Fellippe
11-24-2007, 08:06 AM
Been playing with my new home setup for a few weeks now and really like it. Love the combination of some esoteric home audio brands and minimalist design. :)
First, the speakers....these are the Duet speakers from Italian company SAP. An 8" coaxial woofer with compression tweeter mounted behind the silk dust cap mounted in a passive radiator enclosure (not sure the exact volume but the entire cabinet is around 1.4 cubic feet). The cabinet itself is made of aged marine plywood.
As for the speaker placement...I originally was more concerned with aesthetics and placing them at the corners. My friend must have misheard me (or even better, heard me anyways and ignored me, lol) and sent me shorter cables. So the speaker placement that you see (about 6 - 6 1/2 feet apart) is about as wide as you can get...the left side can't go any farther while the right side has more room.
As for the MVP of the system, that would be the tube amp. It is the Ensemble by Italian company Synthesis. It is a Pentode configuration, dual mono block, 30 watts at 6 ohms. It really is as small as it seems in the pics and gets HOT like a m/f too....which is why it stays on the rug while in use, lol.
Very basic install. The amplifier is no fluff...just a selection of inputs, two volume/gain controls for each channel, and that's it. I connected my very basic Sony DVD/CD player to it, and the Yamaha tuner separately controlling TV, FM, Sirius. I just ordered the ipod base as well...
Before we get into the sound review, I'd like to point out how much I love the passion behind the small outfits that make this equipment. The speakers came with a double sided sheet explaining the design and construction, but written in a way that's more conversational than pure tech. They are a bit amusing to read as there's humor and some audiophile type snobbery befitting such products. :)
Also, there's some grammar issues in both manuals that illustrate how the operation is more concerned with the product and not the fluff. A little counterintuitive, but in this case I like it.
Lastly, the bag that the amplifier came in was worth saving. It's this nice burgundy bag with nice texture on it that adds to the excitement of unpacking the box. Hard to describe what its like but it'd be a crime to throw it out!
Now onto the review:
After spending the last 6 years daily driving with some nice car audio, and perhaps at best 5-8 hours listening to proper home stuff (up until that point), its interesting to hear the differences so quickly and be re-adjusted to the new reference.
It probably takes 15-20 minutes to get your first impression at least, considering I wasn't 100% sure when the system was dialed in properly as this is my first home setup. ;)
Right away, tonally, this is a very smooth sounding system. It rolls off the high end way better than my car ever could....never harsh or bright. The midbass out of the system is pretty nice....warm, full, and strong. There's pretty good detail as you can hear instruments defined well...and vocals coming from their own space as well.
First impression is that the system images and stages very well, and with almost no effort required except matching the separate volume knobs. Primary vocals come dead center behind the TV and as deep as the wall a bit higher than the speakers themselves. The better the recording, the more impressive the system will sound in all respects, and in particular with imaging/staging.....I played Pink Floyd's "The Wall" yesterday and it was unbelievable. Same with the Steely, MJ records, Earth,Wind, & Fire, live recordings,etc....the speakers will "disappear" a lot more with these records as opposed to a Kanye record where pretty much just the vocal disappears, lol.
I'd attribute the imaging mostly to the coaxial design and the strong amplifier. Never knock a good coax again. ;)
What I love a lot is how much I can enjoy the system without having to get very loud. I get musical enjoyment at much lower volume levels than I normally would listen to, even car off in the driveway. This is nice as you don't have to crank to enjoy or show people what's up...hehe. I love a quality tube amp!
There's a good amount of headroom I just do not tap on a daily basis for fear that I will be ex-communicated from my co-op complex. I have tested it pretty loud for several seconds and it's a very BIG sound indeed. :)
No complaints so far except for when I left a CD on a bit loud while showering on a weekday morning and got a "turn your music down, you woke up my dogs" note under my door! WTF?? I could have been more prudent, so in that case no real complaints yet. :D
I don't know what everyone's tastes are....but if you are into a natural, warm, sound with presence and good midbass, this is a great combination. I'd add that it rolls off around 50 hertz, so not a lot of low end. In the future when I move into a house I'll definitely add a good subwoofer to mate to it.
For now will just enjoy the tunes. If anyone is ever in the NYC area and wants to hear it sometime, let me know and we'll try to schedule a good time to audition it.
First, the speakers....these are the Duet speakers from Italian company SAP. An 8" coaxial woofer with compression tweeter mounted behind the silk dust cap mounted in a passive radiator enclosure (not sure the exact volume but the entire cabinet is around 1.4 cubic feet). The cabinet itself is made of aged marine plywood.
As for the speaker placement...I originally was more concerned with aesthetics and placing them at the corners. My friend must have misheard me (or even better, heard me anyways and ignored me, lol) and sent me shorter cables. So the speaker placement that you see (about 6 - 6 1/2 feet apart) is about as wide as you can get...the left side can't go any farther while the right side has more room.
As for the MVP of the system, that would be the tube amp. It is the Ensemble by Italian company Synthesis. It is a Pentode configuration, dual mono block, 30 watts at 6 ohms. It really is as small as it seems in the pics and gets HOT like a m/f too....which is why it stays on the rug while in use, lol.
Very basic install. The amplifier is no fluff...just a selection of inputs, two volume/gain controls for each channel, and that's it. I connected my very basic Sony DVD/CD player to it, and the Yamaha tuner separately controlling TV, FM, Sirius. I just ordered the ipod base as well...
Before we get into the sound review, I'd like to point out how much I love the passion behind the small outfits that make this equipment. The speakers came with a double sided sheet explaining the design and construction, but written in a way that's more conversational than pure tech. They are a bit amusing to read as there's humor and some audiophile type snobbery befitting such products. :)
Also, there's some grammar issues in both manuals that illustrate how the operation is more concerned with the product and not the fluff. A little counterintuitive, but in this case I like it.
Lastly, the bag that the amplifier came in was worth saving. It's this nice burgundy bag with nice texture on it that adds to the excitement of unpacking the box. Hard to describe what its like but it'd be a crime to throw it out!
Now onto the review:
After spending the last 6 years daily driving with some nice car audio, and perhaps at best 5-8 hours listening to proper home stuff (up until that point), its interesting to hear the differences so quickly and be re-adjusted to the new reference.
It probably takes 15-20 minutes to get your first impression at least, considering I wasn't 100% sure when the system was dialed in properly as this is my first home setup. ;)
Right away, tonally, this is a very smooth sounding system. It rolls off the high end way better than my car ever could....never harsh or bright. The midbass out of the system is pretty nice....warm, full, and strong. There's pretty good detail as you can hear instruments defined well...and vocals coming from their own space as well.
First impression is that the system images and stages very well, and with almost no effort required except matching the separate volume knobs. Primary vocals come dead center behind the TV and as deep as the wall a bit higher than the speakers themselves. The better the recording, the more impressive the system will sound in all respects, and in particular with imaging/staging.....I played Pink Floyd's "The Wall" yesterday and it was unbelievable. Same with the Steely, MJ records, Earth,Wind, & Fire, live recordings,etc....the speakers will "disappear" a lot more with these records as opposed to a Kanye record where pretty much just the vocal disappears, lol.
I'd attribute the imaging mostly to the coaxial design and the strong amplifier. Never knock a good coax again. ;)
What I love a lot is how much I can enjoy the system without having to get very loud. I get musical enjoyment at much lower volume levels than I normally would listen to, even car off in the driveway. This is nice as you don't have to crank to enjoy or show people what's up...hehe. I love a quality tube amp!
There's a good amount of headroom I just do not tap on a daily basis for fear that I will be ex-communicated from my co-op complex. I have tested it pretty loud for several seconds and it's a very BIG sound indeed. :)
No complaints so far except for when I left a CD on a bit loud while showering on a weekday morning and got a "turn your music down, you woke up my dogs" note under my door! WTF?? I could have been more prudent, so in that case no real complaints yet. :D
I don't know what everyone's tastes are....but if you are into a natural, warm, sound with presence and good midbass, this is a great combination. I'd add that it rolls off around 50 hertz, so not a lot of low end. In the future when I move into a house I'll definitely add a good subwoofer to mate to it.
For now will just enjoy the tunes. If anyone is ever in the NYC area and wants to hear it sometime, let me know and we'll try to schedule a good time to audition it.