maxg

OK, OK, lots of questions foremost among them being how do they sound... Normally I would not answer such a question this early in the listening process but as I have spent most of the day trying everything from large classical to solo voice I will give you my first impressions. Before I get onto that hopefully most of you noticed that the tweeter is in fact horn loaded and placed centrally behind that louvered baffle thing. I have no idea what horn it is but at some point I will take the whole thing apart and report back on the contents. Suffice to say for now that this thing is built!! It weighs about double the Heresy (itself no lightweight for its size, and from what I can tell dates from sometime around the mid 70's). Observed strengths: Soundstage depth - as large a soundstage as the Heresy but much much deeper. Absolutely amazing as reproducing full orchestral and opera works - murders the Heresy here at even moderate volumes. Imaging - creates a larger and more credible image than the Heresy - much less "in the box" sound more reminiscent of planar speakers. Tonality - less flavoured than the Heresy (but not quite as live feeling at low volumes). Volume - seemingly endless (i.e. way louder than I would ever want to take it) certainly on a par with the Heresy - maybe more. Observed Weaknesses: Lacks impact at low volumes, can sound really flat and lifeless in comparison to the Heresy. This problem disappears as you turn the dials to the point that it smacks you upside the head just like a Klipsch. Bass - not sure here yet - needs more observation. I have the feeling there is a little heaviness about the bass but that may be its integration with the sub which I am yet to optimize for these speakers (in other words it is running with the settings for the Heresy that I spent months finding). Mids need the watts to really play (similar to point 1 above) - they get a little over-powered by the bass and highs until the volume climbs when, if anything, they then overpower the other 2. Current leanings: Well I am not about to rush out and sell the Heresies. In fact I have connected them up to my spare Accuphase and usng the computer as input as I type. I do like the size of the music from the Sansui's and would rate their classical reproduction as amongst the best I have heard this side of $100,000 systems. I cant tell whether I prefer them over the Heresies or not yet. I have a built in bias towards the Heresy and the mere fact that these speakers have made this strong a challenge speaks volumes to their strengths. In typical fashion for me I can see myself finding a way of running both indefinitely. I would miss the sheer bite of the Heresy but parting with these would leave a big classical whole for me. Christos, Yes these may well be here when we hold the ACA meeting (delayed a week I assume - you didnt confirm). Comparison wont be easy on a single system due to cabling issues (the new ones dont take the silver cables - too thick - so I am running them with some cheapo monster type stuff I used to use for the surrounds). If people like, I can run the second system in the study with the Marantz CD6000 as source for comparison (unless I can find my SACD player again). Anyway there should be lots to listen to - I just picked up another 30 albums!!

Acutally whilst I was at home baby sitting (wife out getting nails done or something and shopping obviously) and my brother in law comes round (the older one). Seems he is thinking of getting a DVD player and was wondering about holding out for a recorder. Anyway we got talking and it turns out he has inherited my old Yamaha 492 receiver from his brother (the younger one) who doesnt have room for it. He was wondering if he could connect it up to the TV using his speakers for the new DVD, existing video etc. This is a job for cable guy (me..). Wife returns and off we go to his house. He has a very nice philips TV and a simply dreadful Sony mini (midi?) system which I immediately manage to connect together with a pair of RCA's much to his amazement and gratitude. In fairness it does sound better than the TV sound but not much. We get to talking about the Yamaha and I express concerns about trying it with the Sony speakers. He doesnt have the manual for the Sony - there is nothing marked on the back and I am worried about impedance and such like as these are very much built to a budget. I ask if he has any other speakers and sure enough he does. There are 3 of these damn Sony things about the house, each a previous version of the last. I am about to give up when he says that the only other thing he has are his dad's old speakers.... Dad's old speakers?? I ask casually. Sure enough in a cupboard we find these: Now - ignore the fact that they appear to be in my house setup on my system for the time being. Anyway suffice to say I get all excited - pull them out - connect them to the Yamaha - use his apple computer as a source. We can only get the speakers about 3 feet apart but even with this very poor, cobbled together system there is something there. The sound isnt right exactly but it is getting close. Intrigingly there are some strange controls on the back that I have never seen on a speaker before: Time to call long suffering Tony (who lives nearby) and was in bed with his girlfriend at the time (the things that man gives up when stereo's are at stake). Yes - he knows the speakers and yes he is coming round (ignore any of the more obvious puns please). He comes round - listens - and declares that these play better than my Heresies. I am less sure but am interested in trying them out. The only person who has no interest is my brother in law. He hates them - "too big, too ugly" and insists I take them away or he will throw them away. Of course whilst I am about it he also takes the opportunity to dump all his old vinyl records on me (the nerve!!). Anyway I have taken several more snaps so here they are: And here is a picture of the new speakers in my system: And finally, in contrast, a picture of my new computer sound system that also magically appeared yesterday:

Hey Kelly, Did I just miss the bargain of the century or are these junk??? http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1384192258&rd=1 TIA Max

When I had the Pro-ject Phonobox SE at my house a couple of weeks ago I played with the settings mated to my Pro-ject K4 (badged Grado MM cartridge). It was initially set to 47 ohms and I tried the 100 ohm setting. I couldnt hear any difference at all so I switched it back to its normal setting. Maybe it is more of an issue for MC cartridges than for MM..

Why you..... What the....... How the..... Where did that........ Am i losing me....... OK - to quality - it appears to be here on the posts but not on the list of posts for each section and I am sure it used to be. Of course if I do back there now and the button appears I am gonna feel pretty sick. Keep yer coffee - I need Scotch!!

I used to use it a lot to hop quickly from one forum to another without having to return to the home page - now I cant find it. Strangely I thought I saw it a day or so after the forum was modified - but not a sign since - then again maybe it was the wine...

---------------- On 10/3/2002 9:49:42 PM TBrennan wrote: MaxG---Could be worse, you could have Persians in Athens again, have to take to the wooden walls. ---------------- Nah...we aint heard a peep from them since big Al kicked their butts!! A good thing since the wooden walls have fallen into some disrepair.

Glad to hear you are ok. Really worrying thing the weather. Seems to be getting worse and worse each year (part of global warming? El Nino?). This year has been dreadfull in Europe. We had snow in Athens for the first time in 30 years and appalling flooding all over the continent (though fortunately not too bad here). Wonder what is next?

There are currently 214 registered users on-line and 427 guests. As it is about 5 in the morning according to the siteç clock I doubt those figures. A bug?

Arco (Aristidi), Did you have to pay duty on that when it came into Greece. I got nailed once on an order for SACD's from elusive disk. The charge was greater than the original selling price. Been very wary of ordering from the other side of the pond since then...

Wow... Isnt it pleasing when you start a thread that takes off like this... It is also nice to see that I am not alone in having not been fooled by music. Seems many can be fooled by voices and sound effects but it takes something else to make you think there is a Grand Piano in your living room. I really enjoyed reading Kelly's first response - especially the hairs standing up in places you didnt know you had hairs. I have been there - when the music has just hit the spot and you sit enthralled by the whole thing. I would say however, that this is still not quite the same thing as fooling you into thinking it is real. I have one, oft mentioned, direct to disk recording of Wild Child Butler singing some serious blues. His voice is as real as my system has ever gets (although again he is almost speaking rather than singing). There is an immediacy and intimacy to the recording that is quite amazing and leaves me transfixed. Obviously I have no idea what the real event sounded like and how it compares to what I hear. Plucking a figure out of the air I would guess I am 90% of the way there - maybe Kelly is right and sets would add that extra that would convince entirely, maybe a better turntable/arm/cartridge/phono stage combo, or, maybe I have got as far as Heresies can take me. I suppose this thread leads back to the issue of what do you expect from your stereo. We had a thread not long ago that debated whether system neutrality was the goal or whether merely providing a pleasant listening experience was enough, distinct from the live event sound. For me listening to my system is an event in and of itself. I do not expect it to reproduce the live event entirely - I attend live events for that fix. Instead I ask only that it produces a musical experience I can savour - real or otherwise, and in that I have achieved the goal.

Into thinking that a stereo (or multi-channel setup) was the real thing. I got this from another forum where there is an interesting discussion going on regarding the above. I have only ever been fooled by speaking voices (on Roger Water's Live and in the flesh SACD for example where voices suddenly erupted from one of the rear speakers and I thought someone was coming through the patio doors). Sadly, despite my pride in my system, it has never fooled me into thinking it is the real thing - even in dreamy late night states when I lose track of where I am. Anyone been dupped by their own system or someone else's?

Wow you guys are good - sure fooled the hell out of me. Is this the Sherlock Holmes Acadamy forum I logged into or what? Impressive looking speaker all the same - whoever actually owns it!!

I found the answer to your mum's dreams - a fully automated robotic vacuum cleaner. Its called Roomba and there is a review on it on the www.pcmag.com somewhere..... If you are lucky http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,538687,00.asp should take you straight there. Might be an idea to get a few of them - one for each floor...

Now you are talking Fini, I'm in for the world tour!!! On the other hand if you give me enough notice maybe I could make it to Hope or wherever for next year.... ---------------- On 10/1/2002 8:33:50 AM fini wrote: How about a "Hope to Indy" road trip, stopping at bb member's homes to check out their audio gear? I remember BOB Hope did road movies... For that matter, I suggest a road trip snaking its way across the country (world? maxg?!?) in HornEd's Klischmobile, with Miss Becky as our hostess...sort of a "Magical Mystery Guest Tour." Whaddaya think? fini ----------------

I've said it before and I will say it again. The RF3 is the most forgiving Klipsch speaker there is when it comes to amplification. I have heard this speaker being driven by amps ranging from a 1970's 20 wpc SS Marantz through a pair of push pull tube 45 wpc monoblocks, an Accuphase E211 integrated amp, a Yamaha A1 receiver, a Sharp all digital amp and a Rotel 1080 200 wpc power amp. Whilst there were differences in the sound they all sounded perfectly reasonable and they all went way too loud for my tastes. With the tubes (mine) they went so loud that I had to listen in the Garden with the volume on half way. In answer to your question you do not need 200 wpc.

---------------- On 10/1/2002 12:30:36 AM AndyKub wrote: Surface noise bothers me, and though you can get an inexpensive TT, to properly care for vinyl would require the purchase of a good cleaning system. ---------------- I am not sure I would concur with that assumption. I do not clean my records - I never have. I do wipe them down with an anti-static brush before each play and I do occasionally clean the needle with some clear-audio fluid a friend gave me but that is about it. If a record arrives in my hands without surface noise it seems to stay that way. I have a few records that have been with me since the early 80's (and played numerous times on unmentionably bad equipment). These are still without surface noise to this day. In all honesty I am at a loss to explain how I have so little surface noise - maybe I am just lucky but it is important to note that I too came back to analogue from digital, am also very sensitive to it and was utterly amazed when I fired up the TT for the first time. Methinks that maybe the most important thing is the proper alignment of the cartridge and that it is misalignment that causes much of what others are hearing. This is just a theory of course - I have nothing to back it up with.

Deang, The Roger Water's in the flesh was without doubt the best SACD I found (from 70 titles purchased). The only thing that came close to it in terms of an overall experience was the Jacintha Lush Life in mutli-channel. Generally it is fascinating to see different people's experiences of the various formats and their preferences. Someone here posted how their vinyl experience was pleasant but flat in comparison to their CD's. To me this is utterly amazing as it is the complete reverse of my own experience. On my setup nothing has the impact that vinyl does - the music is so much more tangible and dare I say it "real" than from the other media (including SACD) that I no longer listen to anything else. In fact I have sold my SACD player and am stuck with 70 SACD's I cant really listen to (many are 2 channel single layer disks). Maybe at some point I will get hold of a better player than the lowly NS900 DVD/SACD player I used to run but with the deluge of vinyl out there I dont anticipate this happening any time soon.

as a freak!! Was this my status before the change? I dont remember. I thought I was a regular poster or something. Should I regard this as promotion?

Agree with DSOTM but not the version. I have access to 3 copies of DSOTM including the MF version. It is not the best. Amazingly it is outplayed entirely by the Greek version that I have. I say amazingly because it cost me $6 whilst the MF version cost my friend $45. Would add The Wall to the list (German version is good) plus: Wild Child Butler/Wild child Butler - direct to disk recording. Bert Kaempfert - Africaan Beat - 1961 - Decca Beethoven - The Pastorale Symphony - Montreux - mono - 1959 Bruebeck - Take five - 180 gramme BEETHOVEN/CONCERTO NO. 5 180g LP - Decca JACINTHA/HERE'S TO BEN #'D LTD ED 180g 2 LP - GrooveNote Stevie Ray Vaughan - In Step - 180g LP Paul Simon - In the park - live double album Marvyn Gaye - What's goin' on? The Beetles - Seargant Pepper's / Hey Jude / Rubber Soul Additionally some artists I have found that are bargain basement stuff with amazing quality on all their recordings I have found (if you like their music) are: UB40 Annie Lennox Sade Bob Marley there are lots more but I cant think of them right now as I am in the office and away from my collection.

Thought I might use this thread to play with some of the functions. Therefore this is gonna be one ugly reply. What I really want to know is how to insert a photo like I used to be able to. From what I can see here the only way to insert a photo is by typing the html directly. If my memory is still functional there should be a pic of my daughter above this line. If not my amnesia has saved you viewing yet another proud dad bit. There must be an easier way than this!!

Sorry clue - no idea - but here is a pic of my daughter looking thoughtful for you (any excuse really!!) Good luck on your hunt

Well I think I have got this sussed. Hopefully I have a new avatar, I am logged in and this message will appear. If not I wont expect too many replies. Has anyone ever heard the addage - if it aint broke dont fix it?? All this and my Norton Anti-virus has gone bonkers too. (flashes up a bunch of messages about not being able to confirm my license with the server - tells me to call one of their offices - then asks if I want to update automatically and does it anyway - weird day today).

After a previous post highlighted the banning of all electronic games in public places in Greece the law has now formally been recinded: http://europe.cnn.com/2002/TECH/fun.games/09/25/greece.games.reut/index.html Normality has been resumed! ------------------ My System: http://aca.gr/pop_maxg.htm

Whoops - well spotted Fini. The date should of course read October and not September. Sadly my brain has been in neutral since the birth of my daughter. Something to do with sleep deprivation I think. About 2 weeks ago she got the flu went on antibiotics and then got diahorrea (spelling?) and a nasty case of thrush. Combine that with my parents coming to stay and heading straight into flat panic every time the baby cried and the joy was complete. All this lead to sleepless nights, a cornucopia of creams and purple fingers courtesy of the Gentium Violet they still use around these parts (and the baby's parts come to that). Anyway if I survive all the joys I will, at the very least, post links to the review of the get-together. ------------------ My System: http://aca.gr/pop_maxg.htm