Show us your equipment / kit !

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Starting with a shot of right channel speaker. More to come..

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On 3/21/2020 at 4:39 AM, Bazinga said:

 

Bel Canto Black System ASC2 

Focal Maestro Evo

Rel 212SE

 

Very nice set-up. I know there's not much space, but have you tried having the REL's flanking your mains behind them?

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A bit of background info on above pictured speaker set-up of mine: 

Obviously an all-horn speaker system, the trajectory to which formed over the course of some years. Initially I felt inclined to move away from dome tweeters (for a variety of reasons), and tried out ribbon-based tweeter solutions from the likes of Raidho speakers, then moved on to waveguides hybrids (Amphion, S.P. Technology and hORNS), and by that time finally wanted to explore a more "through and through" approach with horn loading of the entire audible frequency spectrum to attain a fuller envelope in regards to coherency and dynamics in particular. At first I augmented my mains with a direct radiating SVS SB16-Ultra, but the decision to go all-horn with a pair of 15"-loaded tapped horns proved more than worthwhile. 

 

Indeed, coherency and overall uniformity of presentation achieved via all-horn loading is a major step-up compared to horn-hybrids, but it requires of one to accept the inevitability of size - especially where sub-territory goes (and this is where most go along with direct radiating subs, if they even get to implementing midbass horns); in my case the tapped horn subs take up 20 cubic feet per horn to achieve a ~23Hz tune @ 97dB sensitivity. 

Some all-horn systems requires of the listening distance to be quite substantial for the sound of each element to cohere into a whole, but in my case 11-12 ft. seems sufficient. And yet, the next move of mine may be going towards coherency in the time domain as well with Tom Danley's Synergy horns, which also means listening distance can be reduced significantly being the Synergy horns emulates a true point source. We'll see how it goes, but as is I'm extremely pleased with the sound from my system. 

 

/Mikael

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4 hours ago, mourip said:

Great system. Can you explain what your "shotgun" config is for your speaker wire?

Do you use two different thicknesses of Duelund to each speaker?

 

Thanks!

 

And thank you. 

Actually the shotgun configuration I'm using consists of two entirely different pairs of cables; the Mundorf silver/gold 1.5 mm solid-core cable, and Duelund's DCA16GA. For a while (close to 12 years now in total, with different speakers) I had already been running with the Mundorf in a single wire config with my current mains, but while an extremely good "monitor" cable I've always found it to exhibit a slight imprinting or signature of sorts, and one that shone through on all my previous speakers (where I've used it) as well in a similar fashion. Mainly it deals with a "reticence" in the upper bass/lower mids area, and a minute sense of glare/hardness further up in the frequency range. Overall it lacked a bit "bloom" and fullness to the sound. 

 

Then I read of the tinned copper Duelund wires (+ vintage origins) and their sonic traits, and not being expensive cables I set out to to exchange my Mundorf wires for a while with the Duelund's. What became immediately clear was that the tinned copper cables (in a baked, oiled cotton sleeve) addressed the areas with the Mundorf's I felt lacking, but not without its caveats; the highs now appeared too rolled off, and the overall presentation also felt a tad too rich or slightly fat even. I longed for a middle ground somewhere between the Mundorf's and Duelund's. 

 

Upon learning of this difference with his own ears an audio buddy of mine suggested that I simply shotgunned the two wires, because.. why not? And so we did in the immediate wake of his suggestion, and there we then sat with our mouths wide open when we heard the outcome of this - it worked! All I can say is that a great balance of insight and a naturally relaxed fullness has entered the sonic stage. 

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My former, passively configured Simon Mears Audio Uccello speakers about half a year ago were replaced with a pair of fully actively run Electro-Voice TS940D LX pro cinema speakers (they had been used in a cinema in Germany). Some may scoff at pro cinema speakers in a home environment, not least intended for both music and Home Theater duties (sans surrounds), but these are underrated gems and a great addition more to my sonic liking. They sport two parallel coupled 15" woofers and a 2" exit compression driver - so, a 2-way design - which are crossed at just below 800Hz. The tapped horn subs take over from ~85Hz on down and are high-passed at 20Hz. Filter slopes are 36dB/octave all the way through, though with a different filter type on the sub HP. 

 

Present, coherent, effortless and very dynamic sounding, and with great insight, overall tonality and soundstage. 

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There's no replacement for displacement, as they say. Added the bigger Electro-Voice HP9040 Constant Directivity horns to replace the previous and smaller HP940 dittos, so the pro cinema EV speaker system is now named TS9040D LX (actively driven). Crossed at 500Hz.