Bigman80
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Posts: 16,398
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 20, 2019 17:14:11 GMT
Now I have my main system sorted, I missed having a space to recount my adventures. Sure, I can write about any bargains I snap up, but I wanted a space to report on my listening, my room, or my thoughts on the stuff I have and any kit I get to hear...... Plus anything else I want to write about. So here it is.
First up, I’d like to say a bit more about the Neat Petite 3s I picked up because they were cheap and I like their looks. Better than my last encounter with Petite 3s (with a Naim 250) but well short of my Reference Spicas. Given their size, that’s not unexpected.
Longer listening brought back previous memories of Neat speakers. They need big amps, preferably bi-amped. Whilst the Sonneteer covers its tracks well, there’s no denying the Neats need a big injection of power and weight to thrive. Something like a Krell, or better still, two, would elevate these to a new plane.
Here’s the thing: Why? I can get that lift in performance by choosing speakers that don’t need a bomb up their arse (or worse, two) to sing. The Spicas for instance, or Duevel or Snell, or Klipsch or a host of other speakers. If you need that sort of sound, good for you, but I really don’t. I find a lower powered amp and efficient speakers more agile and engaging. YMMV.
The Neats were meant to sit in the main bedroom and be used with the TPA 3116. I will give that a shot, but they have been overtaken by events because my elas get dropped off tomorrow. They are my ideal bedroom speakers having lived with them in that role for about 7 years. They will likely get first try on the end of the TPA 3116.
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Post by antonio on Jul 20, 2019 17:37:01 GMT
What ya hanging on to those Neat's for then? Cheap and good looking, those are the attributes of a wife not speakers.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 20, 2019 17:43:26 GMT
What ya hanging on to those Neat's for then? Cheap and good looking, those are the attributes of a wife not speakers. It’s never been just about sound for me, I like to enjoy having and looking at stuff, Probably a bit like a classic car collector who has cars he doesn’t drive, or the Star Wars collector who keeps things in the pack. They are fully boxed too, so I will likely just put them away when I get tired of then and bring them out at some future point when I fancy renewing my acquaintance. I’m limited in how much I can store otherwise I’d probably have a few more bits. I’ve still kept the PT Da Capo for similar reasons. The other factor is what would I do with the money? it would just be a slightly higher (and barely noticeable) number on a bank statement. Sure, I’d make more than I paid, but they will likely be worth just as much in the future. As long as I have the space, I’d rather have the Neats, |
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Post by antonio on Jul 20, 2019 17:49:41 GMT
Just have another look at your turntable, now that is a good looking piece.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 20, 2019 17:55:52 GMT
Just have another look at your turntable, now that is a good looking piece. It makes me happy I didn’t settle for the succession of PS6750s I bought and sold, or the number of Xerxes I had. The last two Xerxes seemed fated. One broke down and the other got wrecked by the courier. If that hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have been looking and wouldn’t have seen the TransRotor. |
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Bigman80
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Posts: 16,398
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 14:52:53 GMT
Been playing the Elas and enjoying their vibe. I was surprised that they has less clarity than my DIY cubes, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been. Mine have an expensive tweeter, crossover components and wiring. They also have carbon fibre and steel lining. It prompted me to put them in the main system. Given that I’m trying them in free space, the lack of bass shouldn’t be a surprise, They age a lovely clarity and airiness to them. I liked them when I made them but this is the first time I’ve used them in this main system. Again they won’t beat my Spicas but they do beat the Neats everywhere except bass. Here’s a pic but the light from the window tends to make it hard to grab a decent shot.  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2019 15:20:36 GMT
looks a nice gaff westie -lad
you bought a place in the uk then?
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Post by dsjr on Jul 21, 2019 15:27:59 GMT
Old ELAs were about as bright and clear as I'd like to go myself. Any more than that and you're in squeaker territory ime.
Try the Mindworks EP by Sam Brown (track 'No Man is an Island' was the small speaker killer I remember).
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 15:37:57 GMT
Old ELAs were about as bright and clear as I'd like to go myself. Any more than that and you're in squeaker territory ime. Try the Mindworks EP by Sam Brown (track 'No Man is an Island' was the small speaker killer I remember). I’ve never found Elas bright or particularly clear tbh. I’d say they are a bit fluffy and woolly with a pleasing softness, but are nice to listen to, nonetheless. We seem to have about as different a set of ears and expectations as it’s posisble to have. I’m sure you scratch your head as often as I do at the polar opposite views we seem to have on the sound of almost everything. I’d love to sit in the same room and listen to the same system and see if we still had the same opposite views, or whether it’s down to genuinely different listening circumstances. I suspect we’d still hear completely differently. Unfortunately we are almost as far apart geographically so it may. Never happen, but you never know  |
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Bigman80
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Posts: 16,398
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 15:43:08 GMT
looks a nice gaff westie -lad you bought a place in the uk then? Yeah I bought it last year, but I still want to go back to Cyprus. If I’m to keep a UK place and have a house in Cyprus, I need to earn money in some capacity, because I can’t afford to keep two places and not work. Sterling is all over the place right now with Brexit and I need to see what options I have with exchange rates and free movement/residency once Brexit happens. I’m still hoping it doesn’t happen, because I then don’t need a UK place and don’t need to work either. Until then, I’m staying put because ideally don’t have much option. I’m enjoying the hifi though! |
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Post by antonio on Jul 21, 2019 15:43:23 GMT
Is there a reason I cannot see the pic?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2019 15:48:53 GMT
looks a nice gaff westie -lad you bought a place in the uk then? Yeah I bought it last year, but I still want to go back to Cyprus. If I’m to keep a UK place and have a house in Cyprus, I need to earn money in some capacity, because I can’t afford to keep two places and not work. Sterling is all over the place right now with Brexit and I need to see what options I have with exchange rates and free movement/residency once Brexit happens. I’m still hoping it doesn’t happen, because I then don’t need a UK place and don’t need to work either. Until then, I’m staying put because ideally don’t have much option. I’m enjoying the hifi though! yeah worrying times..me mum sold her place in spain and went back coz of this brexit malarky. i'm swedish and part of the EU lol so spain hopefully wont be a problem for us |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 15:54:41 GMT
Is there a reason I cannot see the pic? It didn’t even appear for me at first. I went back and copied it again, but when I looked again, it was there. I assume it’s a problem with the host site |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 15:57:16 GMT
Yeah I bought it last year, but I still want to go back to Cyprus. If I’m to keep a UK place and have a house in Cyprus, I need to earn money in some capacity, because I can’t afford to keep two places and not work. Sterling is all over the place right now with Brexit and I need to see what options I have with exchange rates and free movement/residency once Brexit happens. I’m still hoping it doesn’t happen, because I then don’t need a UK place and don’t need to work either. Until then, I’m staying put because ideally don’t have much option. I’m enjoying the hifi though! yeah worrying times..me mum sold her place in spain and went back coz of this brexit malarky. i'm swedish and part of the EU lol so spain hopefully wont be a problem for us I wouldn’t give a monkeys about Brexit if I could retain UK citizenship. There was talk of some folk ringing a legal challenge on this post-Brexit. I hope they do and I hope they win. If not, I will have to hope Scotland gets independence and EU membership. I’d move across the border in a second. I’m half Scots so it would give me a way back, |
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Post by dsjr on Jul 21, 2019 16:50:14 GMT
Old ELAs were about as bright and clear as I'd like to go myself. Any more than that and you're in squeaker territory ime. Try the Mindworks EP by Sam Brown (track 'No Man is an Island' was the small speaker killer I remember). I’ve never found Elas bright or particularly clear tbh. I’d say they are a bit fluffy and woolly with a pleasing softness, but are nice to listen to, nonetheless. We seem to have about as different a set of ears and expectations as it’s posisble to have. I’m sure you scratch your head as often as I do at the polar opposite views we seem to have on the sound of almost everything. I’d love to sit in the same room and listen to the same system and see if we still had the same opposite views, or whether it’s down to genuinely different listening circumstances. I suspect we’d still hear completely differently. Unfortunately we are almost as far apart geographically so it may. Never happen, but you never know Ok. I honestly don't remember them as you describe, but we used digital sources as well as vinyl by then, so maybe that had something to do with it? |
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Post by antonio on Jul 21, 2019 17:34:54 GMT
Is there a reason I cannot see the pic? It didn’t even appear for me at first. I went back and copied it again, but when I looked again, it was there. I assume it’s a problem with the host site Can see the pic now. Those home made Cubes look good, I don't think I've seen them in a posting of yours before, the room looks nice too. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 17:46:41 GMT
It didn’t even appear for me at first. I went back and copied it again, but when I looked again, it was there. I assume it’s a problem with the host site Can see the pic now. Those home made Cubes look good, I don't think I've seen them in a posting of yours before, the room looks nice too. I made them back in early 2015. I put up full pics of the build at TAS but Photobucket wrecked it and the pics disappeared. I wanted to try jut a carbon fibre and resin reinforced cabinet, but it didn’t do the trick. Instead of using solid steel on top of the carbon fibre, I used perforated steel and attached with flexible adhesive. I really liked the results. I also didn’t spray the bass unit with Plastidip and I used less Bison Kit for the ring at the centre. I’ve never been a fan of heavy doping because it increases mass and lowers efficiency. Tweeter was the same as Cube 1 and 2 iirc. Crossover values and components were decided after lots of reading on DIY speaker forums. I think the caps were Jensen? I initially used LS2 as internal wiring but changed to to Audio Note. Over time I’d come to doubt my experience when I originally built them and listened. Today I realised they are far better than they have any right to be considering the size and my lack of experience. Still can’t beat Spicas though |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2019 18:13:16 GMT
Westie, how much did it cost in total, in materials/parts to make those little cubes?
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 21, 2019 18:53:50 GMT
Westie, how much did it cost in total, in materials/parts to make those little cubes? I got the tweeters second hand, so. It was just over £100. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2019 23:47:26 GMT
Westie. I know you don't favour the Van Den Hul CS-122 very much. But did you once say, that it worked well with the Myst amp?
S.
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 24, 2019 7:10:02 GMT
Westie. I know you don't favour the Van Den Hul CS-122 very much. But did you once say, that it worked well with the Myst amp? S. I don’t honestly recall, but it’s possible. I’ve had so many musts over 36 years, that I feel I know them well. There’s something odd about the presentation that shows itself as a selectivity over recordings. They have a “pinched” quality that stops some Muisc from breathing. If the music suits the amp, it will mesmerise. If not, it will wreck the experience. I reckon the CS-122 could well make that map more tolerable on a wider range of tracks. The myst excels with clarity and spatial information though. I can see the CS-122 lowering its ability in these areas. All guesswork though as I really don’t remember. I did use the cable with my tma3 in Cyprus bit I didn’t listen critically at volume and I used full omnis which are an unusual proposition. |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 24, 2019 7:18:02 GMT
best cable i ever use westie-lad
no banana plugs u must screw direct..still in the main system
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Jul 24, 2019 10:23:38 GMT
Been having a session with the Neats in the main system. They love to be fed rhythmic stuff, so they have had 3 hours and counting of Yello. Currently enjoying “The Eye”. For a little speaker they certainly punch above their weight. I’m thoroughly enjoying my listen.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 8, 2019 13:25:13 GMT
How are you getting on with the Neats, Westie?
S.
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Post by dsjr on Aug 9, 2019 9:18:40 GMT
I'm looking forward to hearing the £1k floor stander but unsure how the ribbon tweeter will integrate (for me, they don't usually) neatacoustics.com/ekstra/ |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 9, 2019 13:03:46 GMT
How are you getting on with the Neats, Westie? S. They are still in situ, largely because I’ve been working my ass off towards re-retiring, 8 months was long enough to remind me work sucks lol. Working late yesterday was sufficient to get me done and so I’m a gentleman of lsisure once again, As to the Neats, I know my Spicas beat them comfortably but my sources and amp are so good I’m not missing anything. Plus the Neats are as pretty as they come, I’m sat with my old/new watch on, listening to Moby and the sun is out. Life is good again. |
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Bigman80
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 9, 2019 13:05:52 GMT
I'm looking forward to hearing the £1k floor stander but unsure how the ribbon tweeter will integrate (for me, they don't usually) neatacoustics.com/ekstra/The only time I’ve heard a ribbon integrate was Townshend Glastonburys, but the crossover region was 6-8khz. I keep an open mind though. |
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Post by dsjr on Aug 9, 2019 16:39:20 GMT
I heard the baby Iota's a couple of years back. Lovely musical bass and midrange, slightly 'organic' in nature, with crinkly tinsel plonked on the top, only really noticeable because the midrange and highs sounded so different from each other...
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Bigman80
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Posts: 16,398
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Post by Bigman80 on Aug 9, 2019 19:07:38 GMT
Still. never heard them. I mentioned in the Sound .Org thatnid be interested in buying them if they were a credible hifi speaker. Bob never answered that or followed it up with an offer of a listen, so I assumed they were just too tiny to be any good.
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Post by dsjr on Aug 10, 2019 14:44:46 GMT
You'd say that about Control Ones, especially the prime use for this little box on wall brackets in restaurants and clubs etc., but the midrange is delightfully clear and close up to a wall, what little bass there is is always tuneful and not forced.
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