maxg Posted February 22, 2002 Share Posted February 22, 2002 Which is probably a fairly limited group but anyhow: I have notived that some of the older recordings that have been transfered to SACD have the largest soundstaging on a home system I have ever come across. The following, in no particular order, as the 2 channel SACD recent additions that really struck me with their depth and breadth of soundstage: All of these are Sony disks: Beethoven Symphony #3 Schubert Symphony #9 Schuman Symphoniues #2 & #4 Rosini Overtures Mendelsson Symphony #4 Most of these are recordings with Szell as the conductor and were originally performed in the 50s adn 60s. There is some hiss in the 50s recordings but nothing compared to vinyl. Difficult to give an indication of how big these soundstages are - would it suffice to say that they make my Heresy's sound like Belles. Extends well beyond speaker placement - wall of sound stuff. ------------------ 2 * Heresy 2 (mains) 2 * Homemade horn speakers (rears) 1 * REL Strata 3 sub Accuphase E211 amp. Tube monoblocks with separate pre-amp (solid state). Marantz CD6000 player Sony NS900 SACD/DVD player Stax Headphones Humax 5400 digital satellite receiver Sharp Video 32" Sony flat screen 16:9 TV Mogami interconnects Silver Synergistic speaker cable Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZklipsch Posted February 24, 2002 Share Posted February 24, 2002 Feed the Heresy II's with good classical stuff through proper amplification and those little babies get a dinosaur. Maxg, how about the diference when you listen those cd's on your Marantz CD-6000, SACD versus normal CD??? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted February 24, 2002 Share Posted February 24, 2002 "Get a dinosaur?" It sounds like a superlative but I have to ask so I can sound "hip". Gil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willjam Posted February 25, 2002 Share Posted February 25, 2002 MaxG, I have the Snell Mahler 10 both on LP and SACD and I must say that there is very little difference if any between the 2 recordings. I agree with the soundstage of the SACD going through my Herseys is awesome. I think I can go as far to say this is true with regular CDs. These players are phenomenal. ------------------ Bill J. My Music System Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted February 25, 2002 Author Share Posted February 25, 2002 My comments on soundstaging are all relative to the same (or similar) recordings on CD - I should have said this. After listening to SACD for a session switching back to CD is like encasing the sound in a letterbox. Everything is much more confined in all directions (height, width, depth). There also appears to be much less movement of instruments across a recording on SACD. I have noticed with some of my CD classical recordings that instruments appear to drift between movements and between full orchestral moments and quieter single or dual instument sections. Whether this is due to the medium, or merely a reflection of the greater care taken in producing an SACD recording I cannot tell. Suffice to tell that I am steadily replacing my classical CD collections with SACD's and relegating the CD's to the car. If and when Sony bring out a car SACD player the future of my CD's is bleak - maybe for use only on my computer at work - otherwise I will probably sell them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZklipsch Posted February 25, 2002 Share Posted February 25, 2002 William, maybe the problem is my direct translation from swiss-german into english?!!. Just wanted to say that these Heresy II sound damn good for classical, (dificult to translate.....) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted February 25, 2002 Share Posted February 25, 2002 maxg, I certainly don't want to dimish your enjoyment of SACDs, but since I've moved into my new apartment my soundstage is really awsome. As I wrote in another thread my Khorns are now over 16ft (about 5m) apart and at last the music finds enough room to breath. JUst tonight I have been listening to some non-classical recordings and I must say that even the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album sounds really great. CLassical music (be it orchestral music or opera -the other night's Tosca was certainly exciting!)-, Jazz or the odd pop LP (Pink Floyd's The Wall -gee, that brings back memories...) everything benefits from a proper listening room. If SACD adds even more enjoyment, well then good for all who have already taken the plunge (like you). BTW: How are your tubes going? At last I managed to get a pair of Svetlana 300B from a gentleman in Australia. Let's see what they'll do to my amp Wolfram ------------------ Khorns, tubes and a suitable room: welcome to aural paradise! System: 1973 Khorns with ALK crossovers REL Stadium II sub Cayin 743 D integrated tube amp McIntosh MR 77 McIntosh MCD 7007 Thorens 520S SME 3012-R Ortofon SPU Classic GM E Cyrus aEQ 7 phono stage with PSX-R power supply Alternative system: Quad ESL 63 McIntosh MC 2105 McIntosh C29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted February 26, 2002 Author Share Posted February 26, 2002 Gee Dubai - what a surprise! You have an awesome soundstage with a little old pair of KHorns...well fancy that (lol). I am not saying you cant get a decent soundstage with CD based music - just that relatively the SACd soundstage is more robust, more defined and a whole lot larger, or at least it can be. Obviously we will reach the laws of diminishing returns with a pair of KHorns. You already have an enormous soundstage - how much bigger can it get?? And no, I would not expect my soundstage on an SACD/ Heresy combo to match a CD/KHorn combo - but it is a whole lot closer than it was with CD playback. Just as an aside I was in the local Klipsch distributor last week and he had a pair of KHorns in the window with a pair of Heresy's on top. Jesus was I unprepared for the size difference!! The Heresy's looked liked headphones perched on top of the Khorns like that. Really made me laugh - they look quite large in my living room. I have seen Khorns many many times but every time I get a shock at their size! Of course the cost of my Heresy's plus my SACD player plus the 70 odd SACD's is still a whole lot less than half the cost of a pair of KHorns over here. You get what you pay for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted February 26, 2002 Author Share Posted February 26, 2002 Oh yes - I completely forgot. The tubes are wonderful. So wonderful in fact that I am immediately going to change everything again. I will be speaking to my amp supplier next week to see if he can modify my amps to run in triode mode (and maybe class A - we will see how difficult that is). Right now I have the best sound I have ever had in my house - and I am hoping it is only going to get better!! Just love this hobby!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dubai2000 Posted February 26, 2002 Share Posted February 26, 2002 maxg, yes, Khorns aren't exactly tiny, but being placed in corners makes them more room friendly than my Quads (which I am trying to sell, anyway). I presume once Klipsch, always Klipsch. Perhaps I shouldn't have been surprised about the change of sound when moving into this wider room, and no, bigger than that is not necessary (at least not when one considers that I am sitting relatively close to the speaker's wall). When it comes to tubes I agree with you from the bottom of my heart. Did I mention that bites by the tube bug are really dangerous? There is a gentleman in town who offered a pair of new Svetlana 300B on ebay. I somehow missed the deadline but had keept his email address. They were relatively cheap so I decided to give him a call to see if he had more than this pair and guess what....he still has three or four sets in the cellar - after having sold me a pair for EUR 70,00. They are playing right now and although they are so very fresh they sound already better than the Chinese stock that had been put into my amp. So what will the Svetlana be like and those TJ Meshplate are tempting too. Anyway, thanks to Khorns AND tubes I have also been able to enjoy music in a way that I hardly thought possible (and what will happen once I start changing parts inside the amp) Wolfram ------------------ Khorns, tubes and a suitable room: Welcome to aural paradise! System: 1973 Khorns with ALK crossovers REL Stadium II sub Cayin 743 D integrated tube amp McIntosh MR 77 McIntosh MCD 7007 Thorens 520S SME 3012-R Ortofon SPU Classic GM E Cyrus aEQ 7 phono stage with PSX-R power supply Alternative system: Quad ESL 63 McIntosh MC 2105 McIntosh C29 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maxg Posted February 27, 2002 Author Share Posted February 27, 2002 Dubai, You are selling the Quad 63's? What kind of condition are they in? Have you done any mods on them? Any chance of some pictures? I seem to remember there was a version of the 63 that was refered to as the pros - updated and larger wiring but I may be wrong. Let me know if yours are pros. Who knows - maybe its a big spending day. Cheers BTW - you can email me direct if you prefer at maxg@hol.gr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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