The John Farlowe Era Exposure appreciation thread

I was a bit of a late convert but I like it too now. There was aN XXV RC on EBay just yesterday. It was on a BIN or best offer and wasn't expensive

Great amps. Deserve to be seen as legends.

Jesus Christ....How old are you?



S.

Brutal, but true.

S.

Well at least it makes me feel younger

I only remember "New Hifi Sound" magazine whIch was a bit rubbish.,I sure it replaced another mag that I've since forgotten. It wasn't Hifi Answers/Audiophile which was a contemporary.

I didn't realise your new speakers took a bit of driving. I was slightly tempted when your Exposures came up, but they were a bit "new" for me. If I ever see another pair like the ones I sold to Yomanze, I will have them any day.

Heard the mighty XVI Mono's back in 2012. The owner sold me a X at the time.

I still remember the XVI sounding very dynamic. Bass was powerful and slightly dry. The source was a Naim CD5i, which I think was a let down for that system.

XVI is still on my want list. Yeah I know, fecking rare as hens teeth!!

S.

Which Naim era did they use I wonder? Bolt up ones were musical and valve-like (honest, they were delightfully musical with a nice warmth of tone) which was ditched for an agressive hard hitting sound in the CB models and only mildly tamed in the Olive era. The new cosmetic seemed to get the midrange nice again, but with grainy top, thumpy bass and the hard clipping HURT if these amps were pushed. I heard many from Nait 5 to the last 250 with Super-Nait in between and they were all the same.

Paul, I have to bow to your knowledge of the Focals over the years. The first ones I knew were from the early noughties up to a £1200 stand mounter (were these Electra models?) and these had boomy bass (or no bass if plugged) and a filling-extracting tweeter setting. I heard some cheap basic models from a then new budget range and these were nice (around £300pr i remember) before I went into semi-retirement and moved here. The big ones you and macca have passed me by although I was distinctly unimpressed with some huge 'Utopia?' models I heard at a show (where were the musicians, let alone the music?). It was only listeng aghast at the current Kanta droning on tunelessly, driven by a Naim streamer for ten minutes last november that I kind of heard one of the new ones...

Mind you, a pair of larger Russell Kaufmann models with similar Naim streamer also sounded drony, heavy lower mids and ultimately boring (I put it down to my gammy ears with Russell, an old colleague of mine from forty odd years ago). Maybe it's the Naim... My ears are better now and I can hear highs a little more evenly, but age and tinnitus means I can't take a full-fat speaker balance (rules out mid period Harbeths such as the SHL5's I have which I need to decide what to do with). I need to hear the JBL 4412SE before too long just to see if that more assertive quality will suit my ears and room better and of course larger JBL's and ATC's are beyond me now (such a giant killing bargain, the ATC 50's and 100's in active form used to be compared to the bling crap available domestically in my opinion)... You don't need expensive wires and foo add-ons to make these work properly, just plonk down and go

Sorry for the thread drift. I wonder what a larger Farlowe era power amp would sound like with a modern preamp (Exposure preamps were the weakest bit I recall) and source?

I mainly know the 7 and 8, the 4 and the 4DR. All of which I've worked on and carried out mods on. Pretty good amps generally, much better than Naim, but then that's not difficult. Ultimately lacking the last bit of precision and transparency for me though.

Yes, no bullshit style.

S.

Unfortunately "deleted" is as described. He left a little while back to "get away from forums" but still runs a Facebook group, of which the name escapes me.

If anyone knows, they might be able to point you in his direction.