For the FAO of stereoists

[scotta]

Outstanding.

[Gavster]

basking in just sitting back and listening to music without anything else going on. That's the first time I've done that in forever.

All sounds brilliant Dave. And re: the above, it's something I remember doing all the time when I was younger, but rarely ever these days. Listening on headphones simply isn't a match to some great music on big floorstanders.

[DeskJockey]

Went to visit my cousin yesterday. He's upgraded his mancave speakers with a pair of Martin Logan Summit Xs, driven off a serious NAD unit. Didn't get to properly test them, but from what I heard, they sound ace.

They're quite big though, definitely need a lot of space to make the most of them.

[mik]

Went to visit my cousin yesterday. He's upgraded his mancave speakers with a pair of Martin Logan Summit Xs

I had to google. They look serious, and specs are impressive. £13k a pair (new) as far as I can see - which is just slightly outside of my hifi budget.

[DeskJockey]

They're quite the bit of kit. He bought them used, but still it was a rather hefty price tag, well within decent used car territory.

[GG.]

I like the idea of these. A good fudge between the old bass light quad ESLs and box based monitors.

Need a bigger room though as apparently they're quite sensitive to reflections from rear and side walls.

Never heard a pair IRL however. NAD also wouldn't be my choice of amplification for them either (what amp was it though out of interest).

[KiwiDave]

Update on the Wiim Ultra, used twice and going back with a glitchy touchscreen. Their support team confirmed it as fucked and fit for replacement within a few hours of lodging the ticket. Have just requested a return authority from the supplier here in NZ.

[mik]

Update on the Wiim Ultra, used twice and going back with a glitchy touchscreen.

It's a no-wiim situation.

[Jobbo]

I confess I've used the Apple Homepod more than my Wiim kit simply due to where they are in the house - I really ought to use the Wiim stuff more.

[DeskJockey]

I like the idea of these. A good fudge between the old bass light quad ESLs and box based monitors.

Need a bigger room though as apparently they're quite sensitive to reflections from rear and side walls.

Never heard a pair IRL however. NAD also wouldn't be my choice of amplification for them either (what amp was it though out of interest).

I forgot to check, but knowing him it'll be from their high-end range of kit.

[GG.]

I like the idea of these. A good fudge between the old bass light quad ESLs and box based monitors.

Need a bigger room though as apparently they're quite sensitive to reflections from rear and side walls.

Never heard a pair IRL however. NAD also wouldn't be my choice of amplification for them either (what amp was it though out of interest).

I forgot to check, but knowing him it'll be from their high-end range of kit.

Yes I would assume so - NAD have done some flagship stuff from time to time.

[mik]

BTW - if any of you Englanders are near Biggleswade - this might be of interest on Sat 30-Nov. Need to pre-book your place.

I imagine the sound quality will be "quite impressive". I find the Wilson Audio speakers pretty ugly and imposing (not easy to tell from the pic, but these ones stand 6'4" tall), but I imagine they sound rather tremendous.....

https://forums.thelotusforums.com/topic ... nt=1053095

[Ascender]

Has anybody bought a cd player recently? I've got a massive collection of CDs from back in the day and am probably going to start buying some again where I can't justify the cost or don't want the vinyl, so just wondering if there's any recommendations.

[Jobbo]

I haven’t bought a CD player but I have a penchant for mini systems (Denon or Marantz) with them built in which does the job.

However, I did think if I get one of those Marantz Stereo 70s receivers I’d need one. And that sent me down the rabbit hole of looking at used ones on eBay. I think a nice Sony ES machine from the 90s should still be pretty excellent; all you need is a solid transport. Not interested in novelties like the Pioneer stable platter machines; they didn’t add anything and would just be more of a pain these days.

[GG.]

BTW - if any of you Englanders are near Biggleswade - this might be of interest on Sat 30-Nov. Need to pre-book your place.

I imagine the sound quality will be "quite impressive". I find the Wilson Audio speakers pretty ugly and imposing (not easy to tell from the pic, but these ones stand 6'4" tall), but I imagine they sound rather tremendous.....

https://forums.thelotusforums.com/topic ... nt=1053095

Low volume speaker producers are funny as those behemoths look to have all Vifa scanspeak drivers - if you look at a mk 1 Sonus Faber Cremona you'll see the same ones.

They're pretty good (the drivers I mean) but clearly even at that price point they don't produce many of the parts but focus on the crossovers / cabinetry.

I think that's about 250k of D'agostino amps isn't it.

https://www.soundimports.eu/en/scan-spe ... 49EALw_wcB

[Jimexpl]

BTW - if any of you Englanders are near Biggleswade - this might be of interest on Sat 30-Nov. Need to pre-book your place.

I imagine the sound quality will be "quite impressive". I find the Wilson Audio speakers pretty ugly and imposing (not easy to tell from the pic, but these ones stand 6'4" tall), but I imagine they sound rather tremendous.....

https://forums.thelotusforums.com/topic ... nt=1053095

Low volume speaker producers are funny as those behemoths look to have all Vifa scanspeak drivers - if you look at a mk 1 Sonus Faber Cremona you'll see the same ones.

They're pretty good (the drivers I mean) but clearly even at that price point they don't produce many of the parts but focus on the crossovers / cabinetry.

I think that's about 250k of D'agostino amps isn't it.

https://www.soundimports.eu/en/scan-spe ... 49EALw_wcB

A lot of the low volume custom speakers that we sell have morel or focal drivers in them, which I don’t have an issue with, but when you spend the big bucks I’d want it designed as one unit in-house, which someone like Dynaudio does.

[mik]

@KiwiDave One for your list of speaker "testers". For clarity & details rather than whomp....

Whisper Of A Thrill - Thomas Newman - from the Meet Joe Black soundtrack.

Some really delicate & quiet sections with some massively rich string parts that stretch the frequency range envelopes at both ends of the scale. A great "pick an instrument and follow it" track. Needs decent volume though.

[NGRhodes]

Impressed to see lots of sound treatment in that picture.
I frequently see pictures expensive Hi-Fi put in regular household rooms with poor acoustics, complete waste of £££ and why I only have budget Hi-Fi.

[KiwiDave]

Whisper Of A Thrill - Thomas Newman - from the Meet Joe Black soundtrack.

Some really delicate & quiet sections with some massively rich string parts that stretch the frequency range envelopes at both ends of the scale. A great "pick an instrument and follow it" track. Needs decent volume though.

Just gave that a whirl on the office setup - I can hear how that would work. Will have to wait til the replacement Wiim turns up to play it on the proper stuff.

[NGRhodes]