Location: KY - Scotland
Posts: 5,470
I'm Mike.
Oh no, I see divorce on my horizon
These look great, I better get some gear sold pronto!
I've actually sent mine away AGAIN to be reworked upto top spec levels for the mg 15s. Mine took quite a while to fully come on song and I would add that what your hearing now is probably not what you'll end up with . Things usually improve markedly once you've become accustomed to the nuances these things generate and contrary to popular believe I think that his XOs genuinely do take 50-100 hours to run in. I'm sure other owners will comment and probably say I'm talking complete twoddle
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
I remember a dealer friend visiting Harbeth 20 years ago, hearing some of the 'development' prototypes, and telling me afterwards that he was absolutely amazed at how different crossovers could make the same speakers sound so completely different. AS was putting literally months of work into getting them right apparently. But for me, it's not just about 'voicing', it's also that cross-overs seem to be a 'bottle-neck', inevitably restricting things in one way or another. Whenever I've heard active speakers done properly, they've invariably been noticably better than the 'normal' version.
So, if cross-overs are a bad thing, it's a difficult one for me, because I am very satisfied with the way my Tannoys sound, and it'd be a bit of a gamble to change them. But, you don't know what you don't know. Would RFC's 'ultimate' cross-overs be an improvement? I believe that Tannoy improved the quality of their components for the Prestige range, so maybe not the same improvements to be had, compared to vintage models? Hmmm ... I eagerly await Adrian's verdict if he goes down that route. OTOH, as Danilo said further up the thread, going fully active is a big change, but may well be the 'last frontier' for my system, short of selling up and starting again with 5-way horns, etc
Good points. I also have a hig pair of active ATC 50s and they do indeed sound from passive but I own them because they produce and give me a certain "mood" when I listen to them. I lived with 15s for quite a while with the original XO spec containing all the original components and was very UNDERWHELMED. The Tannoys now are a very different beast and I would have to be completely on my upped before I flogged them. In my experience I got a very positive result perhaps better XO designs exist but none have as many positive recommendations as the RFCs.
SS
CD Teac VRDS25X(Audiotuned) DECK 1210 Mat Crystal Audio Mods MN Base/Bearing/Platter+Ebony armboard Feet Isonoe PSU Paul Hynes SR7EHD-27XL/DCSXL Ag DC lead/3 Stage Regs/Recap PCB+No Pitch/Strobe/Light ARM SME V(Kondo Ag Rewire&Tags) MC Cadenza Black FGS CABLES Arm Yannis SPD-4 IC Yannis 222 Litz+Ag bullets Power WAR PRE ATC SCA2 SPEAKERS ATC 50ASL STANDS Atacama PHONO Sugden Masterclass PA4 SUT Ortofon ST80SE POWER PSAudio P10
VALVE
PRE Croft Epoch(Modded) AMP Sondex S100 (Modded) SPEAKERS Tannoy 15"MG+RFC Warwick cabs+ Ref XO + Batpure supertweeters DECK Garrard 301 Mat Teunto Bearings 401(Bastin) Plinth Bamboo Arms 3009/3012 PSU Eagle+Tachometer MC Ag Meister II/FGS + Ortofon SPU MONO CABLES Arm Yannis 420.5 Litz+ SpeakerPC Tripple C+WBT-0681 Ag IC Oyaide FTVS-510 AgWBT 0110Ag Phonostages Paradise(4 Box Mega-Modded) / Croft Musicmaker
Location: Brighton
Posts: 31
I'm Simon.
Simon, as the Lockwoods will hopefully stay with me for life, I opted for Paul's top spec.
Location: Torquay, Devon.
Posts: 5,684
I'm Shane.
I know absolutely nothing about electronics. But must express, those external crossovers look sexy!!
S.