Log in

View Full Version : And now, the end is near...



Haselsh1
04-01-2018, 14:10
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/25626755818_70272c39eb_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/F3xPFy)HiFi Jan 2018 (https://flic.kr/p/F3xPFy) by Shaun Haselden (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156648964@N02/), on Flickr


January 2018 and I think that the end is nigh...! I don't feel there is anywhere else left to go.

I'll maybe see how I feel later in the year and whether or not I feel the need for another change. Please ignore the TV. I don't count that as 'real' entertainment.
I do not put the TV audio through the Hi-Fi. Some things should never be done ;)

take5
04-01-2018, 14:27
Are you ready to face the final curtain
Are you clear
Have you stated your case.
are you certain.
Have you lived a life that's full
Have you traveled each and every highway
there might be more than this, who knows
But if you want, do it your own way.

agk
04-01-2018, 14:52
Looks a good place to stop man.

Lets see how you get on with the cold turkey, when will the withdrawal symptoms hit?

Myself I'm almost there too and can't quite believe it. At last to be able to concentrate on my R53 and my wife.

struth
04-01-2018, 15:01
been finished for a while... although necessity was mother, tbh i am happy with the sounds anyway.

just enjoy the tunes Shaun. thats really why you started it all

brian2957
04-01-2018, 16:22
What a nice system , and a great place to be Shaun :)

Haselsh1
04-01-2018, 17:33
Well thank you everso much for your comments you guys. I was here a long time ago Hi-Fi wise but then the shit hit the fan and I sold the whole lot. It is really nice to be back where I belong. The only thing I long for now is a power amp or integrated that has a bit of power but is class A like a Sugden. It could happen next year but I doubt it. Life has so many more important things to take care of.

Haselsh1
04-01-2018, 17:34
just enjoy the tunes Shaun. thats really why you started it all

Yes Grant, of course it is. So much music out there.

Haselsh1
04-01-2018, 17:36
Are you ready to face the final curtain
Are you clear
Have you stated your case.
are you certain.
Have you lived a life that's full
Have you traveled each and every highway
there might be more than this, who knows
But if you want, do it your own way.

:eyebrows:

Brilliant !

Macca
04-01-2018, 18:21
https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4647/25626755818_70272c39eb_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/F3xPFy)HiFi Jan 2018 (https://flic.kr/p/F3xPFy) by Shaun Haselden (https://www.flickr.com/photos/156648964@N02/), on Flickr


January 2018 and I think that the end is nigh...! I don't feel there is anywhere else left to go.

I'll maybe see how I feel later in the year and whether or not I feel the need for another change. Please ignore the TV. I don't count that as 'real' entertainment.
I do not put the TV audio through the Hi-Fi. Some things should never be done ;)

Looks great. Those B&W look about right for the room size. I really like them, nearly got some myself, think they were the next bigger model up from yours, but then dropped on the JM Labs which are the same basic idea.

But you really should run your telly through the hi-fi. Optical out from telly to the DAC - will cost you a tenner. Those flat screen tellys have the worst sound of anything that makes sound.

montesquieu
04-01-2018, 19:12
The trouble with being finished with the main system (as I am, barring a bit of tinkering) is the urge to go off and start playing with second systems (or third, or ...)

Haselsh1
04-01-2018, 19:20
Those flat screen tellys have the worst sound of anything that makes sound.

You are seriously not kidding.

Macca
04-01-2018, 19:27
You are seriously not kidding.

I know. I lasted 2 days with mine before I went to the huge effort of putting a proper hi-fi system together to run the sound through. It was offensive to listen to, regardless of settings. They make all sorts of claims for how good the sound is as well, complete bollocks. The 1979 Sanyo black and white portable I had as a student sounded better, with it's little mono 2 inch driver.

struth
04-01-2018, 19:29
Depends on viewing habits. I play at night a lot so have it very quiet. Downstairs I can run it through the q acoustics via a tos but usually font bother.
Quite like telly being telly

Lerxst
04-01-2018, 21:34
You can probably keep the radiator under the window off in the winter!

Looks great!

Haselsh1
05-01-2018, 09:04
You can probably keep the radiator under the window off in the winter!

Looks great!

LOL, yes the room is about twenty two feet long with another dual radiator so the window one is actually turned way down. Surprisingly though the amplifier barely gets hot due to the valves being run well below their limit.
The house is rented and is (by Lincolnshire standards) quite expensive but the sound in this room is the best I have ever had. Absolutely loving the extra low frequencies over a room that used to be twelve feet long. The B&W's though do not go as low as the old KEF Q500's with maybe a whole bottom octave being missing. The midband though is so damn neutral and the treble is so smooth when compared to the KEF's.

Haselsh1
07-01-2018, 15:50
Well over the last five/seven days Sue and I have heavily indulged in music reproduction via the sound system and we both agree that the sound has changed quite dramatically. This can only be due to either the power amplifier bedding in at last or the B&W's bedding in at last, or both. They will probably both have around 100 hours on them now but the sudden change in sound is quite dramatic and the stereo sound stage is so bloody obvious now where it certainly wasn't. Absolutely loving this new presentation especially the imaging which is now completely engulfing...!

;)

Haselsh1
20-01-2018, 08:40
OK, another update on the current sound system.

I was getting a little tee'd off with the sound and was thinking that just maybe a damn big transistor power amp may be a better choice. I then remembered a member of AOS talking about transformer outputs. Light switch moment followed.

Mine and Sue's main issue has always been the treble which is a tad too explicit. So, last night, new hi-fi session using the 8 Ohm taps. CD was 'Organika' from The Peaking Goddess Collective and within maybe the first ten bars it was highly obvious that things were different. The synthetic kick drum had much more weight and heft. The whole sound was warmer and more mellow and much more like a classic EL34. The treble was very rolled off and way more restrained and generally more valve like.

So we swapped back. Thin, weedy sound with no real substance. Absolutely dreadful in comparison. So after 14 months of owning the pre/power and 10 months with the loudspeakers we have now discovered the 'real' sound of our system. We now have a sound that is full, warm and much more powerful in its presentation.

I guess we now have to start all over again. First choice..? Brand X, Moroccan Roll.

:thumbsup:

Jimbo
20-01-2018, 09:22
So the end isn't really near.:)

brian2957
20-01-2018, 09:41
It's good when a plan comes together Shaun . Took a while mind , but hopefully you're there now :)

Haselsh1
20-01-2018, 10:46
So the end isn't really near.:)

Maybe tonight when it is all dark and spooky with the glow of the valves and the curtains are drawn we may well be facing the final curtain.

;)