Manufacturer's systems

Brad · « **on:** 23 Jan 2003, 09:48 pm »

I think it would be interesting if our mfrs/dealers posted some of their systems in our systems areas.

It would help us with ideas of products that are synergistic.

MaxCast · « **Reply #1 on:** 23 Jan 2003, 09:55 pm »

That is a great idea. I would love to see how the mfgs. set up their systems.

JoshK · « **Reply #2 on:** 23 Jan 2003, 10:14 pm »

Seriously, Brad, that is one of the best ideas I have heard in a long time!

I owe you one!

KevinW · « **Reply #3 on:** 23 Jan 2003, 10:46 pm »

I am actually a dealer now, so I'll post my system. The synergy is really quite good with the following:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?action=systems

The ASL Tulip 2A3 amp is a fantastic amp. I have fallen in love with the 2A3 SET sound. Voices and acoustic instruments sound more natural and lifelike, and musical. Imaging and detail are superb. With the Adire HE12 speakers, it sounds like a lot more power than 3.5watts. It also has the option to run as a 10W push-pull monoblock.

The Tulip costs $999 retail, and I am developing some mods with the assistance of Jena Labs that should be a big boost to performance, and fairly inexpensive. More details on that soon.

All my cables are Jena Labs, which are the most detailed and natural sounding cables I have heard. For $330/pair 1m, these cables are excellent value. When I get my website up, I'll explain what is so great about these cables. These cables also come in the a kit version for $165.

Speakers are Adire HE12, with 96dB efficiency and bass down to 40hz. For $349/pair, these speakers are the best value around. Very balanced sound, detailed and not too warm. A great match with the Tulip.

I use the Adire Rava sub to fill in the last octave, especially on electronic and rock music. The HE12's can really rock on 15 watts, but with the 3.5W Tulip, they need a sub. (You can't have it all for these prices

) The Rava has got to be the best value out there for a tight musical sub. $399 complete.

Heh, I have to laugh at myself a little bit. My use of the above marketing adjectives and phrases (e.g. "best value around") is exactly what used to elicit skepticism in myself. But all the research that I did as an avid audio without a lot of money led me towards the absolute best sound for not a lot of money. With an emphasis on the latter, this means ASL budget tube amps, Adire high-efficiency speakers, and Jena Labs cables. The fact that some of these products are kits means even more value for the $.

The name of my company is Solar HiFi, and I will have my website up in full glory very soon. But for now, you can contact me via email should you be interested in any of my products. kevin@solarhifi.com

Kevin Whilden
Solar HiFi

audioengr · « **Reply #4 on:** 23 Jan 2003, 10:53 pm »

Kevin - welcome to a fellow Portlander. We should really get together and compare cables and I would love to hear this 2A3 amp sometime. I still need to meet Jennifer Crock. You can find my business, Empirical Audio at:
http://www.empiricalaudio.com

Send me an Email at:
nugent@empiricalaudio.com

Regarding systems, I just posted my modest one under "Systems".

nathanm · « **Reply #5 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 12:01 am »

Three hundred and thirty dollars for 3 feet of wire; who here thinks that's an "excellent value"!? Not me, I can assure you. I don't even think $165 falls under the term "budget". Sheesh! A single pair of wires is gonna cost me 1/3rd the price of the amp? I don't get it. If it's value for the money you want, build your own cables with non-exotic everyday wire; they still conduct electricity I swear! Maybe I could see it if you only needed ONE cable in your system...

Sorry Kevin, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but when people start talking about value for the money and multi-hundred dollar wires come into play I just don't see the logic.

Sorry to be so cranky.

Rocket · « **Reply #6 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 12:29 am »

hello,

depends on your point of view and how much you can afford to pay for the cables.

unfortunately for me the cables are out of my range it would cost over $600 dollars for me to import them to australia. although things are getting better the au dollars has been hovering near 59 cents to us dollar.

regards

rod

Hantra · « **Reply #7 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 12:56 am »

Nathan:

That post was not only off topic, it was uncalled for as well.

Aside from that, I have heard many cables in that range that I would deem an "excellent value" over other, higher priced alternatives. Also, I wouldn't build the cables that Empirical builds for what he sells them for. Have you seen how time-consuming, and meticulous the construction is? ? ? Not defending Jena b/c I know nothing about them.

You don't have to like every manufacturer, but attacking products in a post that has nothing to do with that is very uncool.

Respectfully,

B

KevinW · « **Reply #8 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 01:05 am »

Quote from: nathanm

Sorry Kevin, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but when people start talking about value for the money and multi-hundred dollar wires come into play I just don't see the logic. Sorry to be so cranky.

Nathan,
no problem, as you are certainly entitled to your opinion, and I don't take offense easily. However cables do make a huge difference in sound quality, provided that the system is revealing enough. I can't make you believe that, but I would suspect that the majority of the people here would agree. What is needed is to make sure that the rest of the system is up to snuff with the cables (or insert any component here) to make it worthwhile. It is my personal opinion that the combo of ASL amps and Adire Audio speakers is good enough to make the addition of a $300 cable a noticeable improvement. Would your ears, or another customers ears notice the same difference given an equivalent quality system? Maybe, maybe not, but that is why my cables at least have a 30 day return policy.

Your point about the large cost of the cables relative to the rest of my recommended system is good. But I would counter that by saying that I think the Adire Audio speakers at $349 (plus labor to build the cabinet) are the equivalent of a $2k commerical speaker, and that I think the ASL amp is the equivalent of a much more expensive amp. That makes the relative cost more reasonble, right? Like I said, I like to sell products that I think are high value for the money. I think the people on this forum can appreciate that.

Also, I suppose I shouldn't try to sell you a pair of Jena Labs Pathfinders, which cost $6,000 per meter?

Kevin Whilden

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #9 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 01:55 am »

O.K. I will be happy to bore you to death with what I have in my system.
Speakers: Rebuilt Fried G3A's
Power Amps: LNPA 150 Monoblocks with Vishay Bulk Metal Foil resistors
Linestage pre amp: LNLSA 1 or SCPA 1. I can't reliably hear the difference between the two.
DAC: LNDAC-1 (Design of mine that I never released due to format war)
Transport: G&D Transforms Reference One
Turntable: rarely used, custom, with Shure V15 Cartridge
Phono pre amp: I use a slightly hot rodded NAD 1240. I play records maybe twice a year.
Cables; All Belden: Exotic Designer cables are not welcome or desired. I have tried them in the past. They give me more "coloration" than my electronics and speakers combined. The ones that don't are over 10 times the price of what I paid for the Belden Cable I use.
Power Conditionig: All the equipment that I have built has an RFI/EMI
Filter in the unit, and are plugged in to a surge suppressor. The ones that I haven't built are plugged into a Tripplite Isobar. I smell some DeZoral bricks coming in the near future. I don't need no stinking Isolation Transformer. Most of the Power Cords are double shielded Belden, the ones that aren't are single shielded. All are 18AWG
Room Treatment: Live end/ Dead end. Acoustic foam from Parts Express
I have at least 400 CD's and about a hundred LP's
Lament: I need a better room, and I want Blue Note records to re release Some Elvin Jones material that I only have on record.
Hope you weren't to bored by all that.
Thought for the day: Where would film scoring be without Classical Music?

Marbles · « **Reply #10 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 02:05 am »

Not bored at all, in fact very interesting, but I think the idea was to put it here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/member_systems.php

to save for posterity.

eico1 · « **Reply #11 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 04:12 am »

Nathan: That post was not only off topic, it was uncalled for as well. "

fight club?:)

steve

Lex · « **Reply #12 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 04:34 am »

I added my primary home theater, will add 2 channel and other systems later on.

Lex

nathanm · « **Reply #13 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 04:53 am »

There are tons of posts that go 'off topic' on many threads all the time. The only time anyone complains is when they read something they don't agree with. Very convenient, isn't it?

Hantra: I am not sure where you're getting your defintion of "attacking" from, but speaking one's mind about ANY product or price, be it negative or positive is the whole point of a public forum. If we are supposed to sit around and accept every single bit of marketing blather that every vendor tells us as gospel we might as well pack it up and leave.

Yes, my comment was "off topic" but nobody forced you to read it did they? In any case, my sincerest apologies go out to anyone emotionally wounded by my post. I shan't post any more vicious 'attacks' towards any manufacturers or their precious cables.

fredgarvin · « **Reply #14 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 05:16 am »

Everyone can have a glass of warm milk and take their ruffled emotions to bed. They will feel much better in the morning.

Remember, no criticism, mean people suck.

Lex · « **Reply #15 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 06:13 am »

I think it was a dealer, not a manufacturer that his comments surrounded, even though the thread did say manufacturer systems. Important distinction? Not for me to decide.

Lex

doug s. · « **Reply #16 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 12:51 pm »

i tink nathan's post was spot-on - he responded directly to comments someone made about a "budget" system, w/expensive cabling. sure, $350 ain't $3k, but, considering the cost of wire, it's still expensive.

this was yust reinforced further, by dan banquer's post explaining other ways of getting quality cabling on the cheap.

doug s.

Dan Banquer · « **Reply #17 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 01:45 pm »

I have a pdf file of an article I did for The Audiophile Voice years ago called "Bulletproofing your System From Interefence" which explains what kind of cables I use and why. Send me your e mail address and I will send the pdf. It should be in the Audioholics.com web site also. If you can handle a wire stripper and a soldering iron, you can make your own interconnects. For speaker cables, all you need is a wire stripper. If you can't do any of the above contact me and I will help you out as best that I can.

Brad · « **Reply #18 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 02:18 pm »

I think we should agree to disagree on this issue.
For some people, $350 on a pair of cables blows the budget out of the water. For others, it's a bargain, given the plethora of $5k+ cables out there.

I made the original post with the intention of finding out what the pros are using to make up their systems, thinking there might be some unknown high value components or special synergies we weren't aware of.

Sounding_Board_Audio · « **Reply #19 on:** 24 Jan 2003, 03:25 pm »

>Remember, no criticism,

While I took out just this fragment, I wonder why no one else has posted about this?

It reminds me of going to an anti-police brutality rally once, only to hear some people (dupes? plants?) chanting, "Release all prisoners." Right.

I didn't sign up for this, but the good news is that Fred Garvin presumably cannot criticize me or my posts, ever. Perhaps his rhetoric just got the best of him, momentarily.

And more on point, arguing that 350.00 speaker cables may not be cost effective is perfectly legitimate, even though I have (crudely) documented that cables and spikes can change measured response. It's difficult to say one way or the other, since 350.00 is not a lot for a bottle of wine for some people - we all have different notions of cost/benefit.