Description


After 20+ years with Avanrgarde Duos I made th eswitch to Voxativ field coils. The Duos were and still are superb. The FC are slightly more cohesive and smoother and I might have just been itching to change. Could happily live with either



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Room Details

Dimensions: 30’ × 16’  Large
Ceiling: 8’


Components Toggle details

    • DIY 6SN7 - 300B SET amp
    bi-amping, this is for the field coils , 

    using a lot of Intact Audio iron, inter-stage transformers, output transformers, and power supply chokes.

    simple .047 uF Jupiter cap on input to keep low bass out of the speakers
    • Naim NAP 100
    bi-amping, this is for the bass horns

    simple RC filter with Jupiter caps on input to keep high f s out of the horns
    • Marantz AV10
    9.4.6 Genelec LCR , Paradigm speakers  for rest except  Genelec subs
    • Garrard 301
    completely gone through and upgraded. Stainless steel platter and brass bearing from Peak Audio UK. Motor serviced with new bearings, and just about everything else that can be replaced/upgraded including a DIY plinth. Very happy. This is an end game turntable.
    • Sorane SA-12 with My Sonic Lab Eminent Solo
    • Kuzma 4 point 14 with Jan Allaerts MkII
    • EMIA LR phono corrector with silver SUT
    wow, just wow
    • Star Sound Technologies sp4 Sistrum rack
    • Voxativ AC-X field coils w/ 16 foot DIY basshorns
    These replaced my Avantgarde Duo Omegas. I built the 16 foot horns to cover 30-180Hz and replace stock AG woofers.
    • Eighth Nerve room treatments
    These things really work.
    • GIK Acoustics Acoustic Panels
    I have a very lively room with brick walls and plaster ceiling. These have tamed it. my RT60 time is almost ideal
    • Seymour 160" theater screen 2.35
    • JVC NZ8 laser projector
    4K projector
    • Crown XLS1000
    Six 2 channel power amps for height, wides, surrounds
    • Genelec 8050B
    center channel and L-R

Comments 101

Herman,

I would love to hear more about your vinyl digitizing: in your experience are the results as good as the vinyl? Are you doing 24/96? My experiments doing same at 24/96 with a rather humble Masterlink device were very encouraging. However, the vinyl was still noticeably better so I stopped.

My system is now Orphean bass bins with the Ah! 300 horns. With EQ, no real need for tweets. I am now using a DEQX and it is very promising, though not yet optimized. No digital sound signature whatsoever.

Did you experiment with passive xovers at all?

If I had room for bass horns, I'd do it. Yours look great and must sound incredible.

Perhaps I will try Edgar bass bins or some similar ~80 Hz horn with subs underneath some time.

paulfolbrecht

Herman, I have been eyeing your setup for some time. (And we have talked of course.)

I'm finally taking the plunge into front horns with an Ah! 300 horn with B&C drivers couple to Orphean Reference bass bins.

I plan to use a DXC2496 to cross.

paulfolbrecht

Owner
System edited: Added a third amp to triamp and get rid of all passive crossovers. This was a revelation. I expected some subtle improvement in getting rid of the tweeter filter but it really changed the tone of the system for the better. .

herman

Glad to see you got the light bulb put into an actual fixture! LOL!
Btw, how far are you off the path from Nashville to Chicago? would like to stop by for a listen if we drive to Chicago in the fall.

streetdaddy

Owner
Everything goes through the computer

Only sources are digital files mostly ripped from CDs and vinyl

From the description of the RME

Also using the ADC function to digitize my vinyl, cartridge straight into mic inputs.

RIAA, volume, 2 way crossover, and time alignment all done by Pure Vinyl software,

herman

Super cool, is this system, just awesome.

How do you switch between sources, and what amplifies the output from your tonearm/cartridge?

Please get bigger speakers next time!

macdadtexas

Owner
B&C 12NW76 compressed down to a 20 sq inch opening. Would like to try a LF compression driver like a Goto but they are insanely expensive.

herman

Hi Herman
Very impressive speakers you have made I must say, may I enquire what driver are you using for the bass horn.
Thank you Jason.

jasonparmenter

Owner
Sure, the maximums are 55 inches wide, 79 inches deep, and 8 feet tall. You could make them less deep if you started the curve up sooner. I added a side view so you better see how I did it but you just need to maintain the proper rate of expansion so there are an infinite number of ways to configure it.

herman

May I ask what the depth (physical dimension) is of the folded bass horn? I want to do something similar but have a door fairly close to the front wall. Thanks!

stenersr

Owner
Jason, I have quite a few of the Eighth Nerve products but haven't managed to get them put up yet. I do not have any bass traps but it is something to consider. The bass is pretty good but we always wonder if we can make it better.

herman

Hi Herman
Do you have any bass traps behind your speakers in the corners, I have found this to be a huge improvement to the sound quality in room.
Your picture did not show any so I thought I would make the suggestion.
Your speakers look very impressive, they must sound very effortless during music playback.

Cheers Jason.

jasonparmenter

Very very impressive set up.
Love the speakers with the big bass horns.
Must sound awesome, congrats.
Take care,

rugyboogie

Owner
Hi Kale, just realized I didn't respond to your last email. Sorry. The RME Firface 400 is the nerve center of the set up. I feed my cartridge directly to it and it amplifies and and digitizes it. The Mac gets that data via firewire. The Pure Vinyl does the RIAA correction, controls the volume digitally, and does the crossover and time alignment for the bass horn. It then feeds it back to the RME via firewire where it is also the 4 channel DAC.

For digital files the Pure Vinyl does basically the same thing interfacing with iTunes. iTunes manages the database but PV does all of the processing.

The RME will go both directions up to 24/192. I have some 24/96 files from HD tracks that in general are a bit better than the 16/44.1 versions but I don't have many to directly compare so I'm not saying it is definitely worth the extra expense for them. I have Louis and Ella in both and while I prefer the 24/96 it may just be that a remastered 16/44.1 would be too close to tell a difference. Certainly no harm in the higher rez if you can get it.

Since I'm using firewire I really have no need for the USB-spdif device but it looks interesting.

Take care

.

herman

Hi Bruce,

What are you using for a dac? Do you have one that will play the hi rez files? Have you thought about trying one of those hiface units on your mac mini?

streetdaddy

Owner
The next thing to play with is equalization on the bass horns. Pure Music/Vinyl supports AU plug ins so you can apply all manner of EQ to the system. I'm getting ready to start playing with room EQ wizard and see what that does for me.

herman

Honk Honk

vernneal

Herman/Bruce,
That looks great and must sound awesome. Someday I'd love to get the 45Hz-180Hz on mine like that, but it will be a while before I have a mancave which will allow me to do that.

t_bone

Owner
Oh, I see. I made them with the help of a friend.

http://hifiheroin.blogspot.com/2010/04/music-maker-of-month-bruce-bosler.html

herman

Thanks. Oops. My question on "source" was more of a "where did you get them" question. Did you make them? Are they made by someone else? They're huge! I love'em!

Thanks for the note about Pure Vinyl software doing time alignment. I will have to look more closely at the software.

t_bone

Owner
The 300B amps drive the big horns and Pure Vinyl software does the time alignment

herman

Herman, what is the source for the big horns? And how did/do you time-align them?

t_bone

Owner
system edited. changed to RME Fireface 400 and Pure Vinyl software

herman

Owner
System edited: Added the big bass horns and triamping, updated equipment list

herman

Owner
System edited: new bass horns, will update later

herman

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