[lazydays]

well as I'm writing this ( 12:42am) my new amps have been buzzing along for about six hours right in front of my new speakers. System is not setup right at this time, but Klaus and I tweeked on it for about an hour and a half with speaker placement. Already see an upgrade in the works, and more on that at a later date.
    The sound is already wonderfull! Piano is very crisp and open like never before, and it was very good before. Did a couple LP's just to see what was in the speakers. Nothing special, but something we'd been playing right before Klaus dropped by. I almost instantly heard the difference in the male vocals. Bass is very tight, and do expect it to open up quite a bit in the next hundred hours. This system is evolving into a killer with only six hours on it. The next test will be some acoustic bass and a couple sides of John Coletrain tomorrow afternoon.
     One thing about this new setup that I instantly caught was the difference between an acoustic piano and an electric one, and an electronic keyboard ontop of that. I could easilly tell the difference between the first two (we're talking expensive electronic pianos verses acoustic ones right now). I never really could in the past unless I knew it before or afterwards. These speakers are very detailed in their presence.
     Lastly was the fit and finish. WOW! That's what everyone says thats seen them in person. The wood is a dark satin finished walnut. Very figured in a vertical pattern. I'm almost afraid to touch them!
     Was told last night that there just isn't anything else to upgrade on the amps, and I think we're there right now. About the only thing lacking is a leggy redhead to bring me another beer!
gary

[Haoleb]

Sounds like your a lucky guy! 

Its probably not everyday that you get to have the guy who not only owns the company but also builds and designs your equipment come over and personally help setup your system. But of course there is only one thing missing. pics!

[MaxCast]

Forgive me for not knowing...but what is the new system?

[BobC]

Yes, please do tell.     And pics please!

[lazydays]

Forgive me for not knowing...but what is the new system?

Well I had the amps redone again to what Klaus calls "the glass cieling." Sorta like Mono SE hotrods I guess. They've got the new boards in them with somekinda special wiring. Klaus said it will take well over 400 hours on these to break in, but honestly they already sound better than my old Mono SE's in some ways. With about 30 hours on them I can see some areas for improvment, and some areas just sorta fell in place after about six hours (figure?). They of course have enough power to arc weld, or give me an ear ache. Keyboards are excellent already, and very detailed & open. But not quite what we had two months ago (still close). Bass is a killer in everyway but one. Sax is still developing (this will tie in with the bass later). I have not tried Frank Glover's "Politico" on it yet, and this is probably a clairnet masterpiece in everyway. I thought the upright bass was about as good as it could get with the old combo (so did several others), but now there is more detail in the neck with about the samething around the bridge. Bass is very intense, and take some getting used to. The onething I can't get a handle on is the upper bass. It's not really all that intense (maybe a dip that would go all the way into the extreme lower midrange). Not really noticeable with an acoustic upright, but stands out with one of those stupid electric basses (kinda fuzzey). I now kinda wonder what a stick will sound like, and know just the source! But like I said there's only about 30 hours on them, and it took well over 400 hours last time.
    And with the above in mind here's what I've heard (some for the first time by the way).
* Gonzalo Rubacalba's "Live At Mt. Fuji" is a killer live performance that's often overlooked. Keyboards were right there, but maybe need to move slightly forward yet. Drums seemed a little distant (not much), and off to the right. Bass was right there! Electric bass was ever so slightly fuzzey, yet still good. Acoustic bass was a killer in a big way.

* Janice Ian's "Breaking Silence" Vocals were beautifull!! Bass was near perfect (drums). The acoustic guitar was pretty. This is an older recording, but still a very good one.

* Joni Mitchell's "Mingus" Once again very detailed vocals. Nice strings that are very natural sounding.

                         *************************************
Speakers! What more can I say! We now have more bass than we can use. Kick drum is so real that I kept looking over to the right to watch the right foot of the drummer. It's almost distracting!! The speakers right now are very, very tight, and it's noticeable. Music is extremely detailed already. They do some of the best vocals I've ever heard. I find myself hearing things I never knew were there. On the last cut of Rubacalba's CD I heard an ambalance going by in the distance!!! I actually hit the pause button to see where it was going!! Imaging is a little tight right now, but already starting to move. Trios seem tobe best right now. But tomorrow a real test is looming as I'm gonna play Miles Davis' Live At The Blackhawk on LP. This quintet is well known to use the entire stage in a performance. I don't think the combo is really ready for the tenor sax yet, but did listen to a little of Wayne Shorter's newest CD awhile ago. It's better than yesterday. I'll post tomorrow on the latest changes.
    What do the look like? All I'm gonna say is wood to die for. There are no grills to get messed up. Once again I'll try to make a post of what they look like. The wood is a satin finished dark walnut that has a darker band running vertically down the sides. When you see the pics you will notice a small dot about midway down. That's actually a bullet hole from about 1862, and on close inspection you can see where the rings grew around it. I don't have the feet on them yet as Klaus forgot them, but should have them very soon (I'm holding his tonearm cable ransome <g>). I suspect this will help the imaging a bit..............Gary

[jdodmead]

Being as Gary didn't come right out and say it, it looks like he just got the Lorelei's with the bullet hole veneer.   

[loki1957]

My amps are goin in on Monday for the "glass ceiling" up grade as well.

[zzzone1]

I gotta ask....what's the "glass ceiling"?   

[lazydays]

I gotta ask....what's the "glass ceiling"?   

well from what I can gather they have the new double circut boards, and some new kind of wire that's supposed to be about as good as you can get. It still uses the 360K caps, and maybe a slightly different power supply (my power supply on my old amps was upgraded from a regular Mono SE (how?) There is a noticable difference in sound with the new ones over the older ones. These maybe the best S.S. amps I've ever heard, and they're about 350 hours from being broken in. I wouldn't say they have a solid state sound, but also not a tube like sound either.
    I almost wish I'd been able to try the monos with my Meadowlarks just to see whatkind a difference these amps make. I'm sure it would be significant. The samething with the new speakers. But the amp I was using had the right bank failing fast (tubes and biasing resistors are shot). Anyway I'm happy with what I've got, and guess that's all that counts in the end. It's not the end of the line here though as I have a couple projects looming in the horizon. One is another new phono section (don't ask yet), and maybe a little change in the Candella to add another input. Nothing major here.
gary

[Haoleb]

When you say double circuit boards do you mean that they have two identical layers of traces or two actual populated circuit boards. 

[lazydays]

When you say double circuit boards do you mean that they have two identical layers of traces or two actual populated circuit boards. 

I think it means that they are double thickness. Some people think they sound better.
gary

[jdodmead]

Gary,
I realize they aren't broken in yet, but how do the Lorelei's compare to the Meadowlark's?  Which model were they? Can you post some pic's of your new set-up?
regards
jeff

[lazydays]

Gary,
I realize they aren't broken in yet, but how do the Lorelei's compare to the Meadowlark's?  Which model were they? Can you post some pic's of your new set-up?
regards
jeff

The Lorelies came out of the box much more powerfull than the Meadowlarks. Still very tight with about 100 hours on them. They're getting smoother by the day, but still can be a little boomy if you let them. Already the sound is big comming out of them with plenty of bass. The tenor sax is still a little light, and in some areas a touch fuzzey. I'd guess the very first thing you notice is the huge presence they present (for me it takes some getting used to). Right now I'm learning to listen to them in a near field position; which as you know is quite different.
Everyone that's heard them comments of the sound quality. Even my middle son noticed the difference in the sound quality yesterday.
     The one thing I think these speakers should be labled as right off the bat is a very analog friendly speaker. My turntable has never sounded so good! Vocals that rival anything out there.
(Ella will make your hair stand up). These speakers would also be a killer in a tubed system. My Jolida CD player just developed a new life in front of them! As I write this they are really just starting to develope a good sound stage that is very detailed.
      The amps by the way are really starting to come on their own. Very smooth, but also very fast. Most of the harshness has dissappeared by now, and it's just about became a fine tuning affair on their part. Listened to a Miles Davis LP with a big band behind him, and was stunned at all the details I never knew were there. And as I said before female vocals are just to die for.
gary

[Jim N.]

A cheap way to lessen the Loreli "room boom": get a roll of rubber mat / flooring and cut out two pieces 4" x 6". Use poster tack to stick the flaps over the bass ports kind of like a "pet door". Don't seal the port, just kind of drape it over the port, perhaps 3 small dots of poster tack along the top of the port. The rubber flooring mat I used can be found at Staples and such and is cheap. Instead of a solid sheet it's more like beads of rubber joined together.

[lazydays]

A cheap way to lessen the Loreli "room boom": get a roll of rubber mat / flooring and cut out two pieces 4" x 6". Use poster tack to stick the flaps over the bass ports kind of like a "pet door". Don't seal the port, just kind of drape it over the port, perhaps 3 small dots of poster tack along the top of the port. The rubber flooring mat I used can be found at Staples and such and is cheap. Instead of a solid sheet it's more like beads of rubber joined together.

I've done a similar thing in the past with a ring of foam rubber inserted in the port to reduce the venturie area about 25% in the past. I may just move them back a couple feet closer to the wall, which will give a similar effect.
gary

[loki1957]

My amps are goin in on Monday for the "glass ceiling" up grade as well.

Hey bubs,
Just got my Odysseys or is that Odyssi back. They will need many hours of break in(400 or so says Klaus, seems rather ridiculous but he should know). I was very apprehensive about spending the money but WoW. These are not the same amps at all. Then biggest thing that always bothers me about SS amps is the treble. I always hear too much treble or should I say etch or high end energy. These were no different. In fact I did think about selling them.The amps now are smooooth. Klaus tells me I haven't heard anything yet. I don't notice any better staging or all that other bull we like to go on about. I must say I'm very pleased and impressed.  That's all for now, gotta go listen more. Yee ha.

[lazydays]

When you say double circuit boards do you mean that they have two identical layers of traces or two actual populated circuit boards. 

I should have said "double thickness" circut boards. Probably a better answer would be from Klaus himself.
    I've now got about two hundred hours on the amps and speakers, and there's a steady improvment taking place. How much is hard to say as I've made some improvements in my analog side, and my sacd player went belly up (as expected).
gary

[Lkdog]

I also have the new double sided circuitboard Mono Extreme SE's with all upgrades.

They are very special amps in every way. A great combination which successfully balances huge power with great finesse as well as delivering extreme detail with great smoothness.
Highly recommend.

[lazydays]

My amps are goin in on Monday for the "glass ceiling" up grade as well.

Hey bubs,
Just got my Odysseys or is that Odyssi back. They will need many hours of break in(400 or so says Klaus, seems rather ridiculous but he should know). I was very apprehensive about spending the money but WoW. These are not the same amps at all. Then biggest thing that always bothers me about SS amps is the treble. I always hear too much treble or should I say etch or high end energy. These were no different. In fact I did think about selling them.The amps now are smooooth. Klaus tells me I haven't heard anything yet. I don't notice any better staging or all that other bull we like to go on about. I must say I'm very pleased and impressed.  That's all for now, gotta go listen more. Yee ha.

My two amps were sounding better than the old ones within a week (if not less). The first thing I noticed was the bass controll they have. No rumbling or a dull thud. Just tight but very linear. I personally have only had three solid state amps I could tolerate (Accuphase and Odyssey). The ones I have to listen to in the stores make me sick, and almost sound like they're hooked to a reverb.
gary

[loki1957]

Ya, there are only 3 SS amps other than these that I have lusted over. At the CES one year I heard a pair of Electrocompaniet Nemos that have stayed in my memory for years. But they cost too much. The other 2 that I've never had the opportunity to hear but have read much good about are the Kraft 400s and YBA Passion. Both of which are too expensive.
The way the Mono Extreams sound now after the upgrade I won't be thinking about amps for a very long time if ever.
I love them now and Klaus says they will only get much better. I couldn't be happier.