New Kit!

[Scorchin34]

Hey Cats,
Been away for a while but in my absence I added some new kit to the fold. 2 pair of speakers, a mint set of PSB Avantes and a magnificent pair pf Thiel 04-A.

The PSBs are Stuart Barton's first set of speakers he designed with the assistance of the NRC (Canada's National Research Council), traded some dusty old kit I don't use for them. These are still used to this day as referencing speakers at the NRC.
Nice imaging and pin point location of voicing, these put the singer square in the middle of the performance right where I like them and they love my little Brio3.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCF0554.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCF0555.jpg

Next are the Thiel 04-A, these were a basket case and needed new surrounds and one of the tweeters repaired, the cabs were in need of oiling and the grill cloth required replacing, these took some effort as the surrounds were difficult to source as they are an odd size because of the Thiel designed drivers, however I managed to find them on eBay of all places for $8 including shipping the cost from Thiel was $70 including shipping, got real lucky there. I used Teak oil for the cabs, continuing applications until the Walnut veneer stop absorbing. These have a wide expansive sound, like being there in person and for 5.5" drivers they fill a large size room nicely, taut bass and smooth smooth smooth highs with sweet mids, the voicing is nice but not nearly as good as the PSBs but for all day relaxed listening these things are amazing, very fortunate to be given these, these prefer the Bryston over the Brio3. For whatever reason these encourage more vinyl play over CD/SACD material.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCN2215.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCN2216.jpg

There we have it, my latest additions. Thanks for reading! :)

Peace,
Preston

[DSJR]

Those two look really good. Interesting that the more professionally balanced model treats good vinyl and CD hopefully equally without any real preferences... The Thiel's probably are balanced more for a domestic consumer and possibly have a livelier sound.

Can I suggest that you MAY have the PSB's the wrong way round? I always used to suggest the tweeters being on the inside, but, to be fair, the PSB's have damping placed alongside the tweeters, so this may not be an issue, unlike almost all other speakers with offset tweeters I remember ;)

Glad you like the Brio 3. I'm informed by hifi dave here that it's a fantastic little amp and far more capable than the Brio's I remember. I'm very fond of the Mira though, so if you ever see one at a good price (you never know), I recommend you give it a try..

[Reid Malenfant]

Two lovely looking pairs of speakers you have there :) The Thiels definately look like they were worth repairing, the cabinets look in superb condition ;)


Can I suggest that you MAY have the PSB's the wrong way round? I always used to suggest the tweeters being on the inside, but, to be fair, the PSB's have damping placed alongside the tweeters, so this may not be an issue, unlike almost all other speakers with offset tweeters I remember ;)
Interesting you say that Dave as i have always done just the opposite :eyebrows: I'm assuming the standmount is the right speaker in which case i'd assume it's correct. I'm pretty sure manufacturers did this to get the tweeter voicecoil more aligned with the woofer as the tweeter would be further away from the listener as long as it wasn't toed in too much.

I think if you take a look at NS1000/M you'll find the mid & tweeters towards the outer edge & the speakers are marked for left & right positions.

[Scorchin34]

Interesting notation on the PSBs but the driver arrangement is the same for both speakers, the serial numbers are consecutive as well so that's the way Paul designed them out of the gate. Very heavy for modest sized standmounts I might add, the stands are masonry sand filled, pure washed sand.

As far as the vinyl thing the PSBs are a little rich almost too much especially on bright recordings the Thiel's smooth things over a little better, more relaxed. Now the PSBs on CD and especially SACD are sweet sweet sweet! The Brio3, CD-S1000 and PSB Avantes make a great combo, I'm running Analysis Plus for interconnects, a little better than the PBJs I was using (my opinion) and Unity speaker cables factory terminated with banana plugs (Canadian company), it all works nicely.

Peace,
Preston

[michaelhigh]

Hey Cats,
Been away for a while but in my absence I added some new kit to the fold. 2 pair of speakers, a mint set of PSB Avantes and a magnificent pair pf Thiel 04-A.

The PSBs are Stuart Barton's first set of speakers he designed with the assistance of the NRC (Canada's National Research Council), traded some dusty old kit I don't use for them. These are still used to this day as referencing speakers at the NRC.
Nice imaging and pin point location of voicing, these put the singer square in the middle of the performance right where I like them and they love my little Brio3.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCF0554.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCF0555.jpg

Next are the Thiel 04-A, these were a basket case and needed new surrounds and one of the tweeters repaired, the cabs were in need of oiling and the grill cloth required replacing, these took some effort as the surrounds were difficult to source as they are an odd size because of the Thiel designed drivers, however I managed to find them on eBay of all places for $8 including shipping the cost from Thiel was $70 including shipping, got real lucky there. I used Teak oil for the cabs, continuing applications until the Walnut veneer stop absorbing. These have a wide expansive sound, like being there in person and for 5.5" drivers they fill a large size room nicely, taut bass and smooth smooth smooth highs with sweet mids, the voicing is nice but not nearly as good as the PSBs but for all day relaxed listening these things are amazing, very fortunate to be given these, these prefer the Bryston over the Brio3. For whatever reason these encourage more vinyl play over CD/SACD material.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCN2215.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v65/scorchin36/Stuff/DSCN2216.jpg

There we have it, my latest additions. Thanks for reading! :)

Peace,
Preston

Why are speakers so awe-inspiring? I guess that is akin to answers to questions concerning the origins of the species, world history, and basic discovery itself. Always massively pertinent and timely. I guess I haven't found the right pair, yet (yet, he says)...:lol: