What do you think of this video

What do you think of this video. And this is not directed to those who think every mobile phone video is trash, thanks. Please listen to the end for the brass and the woodwinds

 

Anyway, let's keep this to a video thread and not make it a cables debate

Ked we are discussing the videos presented to us. The point isn’t cables - the common issue is lack of authentic tonality.

 

I don't know. I still get goose bumps when I think of the sound I heard with the Pac 242 through audionet at his place. But really, it is not competing on tone, nor does it intend to, with originals played into Mayer AER. Yet, the nuance, inflection, dynamic range, grip and change from note to note was far higher than I heard anywhere

You don’t need originals Ked to have a semblance of authentic tone. This tone is waaaay out. You also don’t need Mayers or AERs. There are loads of systems that sound adequate or good tonally.

 

Hi Heihei,

Thanks for sharing this. This is a more realistic presentation and natural. Tonally it is superior to the other WB system. Looking at the gear, I think Hieukm might well be correct about the CH causing some synthetics in the other vid - here your Lampi seems to have removed the plastic violin.

Perhaps record at higher level / more gain.

Best.

Yes was surprised about the lower gain on the recording. Interesting that the gain setting on the Stern was exactly the same, but he was using a balanced input whereas I use single-ended (worth noting Audionet recommend this). I'm using 242 on Lampi which are very high gain. I can try re-recording, but to me this was being played at a realistic in-room volume, and perhaps highlight the limitations of what we're doing here.

Thanks for the kind words about realistic presentation and tonality - this is what I strive for in a system rather than outright detail.

 

He should repeat that after he gets the Pac 242 because imo the GG2 was not doing as good a match with the audionet gear.

Agreed - I think for both of us this is the first time we have materially preferred Pacific over GG2. Audionet is a saturated sound, so can handle the more detailed / analytical approach of the Pacific without losing tonality, harmonics, and flow we love about Lampi.

 

Ked - what cable is Heihei using? I think the Lampi is helping the tone a lot.

Speaker cables are Skogrand Beethoven / Tchaikovsky, interconnects are Z-Axis using Bocchino, and power cables are relatively cheap MCRU ones (although via Shunyata Triton).

Re: Lampi - yep that's why I think many of us love the Lampi sound as it majors on tonality and timbre rather than detail.

 

I differ, I think it also gives a lot of detail. It differentiates most between various instruments in a large orchestra, especially because it gives a different tone and decay character to each instrument. However, the drive varies based on tube/downstream electronics match.

 

Wonder why the Kronos can do the quiet part so good when there are two platters rotating. Although the designer proposed that they counter cancelling the movement generated by themself, still the more moving parts the more moving variable and more noise to my logic. The Kronos played with the Opus1 spooked me with the quiet thing even more than the AF1P. Most tape like sound tt than others that have been in my system. I think the motor and the speed control could be improve further. The designer gave me his wooden record weight that I never tried.

The Kronos is probably the best sounding TT I have heard, whether or not the counter rotating platters has anything to do with it. Basically I have heard it elevate every system I have heard it in.

 

This system has always lacked tone before the introduction of WB speakers, tube trap hence i advocated it because of the CH DAC. But the analog seems to improve on tones but not up to par with the tube ultimates. So it could be the cables: Ansuz, Nordost, Audioquest or Transparent are what i would call technical cables which prize them selves in similar fasion: dynamics, extreme frequency and noise floor. If he have chosen a different path of what i would call musical cables of brands like Argento, Skogrand, Dalby then maybe the tone would have improved but maybe in expense of other current WOW factors like dynamics.

I am surprised to hear that even someone who presumably has so much exposure to real life violin playing like Brad did not immediaetly realised the tone of violin was lacking. Indeed golden ears are required in audio industry after all.

I would like to point out that I was comparing to the YG, not making absolute statements on the system. In comparison it was better.

 

Scheherazde for everyone

His Scheherazade sounds very weird compared to his tango and Michael Rabin

 

Not sure of the purpose for posting this system when the sound is so hifi, homogenized and flat. The violin sounds like someone is sawing wood, two notes only. Everything is off or

I would like to point out that I was comparing to the YG, not making absolute statements on the system. In comparison it was better.

Also, was only commenting on the Tango piece as I hadn’t heard the other two until just now. The Rabin is really not so good but the other recording could bear significant responsibility for that.

 

His Scheherazade sounds very weird compared to his tango and Michael Rabin

Elaborate. I find there is a lack of ambient space in it.

 

Elaborate. I find there is a lack of ambient space in it.

The whole tonality is weird, much more artificial compared to his other videos, given he hasn't changed anything

 

Here's another Michael Rabin pagannini, on digital.

 

Here's another Michael Rabin pagannini, on digital.

Lively but like all the ALTECs the tonal coherence is not the best. You can hear a shift in the tonality from high and low registers that is not seamless. These old Rabin recordings are not the best either but you get a good feel for the orchestra In this setup. It has umph.

 

The woofers in his set up seem better. He is triamping via a tubed cross over so lot going on

 

Lively but like all the ALTECs the tonal coherence is not the best. You can hear a shift in the tonality from high and low registers that is not seamless. These old Rabin recordings are not the best either but you get a good feel for the orchestra In this setup. It has umph.

It looks like there is a tweeter above the multicell (assume 288 or something similar) and then a super tweeter above that too. So looks 4 way. Certainly has a lot of extension on top beyond normal Altec but sounds slightly odd in doing so.

 

The whole tonality is weird, much more artificial compared to his other videos, given he hasn't changed anything

It sounds weird compared to different recordings on it on different stereos or even Youtube, to me.

 

It sounds weird compared to different recordings on it on different stereos or even Youtube, to me.

Yes.

 

This has surely been covered before on this forum, but I ask anyway. How is it possible to come to all these conclusions that you guys do about how this system sounds by listening to these recordings on your home computers (or cell-phones or whatever)? Maybe I am stupid, but that does not make any sense whatsoever to me I am quite sure this system sounds a lot better in real life.

 

The whole tonality is weird, much more artificial compared to his other videos, given he hasn't changed anything

Nothing’s different, it’s all the same flaws.
david