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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2016 11:40:57 GMT
Update: Another day, another try: Sadly still the same conclusion. Not my cuppa at all. It will be moving on to another home where I hope it finds more love. It's in spanking condition too, fully boxed and so nicely finished. I'd really hoped I'd like it. This kinda confirms past experiences, as I've not enjoyed some of the prvious integrateds from Exposure, including a XX. Looks like I will be sticking to the okder Farlowe pre/power combos. Still, I've got some Adcom kit arriving Monday. Another day another dollar  |
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Post by dsjr on Feb 5, 2016 14:11:13 GMT
I remember how awful the Exposure X was, hard at lower levels and harsh at clipping point. Nothing like the more velvet tones of the Farlowe era pres and powers.
Would be worth looking out for an Onyx OA21, as these were really good and well made. Why we never took them on I don't know (well I do really, because they never would have offered our sales director turnover-based skiing holidays as Mission-Cyrus used to do in the early to mid 80's).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2016 14:30:34 GMT
Funny you should say that, Dave, because I've had four or five Xs, a XV an XX and now a Super XX. Only ONE of the Xs hit the spot. It was the last integrated I had and it was an old tatty one at that. It made me think my past experiences were wrong, but it appears they weren't.
I completely agree with your description of the pre/power combos. It appears you and I may be the only ones who think the integrateds are very different from the pre/power offerings. Other people seem to think they are the same thing.
I've had a couple of OA21s and enjoyed them very much, although they are a little "dark" sounding if m being picky. Very svelte looking though. Very hard to find a minter, especially with a SOAP. It surprises me because they are well built, yet always seem to have found their way into the hands of careless owners.
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Post by dsjr on Feb 5, 2016 15:26:35 GMT
Later Exposures were designed by Talk Electronics' Kevin Edwards I understand, so maybe Talk 3 speaker cables (or the old CT 4.1 or Concert 2.1) would suit them better?
Only had OA21's brought in for dems of an hour or so - a LONG time ago. I suspect many of these were owned for short periods of time by curious geezers who missed them first time around and then passed on? First owners probably went the Naim route, the OA21 the first step on the very slippery slope before the hopelessly underpowered Nait came along (the Nait 1 makes a wonderful inline compressor though, as soft-clipping's all it's really good at in the real world ime/imo).
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2016 13:36:57 GMT
WTF! Had one of those "can't be true" moments today. Where to start? Aplogies if this rambles but here goes: Yonks ago, I bought a pair of pretty-much destroyed Minstrels. I don't like seeing trashed items and often I just have to rescue them. One tweeter broken. One bass unit with a small tear, one bass unit blown, fried crossover, no badges, broken grilles and trashed cabinets. Unsurprisingly I've lacked the motivation to start, let alone complete this project, especially in the dark and dismal Winter of the North. Anyway, wind forward to today and I saw someone talking about tweaking minstrels on HFS and RD suggested de-foaming, which I've usually found beneficial if the cabinets are not too resonant. Royds are damped with steel plate, so no worries there. The reminder got me moving on the electrical and mechanical parts of the refurb, including ridding the Minstrels of their foam. Now I'm an inveterate Royd tinkerer, so I had the replacement parts sitting here. I do prefer un-doped drivers in Minstrels, so I fitted a nice pair of those instead. Now you probably guessed from the start that the results were surprising and you probably guessed they'd sound good (to me at least). You'd be right, they are epic. It's not the first pair of Minstrels I've changed to un-doped drivers, so I'm left thinking the removal of the foam must be the main contributor to the wow factor this time around. For anyone doubting the efficacy, it's five minutes work to try and utterly reversible. Please give it a go if you can be bothered. It's worked wonders for me. The most surprising part and the thing that gave me the "WTF" moment was that this fabulous sound was being driven by the Exposure Super XX that I hated so much with Kans. I'd written the amp off entirely and here it is sounding wonderful. I used the Exposure because I'd rewired the crossovers and I'm a know-nothing numpty when it comes to electronics it's the least expensive amp I own and if anything went wrong, if not have missed it. Cosmetically the Royds are still dog-rough, but I will have no hesitation in lovingly restoring what are truly beautiful sounding speakers. |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 7, 2016 13:39:54 GMT
Synergy again! Nice outcome.
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Post by ChrisB on Feb 7, 2016 13:46:42 GMT
Great!
Have you tried them with an amp you love, rather than one you thought you didn't? That might be astonishing!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2016 13:54:52 GMT
It's next on my list and I expect even better results. I've ran Minstrels before with the other amps I own, so I know the combo is usually a good one.
One usual drawback for me with Minstrels is the lack of image height. Taking the stuffing out has really freed them up in this respect. The sound is far more "out there" and "up there" than before,
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2016 10:14:31 GMT
  The place is a mess with wires everywhere as I'm testing out the Adcom amps, but here are a couple of Cubette pics |
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Post by MartinT on Feb 13, 2016 18:13:13 GMT
Do report on the Adcoms when you can!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 13, 2016 21:32:54 GMT
I've had some time with them today, but I need more in order to get to know them. The 555 power amp is clearly the pick of the bunch though.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 13:07:23 GMT
A few thoughts resulting from playing about with amps.
I have an Adcom 555 preamp and a 555 power amp. I also have a smaller 535 amp. Due to Cubettes and TIS taking my fancy, they had sat untried for a few days.
After trying them with the Cubettes, I can say I really rate the 555 power amp. The preamp and smaller power amp are decent items too, representing top vfm.
As a comparison, I tried my Audion KT120 amp and was surprised how close they came. The big power amp has a lovely bass that the valve amp can't match too.
My First surprise was that the valve amp didn't really go quite loud enough with the Cubettes. That's a first. I'd expected them to be efficient and a doddle to drive.
My second surprise was just how much both the Minstrels and the Cubettes love the Exposure Super XX. There's a real magic when they are paired up with this amp. Considering I pretty much hated this very amp with Kans, it's a surprising outcome. Not that I care, because I'm loving the sound and listening for hours on end.
All very interesting until I tried my Exposure 3 and 4 which are simply my "Goldilocks" amps. They just do something for me that I can't resist. Still my benchmark amps. Time to clear out the pretenders I feel.
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Post by MartinT on Feb 15, 2016 13:18:18 GMT
So how does the 555 power amp compare with the Super XX?
I think Kans have a very unnatural response curve, could explain why they sound so poor with some amps (I could have stopped at 'poor').
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 17:16:23 GMT
The 555 is slightly warm, unbustable, stable and solid. The bass isn't quite in Krell territory, but it's weightier than the majority of amps I've tried. It reminded me a bit of the Aragon 4004. The Super XX isnt as good an amp,but it seems to love the Cubettes. It doesn't image very well with other speakers, but the Cubetes seem to add that extra dimension with it. In 99 out of 100 systems the Adcom would leave it in its tracks.
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Post by dsjr on Feb 15, 2016 17:27:33 GMT
I'd possibly ask that you keep the 555 power amp if you can - a few years ago I'd have had it  Can I add that smaller speakers will usually need more power as they cannot move air as easily. Old Kans really are an oddity because of the hideously over-exaggerated upper mid they have, which really is around TEN db up on mid bass levels. had Linn brought the upper mid peak down nearer to flat, they wouldn't have been much better than LS3/5A's in terms of sensitivity. Kan II's tried to do this and they sounded incredibly boxy and coloured I remember... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 15, 2016 17:50:50 GMT
Funny things the Kan II. I used to think they were a bit too "hifi" and lacked the character of the originals. Then I finally "got them" and became a fan. I know you've said it before, Dave, but the B110 really is a "variable" bass unit. No two pairs of Kans sound the same, even close serial numbers. The ones I have had recently were my 44th pair. I let them go to a mate earlier today. As much as I like them, the Cubettes just outshine them to a point where it was pointless hanging onto them.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 20, 2016 13:44:30 GMT
Once again I have bought something because of its visual appeal. I know they won't beat the Cubettes but a pair of Rosewood Kan 2s caught my eye. Pair no 45 are on their way to me. Will they stay any length of time? Maybe. I bought them more to look at than listen to. I guess it will depend on whether or not I like them in the flesh. Either way, I will put up some pics when they arrive.  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 9:28:35 GMT
I have no idea if or when it will bear fruit, but I bought a pair of wooden boxes that appear identical to the Cubettes. I plan to make a DIY version I will certainly damp the cabinets in the same way, but I haven't decided what drivers to use. I might go for the same bass unit and experiment with tweeters. I'd have liked to try the Royd bass units, but they have no dust caps and aren't suitable for upward facing use. I broke my left hand a fortnight ago and my right hand is permanently impaired after last year's cycle accident, so I will need to be careful with my router. If and when I get round to it, I will post pics.  |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 21, 2016 13:09:07 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2016 17:33:47 GMT
I received the Stoet amp earlier today. It's a lovely thing to look at and to use. Very nicely built and finished too. I've only played a handful of tracks so far, but it has a noisy volume pot which will need attention at some stage.
How does it sound? Hard to say because I don't feel like I have the sort of speakers it needs. It's made for large horns or other large efficient speakers IMO. It's very lucid and utterly natural. My current speakers are "half pint pots" that like a big "gallon"'of an amp poured into them. This fleshes out the bass and makes them sound bigger. The Stoet wont play that game, but as an 8 watt single ended amp, I could hardly expect it to. It certainly goes loud enough with the Royds.
It clearly has potential and is cute as a button, so I'd really like to try it with bigger speakers at one stage. Right now it's a very pretty little curio that is giving me pleasure and may offer more down the line.
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