Yes! I have a pair of Magnepan 3.6Rs and love them. I listen through a Classe CA-200 amplifier, Audio Research LS-7 tube preamp, Accuphase T-100 tuner (which rivals any source if you have good local stations), Jolida JD-100 CDP, Squeezebox, and an Oracle Delphi MK II turntable with an Eminent Technology ET2 linear tracking air bearing tonearm and a few reel to reel tape decks. The 6-foot tall ribbon tweeter on the 3.6Rs is an amazing piece of engineering that presents space in an almost eerie way on good recordings. It's crazy. I'm currently restoring a Garrard 301 turntable that I'm planning on using with my Eminent Technology ET2.5 tonearm (the one with the larger spindle) in a home-built plinth. It never ends!
Speakers and stereo equipment
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Yes! I have a pair of Magnepan 3.6Rs and love them. I listen through a Classe CA-200 amplifier, Audio Research LS-7 tube preamp, Accuphase T-100 tuner (which rivals any source if you have good local stations), Jolida JD-100 CDP, Squeezebox, and an Oracle Delphi MK II turntable with an Eminent Technology ET2 linear tracking air bearing tonearm and a few reel to reel tape decks. The 6-foot tall ribbon tweeter on the 3.6Rs is an amazing piece of engineering that presents space in an almost eerie way on good recordings. It's crazy. I'm currently restoring a Garrard 301 turntable that I'm planning on using with my Eminent Technology ET2.5 tonearm (the one with the larger spindle) in a home-built plinth. It never ends!
Holy mutha. I just did a google search to see what these Magnapans were. That's a large (!) speaker. Pretty impressive looking speaker - I can almost here them vibrating through my screen. Not getting that past the Interior Decorating Committee. I can just see me coming home with a couple of those, which makes me think of this:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kE0pxRkMtQ[/ame]
Haha, no,no, they're not like that at all. They do not play overly loud. They just sound like live music is being playen in front of you. They are very delicate and precise with lots of "air". You don't even hear the speaker if that makes any sense. I'm sure the speaker in that video (if it were real) doesn't sound like music at all.
I had a pair of Thiel CS 3.5s for years. I could not tame them no matter what I tried. Listening to them was actually stressful lol. Too much mid and high frequencies and the woofers would bottom out on certain tracks at louder volumes. They did image and do the space thing well, though. The EQ box went back to Thiel at least 3 times for adjustment. Jim Thiel himself did the adjustments the first few times. The 3.5s were an older model, but the newer ones with the coaxial drivers are supposed to be amazing.
Jim Thiel has since passed and the company was sold. The new owners got rid of almost, if not all of, the old staff and completely scrapped everything Jim devoted his whole life to. They threw out coaxial drivers, 1st order crossovers, and sloped baffles which is what made Thiels time and phase coherent. It's really a sad story. Everything he worked for is gone, and now the new owner is building crap similar to what you can buy at Best Buy with the Thiel name on it. It's ridiculous. I wonder what happened to all of the tooling that Thiel used to make their drivers. I sure hope that someone will start producing speakers similar to Thiels with it.
This dude totally gets it:
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arturo7
Well-Known Member
I've had a pair of Thiels for over 20 years. Yes, they can sound a bit harsh. However, that problem was solved when I switched to a tube preamp and vinyl.
That didn't totally help my 3.5s. Jazz and classical were okay, but rock and roll, not so much. The last straw was the new ownership. I knew it would be impossible to get replacement parts or drivers rebuilt since the whole company basically disappeared, so I dumped them while they were still operational. I don't regret it at all. There are thousands of speakers out there and one may really speak to you, but you won't know it until you get it in your room! I think the next for me will be ultra high efficiency speakers and flea watt tube amps. I have never heard such a setup.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
arturo7
Well-Known Member
I'm looking at that as well. Probably go with a Bottlehead kit for the mono blocks.
Not exactly technically a "flea watt" setup, but one of the very best setups I've listened to for near-field listening is a pair of Rogers LS3/5A's driven by a pair of McIntosh MC-30's and a pair of B&W 12" subs. Exceptional imaging and sound field.
The only thing better is a set of Dunlavy SC-VI driven by heavily modified Hafler 500's. Those are on the other end of the spectrum, though...
The only thing better is a set of Dunlavy SC-VI driven by heavily modified Hafler 500's. Those are on the other end of the spectrum, though...
McIntosh tube amps are cool. I have an MC-225 that I rebuilt/brought up to spec about ten years ago and it's never been in a system because I never had appropriate speakers for it. Here it is with the original power tubes and some Electro Harmonix.
Stillraining
Well-Known Member
I'm old School.....except for the IPod.....the turn table sits idle in the other room.
McIntosh tube amps are cool. I have an MC-225 that I rebuilt/brought up to spec about ten years ago and it's never been in a system because I never had appropriate speakers for it. Here it is with the original power tubes and some Electro Harmonix.
Beautiful pics! Gotta love those softly glowing tubes.
Plug that bad boy into something! Doesn't matter what, it's gonna sound good! [emoji16]
OP
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applescrap
Be the ball!
^^agreed awesome pics. I love it when you talk hi fi. Looked up those dunlavys again. Man they sound incredible. Also found out dunlavy and their labs were an hour drive and in Colorado Springs this whole time. Makes me hope maybe I can find a used pair somewhere. Not quite sure I could lift a pair of the sixes myself 
The concept is really cool. He believed in testing the speakers to ultimate performance not pixie dust.
The concept is really cool. He believed in testing the speakers to ultimate performance not pixie dust.
I'm trying to suppress my audio envy. I shouldn't be looking at this thread. I sure don't need another obsession (the audio strikes, and does some damage, every few years).
Was on the way to the dog park today and heard the beach boys Good Vibrations. I remember hearing it was the most costly production of any song, ever, in it's day. I was thinking how cool it would be to have it on vinyl. I did at one time (dad gave me his BB collection, but that's LONG gone).
My buddy is a vinyl freak. I went to his office a few months ago and he had Take Five (Dave Brubeck) playing on vinyl in his office. The dynamic range blew me away. Might have been the small room, but man I swear I don't ever hear that with digital. I never realized how well those little grooves could perform.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs[/ame]
Was on the way to the dog park today and heard the beach boys Good Vibrations. I remember hearing it was the most costly production of any song, ever, in it's day. I was thinking how cool it would be to have it on vinyl. I did at one time (dad gave me his BB collection, but that's LONG gone).
My buddy is a vinyl freak. I went to his office a few months ago and he had Take Five (Dave Brubeck) playing on vinyl in his office. The dynamic range blew me away. Might have been the small room, but man I swear I don't ever hear that with digital. I never realized how well those little grooves could perform.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDDOFXSgAs[/ame]
Shots fired!!!
Seriously, are you trying to start a [loudness] war in here?
That said, the "lack of dynamic range" of most digital sources is due to crappy recording engineers more often than any technical problem. The dynamic range of a CD is actually higher than that of vinyl, but too many recording engineers have pushed up the loudness on recordings.
A well-mastered CD is just fine.
dstockwell
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Makes me hope maybe I can find a used pair somewhere. Not quite sure I could lift a pair of the sixes myself
Dunlavy Audio Labs SC-IV
https://www.audiogon.com/listings/f...-2017-02-12-speakers-34234-meadows-village-fl
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applescrap
Be the ball!
^^the speaker's look nice. Anybody know how they would compare with 801s? There are some thiel cs1.5 listed in Denver for 490 or something. Speaking of sales, I have a pair of CDM 1se and cm4 for sale.
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applescrap
Be the ball!
Pics, 400 for the amazing bookshelves and 550 for the towers
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^^agreed awesome pics. I love it when you talk hi fi. Looked up those dunlavys again. Man they sound incredible. Also found out dunlavy and their labs were an hour drive and in Colorado Springs this whole time. Makes me hope maybe I can find a used pair somewhere. Not quite sure I could lift a pair of the sixes myself
They DO sound incredible! [emoji16]
They do have their downsides... you need a very large room to really let them "breathe," and very powerful amps to drive them. It's funny though, even with the 500w per channel we're driving them with, they don't "sound" loud... they certainly "feel" loud, but it's an odd experience.
Oh, and you're absolutely right about moving them! It took me and 5 other guys, a bunch of furniture and piano dollies, and a box truck to get them into my dad's studio... 500lbs each!
Thank you for this! A very overlooked fact.
That being said, I love vinyl. [emoji16]
Stillraining
Well-Known Member
Not positive but I think they call it compression... they compress everything into a muddled infusion where everything is evened out. Makes for easier radio transmission or something I guess..???
CD's aren't compressed at all. MP3s are.
The dynamic range of a CD is limited to 16 bits (~ 65000 levels), by the size of a single data sample. In theory analog systems like analog tape and vinyl have infinite dynamic range I'd think. Regarding vinyl, the dynamic range is probably limited by the grain of the vinyl material, the needle,etc.
44100 samples per second are done to digitize the music for CD's, which limits the top frequency that is possible to about 22kHz. My dog might be disappointed in that, but not me.
dstockwell
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Long review from 1998. http://www.stereophile.com/floorloudspeakers/166/index.html#RRXtBLEJGpOUK8tp.97
Like @passedpawn said, it's not really compression in the sense that an mp3 is compressed from a WAV file. A lot of people use the term "brickwalled" which is also kind of weird but whatever. Essentially music can lose the detail as it gets mastered louder and louder. If you look at old school CDs prior to the loudness war, there are lots of peaks and valleys in the digital music image. As the mastering gets louder, those valleys close up and you are left with a solid image (presumably that's where the term brickwall comes from). So compression isn't really the right word but you are correct in saying that it gets muddled. But it sounds louder and presumably research showed that sells records.
Just for kicks, I thought I'd share with this group my music system for our living room:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghG379hnkL8[/ame]
LOL. This is from the guy who makes them, not me. I thought you audiophiles might get a laugh out of it. Twenty years ago, I got rid of my Harmon Kardon and Bose system - just more than I wanted or cared about. Sorry, didn't mean to derail and certainly am not poking fun at those of you who are really into it, just thought you might get a laugh out of my cigar box blue tooth speaker.
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghG379hnkL8[/ame]
LOL. This is from the guy who makes them, not me. I thought you audiophiles might get a laugh out of it. Twenty years ago, I got rid of my Harmon Kardon and Bose system - just more than I wanted or cared about. Sorry, didn't mean to derail and certainly am not poking fun at those of you who are really into it, just thought you might get a laugh out of my cigar box blue tooth speaker.
headbanger
Well-Known Member
I've been running a OA RR2150 for a while now and I must say it is incredible. Most of my source audio resides as FLAC files on my media server which is basically a Mac Mini hooked to several external drives. The OA has a very nice DAC built right in so I can just throw my audio straight into the amp from the server and, honestly, there is no discernible difference between that and pure analog, or at least not to my ears. Even MP3 sounds great through this amp, straight from the Mini.
Stillraining
Well-Known Member
Well I knew it was something like that. I still have about 350 LP Vinyl but I never play them....I like the ease of digital. And I dont really like listing to a bunch of just one artists songs in a row anymore. Probably why I was into Real to Real back in the day I could make my own play list.
Carry on.
Carry on.
Ah, the death of the concept album. How can one listen to ANY pink floyd without going from album front to back entirely? Chemical Romance, Jay-Z, Green Day. So many albums that told a story. The Who - Tommy? He's a blind pinball wizard. Check out Sinatra Watertown.
Sorry for the sidebar. I used to LOVE coming home with a new album and listening to it with headphones. Hopefully the album liner contained the lyrics.
Stillraining
Well-Known Member
I use to like LSD and mushrooms too...people change...:fro:
arturo7
Well-Known Member
Albums are awesome, whether concept or otherwise. If like an artist but only listen to their popular songs, you're likely missing a ton of great music.
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applescrap
Be the ball!
This is somewhat the way I understand it. Original CD players were one bit. One, sixteen, or 32 bits to cover an analog sine wave seems like it would plausibly leave something out. I'm not sure if on a Hi-Fi system I could tell which was which in a blind test, but almost always would prefer vinyl if i had a choice. I dont have any bieber on vinyl though so roku rules for me. Been to long for me since I listened to vinyl but I remember enjoying it very much. Infact we had some friends over at our house this one time. Everyone was wasted and like a half hour later we realized we were listening to the jam section of, i heard it through the grapevine, ccr. The record scratch was looping that jam. Man that jam is sweet. Interesting side note they used it at a high end dealer for a listening test I did a few months ago, unrequested.
