What amps are you using with your Steen's?

[Huang]

On 2/22/2021 at 4:32 PM, BKDad said:

The 880 Club was in the South End of Hartford.

https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1995-09-02-9509020216-story.html

Jackie McClain taught at Hartt School for a number of years, which is as far on the northwest corner of Hartford as The 880 Club was in the southeast corner.  My wife spent many, many hours in his classes and the various sessions he set up at the school.  I only met him once, at a hockey game of all things, but he seemed like a great guy.

Tommy Mars (Thomas Marciano) and Ed Mann are somewhat famous grads of Hartt.  Along with Dionne Warwick, Tony MacAlpine, and Charles Nelson Reilly.  Many others, too.  (My wife is not famous.)

Was the vibraphone player Matt Emirzian?

Alcohol might have been involved I don't remember too much from that time period in my live, 19-20 years old.

[Huang]

On 2/22/2021 at 5:45 PM, BKDad said:

Yup.  I know of Tony.  He always wore red shoes to Whalers' games, reminiscent of the Wizard of Oz shoes.

We used to go to Hartford a lot.  Often several times a week.  No longer, except to pass through on the highway.  Whalers are gone.  Downtown is pretty much a ghost town and was prior to the pandemic.  The great Italian bakeries from the South End now have outposts in Plainville and Middletown; why go to Hartford?

BK you bring up a lot of vague cool memories. When the Celtics came to Hartford I always tried to get tickets. I don't know if you are old enough to remember the Wide World of Sports... "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat". One of the clips was Larry Bird falling down and heaving the ball and making it. That was in Hartford Civic Center... I was there, and quite saddened that such an awesome shot didn't count!

[BKDad]

23 minutes ago, Huang said:

BK you bring up a lot of vague cool memories. When the Celtics came to Hartford I always tried to get tickets. I don't know if you are old enough to remember the Wide World of Sports... "The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat". One of the clips was Larry Bird falling down and heaving the ball and making it. That was in Hartford Civic Center... I was there, and quite saddened that such an awesome shot didn't count!

The Celtics played a couple games each year at the HCC from about 1975 to 1995.  This allowed them to lock the TV rights for most of CT for the Celtics.  Plus, at the time, the HCC actually had a couple thousand more seats than the old Boston Garden.  Plus, the Celtics were and still are only tenants in Boston Garden since the company that owns the Bruins owns the Garden.  So, the Celtics actually made more money playing in Hartford.

Ain't sports and business grand?

Anyway, I'm 99% sure that I went to every one of the games in Hartford - may have missed one.   I started when I was in college and then my first big investment after graduating was for "season" tickets for the Celtics in Hartford.  A season being maybe four games.  My girlfriend, later my wife, went until my daughter was born.  Then the three of us went.

One game was late on a Sunday afternoon.  We got there early and bumped into Magic and Kareem who were getting their pregame meal at the ice cream store next to the main entrance to the arena.  Ice cream cones...  John Thompson was just coming in as we were leaving.  Very odd day.

Long answer for "I was at that game, too."

In case anybody is wondering about the shout Huang is talking about: 

 

[ctsooner]

I went to a few of the Celtic games in Hartford.  I remember Coach Reisner (advanced scout for the Celtics) taking a few of us and we got on the court before the game to meet the players.  It was cool.  They used Newington HS to practice and I would always be there.  I remember meeting Pistol Pete before one of the games.  He was so cool to take the time and come say hi.  What memories guys.  Thanks 

[MikeZ]

On 2/22/2021 at 9:56 AM, Steve Edwards said:

Mike,

A couple thoughts on your set up: if you repositioned your sub to the middle of the area (firing directly out to your listening spot), slid the left speaker to where the sub was and the rack to where the speaker was, your imaging might be significantly improved.  You might also experiment with toe-in, also some potential for soundstage improvement. 
 

Aesthetically,  your screen would no longer be centered between your 5s, but I believe the sonic improvements would be significant.  And, the sum of the parts would still occupy the same dimensions, retaining that ever-so-important WAF.  

Play on

Steve unfortunately I was given a no go on moving the speakers out of line with the tv 😢.  I need to play around with toe-in and height. Does anyone know any experts on positioning vandy’s in south Florida? 

[ctsooner]

Don't think there are any down there.  There was a dealer there who sold them, but not sure if they still do.  

[Daverz]

For years I used a pair of Rogue M-180 tube monoblocks to drive my cloth Quatros.  Great sounding, and rolling the small signal tubes is fun.  But the expense of replacing the power tubes every 2 years or so is not so fun (I estimate it cost me about $200/year just for power tubes, and that's trying to keep costs down on replacement tubes).  Also got tired of the boiled frog effect as the power tubes got duller sounding  as they got toward the end of their life.   I suppose I had to experience the tube thing to get over it (I also stopped using my Balanced Audio tube pre-amp.)

So now I'm using a Bryston 3B-SST, which sounds great all the time.  I run my Auralic Vega DAC, which has a volume control,  directly into the amp.  If the Bryston gives out, I'll probably move on to class D amps.

[ctsooner]

Are you using the newest 2nd gen Vega?  I'm actually looking at that one too.  Why would you say a class D amp without listening to a few to see what sounds best?  Some tremendous amps of all types that sound great.

 

[Daverz]

2 hours ago, ctsooner said:

Are you using the newest 2nd gen Vega?  I'm actually looking at that one too.  Why would you say a class D amp without listening to a few to see what sounds best?  Some tremendous amps of all types that sound great.

 

It's a first gen Vega.  Still a respectable performer.

If I was going to spend that kind of money again, I'd want more than just a 2-channel DAC, I'd also want features like DSP, an ADC, or more channels.  

I'm thinking about a class D amp (probably Ncore)  because I want something light, cool (Summers are becoming more brutal here), efficient and at least  as quiet and powerful as the Bryston (250 W into 4 Ohms).   Not sure why you think that means I don't care about sound.

[ctsooner]

I have liked the Aurelic gear since they started selling in the US.  Local dealer sold it.  Was told their new gear is very good.  I know many  of us who use digital want DSP etc...  

I never intimated that you didn't care about sound.  I was just pointing out there there are many amps of all types of design that sound great with Vandersteen speakers.  That includes Class D type of amps.  I was just trying ask why you wouldn't look at other possibilities.  You explained that in your reply.  Thanks.  

[GdnrBob]

I have a standing order for Ralph Karsten's Class D amps. I figure if anyone can build a Class D amp, it it's him.

And, if anyone can make it sound good, it's him, too.

Bob

[bkeske]

A vintage Belles 400A driving my 2CE Sigs. A ‘monster’ of an amp.

 

 

[ctsooner]

Wow, those are beautiful amps.  I loved those old Belles amps. 

[bkeske]

Yea, they are CT.  Not much info 'out there' on the 400A. I talked to Johnny Rutan on the phone about this amp, as he is/was very interested in it.  He confirmed that it is an all bipolar design, which is amazing to me given its 'sweet' sound. I really thought there may be mosfet's in the chain, but there isn't. 8 large caps, 12 transistors per side (24 total). Johnny thinks 2 toroidal transformers are under the cover (I've never cracked the case), and about 70 lb. 

[ctsooner]

They are reliable. Built like a tank. 

[TomicTime]

looking great Brian, bet is does super well driving 2’s

[bkeske]

Hey Jim , yes indeed, it does. Hope you are mending  🙂

[DCH]

I'm not sure if this is the correct place for this question, but hopefully I'm not violating any rules by posting here. I'm currently powering my Quatro Wood CTs with a 25+ year old Levinson amp. I'm thinking about simplifying my setup. Since the Vandersteens require the use of external crossovers, is it possible to use an integrated or do I have to continue to use separates? Thanks in advance for any insights and advice. 

[ctsooner]

Great question.  I have been running them with the Ayre AX5/20.  Just sold that yesterday as I've been running Vandersteen M5's for a few months now.  I had them install a great internal crossover, but if you have a pre out, just use the crossover and you are all set.  Very simple and some great integrated's you can use.

If you can afford the M5's, they are MORE than worth it.  To my ear, they are sounding better than the 30k ARC's, which have been one of my favorite amps with Quatro's on up. 

[BKDad]

Other people will undoubtedly chime in here with more, ahh, insight and advice, but many integrated amps will allow for a suitable 100 Hz high-pass filter to be built right into the unit.   I know that Ayre and Aesthetic both have ways to add that function to their integrated amplifier products.  Other companies probably do, too.  Some may require the use of a soldering iron, though.

In the end, a first order high pass filter consists of a capacitor and a resistor.  (You can probably improve on the performance by applying a DC bias to the capacitor, as Vandersteen does.)  I think the main reason the Vandersteen high pass filters are so complex is that they have to allow for the user to adjust the parameters to accommodate her or his power amplifier input impedance. That means lots of selection options.  If the high pass filter is built-in to your amplifier, there's only a single impedance inherent to that amplifier that has to be considered.  So, no switches or ranges of capacitors.

It appears to me that you could simplify from four boxes down to just one.  I think that's as far as you can go...

 

[nrenter]

I've been running my Quatro CTs using an Ayre AX-7e w/ an Ayre-installed crossover. I agree, the simplicity is nice. As I'm moving up the Ayre line (yet staying with an Ayre integrated w/ an Ayre-installed crossover), I'll probably be listing my Ayre AX-7e w/ an Ayre-installed crossover soon. If you're room isn't huge, it's a nice match.

[BKDad]

1 hour ago, nrenter said:

I agree, the simplicity is nice. As I'm moving up the Ayre line (yet staying with an Ayre integrated w/ an Ayre-installed crossover)

That's really a great solution.  At least, according to me!

[nrenter]

As I mentioned to @ctsooner, I’m pretty excited. I’ve been running the AX-7e since 2006. When I sent it back to Ayre for the crossover installation, they replaced the filter caps as well (not because of any issues, but because it could give a slight performance boost). I can’t say if that contributed anything significant, as I was changing multiple variables at the same time. Regardless, she’s been my workhorse for 15 years. I’ve never has any issues with it, performance or otherwise. If this opportunity didn’t present itself, I’d probably keep it for another 15 years. I’m obsessive with how I care for my toys, and I’m concerned that, should I part with it, the next owner won’t love and care for it as I have. I have to admit, I’m a little sad about it being replaced - I kinda feel like I’m betraying it. LOL. At least I’m staying in the family.

[BKDad]

22 minutes ago, nrenter said:

I kinda feel like I’m betraying it.

Nah.  What you're doing is better than just putting it in a box at the bottom of a closet where it'll be ignored.

[DCH]

6 hours ago, ctsooner said:

Great question.  I have been running them with the Ayre AX5/20.  Just sold that yesterday as I've been running Vandersteen M5's for a few months now.  I had them install a great internal crossover, but if you have a pre out, just use the crossover and you are all set.  Very simple and some great integrated's you can use.

If you can afford the M5's, they are MORE than worth it.  To my ear, they are sounding better than the 30k ARC's, which have been one of my favorite amps with Quatro's on up. 

If I use the pre out on an integrated, I would still need a separate amp though, right?