Scalford show 6th March 2011

[Beobloke]

Marco

What about this statement from Steve !

Oh, one more thing, as much as the praise of our system felt good, the speakers played only a very small part. If a system is setup properly using good components and ancilliaries, any old ropey pair of speakers will do...

I missed that when I read the original thread!

[aquapiranha]

Utter bollocks, that what it is. I have NEVER heard a bigger difference in sound by changing say, a cd player, than I have by swapping out speakers. If this were even remotely true Steve would flog the big tannoys and spend the money on flash mains leads and a pair of Kef Coda's! Plus, please stop going on and on and on about bloody straw men!!! Every bloody post you make you are going on about them,,,,I know you are reading this so from now on I will refer to you as the scarecrow, then everyone will know what I mean, straw man indeed!!

[Marco]

Hi Adam,

I missed that when I read the original thread!

Lol - it was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek remark designed to draw people's attention away from just the speakers being largely, or even solely, responsible for the sound we achieved.

That's a notion we will be dispelling next year when we'll be inviting other exhibitors to bring along any of their own speakers to use, and see what influence that has on our system.........

It will undoubtedly change the tonal and 'hi-fi presentation' aspects of the system, but its musical communication qualities (largely attributable to what's happening upstream and how that's optimised through judiciously selected ancillaries and correct set-up) will still be present - regardless of the speakers used (unless they're utterly bereft of merit)!

Testament to this is the fact that I use a pair of much smaller Celestions (15XRs), from the same range as the 66s, downstairs in my lounge.

And with the 15XRs downstairs in the lounge, on the end of my system upstairs, scale and size of sound aside (one cannot defeat the laws of physics), the sonic qualities and music-making ability of my system (largely consisting of the components demonstrated at Scalford Hall) is very similar to what's achieved when I pop the 66's on the end of the same system, either upstairs in my listening room or downstairs in the lounge......

Go figure!

Right, gotta go - back later!

Marco.

[Marco]

Meanwhile, another interesting thread, showing the AoS system (and others from the Scalford show) on the Martin Logan Owners forum:

http://www.martinloganowners.com/for...ad.php?t=11995

Check the vids out, and in particular, the one where the Techie is playing 'Dissidents' by Thomas Dolby... DSJR should enjoy this, as he loves my 'plump and syrupy' sounding SPU!!

Marco.

[DSJR]

I can see both sides of the ancillaries right with any speaker vs speakers totally change things views, but ultimately, the room-speaker match is the final arbiter for me...

I once heard a well sorted (by an acoustician who cares) room where some cheapo Heybrook HB1's and baby Wharfedales (I forget which ones now, but they could have been 505's?) sounded practically as good (within volume reason) as some ATC actives like mine were. Both sounded better than I was getting (and with similar driving electronics and cabling) and it was this that showed me how important speaker-room matching really is.

Having said the above, in a vinyl based system certainly, IMo it's USELESS having a collection of superb gear and not setting it up correctly - and that goes for gear at any age or price. The fact that much old gear which is still working well sounds better than it ever did new is testament to that I reckon..

So to conclude my mini-essay, Get speakers which will work the room right and THEN set the system up to within an inch (oh alright, a centimetre) of its life. You'll have the best of both worlds then

[Marco]

Is that, in a roundabout way, you conceding that the SPU doesn't in fact sound anything like you decribed, daftee-chops?

Next year, get yer arse to the show, as I'd like to meet you (that is if you don't dissolve, implode or something, outside of bloody Suffolk)!

Marco.

[Bazil]

After coming back from the show I have never been more content with my set-up.
There was so much diversity and excellence I didn't know what I might like to try next.
So my modest gear suits me fine


Mind you that Nagra reel to reel was good and what about that Rega P9

[DSJR]

Is that, in a roundabout way, you conceding that the SPU doesn't in fact sound anything like you decribed, daftee-chops?

Next year, get yer arse to the show, as I'd like to meet you (that is if you don't dissolve, implode or something, outside of bloody Suffolk)!

Marco.

I nearly imploded this afternoon having had dealings with a sufferer of ADHD literally bouncing off the walls, floor and ceiling. Pushed all my wrong buttons he did

[Reid Malenfant]

I nearly imploded this afternoon having had dealings with a sufferer of ADHD literally bouncing off the walls, floor and ceiling. Pushed all my wrong buttons he did

Sorry Dave but imo there is no such thing It's just a modern way of giving a name to naughty people that cant be disciplined because the governbent says you can't dish out some good old fashioned corporal punishment when they were kids

Personally if someone got on my nerves that much i'd show them the door, if they didn't like that then they'd be thrown out the bugger

I hope you have managed to restore an emotional equilibrium now

[YNWaN]

It will undoubtedly change the tonal and 'hi-fi presentation' aspects of the system, but its musical communication qualities (largely attributable to what's happening upstream and how that's optimised through judiciously selected ancillaries and correct set-up) will still be present - regardless of the speakers used (unless they're utterly bereft of merit)! .

I entirely agree Marco; far too many people confuse quantitative judgements with qualitative ones (often those who erroneously believe that the speakers are the defining component of a system).