency to immediately reinstall it. About a month or so I wanted to buy a new amplifier. I had an old Technics Class A integrated that I wanted to get rid of. I wanted to enter the world of Hi End and still keep some money on my pockets. After listening some equipment I ended in the store of a manufacturer known by his tube gear. I was absolutely delighted and ended buying a couple of things. One is my Hybrid Integrated. The other was a small "black box" called Margules Magenta ADE-24. This last one is what I consider the best tweak of all. It is designed, in words of its creator: "The original and first enhancer for digital audio mentioned in STEREOPHILE magazine as a killer product. The most common problem in CD players is the analog filter, this unit is a very high quality analog filter with no feedback and totally discrete. Designed to be plugged between the CD player and the amplifier, improves substantially the tonal characteristics." As my main speakers are very revealing (Klipsch Heresy, from the Heritage series which use two Horns, one for the tweeter and another for the mid driver) I always felt that some CD's were "to bright", to "edgy" for my tasting. This little box cured that sense in just seconds. Another improvements I noted was a more defined tridimensional feeling about the position of particular instruments in the sound field. In other words, the image was more precise. I also noted more definition on some difficult to reproduce instruments, like violins and pianos. The feeling is that they become more clear, more detailed, more focused. Reading the user's reviews on Usenet and Audioasylum I realized also that the ADE-24 makes the sound more analog like. People who feel that the CD was a step back and that are still using turntables are buying the ADE-24 because the sound is more like the one of the turntables, more analog. As I don't listen to vinyl Im not the most qualified to talk about this topic. But I can surely say that the sound becomes more lifelike, which is what I think the vinyl lovers pursue. A less "metallic" sound, more rounded, more warm, more detailed in the mid frequencies which are the ones that "carry the music soul" in the words of some vinyl lover audiophiles I have talked to. Now, as I said at the beginning. Perhaps the best way to realize the work of the little ADE-24 is to get used to it and then disconnect it from our gear. In words of every user on other forums and in my own experience this is almost painful. And I hope that can resume what this little box do.

If you can, put your sub right next to your listening position. Not very orthodox, but it will cure ANY room mode.

That is what I call a terror story...

But how about the music? in P&P is top notch.

Ahh, the wonders of DIY talking... Building a worthy sub is relatively easy, and one surely save a lot of money. But the best part, I think, is the pleasure of sitting and enjoy deep bass that can match anything comercial and smiling at the fact that "I built it".

The problem with the mayority of DAC's is that they leave spurious "blocks" on the high frequencies. One should always use the better DAC available. The difficult part is that you need an oscilloscope to see which is better...

---------------- On 10/9/2002 7:40:47 PM lynnm wrote: Corollary #3 If a man is in a forest and he makes a comment and his wife isn't there to hear him - Is he still wrong ? ---------------- ROTFLMAO!!!

Good post maxg Justin, I feel you will need something more powerful than the pure tubes you have seen. Except Margules ones (granted Im not an expert like mobile) the other two tubes amps I have listened are shy on the bass. Reading your post I would go for the maximum power you can buy. If you buy it an is more than you need you can always hear the amp at less volume. But if you go for a less watts amp and you need power and it is not there, you will feel kind of sad.

Maybe Im wrong. But THX, at least for speakers, means some amount of volume and frecuency response. Not quality of audio.

Justin, Before make up my mind I went to several dealers, I listened from yamaha's to Bryston's. This last ones were really good for me before I went to hear some tubes gear. I listened to an old Fisher which was really warm, then I listened to a Jolida which was better, but the bass on both felt somehow tinny. Then I went to Margules and listened to his top of the line tube preamps and tube amps (which, to my knowledge, are the only ones capable of working in pure Class A). What a revelation. All the warm sound from tubes with an Incredible ammount of Controled Bass. I listened to a 60WPC U280SC amp first alone and then twice as monoblocks with 120WRMS per channel. I have no words to describe the sound. Then Margules connected a HK integrated and the magic disappeared. I couldnt believe my ears. Sure, the sound was "good", the highs, the mids, the bass, all was there, but there was no natural timbre nor to much detail. In the end he connected the ACRH-1. To my surprise, the magical sound came back. Of course, it is not exactly the same as the all tubes pure Class A top of the line gear, but for the price was absolutely astonishing. I coudlnt be happier with my buy. Give it a try, they have a nice return policy.

Normally I don't disagree with mobile, but as the X10-D is discontinued, I think your best bet will be the ADE-24. Since you are buying it new, you can test it and if you don't like it (I don't believe this can happen) you will get your money back. You are not risking a penny. Besides, the ADE is designed to help cheaper CD players, it is designed to clean up the garbage from cheap DAC's, which automatically improves the sound quality.

Lol mobile. I do own it and I consider it as a valuable add to my gear. Now, of course you are right, changing his CDP and Amp (specially by tubes) will give him the most incredible change. Still, for the amount of the ADE24, I think it is unbeatable. I wonder if Margules have a tube inside (not really interested in open my box though), because the sound is definitely more tube like, more analog...

bobd Why don't try for yourself? You won't risk a penny, they offer 30 (or perhaps 45 days with a money return policy, I don't remember well). In any case, if you do a search on Audioasylum and Usenet, or for my posts here (I think Im the only one with the ADE24) and on the HTF, you can read more opinions of normal guys, in the Margules site there are links to professional reviews, which I think you already found. In my view, it definitely add an analog sense to CD's, improved imaging, the voices or individual intruments seem more localized, there are a palpable detail on the resonance of the intrument boxes (like piano, cello and string intruments in general), the brass section is less artificial and gain a sense of depth in the virtual scenario. Voices are more clear, you can hear individual voices instead of just some mess. The bass seems more natural and tight. But perhaps no amount of words will say as much as this last ones: I just can't listen anymore to CD's without the ADE24, I wanted to experiment putting the ADE24 on my computer to see the changes on MP3's and when I turned on my gear some of the "magic" was gone!