View Full Version : Mike's ever changing system...
Awesome looking beasties, Mikey. They look like a total riot, so enjoy! :D :hairmetal:
Marco.
I'm quite happy with my 1688 square inches of radiating area, I must say! :D
RobbieGong
27-07-2012, 19:56
Gorgeous looking system, would love to hear some of my reggae and soul on it for sure. Does look like it's crying out for a bigger room though, I'd sell the house to find a room worthy of that lovely system :lol:
BTW, What cartridge do you have on the Denon ? I'm always curious about those things. You can't beat a really good cart on a good deck :)
Gorgeous looking system, would love to hear some of my reggae and soul on it for sure. Does look like it's crying out for a bigger room though, I'd sell the house to find a room worthy of that lovely system :lol:
BTW, What cartridge do you have on the Denon ? I'm always curious about those things. You can't beat a really good cart on a good deck :)
Thanks for the complements! :o
Current cartridge is an Allnic Verito Z.... not getting on with it too well ATM. :(
RobbieGong
27-07-2012, 21:26
Dont know a lot about that particular cart but I do know it is a high end cart that is no slouch and has amongst other very good attributes a more kick you in the balls presentation. Not sure why your not getting on with it as at that money it should sing - end of. I dont know the mass of your Denon's arm or what type of arm the Allnic Verito Z works best with but I'm sure you've looked into all those things before buying such an exotic bit of kit ? Also dont need to tell a man with a system like yours to spend good time getting set up right ie: vta, sra, tracking force etc. How easy is it to adjust vta on your Denon's arm ? I'ts amazing the difference some cart / stylus set up tweeking can achieve. Sometimes if a cart isn't happy about how it is sitting in the groove it will sound lacking, adjust and bingo ! :)
jandl100
31-07-2012, 08:34
Ermm.... :hmm:
http://img703.imageshack.us/img703/4233/fbimg13432368139069698.jpg
By shian7 (http://profile.imageshack.us/user/shian7) at 2012-07-27
Wow :wowzer:
I always fancied getting a pair of Soundlabs but never quite got around to it. Lovely I am sure.
Have you tried different amps with them? - they are alleged to be stats with REAL bass and seem like they would be a pig to drive!
Ali Tait
31-07-2012, 10:15
Some direct coupled valve amps might be nice...
jandl100
31-07-2012, 10:29
I suspect you'd need some serious grunt to get those huge panels under full control ... the spec says they go down to 30 Hz and can soak up 350W.
Yoiks -- and they weigh 145lb each!
http://www.soundlab-speakers.com/a3.htm
Yoiks -- and they weigh 145lb each!
Lightweights ;)
Yesh, but yours a full of lead shot! :eyebrows:
Marco.
Even without the lead, they are 130kg each ;)
Yesh, which is therefore less than the Soundlabs, also 'au naturel'. Your 'fat boy' speakaz are 'artificially enhanced'! ;)
Marco.
Umm, there's just the small issue of lbs v kg. :)
Hahahaha, shite - I neved noticed that! :doh:
Bloody Americans using their silly imperial weight measurements - I just presumed it was kg! :lol:
Marco.
Agreed - we've been a supposedly metric nation since I went to primary school. I simply will not give any measurements in imperial now, as a protest.
Feet & inches are just bloody silly ;)
'The metric system is the tool of the Devil'
- Grandpa Simpson
And the Simpsons are . . . American!
Well enjoy your metric system while you can 'cause when I get the power I'm changing it all back :ner: We'll have the old money back too - 244 pence in the pound - get you head around that mister tourist :lol:
I'll stick with good old imperial, thanks. They weight 10st 5lb. (plus crates!) :ner:
Lightweights ;)
You wouldn't say that if you had to get them (in crates!) into your house through four doorways, each door being shorter and narrower than the things you're trying to manhandle through. On yer own, like wot I did! :steam:
Wow :wowzer:
I always fancied getting a pair of Soundlabs but never quite got around to it. Lovely I am sure.
Have you tried different amps with them? - they are alleged to be stats with REAL bass and seem like they would be a pig to drive!
Not yet. They're on the end of 200W JoLida mono's at the moment... but I think I might need even more grunt! :scratch:
You wouldn't say that if you had to get them (in crates!) into your house through four doorways, each door being shorter and narrower than the things you're trying to manhandle through. On yer own, like wot I did! :steam:
Nope - you have my sympathy. It took four blokes to get mine into the house.
Well, after a couple of hours listening, I think that might well be it!
I think I'm done! :wave:
Well enjoy your metric system while you can 'cause when I get the power I'm changing it all back :ner: We'll have the old money back too - 244 pence in the pound - get you head around that mister tourist :lol:
Errrm, 12 pence to the shillin' and 20 shillin's to the pound equalled 240 pence to the pound when I went to school :lol: . I should stick with metric if I were you, it's easier :lol: ;);)
Dave.
Well done, Mike. I take it you're happy?
Well done, Mike. I take it you're happy?
There's a story to be told.... but, yes. Extremely! :)
Reid Malenfant
18-08-2012, 19:21
I'll stick with good old imperial, thanks. They weight 10st 5lb. (plus crates!) :ner:
Nice looking statics Mike, they weigh just about the same as each of my rebuilt NS1000Ms. Each of those is well over 10 stone with the drivers installed, & they are just a tad bigger than the original enclosures :eek:
Add a stand full of sand :mental:
jandl100
19-08-2012, 07:50
Oooo :eek: - that's one setup I am very glad is several hundred miles away from me, Mike! It might just get me my 'speaker-itch' back again! :lol:
Not yet. They're on the end of 200W JoLida mono's at the moment... but I think I might need even more grunt! :scratch:
*EDIT* 200W my arse! :lol:
I've no idea what sort of measurement tomfoolery they used to come up with that figure, but if they're giving much more than 60W them I'm a Dutchman. Or his uncle!
Scotty, I need more power! :trust:
Right then, Soundlab A3's, the story so far...
First off, this is all Andy the Sand Dancing Donkey Walker's fault!
I'd been chatting with him for a while about maybe trying some different loudspeakers and bouncing a few ideas about when he said: "How about some Soundlabs?". To which I replied: "Huh, I've never heard of them?". Anyway, after I'd done a bit of research we duly toddled off to see Simon, of 'HiFi Sound' fame, who had a pair lurking in storage and arranged an audition. I'd been warned that one of them was a bit 'iffy' (the Mylar film was saggy) and that any sale was on an "as seen" basis, but on audition the potential of them was obvious. Simon just about had to sow his arm back on after he gave me the price! He also happened to have a temperature controlled heat gun that he loaned to me to try treating the film with, it worked a treat and the slack Mylar was restored. Brilliant!
So, a year or so on, here I am having tried various amplifiers in an effort to provide the speaker with the sheer grunt they need to drive them properly. A few posts back in this thread Jerry suggested they may be "a pig to drive", well no... they are absolute bastards to drive! Soundlab claim a sensitivity of 88dB/watt but there's something a bit funky about how they measure them, a magazine tested an early pair (which I believe mine to be an example of) in the conventional manner, and came up with a figure of just 76dB/watt!
I was rather disparaging about my 211 monobloc's and their claim of 200W output, but it turns out I was way off, I tried a Krell FPB200 and it was reduced to a quivering wreck. Although the thermal protection wasn't triggered, it was untouchably hot and when switched off sat there pinging and ticking like a freshly thrashed superbike cooling down outside the pub on a summers evening. :mental:
I've ended up with an amp that delivers numbers that I never thought necessary. Scary numbers, in fact!
The saga continues...................
:)
Have you tried contacting Hot Black Desiato of Disaster Area fame, I hear their PA system has the power to destroy entire planetary systems (I do hope you are a fan of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy otherwise you won't have a clue what I am on about :lol: )
Do tell, Mike!
I'd offer my Chord for you to try, but you're a tad far away. What about a Sanders Magtech?
Here's some numbers to mull over.....
(copied from a review)
For example, when I tested the FPB 300, this nominal 300W amplifier actually produced 470Wpc into my 7.5 ohm high-power test load. The 'XXXXXX' matched this achievement by measuring 945Wpc continuous into the same load (935Wpc into a scaled 8 ohms). This is a huge output, well nigh on 30dBW, and sounded it! Rated output level is 28dBW, 600W, 8 ohms—and this amplifier could hold to this level at all loads and frequencies, 20Hz-20kHz, 8 ohms down to 2 ohms.
I wasn't able to run my long-term continuous testing at 2 ohms, but compromised with five-second bursts—long by peak-measurement practice (eg, 20ms). The 'XXXXXX' could sustain a 29.3dBW level into this load, corresponding to 3.4kWpc—an extraordinary figure.
Driven on a toneburst equivalent to peak program duty at 8 ohms, it reached to touch the 1kW line, while at 4 ohms it attained 1.85kW, and for 2 ohms 3.53kW. And for 1 ohm—wait for it—an amazing 6kW! These are single-channel results, but, measured as short-term ratings, they should be available from both channels simultaneously.
For the record, when both channels were operated into 4 ohm loads the output fell by typically 0.3dB from the singly driven 8 ohm result, 20Hz-20kHz, confirming the superb power bandwidth.
This amplifier obviously needs to be used with some caution. While it is well known that loudspeakers are more readily destroyed by smaller amplifiers when overdriven, the fact is that the 'XXXXXX' sounds very clean when run loud—it's all too easy to reach life-threatening levels for your speakers! Further, while I found the plastic-shrouded binding posts a nuisance, I'm well aware of the relatively high voltages this amplifier can provide. In clip, the AC level on the output terminals was 86.4V RMS. Some thought should be given to the other end of the speaker cable; perhaps it should be shrouded in insulation, except at the point of contact to the speaker terminal. The 'XXXXXX' can vaporize some of the smaller speaker cables if inadvertently short-circuited at the speaker end. I measured a huge peak current of >115A into 1 ohm and stopped there, though more might well be available. If you give up listening, you could always use the amplifier for welding!
:eyebrows:
Oh, and it's all in "Class A" :)
Sand Dancin Donkey Walker
06-11-2013, 20:15
Please sir please sir, I know the answer, (with hand raise high)
Can I tell Please, Please Please sir sir. :please:
Andy - SDDW
Please sir please sir, I know the answer, (with hand raise high)
Can I tell Please, Please Please sir sir. :please:
Andy - SDDW
Oi!.... Sod off you, this is all your bloody fault! :ner:
Here's some numbers to mull over.....
Hmm, I was just starting to formulate some responses, then you went and cocked it up with...
Oh, and it's all in "Class A" :)
...are you effing joking? Do you run a steel works furnace on the side? That's one mighty stiff amplifier.
...are you effing joking? Do you run a steel works furnace on the side?
Nope! :)
Krell FPB 600?
Spot on! ;)
Full article: http://www.stereophile.com/solidpoweramps/829
Sand Dancin Donkey Walker
06-11-2013, 20:44
Oi!.... Sod off you, this is all your bloody fault! :ner:
Mike
I have absolutely no idea what you mean :rolleyes::trust:
Andy - The Donkey Walker is Innocent
That'll do it!
There's no way it's class A up to full power, though. It would cause a China Syndrome all on its own.
You're probably right, Martin. I still don't like standing too near it when it's flexing it's muscles though, there's a sense of menace in the air!
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