fltrsck@bmcg.UUCP (11/28/84)
C
I am posting this in the hope that someone else will not spend
money on items that will be replaced due to poor audio performance. All
of this is subjective and the differences do not need double blind
testing to detect. If anyone has tried other speaker or preamp cable with
high quality electrostatic speakers, please let me know the results.
So far the people posting articles to net.audio appear to be
striving to endanger the purpose of this net. I would like to see more
informative articles posted concerning persons experience with audio
systems. The few persons putting out good articles are attacked for their
views, rather than being thanked for help given. Please send any flames to
me rather than bothering everyone else on the net.
My system:
Turntable Linn system with Mark Levinson silver wire
Preamp Mark Levinson ML-1
Amp Quad 405 (2)
Speakers Quad ESL (2 pr) in a stacked configuration
Cable Mogomi speaker cable & Mogomi preamp cable
I listen mainly to vocals ~65%, light jazz ~15%, rock ~5%,
classical ~5%, and misc ~10%.
How did I ever decide to purchase the above equipment ? A long
story is involved. To give the best answer, I will start with my first
system.
Turntable PE automatic (since bought out by Dual)
Receiver AR 1500 (Heathkit)
Speakers Sansui 5500 (15" woofer/horn/(2)supertweets)
Tape Roberts 7" reel to reel
The above equipment was purchased by comparing specs.
The system was together for about six months. The Heathkit had
so much hiss that the system was played for short durations (~one hour)
due to listening fatigue. Note: The Heathkit AR 1500 was sold to a
friend who has it to this day; 12 years later. The only problem that
keeps on occurring is the board connectors are not of very good quality
and induce a ground loop (severe hum) from time to time. This is cured
by picking the front of the unit up about two to three inches and dropping.
End of hum, for a while.
I decided to upgrade the system by replacing everything. The old
system was sold and every audio vendor possible was written to for
detailed information. The articles dealing with the current offerings
were read in the popular press ( Audio, Stereo Review, etc. ). The stated
opinion in the popular press was that, within a dollar range, one could not
tell any difference in audio quality. One should purchase on the basis of
features and power handling ( if the specs were the same ). So, I ended up
with the following:
Preamp Crown IC-150
Amp Phase Linear 700
Turntable Thorens TD-125B
Tonearm Rabco SL-8E
Cartridge Shure V-15 III
Tuner Heathkit AJ-1510
Tape Recorder Revox A-77
Speakers Bose 901
Of any single piece of gear, the Heath AJ-1510 taught me to listen to
a component before purchasing. The unit was one of the first with a digital
readout and I assumed (!) that the audio quality was up to par with the rest
of the unit. It decidedly was not. A lot of hiss, squeal, and other assorted
noises came free with the unit.
I liked the Revox and used it record my more often played music. Sound
quality was very accurate and had a very low noise level. Very enjoyable to
listen to and easy to use.
The Bose speakers had to be completely replaced (all 18 drivers) after
a party due to overheating of the voice coils. They do not handle as much
power (200 watts) as Bose would have you believe.
After listening to the grocery store music Bose for a year, I decided
that a more detailed, realistic speaker system was needed and bought a pair
of SAE Mk XIV's. They have an electrostatic high end, two 5" midrange, and a
12" woofer.
At this period in time I decided that I had the ultimate system
and that I could not improve upon it. It was to last for many years.
I had the system together for a more than a year and was satisfied
with it. Noise problems surfaced when using the Revox in the tape monitor
mode. The local dealer was contacted and the unit taken in for repair. No
problems were found with the tape deck ( except for the use of the wrong
cleaner on the capstan which had attacked the roller - had to be replaced ).
The fault was found to be with the Crown preamp. The input/outputs of the
Crown are not buffered properly ( yes, this can happen in analog also ). The
persons at Crown just said, in a few more words, tough. It was a design flaw
and not that many people had a setup similar to mine to point it out. So, I
just didn't use the tape monitor. While I was at the store, the salesmen,
Peter Ewenko and Sid Chatterjee, quizzed me on my other system components.
When I proudly described the rest of the system they winced and suggested
there were other components of better sound quality. My reaction was of the
"sure, sure" type. I obviously had an ultimate system and didn't need to be
persuaded to spend more money for little or no gain.
I listened to their systems and compared the same records with my
system at home. It seemed that the clarity on the store systems was usually
better. When listening to my home system after a visit to the stereo
shop it was quite apparent that some detail and sound quality was missing,
but the more I listened at home, the more I forgot how the store system
sounded.
I felt that I needed a subwoofer more than anything else and built
a Fried ( say freed ) Model S subwoofer. This is a twelve foot transmission
line speaker using KEF B139 speakers. It was reported to be flat to twelve
hertz. It was, externally, 73" wide, 27" high, and 25" deep. The speakers
fired out opposite ends. It worked very, very, nicely. A passive cross-over
was used at a frequency of 80 Hz. A mono subwoofer is planned for the stacked
Quads at some nebulous time in the future; once a good subwoofer is used, it is
missed greatly when gone.
An octave equalizer was then tried on the system and while it
cured some deficiencies, it also caused side effects. Correcting for room
effects was not the purpose of the device, I wanted to correct for recording
levels. I found that when a specific voice, or instrument, was corrected
for, the resulting sound was strange because of the frequency change on the
other sounds in that octive. The unit was on loan so I returned it and
was prepared for the dealer to talk me into purchasing the unit. Peter asked
how I liked it and agreed with my evaluation ( they dropped equalizers shortly
after this ). No hassle at all.
The next item tried was a Burwin noise reduction unit. The unit was
returned because of "breathing" side effects. The store agreed with me on
the effects the unit produced and suggested to reduce the noise at the source
rather than afterward.
I listened to a system that used GAS components and decided to try
a GAS Theobe preamp at home. The sound quality improved so much over the
IC-150 that I called the dealer and told Peter that I would drop a check off
the next day. Of any single change that I have ever made, this had the
greatest effect upon audio quality. I was astounded by the improvement in
clarity; this was against the reviews in the popular magazines on how all
of the quality preamps sound alike. Could they possibly be wrong ?
I next tried the GAS Ampzilla. The sound improvement was not as
great as before ( stringed instruments started sounding like stringed
instruments ), but was definitely better. The unit also clipped much more
gracefully than the Phase Linear 700; the Phase would die as soon as the
unit started to clip and I had to turn the volume down for it to recover.
The actual sound pressure level was greater with an amplifier of a lower
power rating. This, of course, was not covered in the popular magazines.
I traded the Revox for the Ampzilla; the Revox being only item I regret not
having now.
The next item to be replaced was the Shure cartridge. I replaced
it with a Microacoustics 2002e. The detail started to sound like low level
music and not like a background garble. The high end was much less strained
and was less harsh. The music trailing off at the end of a song sounded like
low level music; I was actually surprised to find that it really was music
fading away and not just 'the way it is' due to the recording process.
The system now was as follows:
Preamp GAS Thoebe
Amp GAS Ampzilla
Turntable Thorens TD-125B
Tonearm Rabco SL-8E
Cartridge Micro Acoustics 2002e
Tuner ( sold and not replaced )
Tape Recorder Revox A-77
Speakers SAE Mk XIV
The turntable was replaced with a Linn Sondek and the tonearm replaced
with an SME Type III. The turntable was played with this combination before
being purchased and compared to a Revox turntable with the same cartridge.
Both of them sounded better than the Thorens, with the Linn better on the
detail and clarity.
I traded the cartridge for a GAS Sleeping Beauty and purchased a
pre-preamp for the Thoebe. The GAS equipment picked up even more detail and
produced a cleaner sound than before.
After a period of about five months, the fan on the GAS got to be
pretty annoying. I traded the unit for a Threshold 400. The sound quality
was very similar, relief from the fan noise proved to be very nice. The
Threshold lasted about a year. I wanted to try the Quad speakers, but did
not want to spend the amount of money needed to trade in the SAE's ( not worth
very much on the used market ). When I auditioned the Quads in the store, I
used the Threshold 400; it was pointed out that the Quad 405 sounded
nicer. This was an amp of half the cost of the Threshold 400. I did a
"you bet" routine but proceeded to agree after listening to the Quad/Quad
combination. I then traded the SAE's and Threshold in on the Quad speakers
and amplifier. The ML-2 amplifier works better than any other amp for
driving the Quad speakers; the Quad amplifier is the second best.
The other components were traded at the same time. This was to
facilitate a cross country move. I listened to the components, at home,
before the move. With the Quad speakers I found just how poorly the SAE
Mk XIV's performed; it had been difficult to compare without doing a home
A/B of the speakers. The SAE's are better on the bottom end, but the rest
of the range is so much better that I decided to trade them in. If you ever
get a chance to listen to stacked Quads ( with the Quad amplifiers ), please
do. The midrange realism is tremendous. The high end is also very good
and, nothing being perfect, the bottom end drops off around 60 Hz. Where is
a good subwoofer when you need one ?
The Theobe was replaced by an ML-1, with D-5 cards (pre-preamp section)
and a second Quad 405 amp and another pair of Quad speakers were purchased.
Ouch. Stands were designed for the speakers that permit adjustment of angle and
allow the lower speakers to move forward and back about two inches. The next
two months were spent adjusting the speakers for the best sound. The Quads
are quite beamy and are sensitive in this respect. This does not mean that
every five minutes a slight change was made; long term listening and adjusting
at the end of a side of a record was the typical mode.
The system now was as follows:
Preamp ML-1
Amp Quad 405 (2)
Turntable Linn Sondek
Tonearm Rabco SL-8E
Cartridge GAS Sleeping Beauty
Speakers Stacked Quads
The last items replaced were the tonearm and cartridge to bring me
to the current list. I was rather skeptical of the tonearm making any
effect to the music but apparently Linn's concept of coupling the vibrations
through the tonearm to the cartridge from the platter does work to improve
detail, but not as great as prior changes mentioned.
What were the most cost effective changes ?
Speaker positioning
Preamp cable (Mogomi)
Speaker cable (Mogomi)
Cartridge
Speakers
Preamp
Amps
Any questions ? I will reply by Email as my time allows. This has
taken a few months to write; spare time is in short supply here. Again, send
flames to me, please don't bother others on the net. I will post the best
of the worst informed.
David Faultersack
Burroughs Corp
San Diego, Ca.
619-451-4706