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Thread: A Visit To Malvern Audio Research

  1. #51
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Bristol

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    I'm Justin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Pharos View Post
    No she was not very specific Justin, she saying that they were affected by the environment other then the acoustic one.

    The real trouble is that we as listeners are very affected by how comfortable we feel, and so environmental change affects us, and subconsciously, and we may not recognise that effect as separate from the system changes.
    Indeed possibly I agree but even when I sit there and try and factor that out mentally I still think it sounds sub-par in a cold room. Maybe you can't factor it out by will alone.

  2. #52
    Join Date: Jan 2008

    Location: gone

    Posts: 11,519
    I'm gone.

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    Quote Originally Posted by User211 View Post
    Never heard an XA but if I am honest I have never liked sound of any Pass Labs amp. But I have never heard an XA and that might be notably different from the few I have heard. Even if it isn't I wouldn't worry about what I think. It's a personal journey...
    That's my experience with Pass Labs amps as well.
    "Beautiful" but missing the jump factor.
    Other folks love them. Fair enough.
    I should have learned from the first experience (Aleph 3, decades ago) ... but no, I went and bought another one recently (X150). Same house sound although the X150 was a fair bit more interesting and stayed a lot longer than the single weekend the Aleph 3 managed! I've heard others in other systems.
    Still, as Justin sort of says, it's all part of the journey.
    Maybe the XA series are different, but I somehow doubt it, I suspect Nelson Pass has a particular kind of sound in mind, and he is talented enough to be able to consistently achieve it in his products.
    Last edited by jandl100; 02-01-2018 at 09:15.
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  3. #53
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

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    I'm Dennis.

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    The difficulty with the differentiation of external and internal changes, is that the body gives a great priority/override to the internal feelings, the autonomous nervous system, because they are so essential to survival.

    I think my system sounds better in dry pleasant weather, when it is warm, and the top sounds better when it is a bright day, and dull at night.

  4. #54
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Bristol

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    I'm Justin.

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    It looks like Emperor Ming (Mark) will be at room 208 at the Bristol Hi-Fi show. So you can go hear some of the stuff I heard.

    Doubtless in a venue like Bristol and it being a show you won't have the same luxury to experiment we had or the very large room the Universums had to breath in.

    If it were me I'd probably try and run the FP-15s there. Likely to suit a Bristol room far better.
    Last edited by User211; 02-01-2018 at 13:55.

  5. #55
    Join Date: Mar 2011

    Location: Reading

    Posts: 110
    I'm George.

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    My experience from last year for Bristol was not good. Most rooms were 'mostly harmless' but a lot were painful. Two or three were good and sounded reasonable.

    Why put a super low bass speaker in a room just big enough for a bed? And to see a salesman smiling and tapping his foot to a painful sound is not a great advert. And as for Tannoy, I could scream. I heard the new Ardens at the Wam Show in Harrogate and they sounded like real music, wonderful, 3D with real people playing and singing. But at Bristol they have sounded awful in the last few years. Come on chaps if your dealers can do it why not you?

    I now see that 2 audio journalists (Kessler) are saying that show sounds are always poor and if you go to a show hear what a system sounds like you are mad. Ha....

    I am not expecting superb sound but it should be the chance to see some interesting audio and maybe get a good idea of whether it sounds interesting enough to pursue with a dealer/home demo. But for some the answer is expect poor audio and get it. Id that was true why do some companies always get good sound from their rooms?

    Jerry the XA.8 amps are quite different from the .5s, more accurate, more powerful dynamics. You may like them.

  6. #56
    Join Date: Jun 2011

    Location: cardiff

    Posts: 266
    I'm Tristan.

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    The good thing is that after you've been to such a show you come away thinking "my system sounds great". Going to these shoes actually stops me wanting to spend money willy nilly.

    Quote Originally Posted by George47 View Post
    My experience from last year for Bristol was not good. Most rooms were 'mostly harmless' but a lot were painful. Two or three were good and sounded reasonable.

    Why put a super low bass speaker in a room just big enough for a bed? And to see a salesman smiling and tapping his foot to a painful sound is not a great advert. And as for Tannoy, I could scream. I heard the new Ardens at the Wam Show in Harrogate and they sounded like real music, wonderful, 3D with real people playing and singing. But at Bristol they have sounded awful in the last few years. Come on chaps if your dealers can do it why not you?

    I now see that 2 audio journalists (Kessler) are saying that show sounds are always poor and if you go to a show hear what a system sounds like you are mad. Ha....

    I am not expecting superb sound but it should be the chance to see some interesting audio and maybe get a good idea of whether it sounds interesting enough to pursue with a dealer/home demo. But for some the answer is expect poor audio and get it. Id that was true why do some companies always get good sound from their rooms?

    Jerry the XA.8 amps are quite different from the .5s, more accurate, more powerful dynamics. You may like them.

  7. #57
    Join Date: Jan 2013

    Location: Bristol

    Posts: 6,843
    I'm Justin.

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    Quote Originally Posted by George47 View Post
    I now see that 2 audio journalists (Kessler) are saying that show sounds are always poor and if you go to a show hear what a system sounds like you are mad. Ha.....
    Well if Ken did say that I think he is basically spouting BS.

    The simple fact is I have heard stuff at shows that sounds better than any domestic system I have ever heard. Anywhere. Ever. Or is at least exemplary. Usually featuring speakers that no one can afford or will commit the money to.

    Western Electric (Silbatone fettled). Avant Garde Trio/Basshorns. Martin Logan Neolith. MBL 101 Xtreme. All top class acts when it really boils down to it.

    There's only so much a room and crowd noise can do to ruin a system. And even these examples when playing in compromised surroundings can still perform way out of the league of most people's systems.

    Whilst I take the point about show conditions being bad, and indeed a lot of speakers don't seem to be able to survive stupid speaker placement and ancillaries that don't match them, I still wouldn't rule out shows as being useless. Far from it.

  8. #58
    Join Date: Mar 2017

    Location: Seaford UK

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    I'm Dennis.

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    I think that my post 53 is very relevant to shows, they are very uncomfortable to be in especially after a couple of hours.

  9. #59
    Join Date: Apr 2012

    Location: N E Kent

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    I'm Geoff.

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    One can become a bit jaded after a while at large shows, with sound from various stands and rooms getting rather 'samey' or less impressive in some ways. Although, that said, something exceptional will still stand out.

    I recall years ago, touring a large show and being generally getting less and less impressed with most of it (apart from the Avant Garde effort), the Tannoy 'Dimension' series speakers sounding particularly disappointing. Towards the end, I visited the C R Developments display room and was rewarded with a really beautiful sound. Their own valve amplification and CD player driving a pair of Jean Michelle Reynard 'Offrande' stand mounted speakers. These were astoundingly good and this system made the show visit worthwhile. You really know when you've heard something special.

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