[Guy 13]

Awesome Guy,

That Red racing stripe really set them off. 

Hi Danny and all Audio Circle members.
Thanks.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Guy 13,

I just got my morning laugh  Great pictures,

Thank's

Greg

Hi gregfisk and all Audio Circle members.
That's good, then:
Have a nice day !

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Methinks he's smelled WAY too much contact cement. 

Hi Hank and all Audio Circle members.
The only thing I like to smell is my wife natural perfume.
By the way, may I mention that I don't smoke or drink, not even beer or wine.
Pretty boring guy.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Awesome Guy,

That Red racing stripe really set them off. 

Hi Danny and all Audio Circle members.
That's like the icing on the cake.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Guy, the rework on your V1 looks great!

I know this was discussed in theory before you took the plunge and did this build, but now that you have them in front of you, how much difference in the sound can you tell between when the red stripe is in place on the speakers (closing the gap between the floating top section and the woofer cabinet) and without it in place?

I really like the modular design.  It should make it much easier for you to transport them during your overseas move as well as allowing you to more easily experiment with your speakers, which is very nice to see you enjoying!

Have a great weekend!

Guy, the rework on your V1 looks great!

I know this was discussed in theory before you took the plunge and did this build, but now that you have them in front of you, how much difference in the sound can you tell between when the red stripe is in place on the speakers (closing the gap between the floating top section and the woofer cabinet) and without it in place?

I really like the modular design.  It should make it much easier for you to transport them during your overseas move as well as allowing you to more easily experiment with your speakers, which is very nice to see you enjoying!

Have a great weekend!

Hi Jonathon and all Audio Circle members.
You can’t see it on the picture, but there is still a small gap between the red stripe and the top section. Therefore, leaving an intentional gap is what I wanted, as I did not want to defeat the purpose of having two separate enclosures.
Believe me or not, the main purpose (75%) of having two separate sections was mainly for transport purpose.
From the beginning, I always wanted to bring them with me to Canada.
The second reason (25%) was for ease of transport.
Those V1 are super heavy.
Thanks for the question and the comments.

Guy 13
 

[Captainhemo]

Hi Captainhemo and all Audio Circle members.
I hope you don't mind me calling you Captainhemo,
I like your nick name.
My wife is very understanding, however, up to now,
she let me put all my speakers (Four pair of them)
all around our house,
but there is a limit to her kindness and understanding.
Asking her to sleep in the living room would give her an excuse
for filing for divorce and that, I don't want, therefore,
I will sleep on the sofa and let her sleep with my speakers.

Sometimes I think I should be a stand-up comic instead of a business man.

Yes, it will be expensive to sea cargo those to Canada, but they are worth
the money and the trouble.

The guys from Thivan Labs will bring a tube amp.
(Don't know yet which model)
and a DAC and their laptop with 1,000+ songs.

I have to clean up the mess left from the re-construction of my V1
and then, I will set up a meeting.
Hopefully should be this week, if they are available, of course.
Don't you worry, I will keep all of you Audio Circle members posted.

Guy 13

Captainhemo is  just fine  Guy,  what ever you want 
Your comments  regarding your speakers and your wife  are  making me laugh again,  maybe you should give that stand up  thing a try one night  ?

Does that company make decent amps ? Have you  ever heard one before ?
Looking forward to hearing your comments after you meet with them

-jay

[Guy 13]

Captainhemo is  just fine  Guy,  what ever you want 
Your comments  regarding your speakers and your wife  are  making me laugh again,  maybe you should give that stand up  thing a try one night  ?

Does that company make decent amps ? Have you  ever heard one before ?
Looking forward to hearing your comments after you meet with them

-jay

Hi Captainhemo and all Audio Circle members.
Stand up comic.
Well, I might give it a try when I am back, maybe in a bar during the last call at 4am when everybody are drunk, then, they might find me funny.
Last week, I went to Thivan Labs showroom, combine as a listening room.
I’ve posted their forum link page; you can see what their showroom look like over there.
They made me listen to one of their amplifier, but stupid me,
I don’t remember what type of amplifier it was.
SE pentode or push-pull?
The speakers are the one you see on their forum page.
I will share with you my impression of the sound of the amplifier they choose and made me listen to on a PM to you later on.
I will invite them to come to my place as soon as they are available, hopefully this week.
They told me that they will bring one of their amplifier (Don’t know yet what model) to drive my V1, but I also want them to try their amplifier on my V2 with U frame configuration, instead of H frame.
More to come…

Guy 13
 

[Guy 13]

Hi all Audio Circle members.
At last, at long, long last, they came (The owners of ThiVan Audio Technology) to my listening room and hear my speakers.
First the GR Research (Slightly modified version) and my U212FR8 U frame with two Eminence Acoustinator driven by a GR Research SA-1 (Unfortunately now discontinued) with a Audio Nirvana 8” full/extended range driver w/o any xover or notch filter.
I have played various type of music from classic, to opera, disco, jazz, vocal, etc…
The music was played at different levels.
My amplifier was the Niteshade Audio NS-10 (10wpc) SE Pentode.
Interconnects where my own brew, ditto for the speaker wires.
The source was Rega Apollo.
They said that the bass with the GR Research servo sub was natural and the mids from the PAudio 12” coaxial was/or should be crossed at 100Hz.
Overall they said the sound was good.
They also have listen to my own brew U frame/full range speakers.
Now, I am sure that Danny and some Audio Circle members will be horrified to read this, but they were impressed with the sound of my contraption.
The reason is:
They like sound of the full range and the simplicity of the U frame enclosure.
There is something about the U frame of mine that I like, if I have to put words to it it’s:
Impressive bass (Less natural than the bass from the servo drivers) and presence for the mids and hi.
This does not tarnish in any way the good sound of Danny’s V1.
The sounds from the two are different, that’s all.
Not everybody have the same perception of high fidelity music reproduction.
It’s not because you prefer something over something else, that it means the one is inferior to the other one.
They are different.
Why say something is bad, when the same thing is good for many other people.
People are different.
If everybody on this planet would have the same taste for things, planet earth would be boring.
Mr. Thi and Mr. Van from Thivan Audio Technology were supposed to bring their own amplifier, but they did not, because they had none in stock, they can’t keep up with the demand.
Other than that, we talk about audio and our mutual experience and preferences.
A very enjoyable afternoon that we will renew as soon as they can catch up with their back log of work.
Guy 13
 

[bdp24]

Guy, is this set-up typical in your part of the world? Mighty close speaker/listener distance!

[Hugh]

Guy,

Glad to see you got a chance to meet Thi.
He's a nice guy and his amp is decent for the price.

[Guy 13]

Guy, is this set-up typical in your part of the world? Mighty close speaker/listener distance!

Hi bdp24 and all Audio Circle members.
This is far from being my ideal set-up.
My listening room was not supposed to be combined with my office,
that's why it's so small and the speakers are so close together.
By the way, Vietnam is temporaly part of my world, but hopefully not for long...
Also, I wanted Mr. Thi and Mr. Van to lesten and compare my two pairs of spakers.
Anyway, we have agreed to get together one more time later and first space appart more widely the speakers and second drive the speakers with their amplifier.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Guy,

Glad to see you got a chance to meet Thi.
He's a nice guy and his amp is decent for the price.

Hi Hugh and all Audio Circle members.
Yes, both Mr. Thi and Mr. Van are really nice guy's,
that's why we will get tohether at least one more time.
I am still waiting for you to come visit me,
you are not far from my place.

Guy 13

[Guy 13]

Hi all Audio Circle members.
At last, at long, long last...
After intense negociations (One phone call, that's all)
I will be picking up tomorrow a ThiVan tube amplifier (Made in Vietnam)
and bring it to my (Wife's) house via my powerful motorcycle (110cc) to mate it  with my GR Research V1 speakers.
Stay tuned as I should post my findings on this circle on Sunday evening (Saigon time which is 12 hiours ahead of New York time.)
Very anxious to hear the results.
I don't know yet what type of amplifier they will loan me. (SET - PP)
I might push my luck to ask for two amplifier, but... Will see.

Guy 13

[Captainhemo]

Hi Guy
hey, that is cool.  Looking forward to reading your   report.  I know you've been wanting to hear your speakers   driven with one of these amps for a while now, have fun

-jay

[Guy 13]

Hi Guy
hey, that is cool.  Looking forward to reading your   report.  I know you've been wanting to hear your speakers   driven with one of these amps for a while now, have fun

-jay

Hi Jay and all Audio Circle members.
This afternoon 2pm I went to ThiVan Lab showroom to pick up a loaner amplifier.
The owner, I still don't know who's who ? Mr. Thi or Mr. Van, anyway one of the two owners was there and he made me listen to two different amplifiers.
One integrate push-pull with EL-34 and the other monobloc with 811A in push-pull.
He used is computer as a source and the speakers where a double 15" OB with
two 5.25"as Ob mid range and a single planar tweeter.
The sound was good, but not as good as I expected.
Maybe it was his source, the music was downloaded from the Internet.
I choose the amplifier with the EL34.
Anyway, after he triple wrapped with Saran Wrap plastic his amplifier,
I've tied it to the back of my powerful Honda 110cc scooter
and went to our showroom to check on my wife.
I did not catch her with her pants down, this time anyway.
Then around 4.30pm I went back home and once there I hand carried the 55 pounds monster amplifier to the fourth floor, no elevator, only stairs.
I made it and I'm still alive...
I had to stop half way to regain my breath.
I finally made it to my listening room or penthouse,
it's the same and left the amplifier to rest a little.
After a quick dinner (Supper) I went back to my listening room
remove my Niteshade amplifier and made all the connections.
Put a CD in my Rega Apollo CD player and the sat down and...
Well I have to take some pictures of the set-up to be able to tell you more.
More soon...

Guy 13
(I know, it's not nice to make all of you wait !)

[Guy 13]

Hi all Audio Circle members.
I hope I did not make you wait too long?
Here are some pictures of my temporaly set-up, because on Monday I have to return the amplifier to his owner, too bad, because I like this amplifier, I even like it more than my Niteshade Audio 10 wpc SE pentode.
The Thivan Lab amplifier is 35wpc push-pull and believe me,
it PUSH and it PULL a lot.









Now my first listening impressions.
More bass, a lot more bass and quality bass.
Up to now, I've only tried my modified V2.
Each side with two 12" Eminence Acoustinator driven by a GR Research SA-1 (300watts) and only one 8" extended range Audio nirvana driver, no notch filter or any other type of filters, it connected directly to the output of the amplifier.
O.K. because of the extended range driver the sound is a little fatiguing, but give so much, so much.... Presence.
Tomorrow I will try the amplifier with my GR Reasearch original V1.
Of course with 35 wpc vs 10 wpc I have lots of dynamics.
So first impression, the monster (In weight) gives good sound.
More tomorrow...

Guy 13

 

[Guy 13]

Hi all Audio Circle members.
It's me again, the pain in the neck.
More infor on the Thivan push pull amplifier.
(More info on facebook under ThiVan labs.)
Model DL-55 Mark II
Use four Svetlana EL-34
Dimension of the monster: 12.25" wide X 8.75" High X 17" deep.
Weight 25 kilos or 55 pounds.
It can use all the following tubes without any modifications:
EL34 - 6CA7 - 6L6 - KT66 and even the KT-88.
I few minutes ago,
I did a little more listening and I find that the mids are less agressive.
More tomorrow.

Guy 13

[Captainhemo]

   Your posts are   great Guy, might be best for you health if you  don't let your wife read them .
Glad you were able to muscle that  amp up the stairs and into your listening room.
I am assuming   by your  post that  it  sounds  better than  what you'd expected after listiening to it a the  owner's shop .. glad you are enjoying it
I  have a week on my new Jolida 302c  and am really  loving the sound of he EL34 's as well

-jay

[Guy 13]

  Your posts are   great Guy, might be best for you health if you  don't let your wife read them .
Glad you were able to muscle that  amp up the stairs and into your listening room.
I am assuming   by your  post that  it  sounds  better than  what you'd expected after listiening to it a the  owner's shop .. glad you are enjoying it
I  have a week on my new Jolida 302c  and am really  loving the sound of he EL34 's as well

-jay

Hi Jay with a capital letter, not jay without a capital letter 
and all Audio Circle members.
This morning I wanted to do more listening of the Thivan PP amplifier,
but guess what ?
Today Sunday, the electric utility company have decided to cut some tree branches that were touching the electrical wires on our street, therefore, they have cut off the power, therefore, no electricity, therefore, no music...
Well until lunch time, anyway.
In the afternoon I resume my evaluation of the ThiVan amplifier, but this time with my GR Research V1 speakers.
You know, the ones with the red stripe.
Here are my finding with simple words.
Words equal to my IQ.
The bass is very natural, normal, with servo drivers.
The mids and highs are also natural,
but lack what the extended range driver do best.
It's lacking the crispy, the sparkle and/or the ambiance.
Now, don't get me wrong. The V1 are very good speakers,
but to me the extended range drivers have a little more that words cannot really define or describe.
Of course the extended range drivers are a little more fatiguing,
but it's the price top pay or to endure to get a little more.
If I conclude, the two sets of speakers have their own different strengths and the ThiVan PP amplifier is a very good amplifier in sound quality and power.
The only negative point, is that it produce lots of heat and in Vietnam,
we don't need more heat, we have already enough.
During all my listening session, the air conditioning was working full blast.
I know that my description of my finding is weak in good words,
therefore, I invite you to ask me question in your own words to make this review
more informative.

Guy 13

   

[Captainhemo]

Hi Guy
Hey,  just out of curiosity,  what  kind of $$  do they want for one o fthose amps  over there ?

-jay