Well. 30 hrs and things are starting to open up. They are starting to sound rather good. Not yet at Quad level, and that treble peak's a bit wild. I'll be sticking stuff on its backside i think. Bass seems definately to go a bit lower than the Quads, which is interesting, as several hi fi pundits in the UK suggest a single high quality sub is sufficient for the quads.
As an aside, just plugged in my modded sonic impact, having just set up one of Nuuk's SMPS's, and I do believe its already better than it was with an SLA battery, more alive and musical, though nowhere near me SET's... hold on, ... my oh my... its amazing what 10 minutes warming up does to an SMPS and a SI. suddenly its faster, tighter in the base, and, dare i say it, musical!!! Perhaps its the easier load allowing the Si room to breath, maybe its the SMPS doing its thing. Still that wondeful SET bounce and swing eludes it, but its certainly closer. Another 70 hrs to the 100 hrs on the B200's and I'm starting to get really into this on all fronts.
Another interesting point here that Richard has alluded to is the "OB sound" which even wings can dampen. I have to say that after my 5 years of quads, this is a very familiar sound, and one that I like richard, love dearly. the experience of voices and instruments hanging in the air in front of me, the speakers doing their dissappearing act, and me closing my eyes, and feeling like I can reach out and touch the musicians, is a concept that I read often in the audiophile world, but I think is not truly experienced until one really locks in electrostatics or, it seems, OB's in a room. Then the magic opens up and the musician's very emotions and souls make themselves known to me.
Like Richard's wife, Debby, I play music, on pianos and guitars, and when noone else is around, I sing. The soul of a piano or a guitar is what I search for and attempt to harmonise with when i play, and being unable to connect with an instruments soul is a depressing experience. This may seem farfetched, but one of the most amazing musical experiences of my life was walking into my siser-in-law's house one xmas morning, and hearing a Chopin piano sonata being played with the soul of Chopin himself. It was sublime, like I've heard perhaps twice live ever. The music died 10 seconds after I walked in, and I entered the lounge to see my partner Debby's brother Bob walking away from the piano. i almost burst into tears.
you see Bob, has a Steinway Grand in his living room, and he is a master of his craft far beyond the many "greats" I have seen in London's Great halls and beyond, but the piano at Debby's sister's house, that Bob was walking away from, is a dog, an excuse for a piano, and one that I play for 2 minutes and leave in disgust and boredom. How bob made it sing like the greatest of pianos I'll never know. to me it was a miracle.
That's why I own my Quads, and am not amazed by Richards eloquence and excitement over this OB project that we seem to be immersed in.
Meanwhile its The The, and Infected, to blow the cobwebs away...
