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Post by user211 on Jul 20, 2020 13:11:12 GMT
That's why I said it's too complicated to be brilliant.
I like simple and consistent as possible. That's one reason I like Apogees. Same driver material for the entire frequency range. Brilliant. Same with full range ESLs. Thought they just can't manage the dynamics, which is unfortunate, but very true.
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 22, 2020 8:30:09 GMT
I might be wrong but I think if I was going to sink >£50k into speakers it would be with a company that puts serious amounts of money into R&D, like Wilson, not a company that is know chiefly for lifestyle products. I think they do though. It's just not all concentrated into the field of hifi. I would say that the following would constitute serious money... The Research Group involved in RealVision is the “Acoustics & Research” team of Bang & Olufsen’s R&D department. With a staff of 30+ engineers and researchers - including 3 associate professors from Aalborg University employed for 20% of their time at Bang & Olufsen, plus 2 PhD and 1 PostDoc projects externally funded - the team has been actively involved in both internal and collaborative research projects, since 1972. Applied research is performed in areas of sound and multimodal perception, signal processing, sound field synthesis and rendering, machine learning UX/UI and electroacoustics. The department has world class facilities in the form of several listening rooms (IEC standard), one anechoic chamber, one 12mx12mx13m space for acoustic measurements plus associated measuring equipment. In addition, Bang & Olufsen have recently set up in new facilities offering an extended range of possibilities for conducting research activities and developing innovative products. www.realvision-itn.eu/institutions/beo
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Post by MartinT on Jul 22, 2020 8:32:53 GMT
That's all good and I respect that. If they release more class-leading products in the future then I'll change my opinion of them (which currently sits at a kind of high-class Bose).
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Post by jandl100 on Jul 30, 2020 5:19:59 GMT
Still waiting on the replacement Temple Audio Supercharger PSU, part of the delay being due to me being away for a week.
But to tide me over, they kindly made me a 'dual cable' allowing both Monoblocks to be run fron a single Supercharger PSU.
The sound is excellent, I anticipate these will be hard to replace with something better. I'm sure things will further improve with 2 PSUs.
And my newly acquired Topping D70 DAC has been retired to the spares shelf for now - I remain deeply intoxicated by my ancient [20yo] Lexicon digital processor. It just sounds more like real music to my ears and in my system.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 3, 2020 21:40:33 GMT
Currently enjoying a pair of Sennheiser Momentum 2.0 over-ears. I was curious about the rave reviews and wanted to hear for myself. Yes, they really are good. Accuracy tempered with a hint of austerity - less than succulent in the mids with a touch of starkness, but well balanced and neutral overall. Nicely spacious sounding for a closed back. Very good clarity. I guess they come closer to my view of monitoring cans than others I have had. They have a bit of a "cheap" feel about them somehow, but are cumfy enough for long listening sessions even though the earpads feel less than luxuriant. Excellent value at used prices. Given the surprising success of the over-ears I also tried the Momentum In-ears, but I didn't get on with them. Good clarity and a broadly similar sound to the over-ear but, for my classical music tastes, a bit hyped up in the treble. Great on rock, really quite an exciting listen, but a bit raw and forward on violins, so no good for me.
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Post by julesd68 on Aug 4, 2020 0:04:38 GMT
They look like they have been 'inspired' by 1970's designs - kind of cool to look at but not so fun to wear. I'd prefer something designed with comfort in mind.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 4, 2020 4:47:07 GMT
They aren't uncomfortable, but they aren't luxuriant like, say, Beyerdynamic DT770-990. A softer earcup would be beneficial, I might try some different pads on them, but that always affects the sound as well. I happily wear them for an hour or more at a time. It's never a 'relief' to take them off.
There's a straightforward kind of balanced clarity about them that appeals and puts them a step or two ahead of the abovementioned Beyers. Not as open and spacious as the Philips X2, but they have the edge on rez and especially focus, making the X2 sound a bit bloomy.
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Post by julesd68 on Aug 4, 2020 17:38:52 GMT
Do you have any experience with Bluetooth headphones Jerry? A friend of mine is looking for a pair, budget max 300 quid.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 4, 2020 17:40:48 GMT
Do you have any experience with Bluetooth headphones Jerry? A friend of mine is looking for a pair, budget max 300 quid. No, none at all.
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Post by julesd68 on Aug 5, 2020 15:35:05 GMT
Just saw that the Philips X2 are now £230 on Amazon - yikes! That's quite a hike, glad I bought mine when I did.
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Post by julesd68 on Aug 8, 2020 16:37:23 GMT
Still waiting on the replacement Temple Audio Supercharger PSU, part of the delay being due to me being away for a week. Any update on this Jerry?
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 8, 2020 17:18:16 GMT
The new Supercharger comes out of quarantine on Monday.
Another owner and fanboy reckons the gear takes a month or more to run in. But I should have a reasonable idea of how it all hangs together after a few days.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 10, 2020 9:57:04 GMT
Currently plumbed in electronics ... At the top - Topping D70 (DAC mode) Emotiva PT-100 preamp Below - Temple Audio Monoblocks and Supercharger PSUs Leftward - Musical Fidelity X10v3 buffer with Rock Grotto Little Pinkie PSU * Sounding excellent. Not totally convinced I prefer the Topping/Emotiva to my Lexicon DC-1 processor. Topping does more impressive hifi, the Lexicon does more realistic music, I suspect. Will settle with this for a week or two now that I have the full Temple Audio amps setup going to let them all run in a bit and to learn what they can do, then swap back to Lex and see what I think. * Thanks to Alan Firebottle for getting the MF buffer going again, I do like what it does and missed it while it was away for repair and tlc. Yesterday I played around with the Topping on its own in PRE mode, through the MF buffer and then through the Emotiva pre with the Topping in DAC mode, and then with the whole lot. I prefer the whole lot together; the whole seems greater than the sum of its parts. The Topping does sound better in DAC mode than in PRE mode imo even with the MF buffer in place. A separate decent preamp is worthwhile. A few days ago I compared the Emotiva pre with the "Chinese RVC" pre, to my surprise I found I preferred the Emotiva! More body and texture to the sound, and it lost very little in transparency and fine detail. The MF buffer seemed to help the Emotiva more than the RVC for some reason, and really closed the gap in terms of sheer transparency and rez. I think I might try some other preamps with this setup.
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Post by julesd68 on Aug 10, 2020 14:31:13 GMT
Yep I'm also just tinkering with the preamp side of things. The Chinese RVC is great but think there are some improvements to be had.
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Post by Firebottle on Aug 11, 2020 7:22:14 GMT
By 'Chinese RVC' are you referring to this a Relay/resistor ladder volume control or this an SS chip volume control? The latter can be improved dramatically with a couple of mods.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 11, 2020 8:10:31 GMT
the former, Relay/resistor ladder volume control, the one that you brought along on your visit to Jerry Towers that so impressed with its clarity and rez that I immediately bought one.
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 28, 2020 4:59:27 GMT
OK, will some kind person please book me a place in a home for the bewildered. This came out of 5 day quarantine yesterday. A Bluetooth 5.0 192KHz DAC. - also a rc pre with 10 volume steps, and coax and optical inputs as well. www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192kHz-DAC-Converter-Bluetooth-V5-0-Transmitter-Receiver-L-R-RCA-Audio-Adaptor/383683549250Basically intended as a trial for BT operation in my system. But it's sounding very good. Very good. It's a streamer I can operate from my phone or laptop. Well made, nice solid enclosure. Works like a dream with Spotify and Qobuz, but doesn't work with YouTube, sadly, nor [allegedly] Netflix. £19.99. Help. I'd like a room overlooking the garden. And Bluetooth connectivity.
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Post by brian2957 on Aug 28, 2020 8:42:42 GMT
This looks interesting Jerry . Worth a punt at that price . I take it I can operate it from my server via optical or coax , and use it with the volume control as a preamp .
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Post by MartinT on Aug 28, 2020 8:48:15 GMT
How does 10 volume steps work out for you, Jerry?
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Post by jandl100 on Aug 28, 2020 10:20:33 GMT
How does 10 volume steps work out for you, Jerry? I've not used it as a stand-alone pre yet. Later today I'll give it a go. I still route the new wizzo £20 streamer/DAC through a regular preamp.
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