Visit to Marc C.'s (SpiritOfMusic's) House in England

[bonzo75]

Considering it to be a hobby, Why does it feel like *The Twelve Labours of Heracles* at times

Hera had induced Heracles with a madness that made him kill his wife and children. You think he bought a speaker with no WAF, thick gold cables all over the place, changed all safety fuses, and added mercury vapor tubes?

 

[bonzo75]

Considering it to be a hobby, Why does it feel like *The Twelve Labours of Heracles* at times

If not for the labor, people wouldn't feel a sense of achievement after they bought, the urge to start a new thread to make the announcement, and to get congratulations

 

[morricab]

Because the hobby often involves digging down into the Earth, without a torch. I would have said tunnel, but there's often no light at the end of it Lol.
There were a few factors that contributed to the sub par outcome I heard.
The room was challenging, effectively L-shaped, w the sitting position right at the elbow of the L.
The room was too small for these spkrs.
We were using a prototype server w quad switch.
There was too much switching of power cords A-B-As.
I suspect other spkrs would have been similarly challenged.
But I also can't deny what I heard, a certain abrasive hardness that was present track to track, and once heard, impossible to unhear.

All that and you automatically blame the speakers? Kind of an amateur mistake...

 

[spiritofmusic]

Well, at least I didn't blame it on YouTube.

 

[Argonaut]

Well..If we are going to apply analogies perhaps Heracles 5th labour has much to offer... Left field ingenuity disregarded , Toil with the promise of success ending with unfulfilling disappointment , Reneging of promices, Accepting reward as inducement, The Judgment of another, and perhaps most appropriately...Copious amounts of Bull Shit! :0}

” King Augeas had a stable which housed over 1,000 cattle. Hercules approached King Augeas and offered to clean the stables in one day and asked for a tenth of his cattle in return. King Augeas agreed to the terms, under the impression that Hercules would not be able to complete the task. With his quick wits and clever ingenuity, Hercules bore openings in the stables and rerouted the two main rivers, Alpheus and Peneus, to rush through the stables and flush out the waste. Learning that Hercules had been ordered to clean the stables by Eurystheus, King Augeas refused to pay Hercules with one-tenth of his cattle. Hercules took the matter to a judge where the judge determined Hercules should be rewarded for his completion. Hercules returned home where Eurystheus told him that his labor did not count as he had used the rivers to clean the stables, as well as accepted a reward for this labor.”

 

[spiritofmusic]

And they tell kids in school to use their initiative.

 

[morricab]

And they tell kids in school to use their initiative.

Not anymore...they just want them to feel good about themselves...

 

[spiritofmusic]

Nothing wrong in feeling good about yourself. The outside world is at a whole level of complexity worse than you or I ever had it when we were at school.

 

[bonzo75]

Schools are now like audio forums where you give feedback to make the person feel good rather than a reality check

 

[spiritofmusic]

Anyone who thinks they have a reality check to give is likely the least qualified person to give it.
And reality? In THIS hobby?
Bring out the measurements.

 

[PeterA]

Two hour demo in a full AC setup incl Symphonias. I was very impressed with the general liveliness of the system, but there was a pervading hardness on almost all music that initially I thought was an increase in dynamics beyond what I'm used to from my Zus, but became apparent as an imposed coloration. I don't hear this from Duos or Trios, Liszts, or Bill's horns. For me it was a deal breaker, especially at €120k tag.

Marc, How did you determine that the hardness was from the speakers and not something else in that system?

 

[spiritofmusic]

That's not my job. I'm at the behest of the host. He's happy to run his system as he did. I'm not familiar with the gear, or how his room sounds w alternative gear.
But in a system w all ACerat dac/amps/horns, a server that was up there w the well regarded CDP that we also listened to, and a renowned loom of cables, what am I meant to object to/suggest?
My only suggestion is that the room was a challenge, but it's a typical room you'd get in a £1m+ N. London house, and had some treatments.
On the basis of all that, I drew my conclusions. Just like people do of my system when they visit.
As I say, it was engaging on a few levels, but a certain mids harshness intervened.

 

[spiritofmusic]

And I've now heard three horns based systems characterised w this glassiness in the mids...these Symphonias, Animas, and a wholly strange WE replica.
And two horns with not a hint...Cessaro Liszts and Bill's horns.

 

[PeterA]

That's not my job. I'm at the behest of the host. He's happy to run his system as he did. I'm not familiar with the gear, or how his room sounds w alternative gear.
But in a system w all ACerat dac/amps/horns, a server that was up there w the well regarded CDP that we also listened to, and a renowned loom of cables, what am I meant to object to/suggest?
My only suggestion is that the room was a challenge, but it's a typical room you'd get in a £1m+ N. London house, and had some treatments.
On the basis of all that, I drew my conclusions. Just like people do of my system when they visit.
As I say, it was engaging on a few levels, but a certain mids harshness intervened.

Yes, but you were clearly claiming the speakers are flawed and that you would never consider owning them. You cited this audition as the reason for your claim. I am simply asking how you concluded that the mids harshness you heard was from the speakers. I guess I still don't understand that, but you seem convinced, so that is fine.

 

[morricab]

Nothing wrong in feeling good about yourself. The outside world is at a whole level of complexity worse than you or I ever had it when we were at school.

People feel good by achievement of something real and challenging not by being given things.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Who's giving young people anything? Very few will ever own property, they are the first generation to do less well than their parents, the world order has let them down since 2001, and especially 2008/9...and now they have the post pandemic to negotiate.
My childhood in 60s-80s was a walk in the park in comparison.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Yes, but you were clearly claiming the speakers are flawed and that you would never consider owning them. You cited this audition as the reason for your claim. I am simply asking how you concluded that the mids harshness you heard was from the speakers. I guess I still don't understand that, but you seem convinced, so that is fine.

The sound was flawed at this demo. I can't imagine what the issue was other than me being sensitive to this presentation.
There was not one suggestion I could easily have made to confidently predict an improvement in SQ.
I'm not sure what you're disagreeing w me about.

 

[morricab]

And I've now heard three horns based systems characterised w this glassiness in the mids...these Symphonias, Animas, and a wholly strange WE replica.
And two horns with not a hint...Cessaro Liszts and Bill's horns.

Again not proof of anything to do with the speakers you heard. I have heard, for example, Animas sound as you describe but I have also heard them sound pretty awesome. I have heard Avantgarde speakers mostly sound horrible but a couple times sound amazing. I am not ready to write off either speaker based on these experiences because I know this kind of speaker is like an audio microscope and anything wrong will be exposed. The Symphonia doesn’t have a hard mid at all so something else was at play...could very well have been the line power.

I had an experience in Munich where a Cessaro/KR Audio room (I was a KR Audio dealer at the time) was sounding poor...rough glassy mids and highs and weak bass. I was sitting talking (because listening wasn’t great) to a guy near the end of the day when suddenly (and I do mean from one moment to the next) the sound hat dramatically better! I mean head snapping time. I was like WTF??!! Then I realized it was just after closing time for the day and most rooms had shut down. It was then I realized just how important clean power was(I was skeptical before that) and how it can fundamentally change the sound.

 

[morricab]

Who's giving young people anything? Very few will ever own property, they are the first generation to do less well than their parents, the world order has let them down since 2001, and especially 2008/9...and now they have the post pandemic to negotiate.
My childhood in 60s-80s was a walk in the park in comparison.

Just false self esteem...

 

[spiritofmusic]

My aim is not to denigrate the Symphonias. I wouldn't own the Trios either. I'm only commenting since they were tossed in this thread as suggestions.