[zybar]

After not seeing Robin for over 4 years, I have now had the pleasure of seeing him twice in the last week!

Last week I saw him at Patrick's GTG and this past Wednesday he drove back to the Boston area and paid me a visit.

We started out by listening to the Emerald Physic CS2's speakers in the main listening room.

The CS2's were powered by the latest Spectron Musician III SE Mk II (on the woofers) and Atma-Sphere MA-1's (on the tweeters) amps.  The source was a Modwright Transporter with NOS tubes and my highly modified Behringer DCX was used as well.  Power conditioning and voltage regulation was handled by a Running  Springs Haley and Furman SPR-20i.  Power cords were all by Black Sand (2 Statement Ones on the MA-1's and Silver Ref Mk V's everywhere else).  IC's were balanced Belden 1800F from Bluejeanscable.com and speaker cables were Gregg Straley's.

Here is a quick picture of the setup:





I'll let Robin say what he thought of the sound, but I think it was outstanding and this combination of gear really allowed the CS2's to strut their stuff!! 


Next up in the main room, we moved the CS2's off to the side and brought in the Omega Revolutions.  With the Revolutions, there was only the need for two channels of amplification, so we used the Atma-Sphere MA-1's and removed the Behringer DCX from the playback chain; having the Modwright Transporter connect directly to the amps.  Everything else remained the same.

I personally like the Revolutions way out into the room to allow for a very deep sound stage and more of mid-venue sound.  When I fired up the music, I could see from Robin's body language that he wasn't enjoying the music nearly as much as when he was listening to the CS2's.  I agreed that it didn't sound as good as it normally does, but figured some of that had to do with them not being played for the last 3-4 months.  Also, I initially didn't include the pair of Deep Hemp subs that I like to use to augment the bass.  While you don't have to have the subs with the Revolutions, I think they really are needed in this particular setup because I had the speakers a good 9' out into the room.  This meant the bass was rolling off around 60Hz and wasn't getting any reinforcement.

Once the subs were added into the mix and the drivers loosened up, I was quite happy with what I was hearing and so was Robin.  Robin liked listening to this setup in a nearfield manner and I agree that this approach provided a very holographic, yet detailed presentation.  You felt like you could just reach out and touch the performers.   

Here is a picture of the setup:




In between all of the fun in the music room, we went down into the home theater.  While down there, we watched the Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds Live at Radio City Blu-ray.  Since we had been listening to some of the tracks in the music system, it was interesting comparing and contrasting hi-rez multi-channel to a high end 2 channel system.  While I still like my 2 channel system more, the HT rig (especially with the newer hi-rez material) is really engaging and fun to listen to.

I also want to thank Robin for bringing some excellent music!     I loved being exposed to some new artists that I had never heard before (Larry Carlton, Janiva Magness, Rachel Yamagata, Sushela Raman, and Ann Hampton Calloway are just a few).  This was an eclectic mix that I really enjoyed and will definitely be adding to the collection.

All in all, it was a really great time and the only negative was that we ran out of time and couldn't put the Vandersteen 5A's into the main system for a listen.  I promised Robin that the next time he comes down we will do that. 


George

[arthurs]

Sounds like a great day and some good sessions for Geo and Robin, congrats!

[satfrat]

I'm holding you to that last sentence George. Yes I was disappointed that George didn't want to go thru all the hassle of setting up the Vandy's but after listening to Richard Vandersteen explain what's necessary to properly set them up, couldn't really blame George, plus there wouldn't have been any quality time to really listen to them anyways.

I really really want to thank George for having me down for an awesome afternoon of music, a day before Thanksgiving at that! Guess you could say I had my dessert before the turkey. George's system is the finest setup I've been privy to listen to. The Emerald's are an excellent loudspeaker but considering they were being fed by a Modright modded Transport that was digitally equalized(is that the right word?) by a Mike Galusha modified Behringer DCX and the whole system had power conditioning in the form of a Furman voltage regulator that fed into a Running Springs Haley, I'm not surprised that the music was so crystal clear with very strong dynamics. I could have listened to this setup all day while watching that voltage fluctuate from 115 to 112volts. Makes me wonder how my voltage is fluctuating.

Anyways after listening to 3 tracks of Dave Matthews on the Emeralds, George took me downstairs to hear his "project in the making" home theater system. Well that's where my preferences kicked in as I'm a multichannel fan first and foremost. As much as I did enjoy the crystal clear voice Matthews on the Emeralds with all the little microdynamics that they have, I did really like the surround sound stage of George's BluRay fed home theater with the 3 Salk Songtowers up front. I do see why George is looking for a second set of Songtowers for the rear channels (I heard them Swans back in NY 4 years ago) but I would suggest he keep them for movies. Those dipole? Swans sure put out a nice rear sound stage that's what you want for movie soundtracks. But for music, another set of Songtowers would give them Emeralds a run for their money, if you are a multichannel fan like me. That's why I cherish my 4 Odyssey Lorelei's so much in my system.

Well back upstairs again, we switch over to the Omegas, first w/o the Hemp subs so I could hear them w/o any bass. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. They reminded me of an old mono speaker in a 60's car and I was sooo looking forward to hearing them too. Well things got much better when George added the dual Hemp subs, adding some bass took some of the edge off the top end but I still suggested to George that we could start setting up the Vandy's anytime he wanted to. Now I'll say luckily for me George hesitated with the Vandys cuz after about 1/2hour of playing, them Omegas started developing some dynamics. Slow at first but in an hours time I went from sitting back in the chair to sitting on the edge of the chair so i could get closer to that dynamic sound stage with dead center solid imaging. That sound stage got so appealing that as the picture shows, I found myself on the floor only to get closer to that sound stage. This was my first nearfield experience that really lelt me humbled that I could be so close to a set of loudspeakers and still be witnessing imaging that seems to be coming from the Atma-Sphere amps themselves. George played a gospel song with a woman with a couple backup men and it was surreal listening to this woman in front of me being surrounded by her backup to each side of her,,, all coming from speakers that were 3 feet in front of me. Well as disappointed as I was from 1st listen of the Omegas, I left George's just as humbled. It was a 180 degree tunaround if I've ever heard one.

I hate to admit it but I have never come home from listening to someone else's system and not be glad to listen to my own,,,, til George's that is. It took me well over an hour to acclimate myself to my own system's strengths before I could honestly say I enjoyed what I was hearing once again. Keeping in mind that I am not a 2 channel fan, that I like my music in multichannel and that adds gravity to how hard it is for me to admit this. Well not really all that hard as I'm a realist and freely recognise the fact that I'm relatively new to the high end world of 2 channel systems. I just want to thank George once again for the education.

Cheers,
Robin

[jimdgoulding]

I have fantasies about those Emerald’s.  Light and stiff cones.  Looks like a lot of mass but doesn’t sound like any at all.  Quick as lightning with no overhang or resonant enclosures to deal with.  Source-less music of lifelike size.  Robert Greene reviews them in the December issue of TAS (I’m hoping RG has Duke’s speakers on his list of things to do, too).  Some of the most stunningly real recorded music I have ever witnessed was using dipoles off the long wall of a largish rectangular room.  Like I could reach out and couple the back of the singer’s head in my hand (Cantate Domingo on Proprius).  And Zybar is feeding them with some uptown amplification, too.  Geez, Robin, it’s no wonder you had to make a re-adjustment.  Sounds like a quality problem.  Your description of the Omega's is huge, too, and they are so affordable.  ZLS uses those, I believe.  Good review, bro.    

[arthurs]

What was the gospel song?

[zybar]

What was the gospel song?

Not sure I would call it a "gospel song", but it is a great track!

It was "Way Down" by Tori Amos off of the Boys For Pele cd.

Another track that Robin liked that was similar in style was "Mother Pray" by Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama off of the There Will Be Light cd.


George

[Philistine]

When I look at the back of Robin's head:



It reminds me of these:



Maybe you might want to recruit him as a permanent acoustic treatment - have him cryoed as well then you won't need to feed him

I'll let you get serious again with the thread - but couldn't resist this, it's in my genes.

[satfrat]

Maybe that's why the sound stage got so much better as I got closer to them Omegas. And maybe the fact that I walk my Aussie 4-5miles daily thru the winter w/o a hat lends credence to the cryoing theory. I really need to try this Synergistic Research Acoustic System now as it should adapt with my own so totally well.

Cheers,
Robin

[jimdgoulding]

Robin-  Like to suggest that one of the reasons, maybe the reason, that the stage became more inviting as you moved closer with the Omegas (and they were well out into the room) is because you were sitting at more of an equidistant triangle than an equilateral one.  Most people listen at an equilateral triangle and I believe you do, too, at home.  Most people find that the latter is more desirable for image saturation but in my experience images hold up very well and the stage expands outwards, seemingly, more inclusive of you.  This might be less of having musicians in your room and more of you are in their room!  I imagine this is largely recording dependant, too.  That's been my sense of it, anyway.  I don't think it is unique to the Omegas other than that they are a single driver speaker so there is less mucking about of waveforms.

I believe I've read that some listeners using Emerald's aim their speakers so the beams cross in front of their head.  Did did George have anything to say about that?

[zybar]

Robin-  Like to suggest that one of the reasons, maybe the reason, that the stage became more inviting as you moved closer with the Omegas (and they were well out into the room) is because you were sitting at more of an equidistant triangle than an equilateral one.  Most people listen at an equilateral triangle and I believe you do, too, at home.  Most people find that the latter is more desirable for image saturation but in my experience images hold up very well and the stage expands outwards, seemingly, more inclusive of you.  This might be less of having musicians in your room and more of you are in their room!  I imagine this is largely recording dependant, too.  That's been my sense of it, anyway.  I don't think it is unique to the Omegas other than that they are a single driver speaker so there is less mucking about of waveforms.

I believe I've read that some listeners using Emerald's aim their speakers so the beams cross in front of their head.  Did did George have anything to say about that?

Jim,

I have the CS2's crossing right in front of me, instead of at me or behind me.  For me, this produces the best results.

George

[carusoracer]

Sounds like fun guys!  I would luv to hear all the gear and enjoys the company.
It sounds like all the "Uptown gear" really makes the gear in front of it sing

[satfrat]

Robin-  Like to suggest that one of the reasons, maybe the reason, that the stage became more inviting as you moved closer with the Omegas (and they were well out into the room) is because you were sitting at more of an equidistant triangle than an equilateral one.  Most people listen at an equilateral triangle and I believe you do, too, at home.  Most people find that the latter is more desirable for image saturation but in my experience images hold up very well and the stage expands outwards, seemingly, more inclusive of you.  This might be less of having musicians in your room and more of you are in their room!  I imagine this is largely recording dependant, too.  That's been my sense of it, anyway.  I don't think it is unique to the Omegas other than that they are a single driver speaker so there is less mucking about of waveforms.

I believe I've read that some listeners using Emerald's aim their speakers so the beams cross in front of their head.  Did did George have anything to say about that?

Jim, I would say that it was might close to being an equilateral triangle from where I was sitting in the chair. Those Omegas had to be a good 7-8 feet apart and from the floor I was 3-4 feet from them. From the chair I could tell that the Omegas strong suit was their imaging, it was rock solid with the toe-in pointed directly on each side of the chair. What drew me closer was the sound stage dynamics. The closer I got, the more intense the sound stage got but w/o losing the imaging whatsoever. When you consider Jim that in the beginning, the last thing I wanted to do was get closer to what I was hearing from them Omegas. So I would compare the transformation of the Omegas that afternoon to that of The Incredible Hulk!

As for the Emeralds, another first for me(like the nearfield experience) was to have such an extreme toe-in. Never had I experienced a toe-in that crossed in front of me and I mentioned it to George how surprised I was that the imaging was still there as was the sound stage. Like I said, it was an education for me that I much appreciated. 

Cheers,
Robin

[Alwayswantmore]

George, nice looking system!

What are you using to hold speaker cables off the floor? I'm kinda in the market for a modest cost product of this type.

Do you have Alnicos in the Omega's ?

Thanks, kent

[stereocilia]

Robin-  Like to suggest that one of the reasons, maybe the reason, that the stage became more inviting as you moved closer with the Omegas (and they were well out into the room) is because you were sitting at more of an equidistant triangle than an equilateral one.  Most people listen at an equilateral triangle and I believe you do, too, at home.  Most people find that the latter is more desirable for image saturation but in my experience images hold up very well and the stage expands outwards, seemingly, more inclusive of you.  This might be less of having musicians in your room and more of you are in their room!  I imagine this is largely recording dependant, too.  That's been my sense of it, anyway.  I don't think it is unique to the Omegas other than that they are a single driver speaker so there is less mucking about of waveforms.

I believe I've read that some listeners using Emerald's aim their speakers so the beams cross in front of their head.  Did did George have anything to say about that?

Just to clarify, is an equidistant triangle a right triangle with the legs of the same length?  So, the distance between the speakers would be the distance from the speaker to the listener times radical two?

Anyway, It sounds like an awesome time, how better to spend a Friday?!   

[zybar]

George, nice looking system!

What are you using to hold speaker cables off the floor? I'm kinda in the market for a modest cost product of this type.

Do you have Alnicos in the Omega's ?

Thanks, kent

Kent,

I am using the Cardas blocks to hold up the speaker cables.

I do indeed have the Alnico drivers.

George

[Alwayswantmore]

Thanks