This system has taken me a number of years to put together. It has been a fun process though. I am a person who started out just liking movies but I also evolved into some one who likes music as well. This system allows me to have both.
When I heard that JM Labs was going to make a limited edition speaker, I knew that was the one I wanted. I have always loved their sound. I have not been disappointed yet. Like I mentioned before, this system has been built over time. Adding a piece here, upgrading there. I think I have formed a nice synergy with my equipment. It can still bring a smile to my face when I listen to it.
I really like the detail I can get from this setup. It sounds very clean and clear. From the highs all the way down, it is done very well. Bass is surpriseingly good considering the size of my fronts.
When I get my new processor I am most likely done for a long time. I just can't see any reason to change or upgrade.
Thanks Henry. Yea it was quick. But I did have fun at the show. I think I found my turn table. I have a feeling that I will get the Well Tempered Amadeus table. I really liked it when I listened to it. The GP room was nice and so was the Esoteric room. I also liked the Dr.Feickert table. I ended up at T.H.E show also and got to hear Jonathan's room. Those speakers are great. And the integrated is very nice as well. Meeting everyone from DartZeel was great also. If I go again, it would be nice to spend some time walking around and chatting.
I have read, and people have told me that the room is key. I agree %100. That is why in a few months I am going to treat my room with some sonic resonators. I heard their effect in my dealers room and I was impressed. When I move my Turn Table upstairs, he will bring some so we can play around with them in my room. I had my old speakers way back in the room at first. They were on either side of my old wooden wall unit. I decided to pull them up so there was nothing between them. That was my first introduction to how placement and barriers could make such a difference. But with this, the physical change was so small, but the results were so larger. I was just taken off guard. I think now, I have the speakers set up pretty good. When I listen to music, it is just so much more involving. For me, I need to know that my system is sounding the best it can with the equipment I have. I think now, that is the case. That does not mean that I am not looking to change things in the future :), it just means that what I have now is very pleasing.
Was there a change. Oh Hell Yea :). I don't claim to understand why. Really cool. Thanks for the tip
Your experience matches mine. I wrote a blurb on why I soffit mounted my speakers and you can find out about why they do this in almost ALL major studios from some company websites such as this or from John Sayers Website
The truth is out there. Many choose to ignore such well known facts as I have highlighted above - prefering to invest in more hardware upgrades and expensive cables instead. It is understandable - a Hi-Fi store is unlikely to suggest you spend some money with home depot rennovating and more money purchasing acoustic panels - after all - they have an audio cable or an interconnect to sell you - and as long as you remain frustrated with the sound then you'll definitely be back.
Anyway such great speakers as yours deserve to be treated properly and given enough space so they can really shine!
Shadorne, OK. I took your advise and move the DVD cabinet back. Was there a change. Oh Hell Yea :). I don't claim to understand why. Before, I always thought I had a decent sound stage. It sounded nice, but it would always "lean" to the right side of the room. Now, it is directly in front of me %100. I am really amazed at that fact to tell you the truth. On that song Old Man by the ABB, Now it really sounds incredible. Like I said before, it is an acoustic song with just vocals and the two guitar players. The vocals are smack dab in the middle of the room. Each guitar player are still in each speaker on their own. But now, when the solo's come own, now they really just float in the room. BUT they float at the same time that I am hearing the rhythm come out of the left and right speakers. It is hard for me to explain but it sounded real cool. I mean, the solo seems to come from the center channel while the other parts of the song are coming from the left and right speaker. Really cool. Thanks for the tip.
Thanks Shadorne. It may not happen for a bit. I need help moving my stuff around so until I can get help, I will just have to suffer as is :). That one in the main picture can be fixed pretty easily. And I thought that all I needed was to have nothing in between them and a bit of space from the walls. Silly me.
So I may be nullifing the positive affects the shape of my speaker provides by its current location?
Yes and quite possibly more than just "nullifying" - it is quite possible that near diffractions/reflections from shelving and DVD cases may affect imaging and soundstage.
One will be 100% OK and get the most benefit if a bookshelf is placed well behind the speakers or much further in front along the same wall, or behind your listening position (at least four/five feet starts to become a safe distance from teh listener or from a speaker).
One can also generally benefit a lot by keeping speakers at least a couple of feet from side walls and a little by keeping the speakers more than three feet from the side walls - experiment and enjoy!
Thanks for baby stepping me :). I will see if I can play with placement and those cases. So I may be nullifing the positive affects the shape of my speaker provides by its current location? OK. I will see what I can do. Thanks again.
A side wall close to the speaker is bad enough but an uneven reflective surface is likely to produce some odd reflections back to the listener (detrimental to stereo image). You may have noticed your rounded edges on your speakers. This serves a purpose as shown in this Genelec animation. Books, CD Jewel cases or anything with sharp vertical edges within three feet and to the front of the speaker is very likely to cause audible effects.
Thanks Shadorone. That is a brand new picture. Yea, it is pretty close to the case with the DVD's. Are you suggesting that I move it closer to the outside wall? I might be able to move the cases down a bit to make some room. What if I leave the speakers where they are and just try and schooch the bookcase down a bit. Would that accomplish anything? Thanks again for the input :)
Yes indeed, awesome speakers. I concur with Jylee.
Have you tried them out into the room a bit - away from the shelves on the side wall a bit more. I just can't help thinking that your are going to get a whole lot of edge diffraction if that right speaker is really only a few inches from the book shelf. Of course I am referring to what may be an old photo - but I thought I'd ask :-)
Thanks Jylee. As I mentioned, it has taken a while, but I am happy with the results. The Grand Prix just helped to unleash the potential that my system already had. But 1037's, they must sound sweet. I am happy I went with the 1027's. First, the deal I got was just to good to pass up. Second, the 1037's were not even out yet and even if I could swing the price, they would be WAY to big for my room. The 1027's are perfect for all types of music in this room. But the GP is really great. I am very glad so many people talked me into getting them.
Mikeduke, it's a great system you've got. I've seen those Grand Prix rack at the local dealer and I was very impressed. Probably the best available today.
Thanks Henry. I was listening to some Dire Straits and Allman Brothers. The song Old Friend by the Allman Brothers sounded completely different. Not to mention that I heard details in the other songs as well. And the album Brothers in Arms sounded incredible. Much more music AND vocals. Even with ABB I heard more extended vocals. I will do the feet at some point, but I have other things I want to do first.
Mike, nice change visually and sonically. Some apex feet would benefit all of the equipment on your GPA rack too. Just curious, when you heard your music before/after what music were you listening to when you heard changes.
System edited: OK. A pretty big change. I switched out my old wooden wall unit for a Grand Prix Monaco Modular rack system. To say I am impressed would be a gross understatement. I now understand. My system has taken a quantum leap in SQ with this, plus, I like the look
Yea, there are a lot of great tables out there. I have no doubt that the Raven is killer. But to be honest, the thing that keeps running through my mind is Ayre. I have read how fantastic their stuff was from reviewers and end users. They all said their stuff was great and it had fantastic musicality and detail. When I went to CES I got a chance to check them out. I was not floored. The stuff sounded very good, but it did not "move" me. Now they were using Thiel speakers which I really don't care for anyway, but it still left an impression. And I know about "show" conditions" but I did hear other stuff that I really liked. I am just afraid that this will be one of those times. When the time comes, I guess I will need to try and check out this table for myself. I really don't want edgy either. I, like you, favor detail. My system right now is fairly detailed IMO right now. But, I could also live with a softer warm sound as well. My speakers do well with either bias.
My local dealer, who I would probably get the cartridge from since I am getting the preamp from him sells Dynavector and Graham. I know that the Graham works but I am unsure about the Dynavector. I contacted Jeff just out of curiosity. He said that for the price, he could include an arm for me. The later, I could upgrade it. We shall see. Thanks though for your thoughts :). I do appreciate them and they are helpful.
From my experience from the reviews I find them pretty good but none of them are able to pull the turntable out of the equation to my satisfaction. I happen to prefer the Raven w. the Mystic Mat or no mat. Contrary to a few others. BUt...., the Boston Mat made the Raven sound more like my Hyperspace. What is funny the Boston Matt is slightly similar to the Hyperspace. Go figure. I found the Boston Mat to make everything sound slightly diffuse and bloated. Also, it softened everything. I had the option to return it & I did. Mind you I hate shipping things back so that says a bunch. In the end there might be more analytical tables out there. Given my bias, which is detailed but relaxed, the Raven meets my needs. I don't want anything edgy or fatiguing. But I don't want to lose detail. The cartridge arm synergy in the end will be the determining factor for the Raven. On a different table it might be a balancing factor. There are lots of great tables out there.
Just to add some more. I find it interesting that you said the Hyperspace was "dark". That is exactly the thoughts I got when I was reading the reviews of the Raven. Some indicated that it was very think and complex. "A muscular, dense presentation" "However, the Raven AC brings its own set of sonic strengths to bear -- that dense, weighty presentation, one that I would characterize as "neutral," The Raven AC doesn't have the leanness that overtly detailed equipment often has, bleaching the sound to create the illusion of transparency. There's too much weight, power and color to the Raven AC's sound, and it retrieves too much detail to be considered dark or sloggy." The reviews use words like Dark and rich. I was just unsure how those translated to what I like. I mean, I have of course seen all of the praise on this site, and the review of "the One" was very good also. In fact, in that review, it was showed to a Nottingham dealer. He was extremely impressed with build quality. All options are open. Including this one. I would get the Raven One though. That would fit my budget much better :).
I hear you Dgad. I am not ready to buy anything yet any way. This is my time line. In a few weeks I will have my Grand Prix rack that I just purchased installed. Then, I am going to add one more shelf and and a dynavector preamp and move my old Kenwood TT upstairs just because I really am anxious to start spinning some vinyl. At that point I am going to get some room treatments(Sonic Resonators). Then I will upgrade my cables to Evolution Acoustic. I want to get my setup sounding as good as it it can so when I do drop a table in it I know that it will sound as good as it can. I am not just blindly going into this. My dealer has access to VPI and Well Tempered as well. But I will keep the Raven on my radar also. It does seem to be a great table. I have talked to the importer and he seems like a good guy. Thanks for the thoughts.
Read your post about your feeling that you will prefer the Nottingham to the TW. Just wanted to let you know that I owned a Hyperspace. I upgraded to a Raven AC. While the Hyperspace is sightly warmer and is an amazing turntable, it has a few areas of weakness that became apparent compared to the Raven. Min you although I am biased, I was not when I owned both. The Hyperspace is a little dark and less extended. The bass is bloated in comparison. The Raven to me is just much more neutral. Even the little Raven - which I find to be very close to the big one - is more neutral. The Raven allows you to tune via cartridge while the Hyperspace will need a more detailed "thin" sounding cartridge to come into its own. These are my experiences. Take them with a grain of salt as we all hear differently. At the low end of price I would jump at a Nottingham but at the $5000 & up I would look elsewhere.
I hear you. I am almost afraid to listen to my system again because I know in my mind it will not sound like what it did with that amp. But I can be happy until the time comes. Well, now the saving beings.
I hate when I hear an incredible peice of gear as it takes a few days or so for me to forget and enjoy what I have. Yup the Dartzeel is pretty much my daydream item, I happen to like how it looks as you do, many dont..I think in its Stereophile review the took a jab at its looks.
