I heard the Atmaspheres are great with the Sasons but the price is steep...Sigh..may be one day. Is it just me or do people have problem spending more money on the amps than the speakers? |
What is lacking about the Sasons that you want to change?
Please tell us what amp is comming and let us know how it compares to your Mac. |
musicfile, the new sasons are smaller, 5 inches shorter and weigh only "110" lbs, now that xcovers are in the stands. But with integrated stands they still weigh around 250 lbs afters the stands are filled with lead shot and sand as recommended. I'm glad to hear you still have your sasons. I ordered mine with dueland CAST caps, expensive but hope it will be worth it.
I will definately let Agonners know how they sound. |
Hi Brian, I have 200 watt tube mono blocks that were designed by Bob Carver and Tim de Paravicini (of EAR fame) using vintage transformers. According to Bob, they sound better than the massively expensive Carver Silver Seven tube monoblocks (remember those?) and have 1 ohm tap for the Apogee Scintillas (his favorite speaker).
Saw your system thread. Are you still contemplating on replacing the Sasons? |
Rubinken, I think the MA9S2 has been supplanted by the Jones Audio amp ($19k, yikes) that was just reviewed on 10audio site. The Marantzes are beautiful, and I'm sure they kick ass driving the Sasons. But again those are some expensive electronics. My custom mono amps were over $6k and to me that's pushing it. I'm always interested to hear how the Sasons compare to other speakers. Are you driving the Sasons with the MA9S1s? How deep and punch is the bass with them? |
Aggielaw, holding onto speakers for 3 years is like a lifetime to some audiophiles. Congradulations. I hope I will enjoy my Sasons as much as some of you. Seems like you like the McCormacks for amplification. Is this what you settled on after auditioning other amps? If so what were they? |
Do you guys use aborption or diffusion panels behind your speakers? |
Thanks Rubinken. I am leaning towards placing diffusers behind the speakers too. |
I'm very happy with the sound now. I'm finishing up room treatments. |
Hi Musicfile, I built a dedicated music room 15.5 x 22 x 10 feet. It has double sheet rock walls and two dedicated circuits for audio. Unfortunately, I had to tame some nasty room modes and slap echo. All my acoustic treatments are from GIK Acoustics. I have two corner traps stacked on top of each other (8 feet tall when stacked, 8 total) for each corner of the room. The 1st and 2nd reflection points are treated with 244 bass traps (total 4). The middle of front wall behind the speakers is a Monster bass trap. Right behind the listening chair are a Monster bass trap and Soffit trap which are placed on their sides. This really tamed a bad room mode at the listening position. Ind addition, I have 4 Grid diffusers high up on the back wall and 2 Grid diffusers on each side of the side wall high up near the back to tame bad slap echo at the listening position (i plan on adding one more on each side). Furthermore, on the front wall I have a matrix of 2 x 3 Grid diffusers (total 12) flanking the 244 bass traps. I did this because I'm planning on getting a pair of dipole electrostats.
I know this sounds pretty overboard, but you don't know what you are missing in music until your room is treated properly. The distortion caused by the room itself is so much greater than your speakers or electronics, taming room acoustics, I think, is the most important for your system. |
I don't remember the sizes. But they will cost you couple of grand. I just received a pair of fully rebuilt Quad ESL 57 by Quads Unlimited. I will see how these classic babies compares to the Sasons. They say the midrange of the 57s are the best. |
IME, the amount of room treatment required depends more on the room than the speakers. Of course, dipole speakers require different combination of treatments than monopole speakers. At this point, the soundstaging and imaging are life-like...huge when required and intimate when called for. The tonal balance is nearly perfect to my ears. Haven't yet confirmed it with sound pressure meter. I found out the sibilance on vocals were caused by slap echo/flutter in the room, not my electronics, wires, or speakers. The diffusion pretty much got rid that problem.
Yes, I saw your room. Seems like a difficult room given the irregular room shape, but sometimes that works to one's benefit.
Are you going by Roberts recommendation on speaker placement, literally 2/3 into the room with listening seat nearly against the back wall? This can give very good sound stage, but I've encountered too much problems in other areas...bass boom, flutter/echo and sibilance especially on vocals. |
Hi Pat, my speakers are about 3 feet from side wall (wall to tweeter). I don't have any pics yet, but will post when all room treatments are completed. Yes, the more space, the better the Sasons will sound. My Sasons will probably be between 7 to 9 feet from the wall behind them, when everything is finalized. |
Pat, I tried further experimenting with speaker placement 7 to 9 feet away from the wall behind the speakers. Unfortunately, it doesn't sound as good having them about 13 feet out. I get a little more detail, but the energy/drive is gone and the sound staging collapses more. It's just less engaging. Hmm....I think I will place a may be around 12.5 feet and fiddle with the absorbers and diffuser more to see if I can get a better balance. At 13 feet, I was sitting to close to the back wall. I've noticed in my room, several inches can make a significant difference. |
Hi Pat, finally dialed them in...about 12 feet 3 inches into the room, about 40 inches from side wall to tweeter, and 2.5 inches toe in. I use a laser distance measuring device. I'm sitting about 2 feet from the back wall in my 22 feet long room. I have enough acoustic treatment along the back wall, with both diffusors and absorbers, to tame the annoying directly reflected sound from the back wall and tame the bass boom inevitable near the back wall. It's the best sound I've gotten in my two years of experimenting. It's amazing the kind of soundstaging/imaging and clean/extended bass you can get from these speakers. Having them 7 to 9 feet into the room just didn't take full advantage of what these speakers can do.
I have carpeted suspended wood floor on 2nd story of my home. It is impractical to use the supplied spikes, because I need to move the speakers once in awhile to have access to the attic. I am using Herbie Audio Labs Giant gliders (4 per speaker). As you know, each speaker weighs over 220 lbs with the stands, and even with the gliders I have trouble moving them around...the gliders tend to slip off the base. It takes awhile for the speakers to physically "settle" into the carpeted floor every time they're moved into new position.
I'm trying to achieve not just excellent sound but also an aesthetically pleasing listening room with the room treatments and components. |
Yes I'm planning on posting pics of my system. I'm waiting for a pair of restored Quad 57. Once I get that dialed in, hopefully won't take more than a week, I'll have time take pics.
Pat, where do you live? |
It's unfortunate you're so far away. I'm in Texas. Doe you have the Dueland VSF or CAST caps in your crossover? I kinda went overboard with the CAST caps and Dueland CAST resistors. The crossover per speaker weighs around 35 lbs I think. |
I can't tell you for sure, because I didn't get a chance to hear Sasons with other caps. But they're expensive as hell. |
