Quake's here : the other thread got too long :)

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by Kelly, Jun 22, 2004.

  1. Kelly

    Kelly Unregistered User

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    Hi Guys.

    Thanks for keeping my thread alive.
    Anyway, Sorry for the long delay since my last post. and my deepest apologies for this LONG post.
    The Quake has arrived.
    It came with a highlevel connection cable (10m, with a neutrik connector) a lowlevel cable(throw away rca) and a shielded mains(thicker than an average computer/kettle cable)
    The manual was kind of dodgy, looked like a photocopy, but the instructions were clear and the wordings concise (ok, 8pages of manual only)

    First things first, I know I should upgrade more than 1 item at one time, but oh well. I whipped out a spare set of vdh speaker cables (the light blue ones), tore out 3, 1.5m lengths and practiced my braiding skills(I have a sis). I then replaced the stock cable with that into the neutrik plug. I also whipped up a length of belden 83803s with some hubbel end and a mk plug. OK! done. now the hard part.

    Setting up the quake was a bitch(can I say that word, mod?). As I'm a stickler for detail, I followed the instructions to the letter. I placed the woofer in the corner, plugged up the cables, and played with the knobs (more on that later). Since I was alone at home, I had to practice my speed laps, move, sit, turn, shift, turn, sit, listen...etc

    Finally! finally, I got everything right. I sit down and everything sounds good, balanced low-end with that beautiful ambience and depth that I heard in the showroom. ok, so I decide to lie back and soak the fruits of my labour. No sooner as my head hits the pillow when my heart goes boom, boom, boom and I feel my headboard rocking as well (I'm still alone). I sit up, and it's gone, back to the magic. I lie down, and it's there again. (My bed is my listening sofa. my sweetspot is when I'm sitting in the middle of the bed) ARRRGGGHHH. Does this mean that my headboard gets some banging even when I'm not? Ok, gain goes down one click (I LOVE the knobs). I sit back, and the bass seems thinner, absent might be a better word, but when I lie down, the magic happens. Be still my heart, I've found the solution.....I need a remote :)

    Guess I'll up the gain when I'm listening and lower it when I want to sleep (inset headboard banging joke here). Down to the music.

    I haven't had a chance to run in the sub yet(it's now on repeat of track 5 of the sheffield drum and bass), but my early impressions.

    Equipment
    Marantz CD17MkII KI
    NAD C370 (modded)
    DynaudioAcoustics BM6P on atacama stands (filled with nails)
    Nordost (yes, yes! hush now, I'm writing this) cables
    belden 83803 power cords

    Music (These are my reference tracks I bring for every audition)
    1. Jacintha - And the angels sing (autumn leaves: The songs of Johnny Mercer)
    2. Apocalyptica - Nothing else matters(live version from Cult)
    3. Jeanette Lindstrom and Steve Dobrogosz - The look of love (feathers)
    4. none - Night Flight (crouching tiger hidden dragon OST)

    Sounds
    I'd say my system is fairly transparent. I liked the dry accurate sound of the dynaudioacoustics studio monitors. In my smallish room, I love to hear the details. bass has been reasonable, as the dyns can go pretty low, but the impact has never been there. quothed the better half "they sound like real pianos, but don't FEEL like real pianos"
    track1, jacintha. There is this awesome double bass intro to this song that can leave most systems wanting, a very strong pluck of the double bass starts the track, with a bass line leading into her vocals. With the sub on, the bass sounds more real, her voice sounds like it's coming from her chest, and I can reach out and touch her chest
    track2, apocalyptica is quartet of classically trained cellists who've decided to play metallica. For this track, they cover Nothing Else matters. 1 cellist plucking the bassline, 2 playing seperate rhythms and 1 on lead. The music is amazing. I feel like I'm transported to the venue, it's etheral.
    track3, Jeanette lindstrom sings while Steve plays the piano. That's it. A piano and this amazing voice. OMG, I feel the piano. I hear it and I feel it. I can't wait for my better half to have a listen.
    track4, This is from the night fight scene between zhang ziyi and michelle yeoh in the movie, where they are flying off roofs and bouncing off walls. For those of you who've seen it, you'd remember a drumbeat soundtrack pacing their moves, with some cello(yoyoma's actually) accentuating the flights. Good track for bass. Better track with the sub ON! nuff said :)

    Impressions
    Everything sounds better. definitely a night and day difference, and yes, I'd take an ABX anytime. "sub on, sub off"
    It's not just the bass, but the depth and the ambience. Like I said in my previous post. Adding the sub seems to have given a more 3D atmosphere to the sound. You can hear the music and FEEL the music. Even on tracks like track2, where there is only a piano and vocals, I can imagine myself being inside the studio with them, rather than behind the glass in the monitoring station. Not everything has benefited from the sub though, some music with really deep bass seemed to have become slightly boomy. I can feel my heart going, not sure if I like it yet.
    Otherwise, a fantastic buy, and for less than 1k(SGD) a worthwhile purchase (edit:keep telling yourself that when you tell your better half)

    Cheers
    Kelly
     
    Kelly, Jun 22, 2004
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  2. Kelly

    lowrider Live music is surround

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    Good job, I usually prefer the subs a bit away from the corner, move it inch by inch until it sounds better to you, also, it usually sounds better on spikes, are you using yours... :confused:
     
    lowrider, Jun 22, 2004
    #2
  3. Kelly

    wolfgang

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    Thanks for writing up a very good review of what a sub could offer for music lover who only have room for a pair of monitor loudspeakers.

    They way you talk up Jacintha really makes me interested to see what it is all about. I'll be going to Malaysia next month. I will look out her albums. If you are going to buy only one Cd which would you recommend as the best introduction?
     
    wolfgang, Jun 22, 2004
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  4. Kelly

    Kelly Unregistered User

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    Hi Antonio

    Yup, it's on spikes. though I read in the REL webbie that using the spikes is not "recommended" but I found without the spikes that the bass was not as tight and controlled as I would like.

    Hi Wolfgang.

    Jacintha has 5 albums out currently.

    Autumn leaves - songs by johnny mercer
    [​IMG]

    Here's to ben - A vocal tribute to Ben Webster [​IMG]

    Lush Life
    [​IMG]

    Couldn't find pictures of the other 2.

    My favourite is Autumn leaves, followed very closely by Here's to Ben.
    She does covers of all jazz standards, but her voice is very luscious. If I were to recommend, I'd say get both, autumn leaves and here's to ben.
    Supposedly, she's quite a hit among the audiophool circles in the US, as I've found her CD being mentioned as a review reference track.

    You can find the record label site here
    http://www.groovenote.com/htm/catalog.htm
    There is a SACD version and XRCD version of her albums, though I only have the normal versions.

    Kelly

    PS, on Here's to Ben, she does a solo stand up version of "Danny Boy". It's recorded with a single mike in a relatively large studio, and you can hear the air around her while she whispers the song to you. It ranks very high on my "getting into the mood" music.
     
    Kelly, Jun 23, 2004
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  5. Kelly

    Robbo

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    Glad you like it kelly.
     
    Robbo, Jun 23, 2004
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  6. Kelly

    technobear Ursine Audiophile

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    Kelly, do you have wooden floors. Your sub will sound even tighter and give more impact if you stick it on a paving slab. Keep using the spikes. The slab can be spray-painted with Plastikote or similar. I sprayed mine satin black and they look great. They sound great too. I even have a 60cm one under the equipment rack.
     
    technobear, Jun 23, 2004
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  7. Kelly

    lowrider Live music is surround

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    I have Jacintha's "Her name", dedicated to Julie London, great recording and music, if a little slow... ;)
     
    lowrider, Jun 23, 2004
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  8. Kelly

    greg Its a G thing

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    Bear in mind the quake is forward firing, I found my Q200E considerably better off the spikes.
     
    greg, Jun 23, 2004
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  9. Kelly

    dunkyboy

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    The Quake is downward-firing.

    Dunc
     
    dunkyboy, Jun 23, 2004
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  10. Kelly

    wolfgang

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    Thanks for the recommendation.
     
    wolfgang, Jun 24, 2004
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  11. Kelly

    greg Its a G thing

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    my mistake, ignore the no spikes advice then
     
    greg, Jun 24, 2004
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  12. Kelly

    lowrider Live music is surround

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    One more thing, I just replaced the original spikes of my Stratas with Soundcare superspikes, 50 euros each set of 4, make sure you get M8 size for REL, (the original rust, must be the sea breeze around here ;) ), they are supposed to attenuate the sound transmission to the neighbours, -11db at 50hz, and in my system they did improve the bass, more and even better controlled...

    Also worked on my standmounts, steadier + apparent higher SNR...
     
    lowrider, Jun 24, 2004
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  13. Kelly

    Kelly Unregistered User

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    I got concrete floors with black and white marble tiles, no carpeting. The floor gets nice and cold (cos the days are just too hot over here), but that also means I can put everything on the floor with no worries.


    Hi Antonio,
    The soundcare spikes cost $90SGD for a set of 3 here, not sure if they sell 4, but I'll take a look (1euro is abt 2SGD)
    Though I suspect the vdh speaker cable tweak did make a relatively significant difference over the stock cable. I bought a 4m run of vdh's skyline hybrid(abt $7SGD/m, it was the only speaker cable the dealer had in reel form), cut it in half, tore up the double runs, so I have 4 2m runs. took 3 and marked them yellow, red and black, braided them. Mounted them on a neutrik plug and used that instead of the stock. The skyline's a 14GA whilst I suspect the stock is a 24GA. I'll probably do an AB this weekend, when the sub's run in. Of course the other tweak is the Belden 83803 power cable replacing the stock.
     
    Kelly, Jun 24, 2004
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  14. Kelly

    lowrider Live music is surround

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    Soundcare has different kinds of Superspikes. particularly those to replace normal spikes that came in sets of 4 for 50 euros and the so called adhesive that are to be used with non spiked kit... the second are 30 euros a set of 3...

    I use my subwoofers with active xovers and low level connection, Audioquest G-Snake is the best I found... Also use DIY PCs, nothing special...
     
    lowrider, Jun 24, 2004
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  15. Kelly

    Kelly Unregistered User

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    I use the highlevel connection as I don't have a 5.1 amp. I've only 2 speakers in the room with a stereo amp.
    Anyway,
    It's been approved.
    The better half came over last night, and without saying anything, I spun her some tracks and watched her reaction. (the woofer was semi-hidden, not that she'd noticed anyway, just another black box)
    Her first reaction was "bass too heavy", that was to the double bass intro on jacinta (ahh, sub vol, 1 click down, setting now at 9clicks). Second reaction "sounds better, sounds like she's singing into the mike while we are sitting next to her".
    I put on Jeanette Lindstrom, "the piano is much more real, can feel it, as if it's a real piano playing"
    I'm relieved and happy. And, No, I'm not telling her how much I spent on it, actually she didn't ask, didn't say a word except mumble that the music was definitely better :)
    So we sat back and enjoyed an evening listening to Les Miserables (and comparing original cast and dream cast swapping back and forth)

    Cheers
    Kelly
     
    Kelly, Jun 26, 2004
    #15
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