New "Forever" HiFi

[bkeske]

@Oregon Very cool man. Congrats!! 👍🏼

[Holmz]

On 5/16/2024 at 2:53 AM, Boom Boom said:

…. I have no desire to change out my Sig IIIs since they work with my listening room. IMO you need speaker that will work well in your listening room. That's the most important factor for speakers to me. Others may think differently. Audiophiles are very opinionated, it's all good.

…

I have found that sometimes it is WAF, and Feng Shui/decor-boss, that makes the 2Cs not loved.

[Oregon]

On 5/15/2024 at 11:53 AM, Boom Boom said:

IMO you need speaker that will work well in your listening room.

Agreed, and, another reason I stuck with the 2.

[Oregon]

On 2/7/2024 at 6:55 PM, Richard Vandersteen said:

This is only true of some sub designs.  Most subs are designed to sell not reproduce accurate bass, so they have a "Q" that is too high.  These will improve when you lower the effective "Q" by getting them some distance from the room boundaries.  Best to design a sub for proper bass while on the floor for obvious reasons and have a "Q" control for people to adjust to taste, IMO.  RV

The 2Ce Sig.III's are over 3ft  from room boundaries. While integrating the Sig III's I have been experimenting with the "Q" which can be done through the SVS Micro 3000 App. It's been quite eye opening beginning to understand why bass adjustment capability is so crucial. This little hifi is starting to sound pretty darn good.

Thank you for the advice,

Cody

[stratocaster]

@Oregon look for a used 2wq (I am assuming you don't have one). It makes a world of a difference when paired with the 2CE's. 

[Holmz]

4 hours ago, Oregon said:

The 2Ce Sig.III's are over 3ft  from room boundaries. …

I was on the video with “young fella”, and said to him, “pull them away from the walls.”
He later said, “They sound better now.”

 

4 hours ago, Oregon said:

... While integrating the Sig III's I have been experimenting with the "Q" which can be done through the SVS Micro 3000 App. It's been quite eye opening beginning to understand why bass adjustment capability is so crucial. This little hifi is starting to sound pretty darn good.

Thank you for the advice,

Cody

I found their video…
What slope are you using? (6dB?)
Are you using it as a low pass filter for the mains?
What Q are you running?

[Oregon]

16 hours ago, Holmz said:

What slope are you using? (6dB?)
Are you using it as a low pass filter for the mains?
What Q are you running?

Slope -3db

Low pass - 90

Q - .7

[Oregon]

Some quick, not particularly sommelier-like impressions of the "new" 2's during break-in;

Out of the box they sounded inhibited, nearly bright, almost harsh. At 50hrs the mids had rounded, the base was sounding less shy, more nimble; at 100hrs the brightness had "relaxed" some, the bass was communicating. These new 2's are nearly at the warmth of tonality from my previous 2 Sig. II's. To be honest, at first listen, I was a little concerned. You must allow your equipment to run-in.

Last year when the Manley Jumbo Shrimp preamp arrived I immediately swapped out a pair of supplied NOS GE JAN 12AT7's with NOS Telefunken 12AT7's, because I know best. Never mind how EveAnna voiced the thing. So, it finally occurred to me to replace the sterile Telefunkens with the Manley supplied NOS GE's. Having worked out the line, these "new" Sig.III's are sounding pretty fantastic, even more fantastic than the Sig. II's. They will improve more as they "season".

Stereo is good again now that the new 2's have had 100hrs (ish) on 'em. Highly recommended.

Cody

Edited May 22 by Oregon

[Oregon]

More tube rolling; Snappers - full matched Mullard, plus, some GE JAN. Chinook - NOS matched Telefunken 6922, Shrimp - NOS GE JAN's and Siemens. Rolled in some Mullard 12AT7's. Better, preferred 'em to the GE 12AT7's supplied by Manley. Settled on NOS Siemens 12AT7's for the 12AT7 stage of the Shrimp. To be honest, the Siemens were a complete surprise at how well they synergized with the others. Tube rolling as tone controls.

With the current compliment of tubes the 2's are offering loads of tactile midrange without sounding harsh or in-your-face. Cellos and violins sound much more immediate, have a balanced tonal character, have tamed the brightness of the 2's.

[Oregon]

More tube rolling; NOS Siemens 12AT7 in place of the Mullard 12AT7 for the input of the Snappers.

Experimenting with an isolation base (cutting board) plus some uber springy feet to help with the severe tympanic floor issues in this room. It has helped much.

Cody

[Holmz]

Cannot quite read the banding on those springy feet… ?

 

[Oregon]

End Performance Isolation Feet.

[Oregon]

Following up on my severe tympanic floor issue; experimenting with further isolation using Sorobothane pads between the various suspension moments.

20yrs ago many pooh-poohed Sorobothane, these days, everyone uses it. I can now gingerly walk across my listening room without incident. Try it. Worked for me! Now my high-end analog side (Performance DC table/Tracer tonearm/Hana Red cart) sounds high-end analog again. 🙂 Working on it...

Cody

Edited May 31 by Oregon

[Gsal]

12 hours ago, Oregon said:

Following up on my severe tympanic floor issue; experimenting with further isolation using Sorobothane pads between the various suspension moments.

20yrs ago many pooh-poohed Sorobothane, these days, everyone uses it. I can now gingerly walk across my listening room without incident. Try it. Worked for me! Now my high-end analog side (Performance DC table/Tracer tonearm/Hana Red cart) sounds high-end analog again. 🙂 Working on it...

Cody

I've said this many times but I'll say it again. Try the EVP's from Audio/Video Room Services. They are the best hands down. I've compared them to Sorbothane and many other materials. No contest. And they're backed by science.

https://avroomservice.com/evp-2/

[ctsooner]

If you have an HRS dealer near by, ask to borrow one of their platforms.  I've found their footers to be the best sounding I've heard on components and their platforms are legendary.  If this works, then forget what I posted, lol 

[SAGNI]

5 hours ago, ctsooner said:

If you have an HRS dealer near by, ask to borrow one of their platforms.  I've found their footers to be the best sounding I've heard on components and their platforms are legendary.  If this works, then forget what I posted, lol 

Agreed! Adding an HRS isolation platform for my turntable produced fantastic results, a major upgrade. Initially a skeptic, I became a convert after a short period of listening.

[ctsooner]

Those are my goal after a new preamp. 

[Oregon]

So, my less than a year old Denafrips 12th-1 DAC failed. Removed it from the system. WOW !!! What an improvement! The DAC was spoiling the sound of my new "Forever HiFi". These new 2Ce Sig. III's sound so much better now!

Cody

[Richard Vandersteen]

2 hours ago, Oregon said:

So, my less than a year old Denafrips 12th-1 DAC failed. Removed it from the system. WOW !!! What an improvement! The DAC was spoiling the sound of my new "Forever HiFi". These new 2Ce Sig. III's sound so much better now!

Cody

Cody, never make sonic evaluations of anything in your system except digital with digital!  You have a record player and even a modest one will sound better than anything digital because LPs are still our highest resolution source other than 2nd or so generation tape.  I use digital when listening casually, but all evaluations are made with my master tapes (first generation) or LP's that I am very familiar with, period.  RV

[Oregon]

15 hours ago, Richard Vandersteen said:

Cody, never make sonic evaluations of anything in your system except digital with digital!  You have a record player and even a modest one will sound better than anything digital because LPs are still our highest resolution source other than 2nd or so generation tape.  I use digital when listening casually, but all evaluations are made with my master tapes (first generation) or LP's that I am very familiar with, period.  RV

Ain't that the truth. It's funny how Fremer dismisses digital at every turn then timidly apologizes for being critical of same. Too damn bad it's true, IMO. I, too, listen to digital for everyday background, LP's for the occasional HiFi fix.

Cody

[ctsooner]

I want a turntable in the worst way.  The forums keep making me think I should just bite the bullet and get something, but every time I've done that, I eventually realize that it's just hard with my MS....  You guys are dangerous for me 😉.    

 

[GdnrBob]

Hey Pete, your Memory Player makes vinyl a thing of the past. Yes, I know Mr. V. thinks vinyl is SOTA, but after listening to my Player, I no longer have to worry about footfalls skipping records, or the distortion from less than optimal cartridge set up. Don't talk about warped records....

Bob

[ctsooner]

Bob, I agree, but I've heard vinyl on my old Basis vs The Memory Player (older version) and the Basis was just so much better as long as I had clean records there were fairly flat.  That said, you can get great digital, but it costs much much more than with a great vinyl set up.

[Richard Vandersteen]

It always comes to this as if it were a battle with me!  Everybody needs to use what is best for them and that is perfect, but facts are facts Tape and LP are still our highest resolution sources today.  For me this is the only way to make good design choices that will stand the test of time.  Enjoy your music on your Vandersteen's with any source you like, peace.  RV

[ctsooner]

Great stuff Richard and thanks. I heard tape a few weeks ago on the top Rockports. He had some great tapes and also a killer TT set up. He also had my same music player. The analog tape was just so real. I wish he had the same recordings on vinyl.