[JLM]

Sorry the Sony didn't work out as you'd hoped.  Perhaps more research is in order.  I have a friend who has tracked tons of Cheap & Cheerful kind of older products for years, has a good set of ears, and consistently scores good used gear.  He routinely embarrasses the rest of us in our little audio club with his low cost obscure finds.  His problem is parting with his hidden gems.   

I have another friend who is also frugal but newer at it and plays the game differently.  He picks up old stereo receivers (that most folks dump these days in favor of multi-channel receivers that have HDMI connections).  It took several before he finds one that can easily be returned to working order that also sounds good.  He also picked up a pickup load of vintage speakers from an estate last year and spent the whole summer getting them back into working condition and selling them off.  In the mean time he's learned a great deal, and now without much coin has put together a very nice system with a mix of new, almost new used, and vintage gear.

When you surf the web, it seems easy to pick up great buys, but you're reading mostly the end of success stories from tens of thousands hobbyists.  What you don't see is the thousands of effort and years of experience that are invested into research, hunting, relationship building, building, and tinkering that provide a background for these cream of the crop accounts to come to the surface.  So with enough work and patience it can be consistently done.  For the rest of us, it's a shot in the dark. 

Take care.

[restrav]

I'm still gonna put it through its paces with the elac by and do a comparison with the yamaha. I'm disappointed that the same silicon and topology in the output stage is common between 700 dollar models and 1700 models. But there is more to it ofcourse. The power supply can and does make a huge difference so we will see.

My hope is and has been that through this setup I'll get a better sound than for example vanatoo otherwise what's the point. By better sound I mostly mean sweeter midrange, overall better tonality and possibly bass extension. I also have the same hope for the yamaha. Im hoping it does not sound the same as their monitors like hs7. Im hoping it's tuned differently. And I've been told it's got different drivers.

[restrav]

They're here

[restrav]

both speakers are burning in right now. I will do all the listening with the cloth grill and also the mesh metal tweeter grill removed from the elacs and the yamaha has no grills

[restrav]

burning them in

[restrav]

another surprise is the having Schiit modi in the chain vs just connecting the PC to the digital input of the amp made absolutely no difference. none. 

the cabinet construction of the yamaha's are surprisingly good, the knuckle test resulted in a very satisfying sound whereas Elac's are chinese thin MDF crap as expected.

I have a third speaker coming in. this one will do no bass (doesnt really produce anything bellow 70hz) but it's hopefully got that midrange magic that i want. that's all for now.

[restrav]

ok I burned them in non stop for 4 days and on the fifth day yamaha's are already in box.
B5's sound did open up a bit after 60+ hours of playback (all grills removed.). i cant rave about highs or the lows. both are nothing remarkable but as a package so much more enjoyable and just plain better performing than the Yamahas. Yamaha's are tonally very different, more mid forward, highs are more open and it is way more detailed ... but it doesnt translate to better sound for most music (especially the compressed music that it plays from spotify, rhapsody, and all those other services that it has built in).

I tried the Yamaha with DSD 64 files (a very good Beethoven's quartet's album that I bought from HDtracs if i remember correctly) .... unfortunately the
performance of the speaker hinders any potential benefits that it's DAC portion might have had. AND it provides no line level or any other kind of output so you can benefit from its feature rich built in digital front end. it also doesnt have a subwoofer out. so its just what it is a closed system. if it was 400 dollars id honestly say its great. but for 800 you can go separate and get even more flexibility and definitely outpreform it sonically in every single categoty. I did it with chiit DAC + sony Amp + Elac b5

The bluetooth feature works fine. it compares very favorably with LHLabs Bluetooth device. but its not saying much since Aptx while very useful kills the dynamics and the speaker itself is not a dynamics champ by any means.

its remote is flimsy and tiny and sometimes misses the command.

anyway the Sony amp+B5 is the clear winner. pretty much in every categoty. Yamaha is basically selling you a pair of HS5s with wireless and some stickers (spotify, rhapsody etc.) for twice the price.

Im sending both back and im going with a completely different solution (a 4 inch widebander) and im building a pass F6.   

[restrav]

oh i forgot to mention, Yamaha aint got nothing on Vanatoo, nothing well maybe just bluetooth and wifi

[JLM]

Thanks for the feedback!

I briefly heard the Vanatoo at the 2015 Axpona show, seemed good.  But the setup that stole the show for me (and my buddy) was the $600 amp/speakers from Napa Acoustics.  Tiny gear filled a bigger room with a satisfying sound, doing no wrong.  Tube pre, 25 wpc solid state, small 2-way speakers.  After listening to hundreds of $$$$$ and $$$$$$ systems, this setup was a breath of fresh air. 

Alpair 7.3 is a single driver that would seem to address your wants.  BrinesAcoustics.com sells a speaker that uses the 7.3 in plan, pre-cut, or completed versions.  Planet10 offers several versions of speakers using the 7.3.  Both are members of Audio Circle.

If you PM me, I'll ask my buddy what small single driver speaker he uses.  He lent it to me briefly and I liked it.  It filled the room with pleasant tunes.

[restrav]

Thank you JLM (what's your name?)

in the coming days im replacing the schiit DAC with a Rega. it's a shot in the dark. ive never demoed them. just trying it. Im also working on building the Pass F6 (adding that. it wont make the cut for this forum though. definitely over a grand.).

The speaker is a full range 4 inch Dayton Audio reference and I gotta say. I love the midrange. no crossover. there are a pair of tweeters in the back of the speakers complementing the high frequencies. just one resistor and one Capacitor in the signal path. basically no bass to speak of. nothing bellow 70hz. I dont mind at all. that midrange is heavenly. i will get to the bass after take care of the amp. Rythmik has a sub selaed with 2 8 inch woofer that can be crossed over as high as 250hz. what do you think? honestly ive never heard or seen anyone crossover a sub that high. I believe it is very well into the midrange. not that i have decided on that particular point. its just that their website says it may be crossed over as high as 250hz. i welcome any insight.

[JLM]

Hsu also sells what they call a mid-bass module (MBM-12 MK 2) for $599 that can fill in the mid-bass body that small drivers seem to lack and of course much of the bass.  It's rated 50 - 250 Hz, so no deep boom.  Placement would be critical as 256 Hz is middle C on a piano, but of course you can dial it to a lower crossover frequency to maximize the effect you want.  The real bassheads would add this to subwoofers in your case. 

The bass should open up somewhat as they fully break-in (extended range drivers can take 100's of hours of use).  Are your speakers ported (at the bottom I suppose)?  In that case they're functioning as transmission lines more than simple ported designs.

The speakers you were asking about used Audio Nirvana 3 inch drivers in stand-mount home made ported cabinets.

[restrav]

yes the bottom of each speaker is the opening. Mr. Bogdan himself told me in email that they have around a 100 hours on them.

[maty]

[Review] Yamaha NX-N500 active loudspeaker

-> http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/yamaha2/1.html

[restrav]

Yup. an email correspondence with him a month ago prompted me to buy it. Obviously i dont agree with his conclusion. It is very strange because I thought it was mainly lacking in mid range and he as a man who own Big Harbeths didnt feel like that. Bass as I also said was adequate and even prodigious for the size.

His last paragraph that he would be happy with these as his main music listening device is just surreal as I though it sounds decidedly low fi, dull, lacking texture and timbre. especially since with just 200 dollars more I bought speakers that excel at all these things. I Dont know man. I had them running for maybe 40 hours, so maybe with more burn in, a miracle happens.

[JLM]

[Review] Yamaha NX-N500 active loudspeaker

-> http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews2/yamaha2/1.html

Very promising for the right customer.  Thanks for the link.