searching for musical truth: SP Tech Timepiece 3.0

zybar · « **Reply #40 on:** 14 Feb 2009, 08:30 pm »

Deleted.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #41 on:** 14 Feb 2009, 09:05 pm »

Thanks for thinkin, George. You, too, Robin. I'm just loose as a goose bout the good stuff I heard today. A part of which was my good stuff just not heard on a system with such wide dynamic capability previously. I'm still tingling!

targa · « **Reply #42 on:** 15 Feb 2009, 03:19 pm »

Feb 15: Listening session #3

Yo-Yo Ma: Abrigado Brazil Live in Concert
Track 1: this is one of the track I used to test the ability of the system to resolve the “ambiance” of the event. The track started out with the audience clapping hands. I heard the distinct hand claps (of a part) of the audience in the middle, front and back of the concert hall as Yo-Yo Ma introduced himself as the cellist for the evening. The band started playing and the cello came through sweet, warm and full. Some of the cello notes were low and I felt like the TP3 were able to play them. With my past speakers I always supplemented the bottom-end with a DynAudio 300 Sub which can go to ~30 Hz. Of course, even with DynAudio Contour S3.4, the sub integration was not perfect.. what this translated to was a not such clean, warm and full sound as the TP3 delivered. All sessions with TP3 have been w/o the sub. I only use this sub for movies now… and do not feel like I missed anything with music.

Talking about watching movies, my wife and I watched a movie yesterday and she asked me if the TP3 are expensive because to her they are more beautiful than other speakers I had. Well, that was a surprise.. I do like the look of the DynAudio they replaced but I must say that the TP3 disappeared much better so their width was not an issue for me. And, about the expensive part.. I gave a price figure that was half of the price I paid.. no further discussion. I set up the TP3 in a dedicated audio room of 30x18x8 foot. Therefore, they have been out of sight..

Track 2: I tested my system with this track in the past to determine how good the system painted the 3D acoustic soundstage. Again, through the TP3, I heard a fuller soundstage. Yo-Yo Ma started the track with a short melody on his cello: his cello sound was airy, warm, full and sweet. I also heard his bow rubbing against the cello strings slowly.. Then, the guitars came in and took over the melody where his cello left off. Then, the singer started singing. Her voice was beautiful: full, warm and seductive. I could hear her breathing in and out onto the mic on certain words. The guitar notes sounded detailed and well positioned within the soundstage. The piano came through from right behind the singer clearly. I heard the playful tune of cello accompanying the singer voice, like a dialogue going on between the two. Then, the drum and cymbal sounds joined the party.. I love the cymbal sounds through TP3: clear, articulate, detail and smooth..

What I tried to describe to you are the emotions I can hear more obviously through TP3. I feel that - my now - more accurate system help communicate more insights into the event for me in addition to conveying the musical contents, e.g. soundstage set-up, virtuosity of the players, hall and space of event.

The other thing I noticed with the TP3 in place is the warming up of my Linar amp. In the first 5 mins, the amp sound is clean, cold and relatively more 2D but as the amp warms up, I could hear the fuller, more rounded notes, more separation of the voices and better positioning of the players on the stage. This “warm up” issue with the Linar was not obviously to me before although I have read that Linar recommended to keep their amps on at all time.. now I know why. Well, I do not follow that recommendation to heart because I do not - have time to listen everyday

More later..

targa · « **Reply #43 on:** 15 Feb 2009, 05:00 pm »

Jim, sent you a PM yesterday.. let me know in case you have not received it

ted_b · « **Reply #44 on:** 15 Feb 2009, 06:16 pm »

Lance,
Do you biamplify the TP3's with the rear Linar 10 amp modules?

targa · « **Reply #45 on:** 16 Feb 2009, 03:54 am »

Ted, no bi-amp since i used the other channels for voice and rear L/R in a 5.1 home theater setup. having said, does bi-amp significantly improve the sound or soundstage..?

ted_b · « **Reply #46 on:** 16 Feb 2009, 04:17 am »

Dunno really. The SP Techs are power hungry and built for biamping. I use Spectron Musician III Mk 2 monoblocks so I've got plenty of power, but saw that the Linars could be configured as biamped, so I thought I'd ask.

targa · « **Reply #47 on:** 16 Feb 2009, 06:33 pm »

Jim dropped by my place earlier today and listened to the TP3. he can share his impressions. however, i learned a lot from the discussion with Jim... he pointed out few things i could do to improve (room acoustics) the listening experience. he also confirmed that the TP3 could enjoy more power.. let me try biamping w/ my Linar and see if what changes..

Double Ugly · « **Reply #48 on:** 16 Feb 2009, 09:35 pm »

Most speakers will (to a point) respond positively to additional good power, the operative word being "good." I have a pair of efficient (98dB) Daedalus Audio speakers which seem to just keep getting better with each and every additional watt.

For several of the reasons already mentioned, Bob's speakers (SP Tech) respond to more and better power as well as any speaker I've encountered. If your amp produces good, clean power, you're in for a treat.

targa · « **Reply #49 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 05:45 am »

you are right about the more power part. Ted and others also mentioned this. I have reconfigured my Linar 10 (5x120 watt into 8 ohms per channel) to biamp the TP3, i.e. right rear and front to the right tweeter and woofer respectively.. I tested this set-up this evening and already noticed clear improvements even with sub-optimal speaker cables (i normally use anti-cables which are basically magnet wires..)

the soundstage is now bigger, more details and more lively.. seems like all qualities of TP3 have just become better. seriously, i never thought that (clean) power can have a significant impact on sound.. my reasoning was that if i do not listen loud, then i do not need the power but this reasoning is simply my lack of experience. with biamping, the sound is better even when listening at low volumes. no wonder why Jim mentioned several times about power lacking.

well, I am glad to find this out.. I definitely prefer biamp the TP3. I have a Lite L-1 integrated amp (was thinking about giving away..) that I now use for the rear channels when watching movies

Double Ugly, I have read about the Daedalus Audio speakers. They are quite good although I think that they were designed based on a very different philosphy. I know from Jim that they sound excellent...

ted_b · « **Reply #50 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 12:52 pm »

Great news Lance. Glad we could help improve an already wonderful transducer (Double Ugly loves when I talk that way..

).

targa · « **Reply #51 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 08:10 pm »

try to upload some pics.. but can't

ted_b · « **Reply #52 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 08:27 pm »

Quote from: targa on 17 Feb 2009, 08:10 pm

try to upload some pics.. but can't

Call me and I'll walk you through it.... and/or peruse this:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=40968.0

targa · « **Reply #53 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 09:38 pm »

Ted, thank you my friend!

i welcome suggestions on improvement of room acoustics... my room is completely naked as you can see...

front view:

rear view:

mcullinan · « **Reply #54 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 09:40 pm »

targa · « **Reply #55 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 09:47 pm »

thank you, Mike

here is a rear view of the room:

ted_b · « **Reply #56 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 10:04 pm »

Lance,
That is a thumbnail. Go ahead and click on one of your pics in your gallery. When it is showing in the larger gallery window, then right click "view image". THAT is the URL you want to copy and paste, not the thumbnail one.

targa · « **Reply #57 on:** 17 Feb 2009, 10:13 pm »

cool, my friend. will talk later today..

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #58 on:** 18 Feb 2009, 01:24 am »

Lance needs a lotta help in this regard, fellas, and I'm sure he would appreciate your suggestions. Behind the chair on the right is a wide, deep, and tall alcove with a window. His floor is bare except for a thin area rug. Lance, you oughta get a thick underpad for that rug and position it with your SP's like you have at the other end of your room. When we hook up again, I'll bring my two GIK panels and another set of magnet wires for you to play with. Cheers.

targa · « **Reply #59 on:** 18 Feb 2009, 01:51 am »

thanks, Jim! Jim has very good ears. We had good discussions. His experience really showed.