[lonewolfny42]

thks Ted,how are those puppies sounding ???? Ear candy    Pat

Ya mean compared to my 10am comments this morning??   

You guys are nuts!

OK Ted....its after 4PM EST....so....how do they sound now....  

Just kidding....but I do wonder how long before those LARGE Mundorf caps do take to break in.....500 hours....1,000 hours....just wondering..even a guess..

Have a nice New Years....

                       Chris

[ted_b]

Chris,
Funny you should pose this question.  I just asked Dan Wright (Modwright), former modder, manufacturer of hi-end gear, and now capacitor mfg extraordinaire...and he guessed 500-600 hours easily.  He says" looks sweet!!".

Happy New year to you too. 

BTW, I've moved the speakers a bit, pulled them slightly back towards the front wall (the wall behind them) and woked on symmetrically placing and toe-ing them in within a quarter inch...and last night's rendering of The Cowboy Junkies Trinity Sessions was the best I've ever heard it.  And this is with only tens of hours broken in.  The description is simply this: coherency across the entire frequency spectrum...phase, everything.  It simply sounded like music.....nice

[lonewolfny42]

Thanks Ted....

[ted_b]

A bit OT, but I have some addtl SP Tech Rev comments on this post this morning about tube rolling the Transporter.
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=49229.30

The Revelations now have approx (big as% guess here) 400 hours on them and are breaking in quite nicely, thank you.  The sonics moved from RollerBall aggressive to first row center to first row somewhere (the break in at that point lost some soundstage specificity) to now nicely fifth row center.  The frequency extremes are not in the least bit rolled off, but much less aggressive, and the continuity of the sound (tonally, timbre, timing) is clearly improved.   Realize these comments are nitpicky to a very severe degree.  I'm comparing a speaker set that began in the "great" category and is moving steadily toward "amazing" state-of-the-art for me.  They reveal all, so those of you who like tube rolling, cable swapping and amp modding, these will be your benchmark laboratory instrument.  For those of you who have some digititis upstream, be prepared to tame it where it belongs, likely at the source.   Most importantly, for those of you who like the performance in your room, be prepared to feel like you need to provide enough food and shelter for an entire Orchestra!   

[ted_b]

So Rx8man (Pat) came over today to listen to some speakers, meet some new friends, and share audio stories.  We had a good time.  He brought a couple of goodies to try in my setup.  The first were the Kool Cables Silkworm custom large gauge gold rca Eichmann cables.  VERY nice.  They replaced my demo pair of Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerator active (electrically charged dialectic) XLR cables, which are likely gonna be my reference cables.  The Silkworms were basically an exact replacement at two-thirds the cost at 1.5M.  The dynamic organic no-cable sound continued regardless of the swap.  Very impressive. (Note:  My eventual setup will require 6M lengths, and although the Silkworms are cheaper at short lengths, due to the simplicity of their architecture, they are much more, read prohibitively more, expensive at 6M lengths, due to their gold wiring). 

Next up was the Karsten Memorial setup.....Nuforce 9SE V2's into the Revelations!   We kept the Silkworms in the system, fired up the NuForces and voila......the dynamics were good but not great (huh?), the air around instruments was great but not spectacular (huh?) and the overall live feel was just slightly deadened.  Damn!  It appeared as though the NuForce are just not the equal of the mighty McCormack DNA-500.   Well, there was one other thing to do:  try the NuForces in balanced mode.  We knew already that the RCA Silkworms were excellent, a 1.5M equal of the Tesla's, so why try again?  Cuz some amps just like balanced configurations, that's why.  Steve McCormack says his DNA-500, although fully balanced, is architected to accept RCA and still bring balanced virtues....and I guess he's right.  So, let's see if the NuForce amps react any differently.  So we swapped out the Silkworms and put the XLR Tesla's back in.

Let me digress a moment.  Pat and I exchanged some music today, and one of the new sounds I turned him on to was the great Ambisonic recording of Cowboy Junkies' bluesy 1988 Whites Off Earth Now (2007 Mofi remaster).  He LOVES it and will buy it soon.  The dynamics of this recording, along with the "Marshall Amp" sound (Pat's term) is uncanny.  So, it was this album that we focused on as we did a number of swaps.  OK, so back to the NuForce in balanced mode.  Does it like balanced vs RCA?  HELL yes it does.  All the virtues of listening to the DNA-500 with either SOTA cable set came back in spades.  Pat, go get John to put XLR's on those golden Silkworms and you are all set, my new friend!!!    The Marshall Amps were humming, the air was electric, the blues was smoky and the sounds were rockin. 

The Nuforce/SP Tech synergy is quite something.  And to think that Karsten can take this combo even further with a few tweeks is something I'm gonna have to look after.  No, I'm not selling my DNA-500, but I sure have my eyes opened to the magic of NuForce.

[gongos]

I used a pair of the Nuforce REF 9 V2's w/ my Revelations. The fully tweaked pair of Odyssey Extreme Monoblocks blew them away. In my setup the Nuforce's seriously lacked slam, dynamics and any sort of tonal quality. I'll eventually write a full review of my setup, but...

[lonewolfny42]

Ted....At this stage of the game, would you say your system now sounds the same, worse, or better than what you heard at Steve's during RMAF ? Thanks....





PS.....

19 days down, 11 to go (this LSU bet is killing me)

....looking good. (you kept your word... )

[pbrstreetgang]

Ted, I know its hard to see the forest from the trees sometimes in respect to a team you love- Lord knows I have had a hard time seeing out of Burnt Orange glasses some times but across all the fan sites I frequent very few serious fans thought tOSU had a chance in hades to match LSU. Granted the first quarter raised my brow a bit but remove yourself a bit and honestly did you think tOSU was going to pull a miracle? Not trying to be brash and I bet on games except for Texas and Im trying to just get a feeling for how fans evaluate their team, Ive been pretty good at predicting my own but as a fan I know its hard to step back. Please dont think Im ragging or rubbing it in as I like tOSU much more than LSU.

[satfrat]

Ted, I know its hard to see the forest from the trees sometimes in respect to a team you love- Lord knows I have had a hard time seeing out of Burnt Orange glasses some times but across all the fan sites I frequent very few serious fans thought tOSU had a chance in hades to match LSU. Granted the first quarter raised my brow a bit but remove yourself a bit and honestly did you think tOSU was going to pull a miracle? Not trying to be brash and I bet on games except for Texas and Im trying to just get a feeling for how fans evaluate their team, Ive been pretty good at predicting my own but as a fan I know its hard to step back. Please dont think Im ragging or rubbing it in as I like tOSU much more than LSU.

huh?

[mcullinan]

So Rx8man (Pat) came over today to listen to some speakers, meet some new friends, and share audio stories.  We had a good time.  He brought a couple of goodies to try in my setup.  The first were the Kool Cables Silkworm custom large gauge gold rca Eichmann cables.  VERY nice.  They replaced my demo pair of Synergistic Research Tesla Accelerator active (electrically charged dialectic) XLR cables, which are likely gonna be my reference cables.  The Silkworms were basically an exact replacement at two-thirds the cost at 1.5M.  The dynamic organic no-cable sound continued regardless of the swap.  Very impressive. (Note:  My eventual setup will require 6M lengths, and although the Silkworms are cheaper at short lengths, due to the simplicity of their architecture, they are much more, read prohibitively more, expensive at 6M lengths, due to their gold wiring). 

Next up was the Karsten Memorial setup.....Nuforce 9SE V2's into the Revelations!   We kept the Silkworms in the system, fired up the NuForces and voila......the dynamics were good but not great (huh?), the air around instruments was great but not spectacular (huh?) and the overall live feel was just slightly deadened.  Damn!  It appeared as though the NuForce are just not the equal of the mighty McCormack DNA-500.   Well, there was one other thing to do:  try the NuForces in balanced mode.  We knew already that the RCA Silkworms were excellent, a 1.5M equal of the Tesla's, so why try again?  Cuz some amps just like balanced configurations, that's why.  Steve McCormack says his DNA-500, although fully balanced, is architected to accept RCA and still bring balanced virtues....and I guess he's right.  So, let's see if the NuForce amps react any differently.  So we swapped out the Silkworms and put the XLR Tesla's back in.

Let me digress a moment.  Pat and I exchanged some music today, and one of the new sounds I turned him on to was the great Ambisonic recording of Cowboy Junkies' bluesy 1988 Whites Off Earth Now (2007 Mofi remaster).  He LOVES it and will buy it soon.  The dynamics of this recording, along with the "Marshall Amp" sound (Pat's term) is uncanny.  So, it was this album that we focused on as we did a number of swaps.  OK, so back to the NuForce in balanced mode.  Does it like balanced vs RCA?  HELL yes it does.  All the virtues of listening to the DNA-500 with either SOTA cable set came back in spades.  Pat, go get John to put XLR's on those golden Silkworms and you are all set, my new friend!!!    The Marshall Amps were humming, the air was electric, the blues was smoky and the sounds were rockin. 

The Nuforce/SP Tech synergy is quite something.  And to think that Karsten can take this combo even further with a few tweeks is something I'm gonna have to look after.  No, I'm not selling my DNA-500, but I sure have my eyes opened to the magic of NuForce.

ted,
Did you try the Nuforce 9SE v2 unbalanced but switch the speaker wire at the terminals pos to neg and vice versa. I found in my system that the Nuforce 9SE v2 performed much better. My system is in phase too... go figure.
Mike

[Rx8man]

Hi Ted,

Thanks so much for the audition, your personal time and generous hospitality, I really had a blast.

I am so "smitten" with the SP Techs "tidal wave" of unfettered sound that it's impossible to settle for anything less, period.

I'm glad you and Robert liked the NuForce and "heavy gauge" Silkworms, it's strange carrying everything over in one arm !

A pair of Continuum A.D.s are on my horizon, they should fit my Audio Horizons Preamp and CEC / Bitstream front end like a glove.

I can't get that Cowboy Junkies outta my head Ted ! 

[satfrat]

Let me digress a moment.  Pat and I exchanged some music today, and one of the new sounds I turned him on to was the great Ambisonic recording of Cowboy Junkies' bluesy 1988 Whites Off Earth Now (2007 Mofi remaster).  He LOVES it and will buy it soon.  The dynamics of this recording, along with the "Marshall Amp" sound (Pat's term) is uncanny. 

Very good thread Ted, I'm really enjoying this good read of yours.  I also want to thank you for mentioning this album which had slipped by my radar. Not anymore. 

Cheers,
Robin

[lonewolfny42]

"tidal wave" of unfettered sound....

Thats a good description.....

[Rx8man]

Thanks Lonewolfny42.

I can't get this C.B. Junkie outta my transport, it's just so bad-ass !!

Thanks for the loan CD Ted, it'll tide me over till I order a new one.

[ted_b]

Ted, I know its hard to see the forest from the trees sometimes in respect to a team you love- Lord knows I have had a hard time seeing out of Burnt Orange glasses some times but across all the fan sites I frequent very few serious fans thought tOSU had a chance in hades to match LSU. Granted the first quarter raised my brow a bit but remove yourself a bit and honestly did you think tOSU was going to pull a miracle? Not trying to be brash and I bet on games except for Texas and Im trying to just get a feeling for how fans evaluate their team, Ive been pretty good at predicting my own but as a fan I know its hard to step back. Please dont think Im ragging or rubbing it in as I like tOSU much more than LSU.

??  I'm not a big OSU fan at all, and stated that in my separate thread about the game.  No, I didn't think OSU would be very ready, given 50 days between games.  But I took the bet cuz it was a fun one.  BTW, I love LSU even less (I am an Ohioan after all, but a UD grad), and the avatars are the punishment.  My little signature about the month ticking down is just a little fun-ism.  Let's get back on thread.

[ted_b]

I used a pair of the Nuforce REF 9 V2's w/ my Revelations. The fully tweaked pair of Odyssey Extreme Monoblocks blew them away. In my setup the Nuforce's seriously lacked slam, dynamics and any sort of tonal quality. I'll eventually write a full review of my setup, but...

Wow, "blew them away"!  Really?  That's strong.  I've never heard one good amp blow another away; at this level it's all subtleties to me.  Anyway, in our setup the NuForce certainly didn't lack slam or dynamics, something the McCormack DNA-500 delivers in spades, so I'm used to those qualities and demand them with the Revs.  Weird that they would be absent in yours.  I guess when people say YMMV they really mean it.

[Rx8man]

You mean, I must return it ?? ................................... no way Jose !! 
 
You'll have to come get it from me !! 

NuForce lacked slam, dynamics and tonal quality on the Revs ?? 

BTW Ted, that cheerleader sure is a cutey !

[gongos]

I used a pair of the Nuforce REF 9 V2's w/ my Revelations. The fully tweaked pair of Odyssey Extreme Monoblocks blew them away. In my setup the Nuforce's seriously lacked slam, dynamics and any sort of tonal quality. I'll eventually write a full review of my setup, but...

Wow, "blew them away"!  Really?  That's strong.  I've never heard one good amp blow another away; at this level it's all subtleties to me.  Anyway, in our setup the NuForce certainly didn't lack slam or dynamics, something the McCormack DNA-500 delivers in spades, so I'm used to those qualities and demand them with the Revs.  Weird that they would be absent in yours.  I guess when people say YMMV they really mean it.

The differences were not subtle.

[Double Ugly]

I am so smitten with the SP Techs "tidal wave" of unfettered sound that it is impossible to settle for anything less, period.

Welcome to the "smitten" club, Pat! 

"'Tidal wave' of unfettered sound", eh?  Yep... great description! 

A pair of Continuum A.D.s are on my horizon, they should fit my Audio Horizons Preamp and CEC / Bitstream front end like a glove.

An early congrats on your purchase.  The Continuums are exceptional speakers, offering everything you heard at Ted's sans the T-line bass.

'Course, the Rev's bass is freaky good IMHO, so I have a pair of 'em on order. 

Congrats again, and welcome to the club! 

[Rx8man]

Thanks Doubleman !

In my 20 years of listening to Aerials, Alons, Avalons, Dahlquists, Green Mountains, Vandersteens, Veritys, Von Schweikerts, Wilson Benesch and Wilsons (alphabetical) did I miss one ? (they all did some, maybe most things right)

Trouble was, I always walked away wanting that something else. 

My take is (YMMV) it seems like I get "use to the speakers sound too easy" they become noticeably boring or mechanically speaker sounding.   

The SP Techs help take "that feeling" away.