oros

After much experimentation in my small space with various speakers. (Wharefdale Diamond 10.1, B&W 303, B&W 600, Boston Cs 23) I settled on the Klipsch R-14m now superseded by the R-41m everything else overloaded the room. These do a terrific job, sound great at low volumes, even played loud they do not upset my neighbour, who is a bat of note. Using a Cambridge Audio Sonata AR 30 receiver. Everything else I used had bass bloom and sounded awful because of the small space. In the small space the bass is more than enough. On a larger space they are lost and rip your ears off. I sit right on top of them they image perfectly, have great detail. and just put a smile on my face.

Line Magnetic 211IA, this amp is stunning on both my Cornscala D's, and the KG 4's. It even gets my Vandersteen 2CE Signatures realy rocking on 12W triode without any problems at all. Built like a German tank not at all like a Russian one. At $1850 new it cant be beat. It stands head to toe with my other amplification, an Audio Research SP16L Pre, and Opera Consonance Cyber 800 mono blocks. That is $6,000 worth of amps. I have done direct comparisons on my set ups with a lot of other amps some costing upwards of $6,000+, it has seen most off, none have realy bettered it unless you nit pick.

KG 4's, mine like every amp I play them on, I have the Kenwood KA 7100 they play great on this amp as well as a Teac BX-300. The solid state amp of mine they realy shine on is a bottom of the line 12 w Technics SUZ-15, go figure. So I would not be concerned, they are very forgiving speakers. Feed them with a good push pull triode switchable EL 34 amp, and you are in for a very pleasantly surprising listening experience.

If the original recording was mono then that is what I prefer. Same with Stereo. A good mono recording is so much more dynamic and real to me than it's sister the hash mix stereo. Example some fellow brought a re issue stereo LP to a demo, some Jimmy Hendrix thing never paid much attention because I do not like his stuff. That is by the by, when I pointed out the fact that the guitar was coming through the left channel and the voice through the right. The reaction was a puzzled look directed my way, as if the bloke had absolutely no idea that the fellow played and both sang in in the middle. Another thing that confuses me is exactly where were did Ringo set up his drums was he in the middle left or right. Well the stereo re mixes are all over the show, he might have even been suspended from the sealing for all I know. Stereo re mix no thanks, always sounds like a product of a sound engineer; not the artist.

There was a marked difference in the sound of the compression driver after some use, it was not just a matter of just getting used to it. It was honking before bedding in. Ruchard Vandersteen who by all accounts knows what he is doing, recommends that the 2CE speaker requires a hundred hours of playing to sound at his best. This man does btw, not talk or tolerate any argie bargie, he is also fully qualified to wear the PWK Bull s#!T button. I know I bought a new pair he is quite correct. I still hang on to them, cant seem to bring myself to part with them. I will gladly take the word of a brilliant speaker designer over any other opinion. He has like PWK never made a bad sounding speaker.

I have Cornscala "D's" and could not be happier there was some harshness from the compression driver when I first fired them up. So much so that I put foam plugs in the throat of the horn. After a few days I removed the plugs and all traces of harshness was gone. It just needed some bedding in. In fact these are the least harsh sounding speakers I have ever owned apart for my Vandersteen 2CE signatures. The bass is great, tight detailed and deep, it thumps you in the chest. The bass is as close if not better in some respects to a Friends Sonus Faber Amati Homage, which was a $20,000 speaker in it's day. My cabinets have absolutely no padding at all. I did not use the Crites Bass driver in my build, I used the Faital Pro 15pr400 instead Crossover was stock Crites. I know I am talking about the two way, as I have never heard a three way, which by all accounts sound very similar. My room is full of stuff, I have no problems with bass boom or reflections. It has a suspended wooden floor, one long brick wall, the rest is dry wall. I do have the speakers sitting on 1 and a half inch thick full size granite plinths, I also used 1 inch ply for the build instead of 3/4 inch. also put a three inch ply bass on the speakers.

The Holy Gail of audio is a Myth which Audiofools buy into. No need to spend a lot of money, you have to spend a fair sum to get something that sounds musical and decent. Not 100's of thousands, no where near that. Decide what you are looking for and listen to the music not the system, a trap most fall into. It is all about the emotional connection with the music not some intellectual exercise or ego trip. If it costs more it must be better - not true. A half decent system chosen on ; your own opinions, musical tastes, and using your own ears as the final judge and not those stuck on the side of some other Dudes head. Will take you into hours of musical enjoyment. I am fortunate I know exactly what I like, can make my own decisions and have been lucky enough to choose equipment that satisfies my needs without spending a silly amount of money. I buy carefully second hand, we have a small tight audio community in my country second hand prices are low here. I buy on reputation, carefully researched and on the opinions of people who think about audio like I do. The point of diminishing returns sets in always, any improvements are minuscule going up the ladder. Sure there are some high end systems that must sound phenomenal, but honestly I have heard a lot of high end kit that has me just walking away saying nah this is ridiculous, no where near the sound expected for the silly asking money. Well chosen and designed sensitive DIY speakers with good drivers will outperform commercial speakers costing a lot more. The speakers are IMO the most important thing in the audio chain, good sensitive speakers are not amp or source fussy get speakers you like the sound of first, the rest is easy. You are paying for the finish on expensive commercial speakers you will be surprised how many speaker manufactures skimp on the drivers. So if you are more interested in music than looks and brand snobbery, there is affordable musical heaven out there, if you use your own ears and musical tastes as the final judge.

http://www.avforums.co.za/index.php/topic,60662.15.html

My Cornscala "D's" found a place in my home on Monday. The First ones here in Sunny South Africa. A long time in coming but well worth it. These speakers were a bit aggressive on the tops at first but after running them for about 50 hours all traces of aggressiveness has disappeared. They sound absolutely great. I also have Vandersteen 2CE Signatures, and the sound signature of the Cornscalas is in the same ball park as the Vandersteens ; open, not boxy image like hell, clear and musical. The Cornscalas are faster more dynamic and have deeper bass than the Vandersteen's which according to spec go down to 32 Hz, with the same if not better mid range to die for. The tops are now sweet (after running in) the detail and extension is better than the Vandies, which are inclined to roll of on top. These Cornscallas do not need a sub it will spoil it big time. The bass is deep detailed and does not intrude past the mid bass into the upper mid's as a lot of speakers seem to do. I did depart from spec in these respects ; used 1 inch Norwegian Birch ply instead of 3/4 inch. Changed the way the port was done it is now not cut out of the front baffle but done as a separate piece. We also shortened the port. Used a Fiatal Pro HF 400 15 inch driver instead of the Crites driver. Used the Crites crossovers, they needed no fiddling sounded just perfect on the first listen They are super sensitive. Amps: Have tried them on a number of amps first being a home built 150w sold state. then a vintage Kenwood KA-7100 integrated 60w pc Sounded good. But both lacked the clarity and open mid range of the valve amps. Plus the usual Solid state glare was evident, to which I am very sensitive to. Next a Line Magnetic 211IA EL 34 integrated 32w ultra linear 12w triode in ultra linear the bass is a bit leaner - in triode they rock, I would say perfect except for this ; I then hooked them up to my Audio Research SP 16 Pre with Opera Consonance Cyber 800 6 CA7 Mono Blocks 78 w each. This is a match made in heaven they are sweet musical and oh so smooth. (if I had not heard them on this set up up I would have been perfectly happy.) I then tried a cheap Chinese Meng Mini 6P1 ( have had the boards cleaned, tidied up the soldering, put in some better resistors, some better coupling caps, hard wired the volume pot, and adjusted the hum pots) ; sounded great if you had not heard the Line Magnetic or the Operas you would still be happy. Have played all sorts of music on them Classical, Opera, Rock, MP3's, 80's synth pop, Modern Loudness Mash they handle everything with ease they sound good even on bad recordings which is great. They are parked in the corners or an 8 x 3 1/2 meter well dampened room. Which is great, as the Vandersteen's like to be well out in the room. They are not position fussy or dependent. They are not amp fussy and will give you more than you want on any half decent amp. I personally prefer the sound of valve amps, any one of your amp choices will not disappoint you. I cannot go past 9.15 on the volume setting on the Line Magnetic or the Meng with blowing the roof off. On the Operas 5 clicks on the volume button on the Pre is enough to have the Cops paying a visit. So they do not need power, like it perhaps, the Operas being a case in point but this need not always apply. 78w is an overkill. At the end of this month I am hoping to get a home demo on some Ming-Da SET amps, as the local distributor stays close and is a familiar acquaintance of mine. Will report back on that experience. Some pictures on the link below.

Thanks that is what I was hoping for.

I have a 6 meter x 4 meter listening room with a vaulted ceiling on the long side. (20 ft x 13 ft). Solid wall along one length and rest dry wall. Room is well damped. Have no issues with it at all, in fact every speaker I have had in there performed very well. I am expecting the completion of my Cornscala D build shortly. My problem is that due to the fact that I also have Vandersteen 2CE signatures in there Am at present running 2 systems in there, the Vandies are well out in the room, and I have some KG4's in the corners. (Which btw give the Vandies a good run for their money.) I like two systems I find that it stops upgradeitis at least in my case. Will the Cornsalas be as happy in the corners as the KG4's are. I do not wish to move the Vandies position they perform great where they are. They are on marked Granite plinths, not realy a hassle moving them to the side of the room. I simply move them aside when enjoying the KG4's. I do not wish to move the Cornscalas as well each time, that will be taking it a bit to far. Will be sitting +-13 ft from the Cornscalas. My Equipment Stand sits between the KG4's. Thanks.

You will have to pry my KG 4's out my cold dead hands. Probably have the only set remaining in South Africa. Got them mint from an ex sound engineer at the State Broadcaster. My second favorite speaker after my Vandersteen 2CE Signatures. They are just plain fun to listen too, make me smile every time. Got some Cornscala D's in the works which should be ready in month or two. Perhaps they will topple the Vandies, cant wait. Klipsch speakers of the Heritage line and all the classics you guys have access to, just are not available here. There are however B&W's in every second home so to speak, never could figure that out.

Use the smaller brothers the 10.1's for near-field listening even though they are rear ported they sit 8 inches from the back wall have to let them breath a bit as you say. The clarity and dynamics is what sold me on them, plus they are an easy drive. They image very well sitting just 3 ft from them. Sold my previous speakers B&W DM 303's as soon as I got these, they handily outperform the B&W's. Made a nice profit as well, sold the B&W's for twice the price I bought the Wharfedales new for. Have heard most of the Diamond 10 range and none of them disappoint. Great bang for buck. The replacements the 220 are supposedly better. The 10's offer great value at close out prices. The 220's have a downward firing port and could fit right up against the wall.

Interesting had a Miniwatt here for a while while it was not bad, it was not as good as another Cheapy the Aria Mengyue 6P1 Mini amp at less than $150. the Meng has the edge, it is 3 dimensional, better bass and more detail. The Miniwatt fell short in these respects by an obvious margin.. Plus it had much more drive and oomph Have had it for 5 years without any hassles fitted some Russian power tubes that's all, cost next to nothing. That amp got me keen on valves now all my stuff is valve. Use it now as a headphone amp feed by My Audio Research Pre. Can be used as a power amp plug in the pre turn the volume up and off you go. It has driven every speaker I have thrown at it from Kef reference 2's, B&W 805's, Wharfedale Diamonds to my Vandersteen 2's loud enough without distortion to get the Cops in. Has no problems on my KG4's where the Mini watt battled a bit in comparison. Miniwatt would make a good desk top amp, just to gutless to make it fun on real world speakers.

Got this driving My KG4's and Vandersteen 2CE Signatures. Line Magnetic 211IA Two and a half years of daily trouble free use use. Amazing amp punches way above its price. Still have not had to adjust bias which is so simple on this amp. Drives the Vandies in 12w Triode with great results, gutsy little thing. Great drive great bass great detail realy musical. 3 dimensional it is a keeper. Have had the 219IA on demo, amazing sound but way out my price range.