Russell Hi Fi corner

[russell66]

So I need to fill in a few blanks now to bring the journey up to date without jumping to far.

This room, which I loved and worked great has now gone, (well the room is still there, I have gone, well no I'm still here but I'm not in the room anymore, this is hard but I think you get the point.)

I got lent that old HI FI record stand which was fun, then the Primare went back to its owner. 

I then got my current gear which I'll post up next.

Had all the Cyrus gear pitched up on that rack at one point.

Sadly didn't get a picture. It was a bit overloaded though.

[russell66]

Next came the Cyrus gear, Cd player, Power amp and pre amp.

With the Bel Canto DAC 3.

And the Sota Sapphire turntable, the same as the one I have and love in Australia.

And then I purchased this rack to house all the gear, a bit big but I needed something.

Oh I picked up the PS audio power filter too, which made a massive difference and completely changed my belief about introducing anything in the power line.

Also got this Yaqin Cd player which sounded really good, unfortunately though it had a fault and had to be returned.

I had also sent my Phono stage from Aus and it hadn't arrived yet, so I couldn't use the turntable.

This whole set up though in this room was at least as good as my set up in Aus before I left, which I was very happy about. I didn't expect to get there so fast.

[russell66]

So now onto our next rental, with a room that is no where near as good.

I have struggled to get the Linn speakers set up right in this room.

In the meantime though some gear I sent from Aus has arrived.

My current set up has my Nuforce speakers set up (probably one of the best bookshelfs I have ever heard) with my new Quadraspire rack, and the phono stage I sent over because it could work on either voltage and I like it. Got come cables from Cardas, Audionote and VDH and XLO, plus a few supports.

I didn't bring any vinyl so my choices are limited but I'm gradually building a few discs, but it's so hard with cost and quality ratios to what I can pay for streaming. I struggle to justify the price and also the storage and possible future transport.

 

[russell66]

And after a few problems that occured at our last rental we have moved on again.

This room is a much better room and i am excited to report the Linn speakers are really singing in here.

The Cyrus gear is great and continues to impress me, but I can't help but feel I could get a little more out of the set up, so something new is coming.

I have also aquired the Benchmark Dac pre amp, which I though I may be able to replace the Cyrus pre with. It does perhaps sound a little cleaner, but its a bit harsh and not as fluid as the Cyrus. Plus as a Dac it is not as good as either the Bel Canto or the PS Audio so with only one analogue input and a need to plug in the phono stage it causes an issue.

On the plus side though I have had the Audio Technicha headphones for several years and have never really found a way of using them that I enjoyed, but wow that has all changed with this Benchmark Dac with a headphone amp. The sound, the detail, the emotion and the envolvment is eveything I purchased the headphones for in the first place. And I am now wondering what I may be bale to achieve with a more expensive set of headphones.

[crtexcnndrm99]

 How do you find the Linn speakers? Are they difficult to drive? I was looking at a pair recently… 

[russell66]

6 hours ago, crtexcnndrm99 said:

 How do you find the Linn speakers? Are they difficult to drive? I was looking at a pair recently… 

I haven’t found them overly difficult to drive but I don’t generally push them too hard.

They seem to go pretty loud with the 50 watts the Cyrus delivers, but I think they are good quality watts if that makes sense.

A more expensive amp would be better than just more watts I think.

The speakers are so good quality wise, I would definitely recommend getting a pair if you can then invest in the right amp.

[illusion]

Some excellent gear there Russell.

[russell66]

Oh my word, look how I work and look at all the bits laying around, No matter I always know as soon as I can get to hear them I’m going to.

My wife deserves a special shout out, not only does she put up with me, this is the lounge room, she gets pleasure from my pleasure.

 

So I made these boxes in Aus, then upgraded the drivers, so I brought the old drivers to Canada with me, I left the whole other speakers in Aus in my storage. 

 

I have spent the last few weeks building the boxes and spent today wiring them up and fitting the drivers. 

 

I still need to glue the cabinets and get damping material, but i wanted to get them working and sit down with my coffee.

 

Given that Troels designs them with valve amps I had high expectations with the Audio Research, and wow I am not disappointed. 

 

What a great sound, what an incredible speaker. and they will get better when I position them and finish them off.

 

I never got any paint at all on the previous pair so i thought I would at least get an undercoat on them this time, it looks pretty good as is, kind of unintentional marble effect.

 

Anyway more to come, just thought I’d share with you as i sit here on may first listen.

 

 

[russell66]

Oh forgot to mention, i build the ported version this time versus the transmission line one last time

[THOMO]

Good stuff Russell. More MDF dust!

Are you far from Solen and Parts Exchange?

Mennonite country? I have a friend who grew up there.They say they picked the most fertile part of Canada.PEI may disagree!

[russell66]

13 hours ago, THOMO said:

Good stuff Russell. More MDF dust!

Are you far from Solen and Parts Exchange?

Mennonite country? I have a friend who grew up there.They say they picked the most fertile part of Canada.PEI may disagree!

Hi This is the second time I am writing this reply, the other one seemed to disappear into the abyss somewhere. Anyway I’ll give it another go and then i suppose both will show up.

 

Solen is about 6hrs away the other side of Toronto. Parts xchange is 50 minutes away in Burlington, which is one of the areas sought after places to live, on Lake Ontario and close to the city.

 

The land is very agricultural, Guelph university is one of the larger well known agricultural Uni’s in the world i think.

 

The mennonites are amazing, you see them in there horse drawn carriages trotting along the side of the main hwy, Sunday mornings a big line of them with their families in the carriage on the way to church. Apparently they all have plenty of money through farming but they can’t spend it on modern luxuries.

 

There are a few Mennonite shop selling their home cooked goods, which are very tasty.

 

Now i may be several thousand miles away and this is a post but i am sure i detected some distance when you spat out the word MDF  Yes it was dusty but i found a Shop vac on the verge the day before I started so that helped.

And in my defence I don’ have your workshop, i don’t have your access to desirable hard woods and i certainly do not have your skill level. I know my place and that is MDF 

[THOMO]

I guess MDF is fine as long as you  wear a mask,only use it occasionally and clean up the dust as much as you can.I do use it sometimes myself .Good find with the shop vac.

Edited August 7, 2024 by THOMO

[russell66]

Well I have such a dilemma. I have had the Nuforce S9’s up for sale for a long time, and someone made me an offer and I said yes.

But these are the best speakers I have ever heard anywhere at any price, instruments are real, soundstage is realistic with musicians playing in their own place, music projects and surrounds me, bass doesn’t do what the big ones do, but it’s just right.

At the end of the day they memorize me, emotionally involve me and just hit the spot.

 

They were the same price as a B&W bookshelf new which now equates to $15k in todays money, yet no one wants them and they are worth $1600.

 

Maybe with a Raidho or a Focal or Monitor Audio maybe an ATC all of which I have heard but never owned i could get a similar or better sound, but these things all start cheapest second hand at about $4k.

 

So what am I doing? Why am I selling? I don’t know, I’ve had them a long time, I want to build more Troels speakers because hey could be better, i am also loving the Linns although they don’t quite reach the same heights, and he new Troels that I have built which I have now added the damping to and am waiting for the felt to arrive so I can finish them are sounding really good.

 

They are rare so I will likely never get another pair, what if i am making a mistake and regret selling them?

 

Anyway I am going back and forth to try to convince myself it’s time and it’s ok to sell.

 

Sorry to ramble but I thought if I wrote it out it may help, and any encouragement would be appreciated.

 

 

[crtexcnndrm99]

I totally get that dilemma. Selling a price of gear you enjoy immensely, to fund new experiences and discoveries, is a beneficial thing. Just because you sell these speakers, doesn’t mean that last satisfaction you felt goes away. 
 

To some extent, you’ve maximised the enjoyment you could squeeze out of the speakers, and are moving onto finding new experiences in DIY builds. The Nuforce have shown you everything they could

[russell66]

I sort of know wha it is, if I play I melt with you by Stephen Walker…

 

With the big speakers, the chime is in front of the speakers about 2 metres away to my right and in front of me, as it chimes it come toward me stopping just to my right about 50cm away from my ear.

The shaker is well defined like i can hear what is inside it as it turns and drops, but it’s away from the singers body, but it is more detailed. I think the voice feels a little smoothed out.

 

With the Nuforce that chime starts a little in front of me but almost directly to my right, about 1.5 metres away, and as it chimes it reaches my right ear and then resonates through to my left. This type of sound resonating has been hard to achieve in my experience, and lie a Tibetan bowl, i love it. Then the shaker has perhaps a little less detail but it is closer to the singer which feels right. And somehow the imperfections in her voice seem a little more discernible.

 

Maybe it’s that recessed tweeter that gives it a smooth extended nature.

 

 

[THOMO]

Russel it could just be that you like MTM  or WMTMW type speakers .I know some of them I have heard have very explicit imaging-especially for depth and layering.The Sonique Encores I owned were excellent for that.As are Lipinski studio monitors.

There are few kits like that around -The Anthology and Anthology 2 and the Statement  and Statement 2 although you can't get the Statement 2 mids any more. Those designs are available at Speaker Design Works.

[russell66]

6 hours ago, THOMO said:

Russel it could just be that you like MTM  or WMTMW type speakers .I know some of them I have heard have very explicit imaging-especially for depth and layering.The Sonique Encores I owned were excellent for that.As are Lipinski studio monitors.

There are few kits like that around -The Anthology and Anthology 2 and the Statement  and Statement 2 although you can't get the Statement 2 mids any more. Those designs are available at Speaker Design Works.

Thats a really interesting point you make, I hadn’t thought of that. I will check hose designs out. Thanks

[russell66]

11 hours ago, crtexcnndrm99 said:

I totally get that dilemma. Selling a price of gear you enjoy immensely, to fund new experiences and discoveries, is a beneficial thing. Just because you sell these speakers, doesn’t mean that last satisfaction you felt goes away. 
 

To some extent, you’ve maximised the enjoyment you could squeeze out of the speakers, and are moving onto finding new experiences in DIY builds. The Nuforce have shown you everything they could

Thanks that was brilliant and exactly what I needed to hear. I felt myself letting go as I read it.

[russell66]

Well the Nuforce have gone, I was worried for a few days, I just couldn’t get a sound as satisfying at first.

 

Anyway I know they look the same, but the Seas ER are more finished now, the damping arrived, and now the cabinets are glued. Still got to glue the front and finish the cabling and apply the finish.

 

But that will have to pause for a week, the wife needs a break so we’re off to Cuba for 7 days.

 

Whats so fun though is they already sounded good, but every bit I too they improve.

 

Many hours of listening and adjusting the tilt and positioning and cables and finally in the last few days the magic is happening.

 

These are the lowest price drivers I can use with this design, still not cheap though, over $2.5k with x over, I know I have the more expensive drivers in the Perth ones, but I never got them to sound as good as these. I have learnt a lot in the last 2 years in particular.

 

Obviously manufacturers can’t put this money into there designs so it’s an unfair comparison, but I haven’t heard any speaker at any price sound better, as good perhaps but not better.

 

I do feel the Audio Research has something to do with it, I think me and it are a synergistic match.

 

Anyway what prompted me to post was sitting here listening to Joni Michell live at Newport 2022. Am I living in a cave, I only just heard about it. What a great album, I can only imagine how good it must be on vinyl.

 

If you haven’t heard it give it a listen.

 

Heres the Cuba beach they say is beautiful, but they are Canadian and haven’t seen Perth beaches, can it be better? We’ll see!

 

wow I’m talking a lot lately, I must be lonely. 

 

 

[russell66]

Emm!! Excited today these arrived. I worked out how many I needed and then forgot to double, derrr!! There are two speakers in a stereo set up mate. 

Any advice on how to count or multiply by two would be welcome.

[russell66]

In the meantime the speakers are moving forward, I was intending to paint them a blue colour, but they sucked up so much primer paint in the first place it would of cost a small fortune.

So i found another sealer that would work that was cheaper and that was white. I like the contrast so much with the black drivers i think I may do the top coat white now.

My wife likes it as well so that is a bonus.

[russell66]

Having not really got over selling my Nuforce s9’s although I do accept it was he right decision, i purchased a pair of B&W 805 Nautilaus.

 

I am not saying they don’t have their strengths and they are capable, and I am sure they will grow on me.

 

But what was the top of their range and not cheap at the time, the replacement is a stupid $15k I think.

 

I am pretty under whelmed. Not saying they are bad jus under whelmed, thats all.

[THOMO]

I have owed some very decent two way stand mounts like that and they have always underwhelmed me.You can't beat physics I guess.Paying $15000 [or even $5000] for that type of speaker is a bit silly.They have been very well marketed though.

[Peter_F]

9 hours ago, russell66 said:

I am pretty under whelmed. Not saying they are bad jus under whelmed, thats all.

Which amp are you running them with? 

[russell66]

1 hour ago, Peter_F said:

Which amp are you running them with? 

I’m using the Audio Research VS 60 which I would of thought was ok.

i haven’t tried the Cyrus yet.

I do have those other speakers near by them, but they seem to be in enough space of their own. And it doesn’t sound like they are interfering to me.

I would say bass feels a little light on, which is understandable moving from my bigger speakers but then I would of thought I would of got use to it in a few days.

like presence and depth seems to be there, the saxophone is good on the detail but then lacks the underpinning wallow.

Female voices are detailed, the lip smacking close mike stuff is coming through but there is no emotion to that sound, just an ability to hear it.