I think you'll hear the benefits of a good three-way loudspeaker. Looks like they've got plenty of room to work in too so that'll help.
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I think you'll hear the benefits of a good three-way loudspeaker. Looks like they've got plenty of room to work in too so that'll help.
Like the curved cabinet design?
Know it'll benefit sound quality, but looks good too.
https://i.imgur.com/VYTxBfM.jpg
Will be replacing the supplied biwire links with jumpers I'll make up from my existing cable.
Have a set of the KLEI silver banana connectors for this, make em up with Cardas silver solder like I did with the main cables.
That way, same cable and connectors throughout.
Fit n forget.
https://i.imgur.com/F08RCmJ.jpg
Whilst running them in I'm not too fussed about fine tuning placement n stuff, just let them do their thing for a few weeks then get them dialled in.
Really large boxes, but the curved cabinets makes them less imposing in the room?
The colour helps them blend in too.
Drive units look good, a bit unusual with the AMT tweeter and mid cone, be a shame to hide them if I stick the covers on.
Always found speakers sound better with them off.
Tried putting the covers on... Naa.
No real difference in sound, just reminds you there's two big-arse boxes in the room.
Covers.. Off.
https://i.imgur.com/ZjF7TwR.jpg
Happy Days, gonna enjoy these. :)
Yeah, reckon your right Martin.Quote:
Originally Posted by Macca
From everything I've read about these the 3 way design has been done well.
They are ported, but not front or back but downward firing from the base of the speaker through a slot in the base of the cabinet/ plinth.
So not too fussy being close to a back wall, but big boxes like these need some room to breath as you say.
Front baffles just under a meter from the wall, a spot that seems to work well in the room.
Their impedance dips down to 4 ohms, which will bring out more grunt from the Meridian power amp, which, at 200 wpc into 8, can shift serious ammounts of air.
Should be a good match for the speakers and wring the best out of them :thumbsup:
With the new Speeks and the latest software upgrade to the Dac (wow :eek:) it's been a good week.
What are your initial impressions of the sound from those Gary?
Wow! They look fantastic mate. Can't wait to get over for a listen. Enjoy :)
yeah, different . what happened to the impulses mate?
Stonkingly good Geoff,
BIG sounding.
Obviously sounds gonna be all over the place till they settle in, bass sounds a bit sat on and a bit lightweight, way way deeper though than the wee Dali floorstanders I had in before.
Lots more to come in the bass department.
The mids and top end are very open, but don't shout out at you but rather invite you in to hear the detail?
All the subtle inflections in well recorded voices are there, sense of the recording venue is strong.
The clarity and openness of the sound stage remind me of a good panel speaker actually, sure its the AMT tweeter doing it's thing.
Have a play list in Roon of the MTV Unplugged stuff, your kinda in the room with the better recorded ones.
Neil Young ones a cracker, as is the Eagles.
Hotel California blew my socks off, never heard it like this. Picked up a lot of stuff I hadn't heard before.
First (Relieved!) takeaway after a couple of hours with them is that they work really well in my room.
Phew!
What's the sensitivity? Not that the big Meridian would break a sweat :).
89dB, so quite easy to drive.Quote:
Originally Posted by walpurgis
Some folks running them with 30wpc amps.
The Meridian should drive em well!
Look great in the room Gary, especially with the grilles off :cool:
They’ll run in pretty quickly if memory serves me.
That big amp won’t break a sweat at all and they can go loud very cleanly too.
They’re not boomy or porty in the bass at all so you might need to couple them straight to the floor to flesh that out.
Also, I’ve mine toed-in to firm up the centre image a bit but yours is a bigger room.
AMT tweeters have quite narrow directivity so toeing in will help with that. Good tweeters though, no 'tinsel' effects.
See my earlier reply to Macca!Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
Still a bit of work to do on them Grant, not quite there yet.
One day... :)
Thanks Chaps.
Will get them dialled in properly with a few weeks under their belt, be interesting to see where that goes.
I've read that the IsoAcoustic Gaia footers are great for these speakers, so might swap the stock feet for a set of Gaia's further down the road.
They do look rather nice Gary, be interesting to hear how you find then with the 557, I am still considering finding a 557 myself to try out with my speakers, and compare to the Allnic. I think you will also like the H2's with the 556 once you have them up and running, so you may then have a dilemma.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Cheers
They look good, Gaz, and certainly suit the aesthetics of the room (and that of your existing system). You're quite right, initially, to just plonk 'em down roughly where they look right, and get used to how they sound first before getting too anal about the positioning - the fine tuning will come later, and once you find their true 'sweet spot':)
From your initial description of how they sound, it sounds good, with plenty to keep you entertained, musically. Just watch that, along with the amps and your T/T, you don't overegg the balance with a somewhat 'sparkly detailed'/brightly lit, mid-forward sound, at the expense of tunefulness and tonal warmth, as that's what I often hear with modern gear: it can have an addictive 'fresh & zingy' sound, but often lack a little 'meat on the bone'..
Therefore, when the time is right, I'd concentrate on eliminating the 'lightweight' sound you're hearing, although much of that will be the drivers still being 'stiff' and needing to loosen up a bit (in that respect, I'd be playing a low-level music signal through them, 24/7, say Spotify, or whatever on repeat), which should open them up nicely, and ensure that for speakers of that size they deliver all the weight and visceral intensity that they should, so that they satisfy you at the bass end, as much as in the mids and top.
Other than that, enjoy, and keep us posted how things develop!:cool:
Marco.
Thanks Adrian, Marco.
Hear you on the forward mid sound, can be an issue in some scenarios for sure.
My Dac is known for being quite analogue sounding (whatever that is) and speakers for not being in your face shouty, despite the AMT tweeters reputation.
Neutral sounding amps too, the Pre has a valve input stage so a good musical balance overall.
Which as Marco says is important.
Was looking for what I had but with more oomph and scale.
Had Roon playlists playing in the background all morning, bass is already changing. :eek:
They were a big hit at the Bristol Hifi show couple of years back, found a good demo on T'Tube, in fact was this one that got me curious about about the big Wharfedales.
https://youtu.be/-tfprDU8944
Been enjoying me some Portishead, Groove Armada and Chemical Brothers.
:eek:
Ok, these speakers do bass. Lots and LOTS of bass.
Starting to open up a bit now too, more of that 'sounds coming from the side' thing going on.
Very very cool.
And...
Some Massive Attack flapping my trouserlegs...neat.:)
Good stuff, mate, and noted. Sounds like you're on the right track, then:)
How much were the Wharfs?
Marco.
One thing I noticed is that you seem to be sitting rather a way back from them, if you are sitting near to the rear wall then you are likely to get exaggerated bass through reflection. If the speakers are 6 feet apart I would try sitting with your head 6-8 feet from them. Also try toeing in so they pointing at the side of your head.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
If this works then mark with tap where the front of the speaker is. Then move them forward 6 inches, and listen from the same position, if better then try moving the forward 1/2 inch at a time until it goes off, then move back to best point. If moving 6 inch forward made them worse then move back 3”, and re-listen, if better try 1/2 inch back and/or forward until best is found. If moving them forward from the original position made no improvement at any point, then move them back 6” and move 1/2” at a time until you get best sound.
When I say sound I mean the best bass definition and clarity, so pick a really good track which you knows has great and depth, also listen for when the speakers disappear and the soundstage is just behind them with clear instrument separation, you will then have the sweet spot. Stick with one track throughout or it will get confusing.
I apologise if I have told you stuff you already know, but it may help.
Cheers
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not having this, I'll measure mine when I'm home [emoji38]Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Adrian,
All great info mate thanks!
Be looking at all this stuff in forensic detail after a few weeks of running the boxes in.
So much stuff variable ATM, hard to make a call what the speaker actually sounds like!
Needs a bit of time to bed in, then I'll be getting the Slide Rule out...if a jobs worth doing, do it right.
Only plonked them down, spirit levelled them bob-on on their spikes and left well alone.
Fine tuning to follow, and it's worth doing. A bit soon though, but all in good time.
Thanks mate.
look quite nice those gaz... hope they are up to your gear... which is pretty good stuff:D
You absolute measurebator... ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001
Let's hope so...Quote:
Originally Posted by struth
My First shout was a pair of 4.5K Sonus Fabers...
Hearing what I'm currently hearing though, my current thinking is Yeah OK, think my definition of " Good Enough" has been Autobahn driven past at 200 MPH..
Wow.
These speakers are good.
Impulse H2 1160mm H x 270mm W x 480mm D
Volume 0.150336 m3
Amphion Krypton 1370 x 240 x 470 mm
Volume 0.154536 m3
Nuff said [emoji16]
mine(edingdales) are near that but lightly lessQuote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001
£1200,Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
A chunk of change in anyones money, just lucky that I got a pay rise and the Annual bonus this month...
4cm shorter....
Monty you Terrible cu...
SORRY, LAWRENCE YOU absolutely terrible Human Being...
Nuff respect. :)
Quite agree that you need to let them bed in. My WB's were about 4 years old when I acquired them but they had only been used a few hundred hours. As you know I do a lot of listening, and my system is often playing radio or streaming. I reckon that in a year they have done about 1000 hours, what I found interesting is that they seemed to open up and sound better after about 6 months.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
I noticed that you paid £1200 for the Wharfedale EVO 4.4's and were also considering Sonus Faber's. However in my experience price is not always everything in audio/hifi products. Every now and then a manufacturer produces a gem of a product which is not that expensive in relation to the level of sound quality it produces, and can exceed/equal other far more expensive products from others. Wharfedale should know how to design and build a great speaker, after all said and done they have been around a long time. I actually think some manufacturers deliberately over inflate their prices to create an air of exclusivity, when in fact their products are not any better than others out there, its just a matter of finding the VFM products that give great results.
Reading through the reviews for the EVO 4.4's it looks like you may have found a gem. Once you have got them bedded down and optimised position then it will be very interesting to get your thoughts.
Strong Agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by AJSki2fly
These speakers are Special.
Is there better?
Course there is
Point is,
Hearing stuff I've not heard in songs I've enjoyed for over 30 yrs now.
Not Hifi stuff either, Don Henley doing the MTV unplugged concert, never heard THE MAN sing better.
It's a breathing Human being singing on Stage. Never heard it portrayed better.
Very little time on these speakers, way past the point of asking if these were the right choice.
More to come I'm sure
They are a Peter Comeau design, downtrickled tech from the top flight Elysian range.
Those are Sonus Faber level, at least price wise.
No idea of perceived value, never heard 'em.
Would love to hear the Elysian speakers, the 4s are a substantial speaker, big room needed I would think.
Glad these are working out so far Gary.
I admire your experience on not rushing things, sounds like you’ve been here before a time or two!
Maybe just once or twice....Quote:
Originally Posted by JohnJo
Wow, is that brand new, mate? If so,it looks like a bargain to me!:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Marco.
Funny how what goes around comes around. Well not quite, but I used to have a pair of Wharfdale Laser 400s they had the well known isodynamic tweeter and lovely treble. I'm sure these are much better, but then they cost a lot more!
Aye,Quote:
Originally Posted by Marco
Brand Spankin...
Definitely a bit of a bargain, even if you just factor in the build quality.
Think like the Audiolab CD Transport I picked up, these speakers are future classics.
Been playing all sorts of music through them since early this morning, never heard my system sound this good.
Maybe hearing properly now what the rest of my system can do?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Lawrence001
Used to have a set of Wharfedale Delta 30's.
And a set of the big E90's. (Comet Specials)
Funny how it all works out...
Delta 30 are the only bad Wharfedales I ever heard. They were their bargain basement speaker back in the day though.
As I learnt to my cost, you have to find the right speakers to get your system to sing, if you have a good amp then it’s just a matter of getting a good speaker you like and suits the rest room imoQuote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Quality...Well, based on how they look, and your impression of their sonics, which I don't doubt, I'd say that they deserve an official AoS 'SPPV' badge of approval!:cool:Quote:
Originally Posted by Gazjam
Look forward to hearing them when I next visit the auld country [and I bring my DAC]:)
Marco.
Nice one mate.
September sounds good for me too.
Cool - we'll make it a date:)
How about getting some of the Scottish mafia together?:cool:
Marco.
Could be a plan.
Obviously dependant on the whole Covid shebang...
Fingers crossed.
Indeedio... Although by September I'd expect things to be back to normal enough to ably allow it:)
Marco.
Aye hope so.
Been finagling' over the weekend...
Looked at a few things:
1. Improving Network setup for better sound
2. Modding some kit, just for looks
3. Speaker wiring and setup
Fun weekend :)
NETWORK:
Taking an interest again in tweaking my computer audio, have VM Broadband Superhub, connected to Router/access point in the livingroom, with all bits n bobs wifi'd and hardwired up to it.
SO:
Superhub > 18M cat6 > (Spider Crab below) > more long Cat6 > Music computer
https://i.imgur.com/VciTL6F.jpg
About 25m or so of ethernet cable, 'tween Superhub, Router and Roon Linux based Server feeding the music, so decided to improve on the setup of that.
Recently got Superhub 4 from VM, and decided an improvement would be to cut out all the extra Cat cable, the Spider Crab router and bring the Superhub into the livingroom.
Less cable, less power supplies, more direct connection.
Virgin wanted £99 for a non fault callout, so bugger that, and made up the cables to move it myself.
Decided to improve upon supplied VM coax cable (Why not?) and bought a run of Webro WF100 (best of gear) and Cablecon 5.1 F-Connectors.
Not screw in type, but heavy solid crimped connectors, the cable is 1mm solid core pure copper, and cable is properly shielded.
Anyway, Job done, Superhub is in system rack now, bought a linear PSU for it and powering it from balanced mains.
All about eliminating/reducing electrical noise and steps I took were more than worth it.
Superhub logs show rock solid (and better) signal/ noise ratio and consistent power levels. Before they varied throughout the day.
Download speed rock solid now too.
Next step is to build a fanless SSD based Roon Server, powered from linear PSU/balanced mains and stick that in system rack.
Eliminate a long run of ethernet cable from the setup, as well as a bog standard PC feeding up music files.
Oh,
and Superhub look kinda cool at night too in the rack...kind of a Tron vibe
https://i.imgur.com/FkluGar.jpeg
Which led to point 2
(Not sound related!)
Always liked blacked out gear, back in the day I "Knight Rider'ed" my M2Tech Young Dac :mental: :ner:
https://i.imgur.com/4Or3KKb.jpg
Picked myself up a PS5, fantastic source for all things YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and the like
Wonderful sound fed into the HDMI input of the Oppo, zapped over i2s to the Dac.
...and the White was nice 'n all, matched Nipper, and the new speakers but kinda stuck out in the rack?
https://i.imgur.com/n8LSbuy.jpg
Darth Vader's PlayStation...That'll work.
Much better!
https://i.imgur.com/g94negu.jpg
Speaker shenanigans tomorrow.
How did you 'paint it black'?