Equipment Recommendations - The Home For New System and Upgrade Advice

Mather said:
Yeah I haven't seen NIGHTMather at ALL this week... I think he sensed another Alpha in the house and is laying low until he can figure out a plan of attack. Probably a smart move. I don't trust these things... they've got bad intentions.
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I got 350 heads on a 305 engine
I get ten miles to the gallon
I ain't got no good intentions




Rock them things.
 
VMPKJ said:
So I've tried the Mahi's with 5.5 Ohms (recommended) as well as straight in to the Zu's at 12 Ohms and then 8 Ohms. There was muscle at 5.5 but less stage width. The 12 was wide as sky but lost some of that muscle and I ended up at the middle setting of 8 Ohms.

Should I just rock with that? Seems odd to prefer them slightly mismatched, but the best I can think of is that the speakers are optimal at 12 and the Mahi's at 5 so I've split the difference.

As an aside between the preamp and amps switchable feedback, I've ended up liking right at 3db feedback for both.
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Yep, you can run it that way no problem.
 
Mather said:
Man, can speakers be "confident"? Because if so these Synthesis are effing CONFIDENT. There is an absolutely effortless swagger to the sound they put out.
Like, it's intimidating. I think I'm actually renting the house from them now.
Like, I saw my wife shooting them a look. But not just a look... a LOOK look... I think she's theirs now too...
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And that's with the blue grills. Don't put on the orange ones unless you want to be homeless and single.
 
Mather said:
Man, can speakers be "confident"? Because if so these Synthesis are effing CONFIDENT. There is an absolutely effortless swagger to the sound they put out.
Like, it's intimidating. I think I'm actually renting the house from them now.
Like, I saw my wife shooting them a look. But not just a look... a LOOK look... I think she's theirs now too...
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Maybe you should try Aja again.
 
Mather said:
Oh god. I mean, you're not wrong. These are so freaking dynamic it's nuts. I was spinning my bootleg of France's The Mute and it honestly sounded like a remaster. Pretty incredible.

But no... Aja must wait it's turn. It may be waiting a while.
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The way you're describing them makes them sound like a horn speaker. It's an addictive quality.
 
kvetcha said:
The way you're describing them makes them sound like a horn speaker. It's an addictive quality.
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Well they are front ported and the woofer is 12 inches. Not to mention they're frequently compared to the Heresey IV which is a horn speaker I believe. So while I've never heard one in person, I think that's a pretty sound comparison.

I'm not yet sure how low level listening is going to be. It definitely seems like the magic starts to kick in somewhere above "quiet dinner music" level. Not a huge surprise since these speakers are definitely made to be cranked.
 
Well I haven't dialed in any room correction yet but I'm very much enjoying the not at all correct but very massive sounds coming out of these L100s. I almost don't want to dial them in because they're so fun right now, but the vocals are too warm and the bass is too boomy but it definitely puts a smile on your face.
 
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Mather said:
Well I haven't dialed in any room correction yet but I'm very much enjoying the not at all correct but very massive sounds coming out of these L100s. I almost don't want to dial them in because they're so fun right now, but the vocals are too warm and the bass is too boomy but it definitely puts a smile on your face.
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Accuracy is overrated. Fun forever!
 
kvetcha said:
Accuracy is overrated. Fun forever!
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Well, the thing is I love the immediacy and the "live" sound that I get when everything is dialed in. Singers are standing right in front of you, as opposed to being on a recording. That veil of recording warmth that you get where everything sounds like butter, but you're clearly sitting in a room listening to a very good recording, compared with dialing it in and getting less warmth, and more treble and now Bowie is standing 4 feet in front of me. Sure it may be a bit more harsh in some instances but it's so present, and so real, I love it. But having the option to turn it off with the push of a button and go pure honey soaked is a nice feature.
 
JohnnyCashFan said:
@HiFi Guy will have a solid opinion on the Marantz with Lintons.

For classic Marantz repair/restoration in LA I would try George Meyer AV. Classic Audio in SD is also good but the owner can be difficult. If you move forward please keep us updated on your adventure on the vintage audio thread.
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Ghost said:
Might be worth giving Common Wave Hi-Fi here in LA a message, wonder if he'd do it for you, if not he may be able to point you in the right direction.
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Thanks for the help here. I called a few places and there were very long wait times. George Meyer had the shortest delay-- three weeks until someone could take a look at it. Common Wave was 8 weeks and the guy (Wes?) basically tried to talk me out of fixing it at all. He said for the same money it would take to repair it I could get something better. I got the feeling he isn't into vintage equipment at all. We had a nice chat though, I will need to go down and check out the store sometime.
 
McGlam said:
Thanks for the help here. I called a few places and there were very long wait times. George Meyer had the shortest delay-- three weeks until someone could take a look at it. Common Wave was 8 weeks and the guy (Wes?) basically tried to talk me out of fixing it at all. He said for the same money it would take to repair it I could get something better. I got the feeling he isn't into vintage equipment at all. We had a nice chat though, I will need to go down and check out the store sometime.
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Definitely sounds like Wes :ROFLMAO:
 
Mather said:
Man, can speakers be "confident"? Because if so these Synthesis are effing CONFIDENT. There is an absolutely effortless swagger to the sound they put out.
Like, it's intimidating. I think I'm actually renting the house from them now.
Like, I saw my wife shooting them a look. But not just a look... a LOOK look... I think she's theirs now too...
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I would return them, YOU probably won't meet their expectations and they'll smother you in the middle of the night, lol
 
It's honestly mindboggling to me what these speakers can do with mediocre to bad pressings. The amount of dynamics and staging and imaging that they can pull out of some of my worst vinyl is astonishing. That awful Titanic Rising pressing actually sounds fantastic. Yes the mastering still sucks but the amount of punch and depth that these are able to instill in pretty much every aspect of the the songs is stunning.
I have a Mars Volta Frances The Mute bootleg which is very well done, but it's still a bootleg and definitely has a flatness to it. Or at least it used to. It honestly sounds like a remaster now. If someone put it on and told me it was an old Mofi I'd believe them. It's absolutely INSANE how much better these are sounding in terms of the depth and dynamics. I can tell I've entered a different caliber of speaker with these. I really like my Revels and they have a wonderful tibre to them, but these eviscerate them. But they're also 3 times the price so that's not exactly shocking.
 
Okay so I have an upgrade question for my friend who currently has the forum approved vinyl starter kit with a couple of additions.

Fluance w/Nag 150
Onkyo 8020
Elac Debut 2.0 speakers
Mission sub

Where do you guys think the upgrade path starts here? He just upgraded the cart to the Nag. I know the Fluance can handle a lot of cart so that seems fine, the Onkyo can handle more than he's throwing at it I think, so that seems fine. I'm thinking speakers or phono stage? Do you agree and if so do you have opinions on some options that will provide a good upgrade above current specs? I'm asking him about budget but for the sake of argument let's say $1000.
 
Mather said:
Okay so I have an upgrade question for my friend who currently has the forum approved vinyl starter kit with a couple of additions.

Fluance w/Nag 150
Onkyo 8020
Elac Debut 2.0 speakers
Mission sub

Where do you guys think the upgrade path starts here? He just upgraded the cart to the Nag. I know the Fluance can handle a lot of cart so that seems fine, the Onkyo can handle more than he's throwing at it I think, so that seems fine. I'm thinking speakers or phono stage? Do you agree and if so do you have opinions on some options that will provide a good upgrade above current specs? I'm asking him about budget but for the sake of argument let's say $1000.
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I agree that I’d go phono next if that was my system.

If that’s C$ I’m guessing one of the Darlington Phonos, MM6 or MP7, would probably be where the groupthink is right now.
 
Joe Mac said:
I agree that I’d go phono next if that was my system.

If that’s C$ I’m guessing one of the Darlington Phonos, MM6 or MP7, would probably be where the groupthink is right now.
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Sorry yes, CAD. I've asked him but I'm just guessing it'll be in that range. I know the speakers could obviously be upgraded but I think with the sub it adds some of the low end that those speakers may be missing on their own so I feel like the stage wins out.
 
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