Reffc System Pictures

[Reffc]

Current System:

Front end:



Gyro SE/SME309/Shelter5000
Garrard 401/SME3009/Sonus Bluegold



Mid rack = Consonance Mini Droplet (all 28Kg of it...there's nothing "mini" about it)



Lumley Reference St40 - completely rebuilt from ground up; new everything.
Partnering is is the Lumley PP40 pre.

Mighty Horning Agathon Ultimates:


Rear view:


Also on rack (bottom) is an EAR 834P Signature phono stage

[stupinder]

Nice pics!!!

[wiicrackpot]

Love everything about your system Paul, always nice to see another fellow 401 user onboard, 1st time i've ever seen the rear end of Agathon's, never knew they had kicking big bass units on the rear.

wii.

[Reffc]

Thanks Wii.

They do bass very well! Twin 12 inch Beyma short throw units with high sensitivity. A lot of air can be moved!

[alex_san78]

Impressive system Paul! I'm with Andy - WOW!!!

[Reffc]

Thanks Alexey.

Had the Agathons about 2 years now and couldn't imagine parting with them for anything else. I like scale and dynamics and these seem to fit the bill. Maybe tempted to try a good SS integrated with them soon as very regrettably may have to sell the Lumleys to raise funds for another project. I know I'm going to regret doing that!

[Mika K]

Yes, really nice to see other 401 owners

Those are really really interesting speakers that I've been watching many times from web as have not had a change to see/hear them in person. One question thou related to those 12" bass drivers as have always had some concerns regarding the bass units that are not front mounted with other drivers. Naturally xo frequency has huge dependency for this but do you ever feel that there is some problems in that front?

[Reffc]

Yes, really nice to see other 401 owners

Those are really really interesting speakers that I've been watching many times from web as have not had a change to see/hear them in person. One question thou related to those 12" bass drivers as have always had some concerns regarding the bass units that are not front mounted with other drivers. Naturally xo frequency has huge dependency for this but do you ever feel that there is some problems in that front?

Ah...to answer your question, the design considers this. Mr Tommy Horning who designs and builds these is a very clever chap. All drivers are time aligned almost perfectly. The rear bass speakers fire inwards (ie 180 degrees out of phase) into a complex folded horn arrangement. the entrances for the rear loading of the other drivers are carefully designed so that no nasty phase shifts occur. The low bass notes come from a large port beneath the speakers which are designed for corner placement.

As for crossovers, there's only one! A 6KHz unit for the treble. The beauty is that as the Lowther DX4 unit starts to roll off at around 200Hz, the Beyma units are designed to kick in and handle duty without appreciable roll-off between 20Hz and 200Hz. The presentation really is superbly seamless and the treble unit provides beautiful none fatiguing treble without being "in your face" seamlessly from 6KHz upwards. I've never heard anything like these either before I bought them or since. they remain my all time favourite full range loudspeakers, great with just about all musical genres.

You can read a very recent review of these loudspeakers here

[Mika K]

Sounds good eventhou 200Hz is quite much higher what I expected. I hope that someday somewhere I can listen those those speakers myself

[Reffc]

If you ever find yourself in deepest darkest Gloucestershire, you'd be most welcome to have a listen Mika. That invitation is extended to anyone from AOS who might be interested!