[jonbee]

Just a quick report- I invited the 7 members of my audio group over on Sunday to hear my system now that I'm satisfied the fine tuning is acceptable.
My audio group members have all been in the hobby for many years, and all have very fine systems, some much more expensive and elaborate than mine. Some are low power, some high power, and they all sound great.
My system as it is revolves around Tempestas. After I got them 14 moths ago I've changed everything else in the system, save for the amp. In the case of all the cabling, 2-3 times over. The Tempestas are so resolving they display every change clearly; in most cases that makes the choices between options in the rest of the chain pretty easy.
Here are the pieces:
EVS modded Oppo BDP83 as transport
Zu Ash digital IC
ASRock HT PC as music server running Jriver software
Audioquest Coffee USB cable
Eastern electric minimax plus DAC w/ DEXA discrete op amps- no tube
Zu Event ICs to amp
Cullen modded PS Audio GCC-500 integrated
James EMB-1000 subwoofer
Acoustic Zen Satori shotgun speaker cables
Power chords: Mojo Helix and XPC, Zu Mother and Mission
Power conditioning is a PS Audio Power Plant Premier

Listening went on for 4.5 hours- a good sign. Usually if people leave soon it is because they don't like what they're hearing. A wide variety of music was played, most brought by the guests on CDs or files on drives.
Typical comments were- very wide range, extremely detailed and layered yet warm, very coherent. Most commented, some with astonishment, at the unusual realism and beauty of the upper half of range.
Also receivd several comments on how non-critical and wide the sweet spot is. Even 30 degrees or more off axis they sound balanced- the RAAL is pretty amazing in this regard.
I played some ripped classic cds and many were surprised at how good they sounded (The Doors' "Riders on the Storm" on redbook is a knockout- I'll have to get it in hi-rez format!). Weaknesses in recording quality are displayed, but not accentuated.
One commented that he thought the speakers were an unbeatable value at ~$4k.
All left very impressed, and I must say I concur. And of course the lion's share of the credit goes to Rick, whom I can thank for taking me out of the speaker market, possibly for good, after 44 years.

[jtwrace]

Cool.

Just remember though that it's important to listen for you and you only.  Getting others opinions is fine but it's just that and most importantly you are the one that will live with it.   

Glad you had fun though!  That's what it's all about.

[jonbee]

Just remember though that it's important to listen for you and you only.  Getting others opinions is fine but it's just that and most importantly you are the one that will live with it.   

True. However, in many ways the improvements in my system were influenced by hearing their fine systems and identifying things I wanted mine to do better. This has kicked off much experimenting with changes. This system sharing re-calibrates my ears, and after I listen to their systems mine often sounds very different.
The social possibilities of this hobby are a great joy.

[Val]

I have been following jonbee's Tempesta posts and I'm glad he's happy. That's what our audio hobby is all about, and Rick is one of the great guys who make it possible for us.

jonbee, what is your room's volume, and what would you say is the min/max volume for Tempestas?

Thanks.

[jonbee]

jonbee, what is your room's volume, and what would you say is the min/max volume for Tempestas?

My room is about 20 x 17 x 8. For best sound, I have 28" behind the Tempestas, with about 5.5 ft. from the sidewalls.
This room "looks" larger to the speakers, as 2 walls are glass (high rise condo). Glass is semi-transparent to sound, particularly bass frequencies compared to sheetrock, so the bass doesn't load the room easily. I've nearly always used subs for that reason.
I think in a more "normally constructed" room, the use of a sub with the Tempestas may well not be needed, or even desirable. I did switch the sub off for awhile Sunday, and the group decided they could all live happily with the response of the Ts alone. I like the extra weight, though, particularly for movies, so I keep the sub on. Without a sub I think the Ts could comfortably load a room up to 500 sq ft. with reasonable volume and bass response.
As for a small room, I think something like 160 sq ft might work. You can work with port stuffing to tune the low end output somewhat.
Rick has opinions on this too. I know he likes powered subs, as I do, for the tuning options they offer for the low bass range.