Ron The Mon's System

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V.A.MKD
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Ron The Mon's System

Post by V.A.MKD »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-12 20:07
It will be my first Lejonklou purchase and I won't feel like such a freeloader here. It really is a good value too;

Ron The Mon
Hi Ron The Mon,
What is your system, if it is not secret? Try to find it in other category but ... :)
Vlado
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Secret Information

Post by Ron The Mon »

V.A.MKD wrote: 2020-02-12 22:15 Hi Ron The Mon,
What is your system, if it is not secret? Try to find it in other category but ... :)
Image
Image
Vlado,
Main Sources:
Rosewood LP12/Cirkus/LV X/AT-VM95C (&E & EN & SP & SH)/Radikal. LP12 is on Rega wall-mount shelf, Radikal on Audiotech floor stand. (33⅓%)
2019 Apple Mac mini/Spotify for most all digital playback. (33⅓%)
Oppo BDP-105D for TV, DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming. (33⅓%)
Main Amps:
(slightly modified) Naim NAC42 pre-amp powered by SMPS.
Two mono Naim NAP110 amps.
Main Speakers:
1990 Black Linn Isobariks run passive.

I have 8 other hi-fis throughout my home. These include an active Rosewood Kan system and a passive (rare white) Kan system. Three of the systems have turntables (including an ADC Accutrac4000), four have Macs/AppleTVs for phone and/or streaming, though most of them are AM/FM and A/V playback.

My boat has a 2019 Mac mini/Nait/Kans hi-fi below. I lived on my boat five months last Spring and Summer. I am considering selling an extra SUV and Toyota pick-up to finance a Boazu if it outperforms the Nait. I may also complete a HAKAI if my lack of patience and predilection change.

To be clear, I have heard a lot of hi-fis in different setups and rooms. My main hi-fi sounds really really good. I am always satisfied every time I sit down in my main listening room. I have gone through extremes over decades. This includes climbing the telephone poles in my neighborhood, while on walkie-talkies with my son, and pounding different depth ground rods and comparing sound quality of each.

Gear is only one aspect of attaining a good hi-fi. Attention to all details of set-up is far more important.

Ron The Mon
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Re: Secret Information

Post by V.A.MKD »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-13 02:01
V.A.MKD wrote: 2020-02-12 22:15 Hi Ron The Mon,
What is your system, if it is not secret? Try to find it in other category but ... :)
Image
Image
Vlado,
Main Sources:
Rosewood LP12/Cirkus/LV X/AT-VM95C (&E & EN & SP & SH)/Radikal. LP12 is on Rega wall-mount shelf, Radikal on Audiotech floor stand. (33⅓%)
2019 Apple Mac mini/Spotify for most all digital playback. (33⅓%)
Oppo BDP-105D for TV, DVD, Blu-ray, and streaming. (33⅓%)
Main Amps:
(slightly modified) Naim NAC42 pre-amp powered by SMPS.
Two mono Naim NAP110 amps.
Main Speakers:
1990 Black Linn Isobariks run passive.

I have 8 other hi-fis throughout my home. These include an active Rosewood Kan system and a passive (rare white) Kan system. Three of the systems have turntables (including an ADC Accutrac4000), four have Macs/AppleTVs for phone and/or streaming, though most of them are AM/FM and A/V playback.

My boat has a 2019 Mac mini/Nait/Kans hi-fi below. I lived on my boat five months last Spring and Summer. I am considering selling an extra SUV and Toyota pick-up to finance a Boazu if it outperforms the Nait. I may also complete a HAKAI if my lack of patience and predilection change.

To be clear, I have heard a lot of hi-fis in different setups and rooms. My main hi-fi sounds really really good. I am always satisfied every time I sit down in my main listening room. I have gone through extremes over decades. This includes climbing the telephone poles in my neighborhood, while on walkie-talkies with my son, and pounding different depth ground rods and comparing sound quality of each.

Gear is only one aspect of attaining a good hi-fi. Attention to all details of set-up is far more important.

Ron The Mon
Thank you Ron The Mon,
No one secret, don't stay secret ... :)
Interesting & rare Linn/Naim set-up. Mono NAP110? First time to hear or running one channel ...

The most important part is Happiness, as you say ... "I am always satisfied every time I sit down in my main listening room".

All the Best,
Vlado
Music First ...
Vlado
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Re: Secret Information

Post by Charlie1 »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-13 02:01 ....a passive (rare white) Kan system.
Wow, didn't know there were any white ones. I knew that Linn had done some special finishes over the years but never knew what they were. Are they 1s or 2s? Do you know what else they made over the years?

Are you running the active Kans with Naim? I'm told Exposure made a very small number of crossovers (single digit) as well.
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Re: Secret Information

Post by Tony Tune-age »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-13 02:01Gear is only one aspect of attaining a good hi-fi. Attention to all details of set-up is far more important.
Very true indeed "Ron the Mon," and well stated too!

Cheers
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More Secret Information

Post by Ron The Mon »

Charlie1 wrote: 2020-02-13 09:26
Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-13 02:01 ....a passive (rare white) Kan system.
Wow, didn't know there were any white ones. I knew that Linn had done some special finishes over the years but never knew what they were. Are they 1s or 2s?
Charlie,
I was teasing a bit; I didn't say they were "stock" white. The speakers date from 1979/1980. They have the vented/modified B110 but no doping, plywood cabinet, chipboard baffle, and SARA crossover. They are the best pair of passive Kans I've ever heard. However, they have three mods; two resulting from the first one.

Linn later used a stressed rod in the SARAs and Isobariks connecting the front baffle to the rear panel. This strengthened the rigidity of the cabinet increasing internal cabinet volume minimally. Many Kan owners have envisioned doing this to Kans. The problem is the passive crossover is in the way and the wires are too short to move it. This also leaves no room on the internal back panel to screw the circuit-board down.

The solution was to rewire it with a very thin gauge of DNM solid-core wire in such a way that the crossover board "hangs" off the drivers and back connectors. It is then sandwiched between two layers of stuffing. Quite ingenious! I've never read of anyone with a floating crossover board.

A wooden dowel was glued from baffle (just below the tweeter) to back panel. I was visiting the owner one day with another friend listening to his LP12/AVI/Hafler system through Martin Logan electrostatics. The third guy kept saying how good the Martin Logans sounded. To shut him up, the white Kans were brought into the room and the owner said, "You want to hear something really cool?". He then put them on the floor, and leaned them back against the Logans and played the same record on the Kans.

The third guy said "HOLY SHIT!!" and didn't say another word. They blew the Martin Logans away. He then played a Grand Funk song at 78 speed and I saw God. I made an offer that moment and put them in my car right away before he changed his mind.

The teak finish got beat up over the years and they were painted white and a white grille cloth attached; they look really cool. I'll post photos at some point.
Are you running the active [rosewood] Kans with Naim? I'm told Exposure made a very small number of crossovers (single digit) as well.
I originally ran those Kans passive with Naim, then Linn, then Exposure, and back to Naim. I then ran them active with Naim for over twenty years (which has some interesting anecdotes and is another story).

They are now run from a Sherwood receiver in an AV system passive. Sort of.

Tweeters, and two-way speakers, are overrated. As the speakers have two sets of jacks on the back, I simply connect the amp to the B110s run full-range. It sounds fantastic! Everyone who has heard this system doesn't even suspect there is no tweeter connected. In fact, comments range from great to awesome.

Ron The Mon
Last edited by Ron The Mon on 2020-02-17 01:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Ron The Mon's System

Post by Charlie1 »

You live a fascinating Hifi life Ron. I like the way you break convention too and experience God when hearing modded Kans🙏 if I ever blow a tweeter in one of mine then I will follow your lead.

My dealer recons Exposure made only a handful of Kan crossovers, low single figures, so, if you ran them properly active in the early days, then you had a rare setup there. Did the old Farlowe exposure pre power better Naim in any way? That stuff is very hard to come by now.

There is never enough Kan pics in the world so if you get time one day then would be great to see them.
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Re: More Secret Information

Post by lejonklou »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-14 20:13 I've never read of anyone with a floating crossover board.
Klångedang T1 v6.

Just saying.

Otherwise: Thank you for that story! Can't get enough of them.
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Re: Secret Information

Post by V.A.MKD »

Main Amps:
(slightly modified) Naim NAC42 pre-amp powered by SMPS.
Two mono Naim NAP110 amps.
Main Speakers:
1990 Black Linn Isobariks run passive.

Hi Ron The Mon,
Naim NAP110 in "mono" are special versions or you run two standard stereo using one channel ?
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How Mono?

Post by Ron The Mon »

V.A.MKD wrote: 2020-02-15 11:01 Naim NAP110 in "mono" are special versions or you run two standard stereo using one channel ?
Vlado,
Everything I own is special.

There is a much longer (and I think interesting) story about my mono NAP110s that includes photos along the way of various builds.

For today, all you get is a synopsis; Basically, I had a 110 and 140. An NAP110 has a large power supply shared by both amp boards. An NAP140 has two smaller supplies but each board gets their own and there is less interaction between the left and right channel. A 140 sounds better.

I am now using one large capacitor power supply in each case. There is only one amp-module circuit board on each case; dedicating a transformer, rectifier, and smoothing caps to each board. I used the 140 amp modules as they sounded better (one in each case). It sounds much better than I expected it to.

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Re: How Mono?

Post by V.A.MKD »

Ron The Mon wrote: 2020-02-17 01:13
V.A.MKD wrote: 2020-02-15 11:01 Naim NAP110 in "mono" are special versions or you run two standard stereo using one channel ?
Vlado,
Everything I own is special.

There is a much longer (and I think interesting) story about my mono NAP110s that includes photos along the way of various builds.
Yes, Ron The Mon,

Everything you own is special / exotic, maybe only one single case / issue ... on planet ...

I understand now what is your NAP 110 (PS from 110 and single channel / board from 140) ... best of the 110 and 140.
And please, tell the the "story" with all photos ... we like stories ..... as Fredrik say here "Can't get enough of them" ...

One thing is now clear to me ... I know to whom I will send PM, when time come for my Nait 2 to be "refreshed" after 30+ years ...

Thank you and all the best
Music First ...
Vlado
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