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SUT's -Looking for one with some meat on the bones

I have Spendor D-7 speakers, with all tubes in my system.  The Spendor's are a little threadbare in the upper mids thru the lower highs in my listening room and I was trying to find a SUT with a little meat on the bones.  My wife runs from the room when I try to spin any LP's.  

  I am using a VPI Classic 3 Signature with a HANA SL cartridge.  I bought the Spendor's solely based on internet reviews, but am beginning to wish I had not.  I have never really cottoned to digital music and these speakers seem to go after that type of sound.   I am a lover of British speakers since the 70's, but these have zero relationship to what made me a fan of the UK sound.  

  Not trying to find a fat bloated sound, but very much miss the sweetness of acoustic instrument, string and vocals.  I may be suffering from oldtimers disease.  Analytical modern sound is not my idea of musical enjoyment I am afraid.
  
mckinneymike
chakster's avatar
chakster
6,144 posts
 
My wife runs from the room when I try to spin any LP's.  


LOL :) 
mulveling's avatar
mulveling
1,774 posts
 
If you’re not happy with the speakers then chasing upstream solutions seems like a band-aid fix. Might just have to bite the bullet, sell, and retry there.

As far as SUT’s go, the Bob’s Devices Sky series has a pretty meaty, powerful and warm sound. Definitely on the opposite side of spectrum from the Lundahl LL 1931, which has a crystalline, detailed and slightly bright sound by comparison.

Even with a Herron VTPH-2A or VAC Renaissance SE phono stage, using the Sky SUT for MC stage will make the sound warmer, more dynamic, and hit harder. 
mckinneymike OP
88 posts
 
The Bob's Sky and the Music First Baby Reference are a couple that I am interested in trying.

I hate to resell these speakers so soon after purchase, but it is the best plan of action. I am simply disappointed my expectations were so far from the reality, here in my room.  

  Without this being settled choosing any SUT would not be a wise decision right now.  Thanks to all for your input.  
almarg's avatar
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almarg
9,670 posts
 

@three_easy_payments, thanks for your informative comment!

I would add for the record that the moving magnet input of the OP’s phono stage provides 5 db less gain than is provided by your VTPH-2A, so he would need a SUT gain of 23 db to bring the signal level at the output of the phono stage to the same point as you have with your 18 db SUT. Which would result in presenting the cartridge with an even lower impedance than the 280 ohms his phono stage presents when its built-in SUTs are used at their lowest gain/highest impedance setting.

Also, although I have no experience with Hana cartridges I’m guessing that the consequences of excessive loading would mainly involve some combination of compromises to dynamics, resolution of detail, and transient response. Which would seem to be pretty much the opposite of the issues the OP has reported. So, again, that reinforces the notion that the root cause of the problem is elsewhere.

Best regards,

-- Al


agrippa
160 posts
 
@mckinneymike: given the corroborating evidence from twoleftears I have no choice but to retract my tentative conclusion. I have to it makes me want to hunt down a set of D7s, just so I can later say that I once heard an anaemic-sounding pair of Spendors. Something I really didn’t think existed.

On the Hana SL, I have to say that it sounded very nice indeed in my system when loaded @ 278Ohm with my Allnic H-1202/AUT-2000.
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