Manu said:
Well Manu i could talk about the speakers for a week but i'd get kicked out of here !
These i built from Siegfried Linkwitz Orion+ plans, here is his treasure trove of a site.
http://www.linkwitzlab.com/
They are active speakers, driven by 8 60W amps , all neatly packed in the ATI !.
I figured that the UGS deserved the best frontend and when i heard the whole setup for the first time: well it was all i expected, the wait was worthwhile.
The transparency and sound stage !!! the speakers certainly show what the preamp puts through.
With live and "unprocessed" music it's as close to "being there" as i have ever been.
...The Shanling, it's not valve output and it's nice, with a front end like this it really shines.
I'm a happy camper thanks to the generosity and magic of guys like Nelson Pass, François and SL ( i know its tricky to put him and Nelson together, but the result is sweet, hehe ).
Manu said:And how do you intend to press the push-buttons with your Knackwurst ...
the holes are way small
Manu
At time there is nre more Knackwurst but camel feet=> a sorte of high speed level of genetic adaptation to environnement....But apparently one think didn't change to the Breiz' .....His stomack. I think he is a direct Obelix clone... no fridge could resist him....
Marc
Back to business....
Hi Guys,
I have been listening to my UGS for some time now and have become increasingly aware that the sound was a little "warmer" than i liked, so i tried bypassing the whole thing and feeding the output of my Shanling straight to the sharp end ( Active filters and amp ).
I have been listening to Diana Krall, and right away i noticed that the piano, voice was a lot more believable ...real, it sounded absolutely real like i was there, live!
Now, is this an input impedance issue in the UGS, or what ? where am i loosing that crystal clear top end ? any ideas welcome.
Hi Guys,
I have been listening to my UGS for some time now and have become increasingly aware that the sound was a little "warmer" than i liked, so i tried bypassing the whole thing and feeding the output of my Shanling straight to the sharp end ( Active filters and amp ).
I have been listening to Diana Krall, and right away i noticed that the piano, voice was a lot more believable ...real, it sounded absolutely real like i was there, live!
Now, is this an input impedance issue in the UGS, or what ? where am i loosing that crystal clear top end ? any ideas welcome.
Hi Carlos,
You're the first one to complain about a loss of resolution and a lack of highs... Depending on the rest of the system, some people even tamed a bit their speakers in the top by adding a lil' feedback cap...
BTW, thanks for being honest
But I'm a bit puzzled by your words : I generally associate "warmer" to mids more present, and in the next sentence, you speak of "top end". Both are wrong, or is it me ?
Anyway, I don't have the slightest clue about what's going on...
What's the output impedance of your Shanlin ?
Input impedance of your active filters ?
Cheers
You're the first one to complain about a loss of resolution and a lack of highs... Depending on the rest of the system, some people even tamed a bit their speakers in the top by adding a lil' feedback cap...
BTW, thanks for being honest
But I'm a bit puzzled by your words : I generally associate "warmer" to mids more present, and in the next sentence, you speak of "top end". Both are wrong, or is it me ?
Anyway, I don't have the slightest clue about what's going on...
What's the output impedance of your Shanlin ?
Input impedance of your active filters ?
Cheers
Hi Cheff,
I'll try to be more precise.
I spent all last evening with listening tests.
....and i think much like your initial tests related in this thread, after extensive listening, it all came to nothing.
First of all a word about my speakers; the Linkwitz Orions are absolutley true and neutral and therin lies a surprise since i, like most people, listen to speakers that are far from that.
Their sound is as close to live performance sound as i have heard ( no boom box bass and such things ), depends on the source material and listening level, this is where i fell into the trap...
I was doing comparison testing with the Shanling in bypass input1 with itself ( digital RF out and DAC AYA II ) unbypassed input 2 but failed at first to equalize levels correctly.
This hapened because the orions permit me to raise the level a LOT without it being aparent until out of nowhere some instrument jumps out and shakes the room.
After equalization with a continuous tone....i could not tell the diference.
Guess i'm trying to understand what i hear, with new Orions ( in itself an experience ) and a UGS which i had never heard before.
Describing what i hear is dificult because even with volume at max there is absolute silence until some voice or instrument jumps out, the spatial definition is amazing, and this is responsible for the unlinear perception of volume, i can raise the volme and not notice until the dominant instrument/s comes back in.
This is not the common situation i was used to, where i have this "wall" of processed sound where it is imediatley evident when i raise the volume, background noise and no separation of instruments/ voices made this obvious.
Certainly i don't have a shrill top end, fact is i have what i need when i need it, the culprits were Mr Fletcher and Mr Munson for not making the volume curves linear with respect to frequency.
My reference to "warmer" refered to a sense of lack of high frequency at the top end, at low volume, ...but no lack of sound stage definition or separation....i had dificulty to understand this, hence my post.
Raising the volume to arround -30dB gives me natural levels and tonality ( in the evening ) in the afternoon it's more like -20db !
..hope you don't mind my very objective findings as i go along....guess i should have tried my UGS with the humble Mordaunt Short speakers i was using before, just to keep the reference.
It was an enormous jump in quality, the UGS plus the Orions.
I'll post the input sch of the orions filter for you to have a look, later from home.
I'll try to be more precise.
I spent all last evening with listening tests.
....and i think much like your initial tests related in this thread, after extensive listening, it all came to nothing.
First of all a word about my speakers; the Linkwitz Orions are absolutley true and neutral and therin lies a surprise since i, like most people, listen to speakers that are far from that.
Their sound is as close to live performance sound as i have heard ( no boom box bass and such things ), depends on the source material and listening level, this is where i fell into the trap...
I was doing comparison testing with the Shanling in bypass input1 with itself ( digital RF out and DAC AYA II ) unbypassed input 2 but failed at first to equalize levels correctly.
This hapened because the orions permit me to raise the level a LOT without it being aparent until out of nowhere some instrument jumps out and shakes the room.
After equalization with a continuous tone....i could not tell the diference.
Guess i'm trying to understand what i hear, with new Orions ( in itself an experience ) and a UGS which i had never heard before.
Describing what i hear is dificult because even with volume at max there is absolute silence until some voice or instrument jumps out, the spatial definition is amazing, and this is responsible for the unlinear perception of volume, i can raise the volme and not notice until the dominant instrument/s comes back in.
This is not the common situation i was used to, where i have this "wall" of processed sound where it is imediatley evident when i raise the volume, background noise and no separation of instruments/ voices made this obvious.
Certainly i don't have a shrill top end, fact is i have what i need when i need it, the culprits were Mr Fletcher and Mr Munson for not making the volume curves linear with respect to frequency.
My reference to "warmer" refered to a sense of lack of high frequency at the top end, at low volume, ...but no lack of sound stage definition or separation....i had dificulty to understand this, hence my post.
Raising the volume to arround -30dB gives me natural levels and tonality ( in the evening ) in the afternoon it's more like -20db !
..hope you don't mind my very objective findings as i go along....guess i should have tried my UGS with the humble Mordaunt Short speakers i was using before, just to keep the reference.
It was an enormous jump in quality, the UGS plus the Orions.
I'll post the input sch of the orions filter for you to have a look, later from home.
Zen Mod said:
Exactly Zen Mod, my first post expresses lack of experience on my part but i've come to realize exactly what you say, sound is effortless ( lack of apparent threshold ) and it certainly sings ( music is exiting, vibrant )....i certainly like it !!!
more so at higher volume, in the case of UGS as i have it ( Rin 15K and RFB 56K ) at -30db and higher.
Another great aspect of this set-up is that music is not tiring.
I had (short) shanling drekk with tube output (not the same as CeeVee, though)
Sound was little on the metallic side, but clear and good overall ...
BTW, tubes were vibrating somewhat with the effect of quadrophony instead of stereo (or like comics when printed with a slight gap between drawing and colour) and, funny, after some damping, it turned normal ...
Anyway, good build but sure enough room for judicious tweak...
Manu
I second that ... twice
Sound was little on the metallic side, but clear and good overall ...
BTW, tubes were vibrating somewhat with the effect of quadrophony instead of stereo (or like comics when printed with a slight gap between drawing and colour) and, funny, after some damping, it turned normal ...
Anyway, good build but sure enough room for judicious tweak...
Manu
Zen Mod said:
... couldn't agree more
I second that ... twice