Bit of an experiment going on.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Bit of an experiment going on at IdleHeights at the mo.

I'm trying to get lower, more textured and accurate Bass in my very small listening room on a tight budget.

So, I bought some cheap LINN Sara's and Sara stands and an even cheaper Crown DC300A Power Amp (which looks like a car crash but is functionally perfect) and away we go.

Result = :wow: , it certainly has achieved what I was hoping for, the Bass quality is great, nice and deep and you can hear the different textures and the different tones without swamping the room. Result ! Just not sure if I prefer it to my Minskies which do have that amazing disappearing trick they do and massive musical involvement :scratch:

We'll see over a bit of time I guess but a very pleasing result indeed for next to no cash.

http://i894.photobucket.com/albums/ac143/TheMJMan/CIMG4364_zpsa1ee7c2e.jpg (http://s894.photobucket.com/user/TheMJMan/media/CIMG4364_zpsa1ee7c2e.jpg.html)

[Monstrous]

Are those the classic Asda granite chopping boards I spot on the floor?

[Idlewithnodrive]

That they are :)

[Firebottle]

Sounds like a good result there Mike, I always fancied some sara's back in the day. Never had any though but did make a sub with two woofers in the isobaric mold.

See what you mean about the 'car crash' :eek:

:cool:Alan

[Idlewithnodrive]

The 'car crash' was purely because I needed a high current amp to get the most out of the Sara's and anything half decent cost a lot more than I was prepared to invest, without even knowing If I like the Sara's and if they would work in the room.

I think I probably do like the Sara's enough (not 100% sure yet though) to spend a bit more on something less cosmetically challenged. I like what the Crown does, so it might end up being a decent example of one of those.

[Wakefield Turntables]

This just goes to prove you don't need to spend stupid amounts of money to get a great system, well done mate, I'm pleased for you :cool:

[Firebottle]

Treat it like a car and give it a respray :eyebrows:

[Idlewithnodrive]

Yea, I thought Ford Focus ST Green or Orange :lol:

[jason]

Nice speakers Mike I've always liked the saras :)

[Idlewithnodrive]

I think I like'em Jason, just not sure they will ultimately replace my Royd's :scratch:

[DSJR]

Sara's are very much an acquired taste, depending on the particular samples and the state of the bass units, but get 'em singing in the right system and you doo seem to be able to forget them and listen to loads of music instead, which obviously is the most important thing...

The DC300A in good working order compares perfectly still with the best of today's offerings, even if yours does look like a dogs dinner. It goes right down to DC so watch what you partner it with, for the speaker's sake if nothing else. Well worth trying to find a front panel for yours, or custom-respray what's there. I wish to own and use one before I'm done but hope I won't have to pay "Audio broker" prices (aroubnd £400, which is still good in all honesty). Well thrashed ones for decades still meet spec too, more often than not, so a good old design I think :)

[hoopsontoast]

Ooo nice!
I found there is a lot of ground to be made upgrading from the Pre Amplifier section in the 670ES (I guess that's what you are doing at the moment into the Crown?)

[Idlewithnodrive]

Ooo nice!
I found there is a lot of ground to be made upgrading from the Pre Amplifier section in the 670ES (I guess that's what you are doing at the moment into the Crown?)

That is indeed what I am doing Rob.

The whole exercise was just to see if I liked the Sara's, and to get them singing properly I needed to drive them with a power amp up to the job. All of the drivers are excellent and the speakers do seem very good.

A lot of people rated the Crown, but I didn't want to pay £3 or 400 without an idea of if I liked the Sara's or not, so I was lucky enough to find one dog rough cosmetically but well set up and working properly for a silly price, so here I am.

The 670ES isn't too bad as a pre and I like the phono stage. If I wanted to upgrade the pre, I would need one with an integral phono stage or a separate phono stage and then we are starting to talk quite a lot more money.

We'll see if I decide to keep the Sara's.

[hoopsontoast]

Yes I thought the phono stage was really good, especially with the DL-103 I had with it. It just lacked some transparency/openness when I moved over to a Icon LA3, for example.
The DC300a looks a keeper, even if you have to hide it away somewhere! :D

[Idlewithnodrive]

Yes I thought the phono stage was really good, especially with the DL-103 I had with it. It just lacked some transparency/openness when I moved over to a Icon LA3, for example.
The DC300a looks a keeper, even if you have to hide it away somewhere! :D

Yep, I'm using it with a DL-103.

I'm sure I can make the DC300A look a lot more respectable easily enough.

[Idlewithnodrive]

Sara's are very much an acquired taste, depending on the particular samples and the state of the bass units, but get 'em singing in the right system and you doo seem to be able to forget them and listen to loads of music instead, which obviously is the most important thing...

The DC300A in good working order compares perfectly still with the best of today's offerings, even if yours does look like a dogs dinner. It goes right down to DC so watch what you partner it with, for the speaker's sake if nothing else. Well worth trying to find a front panel for yours, or custom-respray what's there. I wish to own and use one before I'm done but hope I won't have to pay "Audio broker" prices (aroubnd £400, which is still good in all honesty). Well thrashed ones for decades still meet spec too, more often than not, so a good old design I think :)

Hi David,

Agree with the bomb-proof design idea; first firing up and all the DC offsets were pretty much zero and the biases spot-on too. Can't be bad.

[Idlewithnodrive]

This just goes to prove you don't need to spend stupid amounts of money to get a great system, well done mate, I'm pleased for you :cool:

Thanks Andrew. Just means you have to get used to a lot of getting it wrong when you work on a tight budget; at least it doesn't cost much when you do :)

[Andrei]

Man oh man I leeeeeerv the look of the car-crash! I suspect spending some intimate time with Sara and her twin would be deep and meaningful.

[MikeMusic]

Take a look at imoroving the mains for more bass.
Could be cheap or even free

Better earth, unswitched sokcet/s, chunkier mains cables for the kit
I have some Saras too. They do incredibly well for thier size
Take other things away from the same ring main and see if that helps too.