warweary Posted January 25, 2023 Author Posted January 25, 2023 On 24/01/2023 at 8:00 AM, Darryl said: Nice. I was tempted by that IO myself so I'm glad someone else has picked it up Is it a good idea to have it stacked like that though?. Doesn't it get hot? The Rega io does get quite warm, as does the dac/preamp... but I don't touch it, nor does it catch on fire! (yet) But you make a useful reminder thanks, I'll have a think about separating the components a little... I used to put squash balls between them, maybe I'll cut up a few old and worn out training balls. 1
warweary Posted May 14, 2023 Author Posted May 14, 2023 (edited) 6 volume controls!!!!? it's madness I tell you, madness. jriver volume control. windows volume control. matrix mini-i preamp/dac volume control. vaf subwoofer volume control for each sub L/R. rega io integrated amplifier volume control. Complexified by 4 entirely different branded rca cables between the preamp>sub>integrated... (all different lengths too) sigh. Right subwoofer output vanished and I was thinking, its plate amplifier is broken, as right channel bookshelver is still working. Got to fiddling. Maxed the jriver volume control. Then maxed the windows volume control. Then maxed the right subwoofer volume control...and bingo, right channel subwoofer starts working, but the left channel sub goes into uber overdrive loudness, just about bouncing off the desktop - whilst wife's nearby ikea desk starts shaking! wtf????! youtube subwoofer left/right channel frequency testing. Ah, I suppose it might be the varying rca cables making attenuation differences. OK - turned the left channel subwoofer down to 20% and kept right channel at 100%, thus now both sub channels are volume matched. Leaving the jriver and windows volumes at 100% and using only the matrix mini-i preamp/dac volume pot. The rega io volume pot set to one spot too, 9 o'clock. smirk. problem solvered. (cough for now) Back to the music. Edited May 14, 2023 by warweary
warweary Posted December 15, 2023 Author Posted December 15, 2023 Greetings SNAers. Recently Len Wallis Audio advertised a 2nd hand audiolab 6000A in the commercial classifieds on sna for a good price. Paid via eft on tuesday, and it arrived on friday afternoon, thanks to fedex. During my afternoon siesta on friday the magnificent wife accepted the box from the courier and shortly thereafter I opened the well packaged amp whilst in a dreamy state. The dream continued whilst connecting it up to the vaf i66's and platform2 subwoofer in the bedroom and the cambridge audio one has been kicked in the knobs, stripped of cables and cast aside. I like the 6000A, it works, got p.r.a.t. goes plenty loud enough for the room, and is obviously superior sounding to the aforementioned. My first thought after listening to Yello's Touch was that this was the best listening the i66's have produced since the Harmon Kardon HK990 died some years ago. The top end has sparkle and air yet the bottom more ecky-thump. I'm operating only over bluetooth at this time, but in due course I'll likely add in a Yamaha wxc-50 preamp for the streaming and thus be able to belt out musiccast sounds from both ends of the house simultaneously. Wife thinks I'm planning a party house when I mentioned the wxc-50 and linking the loungerooms systems' wxa-50 for a house wide music net. Since I've been watching House M.D. lately, I advised wife that my regular hookers requested a more musical home for their service provision on thursdays whilst wife is out volunteering. I am not in the dog house... yet. 3
warweary Posted October 10, 2024 Author Posted October 10, 2024 MusicCast has arrived upon the Trinity of systems. Facebook marketplace had a Yamaha R-N 803D for a silly price, only 30 minutes drive from home, so that’s been installed into the main system. The WXA-50 has been moved into the pc room, simplifying that setup. A recent purchase from sna classifieds was a WCA-50 which is now the front end for the bedroom system. Thus trinity is well and truly casting music around the house like a cyberpunk mistress. Yeh, works well, looks fine, sounds like music to me. There is something quite wonderful about playing music across 6 loudspeakers and 5 powered subwoofers throughout our home. On the lookout for a battery powered MusicCast speaker for the shed, it’s musical madness I tell you, quite mad.
warweary Posted November 13, 2024 Author Posted November 13, 2024 The journey continues. Thanks to the 2 months free trial on Qobuz, qr linked here on sna by the esteemed Frank Prowse Hifi, I have been enjoying fiddling with the lounge system and of course hearing new music. Gusgus an Icelandic techno band are sounding brilliant in hires from Qobuz, more spacious than YouTube imo. Today I also connected, via usb, the matrix audio mini-pro as the dac between the htpc & and the Yamaha 803d, that’s clearly better than the htpc installed dac, a soundblaster ZxR DBPro.
warweary Posted November 16, 2024 Author Posted November 16, 2024 (edited) One purchase leads to another is a well known proverb in sales. From the full dive into 3 MusicCast amps, I've now bought a pair of Yamaha NS BP301 for the pc room, which facilitates the vaf evo1’s moving into the bedroom. Wow, the vaf evos really enjoy the increased space and power moving from being heard at 1.1 metres from ears, to about 3m. Far superior to the old Paradigm 3se they replace in that situation. No sub required, something really special happens in the bedroom and I am enticed into withdrawing the audio lab 6000a from sale, she’s doing a wonderful job with this match up as poweramp. First day impression of the nsbp301’s are good & pleasant, but the demo pair really did sound even better in the listening room at prospect road south oz. Perhaps the newly unboxed pair will appreciate breaking in. Still they really are all that desktop could ever need. The cabinet finish is gorgeous. Edited November 16, 2024 by warweary Image inserts. 2
warweary Posted November 17, 2024 Author Posted November 17, 2024 Every once in a while I discover an album I become somewhat obsessed with, or a new artist I love. I’m sure we all get that. Arabian Horse by gusgus, is such an album. About two weeks ago I found gusgus on YouTube, i dimly recall a search for “ambient dub” led me to this Icelandic electronic group, who have been publishing music for decades. I danced in my lounge room, like I was a twenty something again at a rave. They are restrained and unleashed, a driving relentlessness that is highly enticing. Do yourself a favour, ride the Arabian Horse. 3 1
Steever Posted November 18, 2024 Posted November 18, 2024 21 hours ago, warweary said: Do yourself a favour, ride the Arabian Horse. Doing this currently thanks to your recommendation. I like it too. Cheers. 1
warweary Posted November 19, 2024 Author Posted November 19, 2024 I been spending time on audio science review and I like what Amir and the others do there. A few thoughts come to mind. Some equipment measures great and sounds great. Some equipment measure great but sounds poor. Some equipment measures poor but sounds great. Some equipment measures poor and sounds poor. What a tangled web Hi-Fi weaves. The room! Our ears! The music! 1
Satanica Posted November 20, 2024 Posted November 20, 2024 4 hours ago, warweary said: Some equipment measure great but sounds poor. Some equipment measures poor but sounds great. Examples?
warweary Posted December 3, 2024 Author Posted December 3, 2024 Speaker cable materials from Cliffs have arrived. Gonna take a crack at making a 3m pair of canare 4s11 banana terminated speaker cables. 3
warweary Posted December 4, 2024 Author Posted December 4, 2024 Armed with a new kinchrome crimper/cutter, a pair of wire cutters and the aforementioned I sat down in front of YouTube and assembled the cables today. Some cutting, twisting and fiddling was fun… until… But the finished product now fits between the audiolab 6000a and the vaf evo1’s in the bedroom system. Gusgus sounds immediately louder, than two minutes prior when the generic cables were connected. Man that’s some chunky speaker cable, certainly not as neat looking as the professionally terminated, but ok for a first effort I feel. The heat shrinking was easily my worst part, burned me thumb twice! Ouch. I give myself a 12 month warranty! The risk assessor scolds me and says wait and see how they burn in and last before setting a guarantee. 2
warweary Posted December 14, 2024 Author Posted December 14, 2024 Some time ago we had a roof leak during heavy rain which caused the ceiling cavity to get very wet, which damaged the plaster that was holding the fittings which held the Prima acoustic panels to our ceiling. They literally fell off, just missing me as I was happily listening during the rain storm. Yesterday wife and I made the 4th (and hopefully final) effort to reattach the panels! They are placed at the first reflection point on the ceiling. I feel happier that job is re-done. 2 1
warweary Posted December 19, 2024 Author Posted December 19, 2024 May the 4th pair of bookshelvers be with you. After reading many good reviews about the Revel concerta2 M16 bookshelf loudspeakers I decided to hunt down a pair. Digital Cinema obliged and 4 working days later fedex delivered. For their immediate future they sit atop the vaf evo1’s in the bedroom system, but their long term future is yet to be determined. The M16 are a little brighter, a touch more airy than the evo. It’ll be fun breaking them in and getting a clearer idea of their character. Revel M16 is physically lighter, yet taller, but both thinner and shallower than the vaf evo1. Strangely the knuckle knock sounds similar. Interesting to sight the vaf driver as smaller than the Revel driver, yet clearly hear less bass from the M16 thus far. 1
Darryl Posted December 19, 2024 Posted December 19, 2024 Nice. Although I wish I could unsee that side on photo 5
Satanica Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 16 hours ago, Darryl said: Nice. Although I wish I could unsee that side on photo What, you don't see a nice big Hulk? 1
Hi-Fi Whipped Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 17 hours ago, Darryl said: Nice. Although I wish I could unsee that side on photo Piano black.... the topless guys enemy! 3
warweary Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 I thought ‘twas the wife’s laundry on floor, and/or the Liverpudlian curtain that needed forgetting, not my hulking reflection… elaborate plz! So - 6 Gentleman Jacks deep into post lunch listening today and I’m smiling. The M16 remind me of the Kef Ls50 (and axis voicebox) but with more bass, like a supercharged ls50. In a way, kind of polite, as if they’re not trying to get your attention in any area, and thus are well balanced. If one is being annoyingly harsh one could label that as boring, but I think balanced is fairer. They reveal areas that the vaf conceal, for example that swirly echoey synthy kind of effect (treble?) that presents in gusgus, it’s more forward in that area that the vaf evo1. The relentless drive is still there, just a little less relentless- as a metaphor. The m16 make me wonder if a subwoofer would be additive, whereas the vaf evo1 laugh at that consideration, instead enquiring, “Kind sir - what’s a super tweeter?” 1
warweary Posted December 20, 2024 Author Posted December 20, 2024 Right then. Off to some free bbq, drinks and awards for my beautiful wife whom volunteers at Ceders in Hahndorf. Lies are more Flexible, is about to be switched off and Longreach bourbon hip flask secreted.
DazzS Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 3 hours ago, Hi-Fi Whipped said: Piano black.... the topless guys enemy! I think that nip-slip was intentional 1
zenikoy Posted December 20, 2024 Posted December 20, 2024 27 minutes ago, DazzS said: I think that nip-slip was intentional Janet Jackson got nuthin' on warweary. 1
warweary Posted January 12 Author Posted January 12 (edited) Quite a few more hours into these Revel m16’s and they have opened up well. The sound stage width is wider than the evo1’s, audibly outside the actual speakers width, which is a cool effect. These are righteously big sounding speakers, the drum through “love is alone” by gusgus is gorgeous, clear, tight and deep, getting my toe to tap. lol. The next track “Our World” off their same album Mobile Home, shows how the doof doof of the deep drum is well balanced with the tsk tsk effect that follows the deep doofs. You know how with some speakers one part stands out, whether bass, treble or mids? The Revel don’t do that, they mesh the lot well. “Original Heartbreak”’s opening reveals how the M16 load the room sweetly whilst playing at only a moderate level. Wife did not complain as she entered the room randomly - I mention this because previous room loading levels draw a scrunchy displeased face, lol. These Concerta’s really are a lot of loudspeaker for the outlay. I’ve yet to discover anything actually wrong or inadequate about them, and that’s a very good thing in hifi. Edited January 12 by warweary
warweary Posted January 12 Author Posted January 12 Quite a few more hours into these Revel m16’s and they have opened up well. The sound stage width is wider than the evo1’s, audibly outside the actual speakers width, which is a cool effect. These are righteously big sounding speakers, the drum through “love is alone” by gusgus is gorgeous, clear, tight and deep, getting my toe to tap. lol. The next track “Our World” off their same album Mobile Home, shows how the doof doof of the deep drum is well balanced with the tsk tsk effect that follows the deep doofs. You know how with some speakers one part stands out, whether bass, treble or mids? The Revel don’t do that, they mesh the lot well. “Original Heartbreak”’s opening revels how the M16 load the room sweetly whilst playing at only a moderate level. Wife did not complain as she entered the room randomly - I mention this because previous room loading levels draw a scrunchy displeased face, lol. These Concerta’s really are a lot of loudspeaker for the outlay. I’ve yet to discover anything actually wrong or inadequate about them, and that’s a very good thing in hifi.
warweary Posted January 12 Author Posted January 12 Many years ago when auditioning the Vaf i66, which I ended up buying, I was in the showroom with the Vaf-Man himself, and I noted sound seeming to envelop me from the far left and rear, Philip mentioned that was the 6th reflection. That reflection effect hasn’t happened in the bedroom system prior to today with these Revels. I’m getting sound from the rear right of the room, where the speakers aren’t - during “Cold Breath ‘79” off the gusgus album Polydistortion. That’s new!
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