Thank you gentlemen! The make of them are Audiotech and not Audio Technica as I wrote in an earlier post.

Spannko wrote: ↑2019-11-20 13:09

lejonklou wrote: ↑2019-11-20 11:44 Looks fantastic!

I hope your wife takes care of your interior design at home!

What do you mean Spannko?

Charlie1 wrote: ↑2019-11-20 14:08 Lookin' good - thanks for the pic.

They do get right up close to the wall don't they.

Yes they are really close to the back wall. There is 9mm MDF behind the wall brackets to get them to the right distance from the wall (tune dem).

I’m guessing he means that only an audiophile would think that small black speakers sitting on black metal frame brackets mounted to the wall with unsubtle grey speaker cables hanging down would look fantastic!

But I think it’s pretty cool and those are the wall brackets to have for Kans. For a long time we had a single one at the store, I think we sold it’s mate to hold a center channel speaker.

Spannko wrote: ↑2019-11-20 13:09

lejonklou wrote: ↑2019-11-20 11:44 Looks fantastic!

I hope your wife takes care of your interior design at home!

Different strokes for different folks, Spannko.

When I removed my JBL 3677 speakers from our living room, my daughter (18 at the time) cried "Where did those cool speakers go?"

Kans, wall mounted or on floor stands, with their framed in grilles, are among the coolest looking speakers in my book. Tiny monitors that have to stand far out in the room I don't like, esthetically.

Oops, sorry. No offence meant. In the UK it’s often felt that the Scandinavian’s have the best home decor style and have inspired the rest of the world with their furniture designs, many of which can be found in museums of modern art.

I didn’t think that the Kans on the wall quite lived up to that lofty standard. But, as you say, different strokes and all that!

Took delivery of a SNAPS today, serviced 2-years ago. Already have a Hicap, also serviced 2-years ago. Would like to try a NAPS as well but they are quite rear these days.

The entire system was cold I'm afraid - I figured everything being cold should be fair. I even switched off the Radikal between setups.

12/SNAPS/160: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gk9j60qn0j3se ... D.MOV?dl=0
vs
12/Hicap/160: https://www.dropbox.com/s/iv7c3ouvxxofj ... D.MOV?dl=0

I may post a couple of warmed up clips later with a different pre/power.

Hmm, Charlie (Watts) went to the gym, before the second clip. Not sure that's entirely good, but it gets me moving more.

Thanks Tendaberry.

Radikal/Urika warmed up a bit more now. Amps/PSUs had about 45 mins so better than nothing. Same serviced cards as used earlier in the NAC 12.

CB 250 is in dire need of a service (caps failing) - shouldn't really be playing it but just wanted to compare these two before sending off for repair.

32/SNAPS/250: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ihy07f0ytrjz3 ... D.MOV?dl=0
vs
32/Hicap/250: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ga46x6zrngdas ... D.MOV?dl=0

This is a better test anyway cos 12/160 always sound better on their own, whereas I'd have no choice with a 250.

These were only 100 quid so thought 'sod it'. No spikes, unfortunately.

Linn Keilidh: https://www.dropbox.com/s/gmmwpdxx76l7w ... D.MOV?dl=0
Rega ELA 1.25: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ufnclgwe1pcg5 ... D.MOV?dl=0

Not sure it's very obvious in the clips but I've already found the top end is not very pleasant with the VM95C stylus. It's not an issue with 95NE though.

I’d forgotten how good the Rega’s are, and they go really well with the Nait too. I wouldn’t be surprised if Rega used the Nait when designing them. For £100 they’re a real bargain.

Another experiment, here we go! Can't seem to get the sound quality in the videos to resemble the one in the room though :-(
And it's a very tricky song. Which one do you prefer?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/bzh3poo9y35sd ... 9.mov?dl=0
or
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y16oo56nkuboe ... 9.mov?dl=0

First one is better!

I prefer the second clip.

I find that the whole clip and the last 8 sec. in particular grooves better listening to the second.

My immediate impression was that in clip number 2, several instruments needed tuning.

So I prefer clip 1.

If I had only listened to the first half of the song then I'd have just said clip 1. Clip 2 seemed a bit pedestrian by compaison.

But after reading beck's comment, I listened to the last 10secs where clip 2 is more coherent to me and a funkier band.

So I can swing either way on this one.

lejonklou wrote: ↑2019-12-08 22:24 My immediate impression was that in clip number 2, several instruments needed tuning.

So I prefer clip 1.

Yes, the “tuning” is slightly off in the second clip. I agree.

Just listening to the first 30 seconds or so I preferred the first one.

It's interesting to see, that you are all as divided as I am. The second clip is with a Furman AC-210A Power Conditioner between the the wall socket and the power bar for the Qnap, router and switches.

Tendaberry wrote: ↑2019-12-09 00:56 It's interesting to see, that you are all as divided as I am. The second clip is with a Furman AC-210A Power Conditioner between the the wall socket and the power bar for the Qnap, router and switches.

I think it is fair to say that the first clip is the preferred one. :-)

What I find extremely interesting regarding digital is how much vibration control can change. Often I think you will find that introducing another device into your setup is also about the change of vibration pattern as well as the device itself.

Experimenting with my cd player I have found a way to get a much more “analog” sounding reprodution of the music. When a bass is playing it feels a lot more like a real instrument than an impressive but artificial deep sound.

Tendaberry wrote: ↑2019-12-09 00:56 It's interesting to see, that you are all as divided as I am.

Not divided here. Throw it out!

lejonklou wrote: ↑2019-12-09 16:11

Tendaberry wrote: It's interesting to see, that you are all as divided as I am.

Not divided here. Throw it out!

I agree. It is not the solution. Do not throw it out. Just sell it or return it! :-) Or use it for something else.

#1 for me, second clip did not catch my attention.

I was going to do some testing, but Kaos had a different view on that and just wanted to enjoy Zappa :)
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-NST ... w-1280.mp4

I definitely prefer clip 1. I did listen all the way through as things were changing so much throughout the clip. I found that the more instruments came in the more jumbled clip 2 sounded, it just became progressively harder to follow. I also felt that the instruments, and the voices, in clip 1 were in better tune than clip 2. It is interesting that on clip 2 the lead vocal near the end didn't sound too bad, I think because it became dominant (even more dominant than in clip 1), but going back I still felt the vocal was better performed, and better integrated with instruments, in clip 1.

maffe wrote: ↑2019-12-09 19:59 #1 for me, second clip did not catch my attention.

I was going to do some testing, but Kaos had a different view on that and just wanted to enjoy Zappa :)
https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-NST ... w-1280.mp4

Interesting how animals enjoy music when well performed and reproduced. Bella was sleeping on the floor to the entire "In the Court of the Crimson King" album a little over a week ago, even "21st Century Schizoid Man".

Here are two clips of a comparison I did a while back. It's a 48/16 fixed level mono recording done with a USB microphone via ALSA, directly to WAV.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this comparison. No difference? Imagination-level differences? That's not what I found. Let's hear what you think. :)

Clip #1: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1bVUFj ... p0Leo4Q-hQ

Clip #2: https://drive.google.com/open?id=18T-am ... CTKWuzOEuM

Interesting comparison and a nice recording.

Clip 2 seems had more sense of direction and going somewhere yet at the same time seemed a bit hurried compared to clip 1. Overall I think I prefer clip 2 but I enjoyed them both.