The characters of their sound are obvious at low, mid and high levels, trust me. The bass slam and the soundstaging never change, until something breaks, that is.... maybe the amp or speaker get over driven.... but until then.
Again, the 252 never seems to get loud. Even when it is playing loud. I suppose getting an SPL meter might help to justify your inner Julian Hirsh 🤔
In the meantime.... I put up a small system in the office. A combination of DIY and consumer products all bought used or on sale... (1)
Chromebook - connected to network via an access point in the room (2)
Topping D90LE
Conrad Johnson ET3SE - Overkill perhaps, but I got it, and it drives the F4 VERY nicely.
DIY F4 (single ended )
Rolls SX21 two way crossover - used as low pass for the subwoofer
Parasound Z-amp -subwoofer amp
Dayton Audio SUB-1000L subwoofer -passive unit, cheaper than the active and let's me play with it more.
Metronomes - the ones I got from the BAF24, with the smaller Fostex.
This small system plays truly excellent in my 12 x 13x (cathedral ceiling) 10->14. I got lots of records and books and computer and stuff and a couple of bass tubes ( where else to put them? )... and it's all near field listening..
It sounds very good. Right now playing Supertramp, Crisis what crisis....
The speakers and woofers come together very, very nicely. The bass is fast and the Fostex are being run wideband with the F4. Not loud, mind you, no need for loudness. The voices are clear. One of the things I like about running the F4 SE with a tube preamp is that the amp adds nothing of its own and you hear the sound of the preamp.... and my tube preamps have the Teflon caps... and, darn it, but the midrange sure is so pretty....
The bass is musical and extended. The treble.... well. the Fostex is a good sounding unit and not being pushed at all.
I'd figure this set up is playing at 90db, perhaps, and it extremely satisfying and enjoyable. It has what the British call "pace". You just want to get up and DANCE....
You ought to hear jazz through it.
(1) I'm not cheap, I just hate paying MSRP.
(2) The Access point is about four feet from my head.... I'm OK, so far. Haven't grown a second nose nor do I have a headachy, just my usual crankyness. 😡
Chromebook - connected to network via an access point in the room (2)
Topping D90LE
Conrad Johnson ET3SE - Overkill perhaps, but I got it, and it drives the F4 VERY nicely.
DIY F4 (single ended )
Rolls SX21 two way crossover - used as low pass for the subwoofer
Parasound Z-amp -subwoofer amp
Dayton Audio SUB-1000L subwoofer -passive unit, cheaper than the active and let's me play with it more.
Metronomes - the ones I got from the BAF24, with the smaller Fostex.
This small system plays truly excellent in my 12 x 13x (cathedral ceiling) 10->14. I got lots of records and books and computer and stuff and a couple of bass tubes ( where else to put them? )... and it's all near field listening..
It sounds very good. Right now playing Supertramp, Crisis what crisis....
The speakers and woofers come together very, very nicely. The bass is fast and the Fostex are being run wideband with the F4. Not loud, mind you, no need for loudness. The voices are clear. One of the things I like about running the F4 SE with a tube preamp is that the amp adds nothing of its own and you hear the sound of the preamp.... and my tube preamps have the Teflon caps... and, darn it, but the midrange sure is so pretty....
The bass is musical and extended. The treble.... well. the Fostex is a good sounding unit and not being pushed at all.
I'd figure this set up is playing at 90db, perhaps, and it extremely satisfying and enjoyable. It has what the British call "pace". You just want to get up and DANCE....
You ought to hear jazz through it.
(1) I'm not cheap, I just hate paying MSRP.
(2) The Access point is about four feet from my head.... I'm OK, so far. Haven't grown a second nose nor do I have a headachy, just my usual crankyness. 😡
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Just download an app to your smartphone. I use Decibel X, it’s free.
^ OK, I tried it.... I see peaks at the low 80 dbA.
The "Upgrade" thing is a PITA and I'm not quite sure how it well it used my microphones, I have a leather case on my cell phone.
Thanks
The "Upgrade" thing is a PITA and I'm not quite sure how it well it used my microphones, I have a leather case on my cell phone.
Thanks
No idea how accurate an app can be, but the measurements seem to be consistent over time so I can derive whether I need to put in earplugs or whether two systems are playing at comparable volume.
Wait a minute... You play two systems at same time? I thought I was problematic!
Well, I think I can make 3 Bluesound nodes play same thing at once! We will just see who is the sickest one!
Party on,
Russellc
Well, I think I can make 3 Bluesound nodes play same thing at once! We will just see who is the sickest one!
Party on,
Russellc
So, I've had some time to compare the BA3 and bridged F4s with the A2s and the single F4.
The sound couldn't be more different... within NP stuff. The BA3 and A2s are driven by the same Iron Pre Bal.. The single F4 is driven by a CJ ET3SE.
The A2 sound like the most tube like, I think. They don't go deep but they are fast. You can listen to them all day long. Even driven SE from the preamp, they are musical, the bass is a little rolled of. The soundstage is a little recessed, instruments sound layered, treble is very nice. Not dark but not on your face. And they will play loud as they have lots of power.
The BA3B/ bridged F4s are driven balanced. The soundstage is more upfront, the bass is deeper but a little looser. Too much in some speakers but darn perfect on the Maggies. The whole presentation is brighter, vocals are definitely more in the room with you. Instruments and vocal lines are very good and separate -just like the A2s.
Now, the single F4 driven by the CJ ET3SE... speakers are the Fostex Metronomes -driven wide range- with Dayton Audio small subwoofers, via a low pass crossover and a little Parasound Zamp. This system won't play loud, but my office is well damped, so the speakers don't need to be driven loud (where they get hooty ) and the woofers really fill in the sound. The soundstage here, I'm still working on it... this is the speakers. But the instruments and the layering is very clear, the sound is very musical, instruments again very clear.... in essence it sounds like CJ preamp as the sound quality is really ALL preamp "house sound".. the amp just sounds like an OP behind the preamp... very, very pleasant music to listen to..
The next set up, is an Iron Pre Bal that will run into 252MOSFET into AE1 and the same Dayton Audio subwoofers ( I build a switching set up so I can connect the crossover to either the CJ or the Iron Pre ( this is a second Iron Pre Bal... BTW). I'm very curious how this set up will sound as the AE1s are my most revealing speakers.
One thing about the 252 MOSFET is that it never sounds loud. I think it's likely the least distorting amp.
Another thing for the future will be to drive a single F4 with the Iron Pre Bal in SE mode and the YITCDAF4 buffer.
Then you got the F5, A5, etc... ;-) Zenductors, etc..... That's what I got the Metronomes for... The ET3SE with Zons of Zenductor II drive them really, really good, but I haven't spent enough time with them.
We'll see... having fun with audio.
No heavy metal...
My LP12 is off to get its Keel, T-Kable and Ekos-2. I'm really psyched about this upgrade ( already have the Trampolin, Lingo and Karousel ). So, not only will all of my P3 opamp listening will have to be redone, but I expect a huge change. For the better....
The sound couldn't be more different... within NP stuff. The BA3 and A2s are driven by the same Iron Pre Bal.. The single F4 is driven by a CJ ET3SE.
The A2 sound like the most tube like, I think. They don't go deep but they are fast. You can listen to them all day long. Even driven SE from the preamp, they are musical, the bass is a little rolled of. The soundstage is a little recessed, instruments sound layered, treble is very nice. Not dark but not on your face. And they will play loud as they have lots of power.
The BA3B/ bridged F4s are driven balanced. The soundstage is more upfront, the bass is deeper but a little looser. Too much in some speakers but darn perfect on the Maggies. The whole presentation is brighter, vocals are definitely more in the room with you. Instruments and vocal lines are very good and separate -just like the A2s.
Now, the single F4 driven by the CJ ET3SE... speakers are the Fostex Metronomes -driven wide range- with Dayton Audio small subwoofers, via a low pass crossover and a little Parasound Zamp. This system won't play loud, but my office is well damped, so the speakers don't need to be driven loud (where they get hooty ) and the woofers really fill in the sound. The soundstage here, I'm still working on it... this is the speakers. But the instruments and the layering is very clear, the sound is very musical, instruments again very clear.... in essence it sounds like CJ preamp as the sound quality is really ALL preamp "house sound".. the amp just sounds like an OP behind the preamp... very, very pleasant music to listen to..
The next set up, is an Iron Pre Bal that will run into 252MOSFET into AE1 and the same Dayton Audio subwoofers ( I build a switching set up so I can connect the crossover to either the CJ or the Iron Pre ( this is a second Iron Pre Bal... BTW). I'm very curious how this set up will sound as the AE1s are my most revealing speakers.
One thing about the 252 MOSFET is that it never sounds loud. I think it's likely the least distorting amp.
Another thing for the future will be to drive a single F4 with the Iron Pre Bal in SE mode and the YITCDAF4 buffer.
Then you got the F5, A5, etc... ;-) Zenductors, etc..... That's what I got the Metronomes for... The ET3SE with Zons of Zenductor II drive them really, really good, but I haven't spent enough time with them.
We'll see... having fun with audio.
No heavy metal...
My LP12 is off to get its Keel, T-Kable and Ekos-2. I'm really psyched about this upgrade ( already have the Trampolin, Lingo and Karousel ). So, not only will all of my P3 opamp listening will have to be redone, but I expect a huge change. For the better....
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