Hopkins' System

[hopkins]

I soldered the wires on my new crossover, as I am happy with it. Here is the frequency response curve of one of the speakers at the listening point:



There are inevitably some hiccups in the response, especially on the low end. The dip between 200-300 Hz is smaller than what I had before.
It sounds good to me, that's what counts.

Funny to see that the in-room response of that "Aria" speaker I mentioned above - prototype build by GR Research - is not that different:



In the comments to New Record Day's post, people are wondering whether "flat" is a good thing...

 

[Argonaut]

Sounds of my youth with my fathers's copy of the Brandenburg Concertos - an LP he purchased while he was doing his military service in Germany in 1950, and told me he played on repeat at the time. So it is worn out, but I still enjoy listening to it.

A lovely connection to your Father .

 

[hopkins]

A lovely connection to your Father .

For some time, after my father passed away, I had very vivid dreams of conversations with him. I would wake up in a very peaceful state, happy that I had these moments, even if I obviously knew they were the figment of my imagination. Now, after 7 years, the memories inevitably fade, lose their vivacity, and I feel like he is "slipping away". Mourning is a complex, lengthy process, and it is completely irrational.

 

[Synaxis]

Here is an interesting video by GR Research:

He explains that it is the best standmount speaker he has ever heard, by a big margin, "maybe even a favorite speaker, it's that big of a deal".

He describes the sound as holographic, with high realism especially for vocals.

Here is how he compares it to his current top of the line model:

View attachment 144281

If you watch the video, he explains some of the reason why some aspects of their sound are so good (to his ears). It is interesting.

I obviously have not heard these speakers, and I may never hear them. That's fine - I am happy with my system, for pretty much the same reasons that he likes those new speakers. Go figure...

I was at their place having fun talking hifi and eating Texas BBQ a few weeks back and heard several of their speakers. Specifically their giant Extreme's and their new Aria's.

With the admission I am a horn speaker guy, I thought these speakers were very good. I would choose the Aria's and add subs.

They did a very nice job with the new speakers.

 

[hopkins]

I was at their place having fun talking hifi and eating Texas BBQ a few weeks back and heard several of their speakers. Specifically their giant Extreme's and their new Aria's.

With the admission I am a horn speaker guy, I thought these speakers were very good. I would choose the Aria's and add subs.

They did a very nice job with the new speakers.

I also watched your interview with Ron. I took note of his "obsession" with holographic sound. I have to admit that this is something I have re-discovered with my speakers. In some circles, it gets a bad press, but I really enjoy the listening experience. My Altec 755 speaker had this uncanny ability - with a single speaker - to project the musician in space with a high degree of precision and realism that made the sound "palpable". A single Teufel speaker does not, at least not to the same extent, but in stereo (whether with mono or stereo tracks) I get a very similar result to what I experienced with the Altec. Very cool...

 

[hopkins]

Some more classical music...

https://www.discogs.com/release/15283371-Jean-Pierre-Rampal-Pierre-Pierlot-I-Solisti-Veneti-Claudio-Scimone-Vivaldi-Six-Concertos-Pour-Flute-

You can choose to listen to the video and find all sorts of problems with the sound, or you can try to listen to the music.

 

[hopkins]

I am very happy with the sound of my system in it's latest incarnation, with the modified crossover on my speakers.

The sound quality is consistent. In the past weeks, I have not had a "bad" listening session where I am tempted to turn off the system and give my ears a rest. On the contrary, every single time I have had to resist spending too much time listening, staying up too late at night and/or blowing off work...

I am well aware of some of the limitations of the speakers, but they still sound great.

Perhaps I will realize what I am really missing out on after attending a demo of the Magico S5 this weekend ?

The demo will be held at a dealer here in Paris. They will be showcasing the speakers in a good room with good equipment.



More to follow...

 

[Synaxis]

I also watched your interview with Ron.

I just posted the remaining part of that interview. He's got some great insight on hifi gear that is liked/not liked, hifi cults and more.

 

[hopkins]

I just posted the remaining part of that interview. He's got some great insight on hifi gear that is liked/not liked, hifi cults and more.

Thanks. Subscribed! Good discussion.

We all have our little quirks. Last weekend, I went to a record store to browse through their collection. They only had re-issues. I stayed only a few minutes. I realized that I only enjoy buying original releases (even if they are not in pristine condition). It's not about sound quality - I just have zero interest in purchasing or listening to current vinyl re-issues.

Congrats on your channel.Keep talking about things you enjoy, or are curious about.

 

[Synaxis]

Thanks. Subscribed! Good discussion.

We all have our little quirks. Last weekend, I went to a record store to browse through their collection. They only had re-issues. I stayed only a few minutes. I realized that I only enjoy buying original releases (even if they are not in pristine condition). It's not about sound quality - I just have zero interest in purchasing or listening to current vinyl re-issues.

Congrats on your channel.Keep talking about things you enjoy, or are curious about.

Thanks for the kind words.

I completely agree with you - it's the quirks that make this (IMO) more enjoyable.

 

[hopkins]

A favorite:

I Offer You - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Recorded with the "binaural" Sonic Presence SP15C microphone plugged in to my phone.

I have been getting regular network dropouts with my Link Audio streamer recently, and switched back to the WiiM Pro. It is powered by an Ian Canada board. Not sure it makes much of a difference, but it certainly sounds good to my ears. Analog can sound different, but digital does not sound digital

 

[hopkins]

I forgot to mention that WiiM is currently beta testing the new Qobuz "connect" feature:

Ongoing Beta - Beta Test: Qobuz Connect

We're excited to announce the beta is beginning for Qobuz Connect! Interested users can sign up via this Google Form. UPDATE: We've closed the survey down for now and Qobuz will reach out to people! With Qobuz Connect you can use your Qobuz app to play directly to your WiiM devices instead of...

forum.wiimhome.com

Currently, Qobuz can be played to WiiM streamers from the Qobuz app using the Chromecast protocol. What would be the advantage of a new protocol? This user on a Naim forum sums it up well:



His conclusion:

"In general I think the value is in better and more responsive control, not in streaming quality, so improving the native app user experience"

I look forward to trying it out. I enjoy using Spotify with my WiiM.

 

[hopkins]

So I went to the Magico S5 demo:





Alon Wolf made a short presentation, then we had a 30 minute listening session (a mix of classical and modern - I had to suffer through Annette Askvik's Liberty..). He answered some questions after.

I had never listened to Magico speakers, and I understand why many enjoy them. For me, it was like switching between watching a movie at home and in a movie theater. The sound is impressive, but a little overwhelming. I can't judge whether they sound "natural" or not. There are always tradeoffs.

The "electronics" used probably cost as much as the speakers: Aurender streamer, MSB top of the line DAC, Soolution preamp/amps... Hard to judge the contribution of these components.

Bottom line: interesting demo, impressive by the scale of the sound, but nothing spectacular that would make me want to forgo what I have at home

 

[hopkins]

P.S. the choice of tracks in these demos is always a little frustrating for me. I would have been curious to listen to some of my favorite tracks, especially 1950s recordings (I would not have dared suggesting 1940s) - say "Mood Indigo" from the "Masterpieces by Ellington" album - things I am very familiar with and that I really enjoy listening to. I would have been curious to see how those types of tracks "translated" to such a system.

 

[hopkins]

I'll add that I did get the impression that the system "homoginized" the sound a little across the 5 recordings we listened to, even though you could obviously hear differences. It could be due to playlist used.

 

[hopkins]

As I listen to my system tonight the difference with the "ultra high end" system I listened to this afternoon is obvious.

In spite of its impressive scale, power, and frequency response, the sound of the Magico system was dull.

This powerDAC-SX really breathes life into whatever I play - something which I value and can be heard in spite of my speakers' limitations.

I listened over again to some of the tracks played this afternoon, and others from the dealers' Qobuz playlist:

Listen to the playlist Playlist Présence Audio Conseil by presenceaudio on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/playlist/632193

...before switching to Dodo Marmarosa:



Not an audiophile recording - 1946. But it sounds great.

It's on Qobuz, give it a try:

Listen to Mellow Mood by Dodo Marmarosa on Qobuz https://open.qobuz.com/track/158104526

 

[hopkins]

A favorite:

I Offer You - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Recorded with the "binaural" Sonic Presence SP15C microphone plugged in to my phone.

The Sonic Presence SP15C microphones records at a fairly low volume. I think YouTube may apply a volume boost when the sound is low.

I recorded the same track with the microphone plugged in to a MacBook, with Audacity (input at 96kHz/24 bit resolution), and then applied a 30db boost to the volume ("amplify" effect in Audacity). The results are much better, FWIW:

Audacity's "Amplify" effect is convenient as it suggests what volume boost to apply to avoid clipping.

This SP15C microphone is pretty good, and convenient.

 

[hopkins]

And here is another track from that dealer's Qobuz playlist:

That is an album I actually like. It is ironic, because I remember playing it for some audiophiles a few years ago - it then started popping up on "demo playlists" posted on French forums, and has now ended up on this dealer's playlist (could be a coincidence of course).

Open Qobuz

open.qobuz.com

P.S. YouTube now systematically blocks videos of copyrighted material that are longer than 60 seconds.

 

[hopkins]

And while I am at it, here is another, previously recorded (and not copyrighted...):

 

[hopkins]

Johnny Hodges playing the blues is a beautiful thing that I never get tired of listening to He thrives when supported by a good rhythm section.

This album - Johnny Hodges at Sportpalast, Berlin - is very good. Live, in (quasi) mono. The sound is not spectacular, and as "clean" as the albums on that dealer's playlist, but the soloists are captured "vividly". If you listen to the video with headphones, the soloists are "inside your head". Listening to the track on my speakers the soloists have great "presence" in the center, and the ambience of the show is well captured.

Unfortunately only available on Qobuz from a dodgy label (probably not the best version). I purchased the CD...

https://www.discogs.com/master/601125-Johnny-Hodges-At-The-Sportpalast-Berlin

Some context to the recording is given by Stanley Dance in the line notes:

"The wonderful souvenirs of Johnny Hodges in this collection were recorded at a Berlin concert in March 1961. As mentioned earlier, Duke Ellington had gone to France to join Billy Strayhorn and work on the movie, Paris Blues. Never one to idle long — the road was in his blood — Hodges set off on a European tour conveniently arranged for him by Norman Granz, with whom he had a long and rewarding association. He took with him the major stars of the Ellington band, and its bassist and drummer. For piano, he chose Al Williams, a veteran of many bands, who faced up valiantly to a singularly demanding role. The program consisted for the most part of material associated with the Ellington band or its small units, and it was enthusiastically received in all the cities played."