What advice you wish you could have given to your younger self or someone new to this hobby?

[DSJR]

I owned Linn Nexus with the kustone stand. Shit speakers. Who do you work for? They all suck.

The Nexus was an unmitigated disaster of a speaker, with a hideously ott crossover I remember for a simple two-way. The cheaper Helix with Kustone stands was very much better I remember and far more natural on music and speech but again, I suspect a measurement disaster.

I did own late-issue Keilidh's and learned a valuable lesson with these. One needed to sit 2 - 3m away to stop the D'Appolito MTM tweeters firing into ones knees with deep cancellations above and even more important, the mids all but disappeared in passive mode, but in full blown 'aktiv' use with in this case two or better, three LK140s with the aktiv cards inside, they were very good indeed, the mids miraculously returning and bass quite clean and not dominating...

Apologies for the digression again.

One thing I'd have got myself to seriously consider back then, would have been to keep the Spendor BC1's I had, maybe updating them to SP1s for the more modern appearance and better bass these latter had, not going the LP12/Ittok route (I was offered a MINT TD124/SME fixed head tonearm, set in a neat plinth for FIFTY QUID in the late 70s, buying a Quad 44/405 instead of the Naim and actually later on, either a Quad 66/606 (lovely set those are but early preamps need dry joints and so on looking at I think) or, and trusting to specs and past experiences, a Crown PSL2 with a D-150Amk2 or good working DC300A. The PSL2 at trade wasn't silly expensive and a 300A in good running order a perfectly competent power amp and no longer the 'animal' of an amp ite was half a century ago. I was still 'in the tribe' then and couldn't at the time tear myself away...

 

[Multicore]

This from a thread here.

did you forget a link?

 

[DSJR]

did you forget a link?

You *really* want one, really?

Okay, you win -

Revel M106 vs. stock Linn Katan

I'll lead off by stating that I performed this comparison over a month ago, so some things aren't fresh but I'm going to try to give my overall impression of the two compared head to head level match and double blind. My setup to compare these two speakers was performed in my living room with...

www.audiosciencereview.com

Pic came from post #7 with references all over that thread...

 

[tmtomh]

The Katan, like many of their speakers old and newer - even those with the 'array' of mid and tweeter domes it seems, has a deep suckout where our ears are most sensitive. Not unpleasant, but it does give a very 'dry and laid back' kind of tone, the tweeter thankfully not set so high as to tinkle too much. This from a thread here. The Rega Aya model, also has this suckout, but not the lift in the upper hundreds region and without the tweeter being set so high.

View attachment 389638

A suck out in that region (give or take) can hide, avoid, or reduce unpleasantness in many recordings, speaker designs, room setups, and so on. It’s the classic “BBC dip.”

I also think it’s one of the most powerful and persistent examples of the “circle of confusion” because multiple generations of audiophiles and reviewers (and to a lesser extent some recording and mastering engineers) have spent a lot of time listening to music with speakers that err on the side of attenuation in that frequency range. Even the B&W “showroom sound” treble bump is usually above the BBC dip range (or at least doesn’t kick in until the very top of that range).

So in addition to the fact that 1dB or even perhaps 0.5dB can make a big perceptual difference in that frequency range, I also think that a lot of us have been somewhat trained by habit and experience to perceive flat/neutral response there as slightly “aggressive,” “forward,” “clinical,” “inorganic” or fatiguing.

Floyd Toole has written or said something to the effect that of all the preferred nonlinearities in in-room sound, excess bass is the most understandable and forgivable. I think a good number of audiophiles consider the BBC dip similarly.

To be clear, I don’t personally seek that dip - but I have experienced it, and it does make some recordings sound “smoother” and some vocals, brass, and electric guitar less “biting.” When applied to a whole music collection, though, I always find myself feeling bored and understimulated after 10-15 minutes.

 

[Sillysilly]

Is 90’s era Naim that bad, nearly got a Nait the other day out of curiosity…

 

[DSJR]

A suck out in that region (give or take) can hide, avoid, or reduce unpleasantness in many recordings, speaker designs, room setups, and so on. It’s the classic “BBC dip.”

I also think it’s one of the most powerful and persistent examples of the “circle of confusion” because multiple generations of audiophiles and reviewers (and to a lesser extent some recording and mastering engineers) have spent a lot of time listening to music with speakers that err on the side of attenuation in that frequency range. Even the B&W “showroom sound” treble bump is usually above the BBC dip range (or at least doesn’t kick in until the very top of that range).

So in addition to the fact that 1dB or even perhaps 0.5dB can make a big perceptual difference in that frequency range, I also think that a lot of us have been somewhat trained by habit and experience to perceive flat/neutral response there as slightly “aggressive,” “forward,” “clinical,” “inorganic” or fatiguing.

Floyd Toole has written or said something to the effect that of all the preferred nonlinearities in in-room sound, excess bass is the most understandable and forgivable. I think a good number of audiophiles consider the BBC dip similarly.

To be clear, I don’t personally seek that dip - but I have experienced it, and it does make some recordings sound “smoother” and some vocals, brass, and electric guitar less “biting.” When applied to a whole music collection, though, I always find myself feeling bored and understimulated after 10-15 minutes.

Spendor BC1's never had that dip, which seemed to come into BBC designs later (the BC1 has an interesting history and the BBC bought several hundred pairs during its life as a general 'continuity' speaker, the little purchased (apparently) LS3/6 the 'official' version.

Apparently, the response dip in the 5/8, 5/9 (and 5/9 descendant Harbeth M30 at least) was at the request of engineers working with them I believe. All ancient history and the BBC now use other things.

 

[DSJR]

Is 90’s era Naim that bad, nearly got a Nait the other day out of curiosity…

I believe the first sign of major positive change came with the changed cosmetic around 2000 or so. The Nait 1 was a dinky charming novelty amp which soft-clips its way through life. The mk2 was a little more 'assertive' but to me lacked the charm of its predecessor (many will challenge that feeling). The Nait 3 was absolutely gutless and in separated form, the 92/90 needed the Flatcap preamp supply which did help it. The Nait 5 was a better amp until it clipped - HARD. I kind-of lost touch after that except to note they incorporated an output inductor in later 5 models. The hard-clipping remained though, at least until fairly recently and they're so darned expensive now for what's on offer, it's off my radar altogether really. Latest production is nothing like the stuff made until 2000 or so.

The above is just my subjective experience with some tech backup too from old reviews. Old stuff can drift off and the sound is terrible until certain knackered caps are replaced and offsets and so on re-adjusted. The fact they need servicing every few years has become something for the faithful to almost boast about in certain forums. Back in the 80s, we had absolutely no idea at all and ignored warnings from those that claimed to know...

 

[Multicore]

Of the two TTs introduced in 1972, the SL-1200 and the LP12, both of which were very influential, and both of which had loyal fans, I was on the wrong side because I grew up in Glasgow. I never owned either but I started using SL-1200s when I began radio deejaying in the late 90s.

Audiophiles appreciate fussy TTs. My advice to my younger self is to avoid that. Good DJ TTs are well engineered and wonderful to use.

I make an exception for automatic TTs and I have a special love for the semi-automatics that lift the arm and stop the motor at the end of the disk.

Oh well, too late now.

 

[master_arthur]

I'd suggest a person who is is "serious about audio" spends what they can afford in pursuit of their hobby. Whether that is £20000 or £200 .

Of course we can't expect someone who makes 20k a year to spend it all on speakers.

I would say minimum 1% of your pre-tax yearly income for speakers is a good rule to follow.

 

[10dB Down]

Remember all those 8 tracks you had to replace with cassettes?
Remember all that vinyl you had to replace with cd's?
Remember all the upgrades you've made to your sound system? First for quadrophonic then for Dolby then for... and now you just listen to pandora.
( talking to my self way to much) a never ending linear circle.

 

[JohnnyAudio]

I should have stuck with the ghetto blaster.

 

[Cogito]

I'm happy to know that you like the Magnepans -- but please, tell me you have a subwoofer!

While using them, I didn't feel a need for a sub with music, but did use a sub when playing movies. I did trade them in because I got tired of having to do the speaker shuffle every time I used them. If I had a bigger listening space, I would have kept them. I LOVE the Maggy sound, but they aren't the easiest speakers to live with.

 

[Steven Holt]

I LOVE the Maggy sound, but they aren't the easiest speakers to live with.

Thanks for the reply, and yes, I've heard that over and over.

 

[JeffS7444]

The Nait 1 was a dinky charming novelty amp which soft-clips its way through life.

"Charming" is a good description, and I regret selling mine, but not $400+ worth of regret.