Modern speakers vs Vintage speakers

[thomask]

Now I switched to CAD gc3 ground control unit.

After warm up overnight I will give my opinion on it.

 

[thomask]

Billie Jean after switching to CAD gc3 ground control .

Altec rocks!

 

[thomask]

Lansche 4.1 is good for classical music.

 

[BlueFox]

Out of curiosity, what is the point of constantly posting these low resolution videos?

 

[christoph]

Out of curiosity, what is the point of constantly posting these low resolution videos?

Feel free to not watch them

 

[Mikem53]

Out of curiosity, what is the point of constantly posting these low resolution videos?

@thomask is working out the placement of his speakers in challenging rooms. He has been getting feedback from others about reflections, and other room anomalies to aid in his setup.

 

[thomask]

@thomask is working out the placement of his speakers in challenging rooms. He has been getting feedback from others about reflections, and other room anomalies to aid in his setup.

Actually i try to fine tune the sound through Ground control and Furutek NCF filter on both Altec and Lansche.

 

[thomask]

Altec A7 does sound much better than i expected.

I picked it up only three weeks ago.

It give effortless dynamics and nuanced bass with wide and deep soundstage.

Although Altec does not sound boxy, I could notice more holographic imaging through my modern speaker Lansche 4.1 which I had been using since 2006.

I am happy to have both.

I will play each depending on music and my mood.
Altec seems to work better with Jazz and rock music although it is not slouch with Classical music.

The effect of Ground control on both Altec and Lansche appears to be more sensitive than I expected.

I will give update only when it affect the sound of speaker seriously.

Thanks everybody on inputs.

 

[PeterA]

Altec A7 does sound much better than i expected.

I picked it up only three weeks ago.

It give effortless dynamics and nuanced bass with wide and deep soundstage.

Although Altec does not sound boxy, I could notice more holographic imaging through my modern speaker Lansche 4.1 which I had been using since 2006.

I am happy to have both.

I will play each depending on music and my mood.
Altec seems to work better with Jazz and rock music although it is not slouch with Classical music.

The effect of Ground control on both Altec and Lansche appears to be more sensitive than I expected.

I will give update only when it affect the sound of speaker seriously.

Thanks everybody on inputs.

Thank you for sharing your system with us and posting these observations. Every listener has preferences and given your descriptions I can understand why you like both speakers.

I’m curious which one do you think sounds to you more like live unamplified instruments? Do you hear holographic images when you’re listening to live music?

 

[thomask]

Thank you for sharing your system with us and posting these observations. Every listener has preferences and given your descriptions I can understand why you like both speakers.

I’m curious which one do you think sounds to you more like live unamplified instruments? Do you hear holographic images when you’re listening to live music?

That is a good question.

I think Altec A7 sounds more like live music.

The holographic imaging through Lansche 4.1 may be exaggerated effect which can not be heard at live concert.

But audiophiles tend to enjoy such holographic imaging .

 

[PeterA]

That is a good question.

I think Altec A7 sounds more like live music.

The holographic imaging through Lansche 4.1 may be exaggerated effect which can not be heard at live concert.

But audiophiles tend to enjoy such holographic imaging .

thank you Thomask. This is a long thread and to me this post gets to the heart of the matter of the difference between modern and vintage speakers. I think it’s about the attributes they present to the listener and what the listener prefers. But, I don’t think one can make this overly simple or generalized.

 

[thomask]

thank you Thomask. This is a long thread and to me this post gets to the heart of the matter of the difference between modern and vintage speakers. I think it’s about the attributes they present to the listener and what the listener prefers. But, I don’t think one can make this overly simple or generalized.

It is my dream to set up Western horn system with field coil driver at my home some day.

In the meantime, I will try to get the best out of those two excellent speakers.

By the way I also bought used Scaena 3.2 last year.

But it need two people to assemble it and I could not ask other people come to my home during Covid season.

I will assemble it on the third floor by the end of this year.

It will also sounds like typical modern speakers with holographic imaging.

 

[bonzo75]

thank you Thomask. This is a long thread and to me this post gets to the heart of the matter of the difference between modern and vintage speakers. I think it’s about the attributes they present to the listener and what the listener prefers. But, I don’t think one can make this overly simple or generalized.

Personally I think it is more than that. I heard the 20k and 65k euro Lansche in same room as devore orangutans (the amps on Lansche were different to those that worked best on devore).

The Lansche on first track impressed. Nice midrange and clean highs and weight. However, and it is possibly due to the active bass, not sure why, but the Lansche stage is constant across recordings. It is the stage of the speaker. The devore was much more into showing the venue that differed LP to LP and more flow, so I preferred that much more for realism.

Now, each Altec sounds different. That said, The one woofer A7 will be more boxier than the 817 due to moving to the vented bass (away from the horn bass).

Also, when Thomas says Lansche is better for classical the Altec mids and highs will be less nuanced than the Lansche. They have nice timbre but less nuance. So I always suggest using Radian or TAD there though I also like Altec but if ultimate nuance especially on violin concertos and separation on large scale is the goal.

 

[thomask]

Personally I think it is more than that. I heard the 20k and 65k euro Lansche in same room as devore orangutans (the amps on Lansche were different to those that worked best on devore).

The Lansche on first track impressed. Nice midrange and clean highs and weight. However, and it is possibly due to the active bass, not sure why, but the Lansche stage is constant across recordings. It is the stage of the speaker. The devore was much more into showing the venue that differed LP to LP and more flow, so I preferred that much more for realism.

Now, each Altec sounds different. That said, The one woofer A7 will be more boxier than the 817 due to moving to the vented bass (away from the horn bass).

Also, when Thomas says Lansche is better for classical the Altec mids and highs will be less nuanced than the Lansche. They have nice timbre but less nuance. So I always suggest using Radian or TAD there though I also like Altec but if ultimate nuance especially on violin concertos and separation on large scale is the goal.

Lansche is sensitive to the listening space.

I found that my Lansche sounds better on the second floor than the third floor.

I do not feel the need for second woofer for Altec A7.

It gives more than enough dynamics on the second floor.

But field coil driver tend to sound faster with little bit more details.

Thus in the future, I will try to get the genuine vintage horn system with field coil driver.

 

[bonzo75]

It is not about dynamics, it is about breathing. 2 woofers cover a larger area with horn loading, can be run more with with baffle open without sacrificing decibel. With one woofer you need more box to get same pressure. So the bass breathes with two better

 

[thomask]

This one cost 60$ for 12 caps with free shipping.

Cardas Audio RCA Signature Protective C SS Caps

The Cardas Nautilus logo is displayed on Signature Series RCA Caps. Non-shorting, billet brass, nickel plated caps shield against RFI, EMI, dust and corrosion. Set of 12

www.revolutionpower.com

It is supposed to suppress EMI through RCA connector.

After inserting those 12 caps to all open connectors, it seems that I get slightly more details.

Thus you may try it if you enjoy tweaks.

 

[morricab]

That is a good question.

I think Altec A7 sounds more like live music.

The holographic imaging through Lansche 4.1 may be exaggerated effect which can not be heard at live concert.

But audiophiles tend to enjoy such holographic imaging .

Imagining aside, in what way do the ALTECs sound more like live?

 

[morricab]

Personally I think it is more than that. I heard the 20k and 65k euro Lansche in same room as devore orangutans (the amps on Lansche were different to those that worked best on devore).

The Lansche on first track impressed. Nice midrange and clean highs and weight. However, and it is possibly due to the active bass, not sure why, but the Lansche stage is constant across recordings. It is the stage of the speaker. The devore was much more into showing the venue that differed LP to LP and more flow, so I preferred that much more for realism.

Now, each Altec sounds different. That said, The one woofer A7 will be more boxier than the 817 due to moving to the vented bass (away from the horn bass).

Also, when Thomas says Lansche is better for classical the Altec mids and highs will be less nuanced than the Lansche. They have nice timbre but less nuance. So I always suggest using Radian or TAD there though I also like Altec but if ultimate nuance especially on violin concertos and separation on large scale is the goal.

Thomas’s Lansche are different than the ones you have heard. They have a Supravox mid/bass that is very fast and dynamic sounding (And it is 99db/watt). The newer ones are all lower sensitivity and far more conventional. I had a customer with the Lansche Goa that was super dynamic (predecessor of their Cubus speaker). They turned away from high sensitivity about 10 years ago except for Cubus II.

 

[thomask]

Imagining aside, in what way do the ALTECs sound more like live?

Altec sounds more natural with effortless dynamics.

My Lansche is not terribly bad with high efficiency( Spec as 99db/w but real no is arounnd 94db still pretty high)

Some high end speakers give more pin point imaging but due to low efficiency, sound appears to be squeezed out of speaker using high power of SS amp.

 

[thomask]

I paid 50K$ for new Lansche 4.1 16 years ago.

It was like buying luxury German car (Lansche is also made in Germany),

But I got Altec A7 four weeks ago at 1000 CDN(750 USD).

Despite the price difference Altec A7 give more effortless sound with nuanced details.

Lansche give more refined sound with holographic imaging.

But with Michael Jacson and large scale orchestral music , I prefer Altec to Lansche.