most impressing system ever

[ANG€L]

what was the most impressing system youve ever heard?

i think... the most impressive system i ever heard... perhaps the 801 d from B&W, some acapella speakers and the quadral titan speakers.

[audio_engr]

Most impressing system?

Well - I've heard many but one that keeps coming back to my mind was a setup in Singapore.

Genesis 1 speaker system, 2 x Cello Performance amps, FM Acoustics 255 preamp, Wadia 270 transport & Wadia 27i DAC, assorted cabling. The same system was also driven by FM Acoustics of Switzerland Resolution series amplification and that too was inspiring.

Here's a link to the pics.

http://www.absolutesound.com.sg/absound/ClientDetail.aspx?id=3

http://www.absolutesound.com.sg/absound/ClientDetail.aspx?id=18

[ANG€L]

I read a lot about those speakers... seems, like they are amazing.

[MFox]

I wonder what the room would look like if you place them around you in a 7.1 setup :-)

[ANG€L]

if you can buy those speakers, you can buy the house you need for that without thinking about... 

[audio_engr]

Hi MFox:

Genesis 1 or 1.1 in a 7.1 setup @ Euro 200,000 a pair, with either the Cello/FMA or all FMA amplification @ Euro 400,000 approx; man! first of all, you have to be a billionaire!!! And which billionaire doesn't have a mansion to park his beloved toys!

Mind you - invariably these guys usually don't understand much about extreme Highend audio, just the status & pride of ownership! No wonder there's a saying: "the money is in the wrong hands!"

Regards

[Alex]

Hmmm

Best sound I've ever heard?

In that case, it would be a naim CD5i hooked up directly via a digital link to a pair of B&O BeoLab 5s. Pretty wierd looking speakers, but they sound phenominal (better than even B&Ws Prestige IMHO) at £10k with class D amps in them.

The first thing that struck me was the incredible stereo imaging. The depth was just startling, and the way in which you can stand at any angle to the speakers and still get pretty much the same high end image.

Low end is also pretty incredible, in fact the best I've heard by far. Apparently the subwoofer cones produce sounds as low as 8 Hz, and up to frankly volume levels (the guy who's system it was showed me  )! It certainly sounded that way anyway!

Another amazing thing was the incredible effortless power. As I've already said, the guy showing me his system allowed me to have control of the system for a few minutes. I can tell you, that turning Supertramp up to (what he said was around 60%) showed just how flippin' rediculous these speakers are. It's something like 5000 watts of power they have!!! And it's all digital so apparently there's no distortion at full volume...

Anyway, they were simply amazing speakers, and the best I've ever heard (not like you'd expect seeing the brand name...)

[Duncan_Idaho]

8Hz...? must have been a really big room.... otherwise the length of the wave would be longer than the room... which does not allow the playback of such waves.

Also the where-ever-you-stand Stereo is quite strange.... since this would suggest a Bose-like soundflooding of a room... not real stereo....

Also digital does not avoid distortions per se.... ever heard an digital distortion versus an analog.... I would always prefer the analog.... especially with recording music.

Which Supertramp Album btw?

[Alex]

8 Hz is possible in a smaller room, it will just sound terrible. The B&O scan setup thingy works all that out. It was quite a large room anyway though, I would have said about 7 by 6 metres.

The stereo idea is great. It's not like a bose which just bounces sound off walls, it spreads the sound out in a very controlled way. No ceiling/floor reflections and no rear wall reflections. The stereo image was just amazingly detailed and you also couldn't hear where the speakers themselves were if you closed your eyes. They acousitcally disappeared, you just hear the different instruments coming towards you from their appropriate locations. If you don't believe me, you must listen to a pair of them properly set up with a nice CD player.

I have always believed that mixing analog and digital is a bad idea. Sure, Shanling CD through a valve amp sounds pretty amazing, but doesn't vinyl sound better? By keeping the speakers 100% digital, there is no possibility of distortion being introduced along the way (I use A/D and D/A converters quite a lot in recording, and the distortion introduced is very very irritating). I have never heard vinyl on these speakers, but CD sounded truly astonishing!!! I have never heard anything so easy going, but also forward and exciting at the same time.


The Supertramp album was Crime of the Century (track was the first one, School). I love this track because it's quite difficult to keep the timing right at the end, and it really shows off a dynamic system and reveals the weaknesses of poor amplifiers.


You should really try and listen to these speakers at some point. They are truly amazing.

[ANG€L]

You will need a realy good sub and a very good room to produce 20 hz. But 8 hz... it is not possible to create something like that with a B&O. you will have to use a see-earthquake simulator to create frequences like that.

[Duncan_Idaho]

Well... my problem is... that I do recordings and because of that I also have to consider physical problems... which means that I not only look at the playback part as simply music in a room but correct playback.... and soudn-everywhere has some strong drawbacks with regard to fidelity.... it may sound really amazing.... but definitely lacks in the firdelity-department.... which is nothing bad if you like this sounding... but for someone like me who strifes to keep it as close as possible to the original.... is not the real thing.... We do have a B&O shop close to my home.... and the speakers do a good job in what they do..... but again.... for me it´s not the real thing.

re 8 HZ.... with a room this size.... it could be possible.... i would have to check the length but.... it must be close..... with a smaller room playback would simply not be possible.... cause the wave would not have any room in the room.... it simply is sucked away...

Also... the only natural instrument that produces 8Hz I know of is the Grand Organ in the Salt Lake City Conference Center in Utah. And the Supertramp album definitely does not have such a deep signal..... there are relatively few recordings that do have such low signals..... an even fewer speakers that can play them back.