A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

If I had to pick one I'd say that TAAB sounds the most 'together' of the three.

I think to me this is musically and maybe even sonically the best I have ever heard your system play Thomas. The music just flows effortlessly. I think I would choose TAAB as well.

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

But as far as subwoofers go, she's pretty darn cute!

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

1. TAAB
2. NIN
3. ITCOTCK

NIN and TAAB were pretty close for me

Lego wrote: ↑2022-01-07 13:49

tokenbrit wrote: ↑2022-01-07 01:26 Any plans to move the Ninkas out? Can't imagine they help the sound if they're just sitting there... Also, any dampening on the piano strings when not in use / while the hifi is playing? The piano resonances might confuse the recordings, but quite likely make the in-room sound good.

Yes I'll definitely be moving them out tokenbrit. .As I'll be selling them they're technically not my speakers so I've been nervous about putting them somewhere less safe.When the novelty of the JBLs wear off ,I'll put them somewhere safe and put JBLs closer to the wall.I'm never in a rush to improve things as it's always good to have an improvement to look forward to :0)

The Piano is used to often to bother about damping it down.

Just a quick note on pianos in listening rooms: the hammer felts are resting on all but the top few strings (around F6 and up, depending on manufacturer) so the strings aren’t vibrating sympathetically. The top few strings that aren’t damped are so short and high in pitch they would take a prohibitive amount of acoustic energy to make even the slightest audible peep. Now that new Fredholm dreadnaught standing by the LP12, THAT will sing along with the hifi ;-)

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

Hey, thanks for making these Thomas!

had some trouble matching volumes and would love to hear NIN and TAAB again level matched as much as possible, but I’m being grumpy… As Beck pointed out, your system is really special. A benchmark for musicality and truly magnificent.

Hearing your dear pup contribute reminded me of the Christmas the boys recorded their own interpretation of one of their mom's favorite songs. We hung an old AKG condenser in the kitchen (best sounding room in the house) and the guys sang while accompanying themselves on double bass and Martin OOO. During the best take our pug walked in to get a drink and you can hear shuffle-shuffle-sniff-shuffle-PHLOP-PHLOP-PHLOP-PHLOP-PHLOP in the background. Not only was it my sons' best performance, having Marshall the pug as guest artist clinched it for final release status.

That was a special Christmas. Cheers!

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

Hmmm ...
For me:
1.- ITCOTCK (great potential ... sounds like not break - in),
2.- TAAB,
3.- NIN.

V.A.MKD wrote: ↑2022-01-08 18:55

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

Hmmm ...
For me:
1.- ITCOTCK (great potential ... sounds like not break - in),
2.- TAAB,
3.- NIN.

I was going to wait a little longer for the reveal but since Vlado nailed it so thoroughly I figured I'd do it now.

NIN: My system as you are all used to hearing it with Kandid and KRadikal 1 (but with the SINGularity units upgraded a little while back to 1.3).
TAAB: The same system with a new KRadikal 2 installed (not an upgrade) and run in for 4 to 5 weeks. I had the motor/platter running 24/7 for that time with or without records.
ITCOTCK: The KRadikal 2 LP12 with the Ekstatik installed. The Ekstatik had no more that 15 minutes of play when I made that clip. I'm also not 100% sure I nailed the arm height but I think it is right.

So, yes, the Ekstatik is not burned in at all yet. But my initial impression is that it digs deeper in the groove for the music, reduces surface noise (as does Radikal 2) and seems to me to be even more musical than the Kandid. It certainly does not sound to me like it is more etched, despite the additional information, but actually seems smoother and more cohesive. Again it is very early days and I will revisit the clip once it has a number of hours on it.

I do know the levels are off a bit. It is not easy remembering the precise shade of green used 5 weeks ago. On top of which the Ekstatik is claimed to have a little more output than the Kandid, 4.5mv vs. 4.0mv, but it sounds to me like it is a little quieter. I'm afraid there is not much I can do about it as I have no intention of reverting to KRadikal 1 (which requires the swap of the motor, and sensor board as well as the PS circuit) nor Kandid. Best bet is just to level match on your listening device. However, we have generally found that volume differences don't intrude on evaluations using the Tune Method.

Did everybody get the clip name references?

I got nine inch nails and in the court of the crimson king.

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 20:27

V.A.MKD wrote: ↑2022-01-08 18:55

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

Hmmm ...
For me:
1.- ITCOTCK (great potential ... sounds like not break - in),
2.- TAAB,
3.- NIN.

I was going to wait a little longer for the reveal but since Vlado nailed it so thoroughly I figured I'd do it now.

NIN: My system as you are all used to hearing it with Kandid and KRadikal 1 (but with the SINGularity units upgraded a little while back to 1.3).
TAAB: The same system with a new KRadikal 2 installed (not an upgrade) and run in for 4 to 5 weeks. I had the motor/platter running 24/7 for that time with or without records.
ITCOTCK: The KRadikal 2 LP12 with the Ekstatik installed. The Ekstatik had no more that 15 minutes of play when I made that clip. I'm also not 100% sure I nailed the arm height but I think it is right.

So, yes, the Ekstatik is not burned in at all yet. But my initial impression is that it digs deeper in the groove for the music, reduces surface noise (as does Radikal 2) and seems to me to be even more musical than the Kandid. It certainly does not sound to me like it is more etched, despite the additional information, but actually seems smoother and more cohesive. Again it is very early days and I will revisit the clip once it has a number of hours on it.

Did everybody get the clip name references?

OK, but at the moment ITCOTCK may have "potential" but it's clearly not as in tune as TAAB, will be curious to hear ITCOTCK (+bake in time & warmup) again vs. this TAAB clip.

springwood64 wrote: ↑2022-01-08 21:01 I got nine inch nails and in the court of the crimson king.

Two out of three isn't bad! Your wise men don't know how it feels...

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 21:55

springwood64 wrote: ↑2022-01-08 21:01 I got nine inch nails and in the court of the crimson king.

Two out of three isn't bad! Your wise men don't know how it feels...

Hmmm. Perhaps I'm being thick, like baked clay rectangular building component

I think I preferred NIN.

I'm late to the party, but listened just now.

Have some trouble choosing between these clips and am leaning towards NIN. Had even more trouble with the other two. But the system does sound really good!

lejonklou wrote: ↑2022-01-09 00:13 I'm late to the party, but listened just now.
Have some trouble choosing between these clips...
But the system does sound really good!

+1

ThomasOK wrote: ↑2022-01-08 00:39 A little something to listen to this weekend:

NIN
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cfbedkwf5d96c ... M.mov?dl=0
TAAB
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iskrftztgfqlo ... M.mov?dl=0
ITCOTCK
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m1bv332igqe5r ... M.mov?dl=0

Note that my audio dog in training is adding some sonic information in the far right channel that is not necessarily musically related to the piece playing, especially in the second and third tracks. Lily seems to be an extremely intelligent dog which doesn't always have positive consequences. A good example is her perception of the iPhone. She has come to the conclusion that whenever I pick up the IPhone I am unable to pay 100% attention to her. Being the princess this is just not acceptable. Therefore when I pick up the iPhone, whether to answer a call or email, reply to a text or make a recording, something must be done to regain my attention! It could be to chew on a chair leg, scratch on her mat or throw the antler she chews on around, among other delights. Such antics made getting a clean recording basically impossible.

Nice clips in there Thomas , although it was getting close to becoming an installation I'm going with ITCOTCK
TAAB was also in there but NIN sounded a bit more hifi to me

Scooter62 wrote: ↑2022-01-08 09:00

Lego wrote: ↑2022-01-07 13:49

tokenbrit wrote: ↑2022-01-07 01:26 Any plans to move the Ninkas out? Can't imagine they help the sound if they're just sitting there... Also, any dampening on the piano strings when not in use / while the hifi is playing? The piano resonances might confuse the recordings, but quite likely make the in-room sound good.

Yes I'll definitely be moving them out tokenbrit. .As I'll be selling them they're technically not my speakers so I've been nervous about putting them somewhere less safe.When the novelty of the JBLs wear off ,I'll put them somewhere safe and put JBLs closer to the wall.I'm never in a rush to improve things as it's always good to have an improvement to look forward to :0)

The Piano is used to often to bother about damping it down.

Just a quick note on pianos in listening rooms: the hammer felts are resting on all but the top few strings (around F6 and up, depending on manufacturer) so the strings aren’t vibrating sympathetically. The top few strings that aren’t damped are so short and high in pitch they would take a prohibitive amount of acoustic energy to make even the slightest audible peep. Now that new Fredholm dreadnaught standing by the LP12, THAT will sing along with the hifi ;-)

Thanks for that Scooter 😀

lejonklou wrote: ↑2022-01-09 00:13 I'm late to the party, but listened just now.

Have some trouble choosing between these clips and am leaning towards NIN. Had even more trouble with the other two. But the system does sound really good!

I'm even more late to the party, because I didn't know about these music links until today. In any case, all three sound good, but I really like ITCOTCK overall...

Thanks for posting Thomas

Here's some clips of the latest round of experiments. I think I know which one I prefer and it's not what I expected. What do you think?

Hockey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/777mvkiqlk7jv ... 0.mov?dl=0

Puck:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/it50p76nynva4 ... 6.mov?dl=0

markiteight wrote: ↑2022-01-13 03:12 Here's some clips of the latest round of experiments. I think I know which one I prefer and it's not what I expected. What do you think?

Hockey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/777mvkiqlk7jv ... 0.mov?dl=0

Puck:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/it50p76nynva4 ... 6.mov?dl=0

Too close for me - they both sound great

markiteight wrote: ↑2022-01-13 03:12 Here's some clips of the latest round of experiments. I think I know which one I prefer and it's not what I expected. What do you think?

Hockey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/777mvkiqlk7jv ... 0.mov?dl=0

Puck:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/it50p76nynva4 ... 6.mov?dl=0

I like the voice more on "Puck", there the focus is on the singing and not on the rhythm guitar.

I agree with Springwood, in that they both sound very close to each other. And they both sound very good as well. But at the same time I agree with Tendaberry, the voice on Puck does sound a little more natural.

Cheers

markiteight wrote: ↑2022-01-13 03:12 Here's some clips of the latest round of experiments. I think I know which one I prefer and it's not what I expected. What do you think?

Hockey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/777mvkiqlk7jv ... 0.mov?dl=0

Puck:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/it50p76nynva4 ... 6.mov?dl=0

markiteight wrote: ↑2022-01-13 03:12 Here's some clips of the latest round of experiments. I think I know which one I prefer and it's not what I expected. What do you think?

Hockey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/777mvkiqlk7jv ... 0.mov?dl=0

Puck:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/it50p76nynva4 ... 6.mov?dl=0

Puck!

With headphones there was a clear difference to me. Not only in the singing, which Tendaberry mentioned, but even more so in the bass and how it times with everything else.

markiteight wrote: ↑2022-01-13 03:12 Here's some clips of the latest round of experiments. I think I know which one I prefer and it's not what I expected. What do you think?

Hockey:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/777mvkiqlk7jv ... 0.mov?dl=0

Puck:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/it50p76nynva4 ... 6.mov?dl=0

Here for me better is Puck. It's better in general ...