Playground for practical listening exercises

[jewa]

Are you sure about the positioning of the kans? I don't know anything about your room but, remembering having mine more together. I also found spikes mandatory, with or without skeets.

Great album BTW!

[Charlie1]

Thanks. Interesting to read all your impressions.

I don't think this will change folks opinions but here's a very different comparison in the Sneaky/Katan system in the kitchen/lounge, streaming from Google Play.

Katan #1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/sotu6qj8wzvwb ... D.MOV?dl=0
Larc #1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/efc8at540l2xe ... D.MOV?dl=0

Katan #2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/9akl0s71eyjw1 ... D.MOV?dl=0
Larc #2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/772knvoe0f5ns ... D.MOV?dl=0

[Charlie1]

Are you sure about the positioning of the kans? I don't know anything about your room but, remembering having mine more together. I also found spikes mandatory, with or without skeets.

Great album BTW!

Another member suggested the same thing this morning so I will check that out - Thanks jewa!

[Spannko]

Another great comparison Charlie1!

My preference is for the Katans on this occasion. For £200-£300 they’ve got to be the HiFi bargain of the century! Slightly more musical than the Larcs but with a much better sound. Great stuff!

[Charlie1]

I thought I had the best new position (using clips) and then later compared the clips and thought perhaps not, so there are two options now.

Van:
~155 cm apart (old setting): https://www.dropbox.com/s/wh6xlaaq3qzmz ... D.MOV?dl=0
146cm apart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/r2sbk8yx6hvvo ... D.MOV?dl=0
140cm apart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/kgj110w5kclat ... D.MOV?dl=0

Couple of Spannko's favourite artists :D...

146cm apart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1p2qrpduzy2w ... D.MOV?dl=0
140cm apart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/d3650w18fojit ... D.MOV?dl=0

146cm apart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/49ccxjtugavae ... D.MOV?dl=0
140cm apart: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jgmx1akh97ycs ... D.MOV?dl=0

[Tendaberry]

Thanks. Interesting to read all your impressions.

I don't think this will change folks opinions but here's a very different comparison in the Sneaky/Katan system in the kitchen/lounge, streaming from Google Play.

Katan #1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/sotu6qj8wzvwb ... D.MOV?dl=0
Larc #1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/efc8at540l2xe ... D.MOV?dl=0

Katan #2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/9akl0s71eyjw1 ... D.MOV?dl=0
Larc #2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/772knvoe0f5ns ... D.MOV?dl=0

Those Larcs sure can't boogie and they sound very artificial to me.

[jewa]

I think 146 cm apart is the best.

[Charlie1]

They are both much better than before, that's for sure, and remind me of the old days when Kans made such an impression on me. Thanks Jewa!

[tokenbrit]

Agree with jewa: 146 seems more musically together than 140

[Charlie1]

This is much better. More involving and refined. I'm back to 146cm btw. Agree this is preferable to 140cm. Thanks guys! I would be crap as a dealer!

[Charlie1]

I love going round in circles and ending up where I began. Gives one an enormous sense of futile wasted time and effort.

1989: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ksiat2fyhzwrs ... 2.mp4?dl=0
2019: https://www.dropbox.com/s/culo8clyw04s5 ... D.MOV?dl=0

I think the analogue VHS camera wins out in terms of musicality though - at least I hope that's the reason!

I don’t want to dwell on where all the time went.

[beck]

:-)

[tokenbrit]

Not much Lack-ing from '89 ;)

[ThomasOK]

Thanks. Interesting to read all your impressions.

I don't think this will change folks opinions but here's a very different comparison in the Sneaky/Katan system in the kitchen/lounge, streaming from Google Play.

Katan #1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/sotu6qj8wzvwb ... D.MOV?dl=0
Larc #1 https://www.dropbox.com/s/efc8at540l2xe ... D.MOV?dl=0

Katan #2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/9akl0s71eyjw1 ... D.MOV?dl=0
Larc #2 https://www.dropbox.com/s/772knvoe0f5ns ... D.MOV?dl=0

The Larcs are definitely sounding better than they were before. I think being up off the floor on something solid and closer to the rear wall helps them a lot. Still, I find Katans easily better and haven't completely warmed up to the Larcs.

Considering the visuals I thought we might get some Iron Maiden to listen to.

[tokenbrit]

Or Steam, by Peter Gabriel? :)

[Charlie1]

:)
I don't get the Iron Maiden one...
Never liked or listened to them so maybe that doesn't help.

[tokenbrit]

Pretty sure it was a reference to the steam *iron* to the left in the Katan v Larcs video clip

[beck]

Thank you for sharing your clips with us Charlie1. It is worth GOLD to those who listen and see how much effort it takes to get the best out of ones system.

May it inspire others to take up the challange! :-)

[Charlie1]

Pretty sure it was a reference to the steam *iron* to the left in the Katan v Larcs video clip

Dunno why that one didn't register, especially as I got the steam reference. Sorry, never helps when you've got to explain a jokes.

Thank you for sharing your clips with us Charlie1. It is worth GOLD to those who listen and see how much effort it takes to get the best out of ones system.

May it inspire others to take up the challange! :-)

Hope they've been of use to some folks.

[ThomasOK]

!46 is better than 140 and probably overall better than 155 but 155 does some things better than 146. I think you need to be somewhere between those two. Based on intuition I would say try 148 and 149 and see what happens, you might just find the magic.

By the way 1989 sounds quite good. But don't feel alone in going in circles. I owned Quad ESL in 1980! Fortunately I do not have video evidence of the fact, nor of the Isobarik DMS system I had in 1989. I do have the excuse that the Quads I owned back then had been damaged, and I was running them with American electronics of the day, so I never really heard what they could do.

[ThomasOK]

Pretty sure it was a reference to the steam *iron* to the left in the Katan v Larcs video clip

Dunno why that one didn't register, especially as I got the steam reference. Sorry, never helps when you've got to explain a jokes.

Well, it wasn't necessarily one of my best, but I had to think fast to get it in before tokenbrit! Maybe it is not called an iron over there?

[Charlie1]

No, it is. I just didn't see it staring me in the face.

[Charlie1]

!46 is better than 140 and probably overall better than 155 but 155 does some things better than 146. I think you need to be somewhere between those two. Based on intuition I would say try 148 and 149 and see what happens, you might just find the magic.

By the way 1989 sounds quite good. But don't feel alone in going in circles. I owned Quad ESL in 1980! Fortunately I do not have video evidence of the fact, nor of the Isobarik DMS system I had in 1989. I do have the excuse that the Quads I owned back then had been damaged, and I was running them with American electronics of the day, so I never really heard what they could do.

Thanks Tom, for both comments. I will have a play sometime. Not so quick and easy without Skeets.

[ThomasOK]

No, it is. I just didn't see it staring me in the face.

That's all right, I thought maybe you were trying to flatten the frequency response!

Thanks Tom, for both comments. I will have a play sometime. Not so quick and easy without Skeets.

Yes, skeets do make it somewhat easier, especially on hardwood floors like mine. On carpet I generally tilt the speaker on the back spike on the side of the direction I want to move and pivot the front in that direction, then tilt it on that front spike and bring the back one in line. This can be difficult with speakers like Kans that are pretty close to the back wall, but some variation should work. Then again, at least they aren't too heavy to just pick them up and move them.

[Charlie1]

That's all right, I thought maybe you were trying to flatten the frequency response!

Ha, that's more like it :D