KeithR's "Dream Speaker" Search

[morricab]

The Sim amps are impressive, I've heard them many times. I can imagine that you have the Haileys working nicely.

Really? I owned them back in the day...then I discovered tubes and realized how much dynamics I was missing out on. They have always sounded rather boring to me...

 

[jeff1225]

Really? I owned them back in the day...then I discovered tubes and realized how much dynamics I was missing out on. They have always sounded rather boring to me...

I heard Sim on a B&W 801N system about 10 years ago and really liked the system. I think it's a SS amp that's on the warm side of neutral, perfect for the Haileys.

 

[jeff1225]

Interesting observation about the driver surface area. There was a demo at a show in Switzerland in 2019 (the last time before Covid) and the Carmel 2 was playing...it sounded nice...but small. Yes, I know it is small but it really sounded like it looked, unlike many other small speakers I know that sound way bigger than their physical size. I heard the Hailey's with Nagra...again it was "nice" but not able to scale sonically like you expect for that money.

The "driver surface area theory" is rubbish, we've all heard fantastic monitor speakers with small drivers. The issues with the YG's are the sealed boxes and the poor efficiency.

 

[morricab]

The "driver surface area theory" is rubbish, we've all heard fantastic monitor speakers with small drivers. The issues with the YG's are the sealed boxes and the poor efficiency.

It’s not rubbish but it’s also not by any means the whole story

 

[morricab]

I heard Sim on a B&W 801N system about 10 years ago and really liked the system. I think it's a SS amp that's on the warm side of neutral, perfect for the Haileys.

Probably one of my least favorite speaker brands....

 

[Al M.]

The "driver surface area theory" is rubbish, we've all heard fantastic monitor speakers with small drivers. The issues with the YG's are the sealed boxes and the poor efficiency.

The driver surface of my monitor/sub combo is greater than that of the Hailey's . 8.25 inch mid-woofer (monitors) plus two 12 inch subs, vs 7 inch midrange and 10.25 inch woofers.

I agree that poor efficiency is a problem. My monitors are efficient, the subs have built in high-power amplification that is by definition matched to them.

The monitors can easily be driven to about 90 - 95 % of their dynamics by my old 15 W/ch parallel push-pull triodes; my current amp of 100 W/ch into the load of 8 Ohms does the rest and is positively overkill for these speakers, the way I like it.

 

[DaveC]

The "driver surface area theory" is rubbish, we've all heard fantastic monitor speakers with small drivers. The issues with the YG's are the sealed boxes and the poor efficiency.

Wrong yet again. But sure... destroy any shred of credibility you had left just to try to take a jab at me.

Driver surface area is DIRECTLY RELATED to efficiency. Quality of bass is DIRECTLY RELATED to surface area. Or, I suppose we're all wasting our time with larger than 8" woofers? Hahaha!

 

[jeff1225]

Wrong yet again. But sure... destroy any shred of credibility you had left just to try to take a jab at me.

Driver surface area is DIRECTLY RELATED to efficiency. Quality of bass is DIRECTLY RELATED to surface area. Or, I suppose we're all wasting our time with larger than 8" woofers? Hahaha!

Dave you're the one who has long ago lost credibility with the unbelievable insecurity in every post you make. You've confused "quality" with "quantity."

 

[morricab]

Dave you're the one who has long ago lost credibility with the unbelievable insecurity in every post you make. You've confused "quality" with "quantity."

Well Jeff, it is a bit of a strange argument from you given your speakers have 2 x 15 inch woofers per speaker and a big mid/high "horn". Should we assume you went for quantity? Or can we say that quantity and quality are not inherently coupled... I doubt you have heard a speaker with the Hailey's driver surface area sound bigger than your rather "big boy" speakers.

 

[DaveC]

Dave you're the one who has long ago lost credibility with the unbelievable insecurity in every post you make. You've confused "quality" with "quantity."

Why don't you try actually making a reasonable point? All you say is "it's rubbish".

You clearly have no clue. Your thought that driver surface area doesn't matter, then you say "It's the efficiency that's the problem" shows you had no idea that they are related.

I guess folks should just buy the smallest YG that works for their room then, they all have the same quality drivers. Those who buy the Sonjas or even the Sonja XV are clearly wasting their money and YG is just taking them for fools.

edit: you also said you had me on ignore. I wish that you did, but apparently you lied. You can't help yourself, you have no self-control.

 

[jeff1225]

Well Jeff, it is a bit of a strange argument from you given your speakers have 2 x 15 inch woofers per speaker and a big mid/high "horn". Should we assume you went for quantity? Or can we say that quantity and quality are not inherently coupled... I doubt you have heard a speaker with the Hailey's driver surface area sound bigger than your rather "big boy" speakers.

What I have and what I've heard is absolutely irrelevant to this conversation. I've heard excellent tuneful bass from speakers like the Sonus Faber Guarneri, Joseph Audio Pulsars, and any of the BBC monitors. The Hailey's didn't fail because they're not big, they failed because they were wildly inefficient and lacked tone. I'm not moved by "big sound," just by good sound.

 

[jeff1225]

@morricab I will also add that I preferred Keith's Devore Gibbon X to the Haileys. All of the Devore drivers are smaller than the Haileys.

 

[jeff1225]

Why don't you try actually making a reasonable point? All you say is "it's rubbish".

You clearly have no clue. Your thought that driver surface area doesn't matter, then you say "It's the efficiency that's the problem" shows you had no idea that they are related.

I guess folks should just buy the smallest YG that works for their room then, they all have the same quality drivers. Those who buy the Sonjas or even the Sonja XV are clearly wasting their money and YG is just taking them for fools.

edit: you also said you had me on ignore. I wish that you did, but apparently you lied. You can't help yourself, you have no self-control.

Stop making ridiculous statements like soldering together some wires is as difficult as designing amplifiers, and I promise I'll ignore you.

 

[DaveC]

Well Jeff, it is a bit of a strange argument from you given your speakers have 2 x 15 inch woofers per speaker and a big mid/high "horn". Should we assume you went for quantity? Or can we say that quantity and quality are not inherently coupled... I doubt you have heard a speaker with the Hailey's driver surface area sound bigger than your rather "big boy" speakers.

It's not strange at all. The entire point was to call something I said "rubbish".

 

[jeff1225]

Well... considering I actually design and build amps, cables and speakers, I don't see the need to respect your ignorant and misguided opinions.

When I post something it's based on fact and experience. You post based on your imagination of what you think it might be like to design amps, speakers and cables. You're making yourself look like a clown, Lincoln had some good advice for you:

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.
— ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

From what I've heard, you need to learn how to repair amps too.

 

[cal3713]

Interesting, electronica can be pretty simple relative to acoustic instruments and vocals. So in many ways it's just not that demanding... until you ask for concert-level SPLs then it has different requirements vs classical anyways.

My main criticism of YG that I've mentioned many times is you have to spend a fortune on Sonyas to get enough driver surface area. I've heard some excellent YG systems, including at YG's factory with D'Ag amps so I know they can be really good. But I don't think the Haileys have the same potential as the larger and more expensive Sonyas, and I'm not sure the Haileys are enough to do a great job on complex music.

Whether the compromises and design approach YG takes is right for you is another issue. I just don't think the YG approach scales down that well, I'd rather have a less technically perfect speaker with larger drivers!

We must be listening to different electronica.

 

[DaveC]

We must be listening to different electronica.

What are some of your favorites?

I'm mainly talking about timbre... the timbre of string instruments and vocals is very complex and difficult to get right. Electronica is often simpler and there's no real-life reference for the sounds in most cases.

 

[morricab]

What are some of your favorites?

I'm mainly talking about timbre... the timbre of string instruments and vocals is very complex and difficult to get right. Electronica is often simpler and there's no real-life reference for the sounds in most cases.

Electronica has often a lot of layering that creates complexity but for sure natural instruments are for sure more complex in their character.

 

[cal3713]

What are some of your favorites?

I'm mainly talking about timbre... the timbre of string instruments and vocals is very complex and difficult to get right. Electronica is often simpler and there's no real-life reference for the sounds in most cases.

Not favorites, but here are two that I've listened to recently. As always, tough to characterize timbre when the sounds are built, but there's a ton of complexity in those that are. Plus lots of layering, and they're going to push the 20s on both ends...

Arca - &&&&&

The Comet is Coming - Trust in the Lifeforce of the Deep Mystery

 

[DarrellC]

Jeffrey, are the Fynes very different from the Zus? I'm not sure if you have any reliable audio memory for the Zu Druids VI that you heard at Keith's 2-3 years ago?

I am new here, so hello. I would be very interested in thoughts on the question vs the Druids as well.