Hutter-ly amazing!

Music is the answer.

Music is the answer.

Could you please please please post the details of the dealer?

Thank you,

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

Music is the answer.

Music is the answer.

cheers

Nigel

Ron
Dum spiro audio
Dum audio vivo

http://homepages.go.com/~rontoolsie/index1.html

I've gone 100% Mana and have some more levels coming to me next week (along with a s/h-but-mint Aro) and I'm excited!!!

Merry Christmas, and enjoy your Hutter (and please post your thoughts as it settles in)...

John

Congratulations on your new stands, & maybe you thought my views on Hutter were a bit OTT...

The really good news is that the stands get better as they settle. This took about 1 week for me.

When the festivities are over tighten up your spikes, this will improve things as well. I have 2 sets of floor spikes in transit to me, ariving just after Christmas. According to the people that know this also makes a big improvement!!!

It's had to believe that such an attractive stand can sound _so_ good, but as you have just found out, it does.

Enjoy the music. Merry Christmas,

Bob

(note: those interested can check out more pics on the M@n@ Forum))

Cheers everyone,
Vuk.

Vuk...my little colonial friend.......you have sent in loads of photo's confirming the ugliness of this piece of ironmongery......but you have said nothing on the sound.......seems rather suspicious.

Come on......spill the beans. Now be honest...is it as good as you hoped it would be ?

Looking at the style of your decor, would have thought that the superb craftsmanship of Hutter would have blended quite well.

Regards

Mick,......PS happy Christmas to you all who bother to read this stuff.

quote:

---

Looking at the style of your decor, would have thought that the superb craftsmanship of Hutter would have blended quite well.

---

Micky Baby.

Blending??!! Mick, I'm not an old fart (yet). Blending is for chubbs; I like aesthetically balanced contrasts. Also, the bookcases are enough Ikea for me--Hutter would bring the place perilously close to a bread-trimmer's paradise.

It's funny how John's Hutter pictures confirmed even more how pedestrian and unattractive it is to me, though I could see it working well in a place that had shiny black floors and lots of chique industrial piping to offset the playpen look

Seriously, the Hutter is OK (much better that Quadraspire) but I do really prefer the look of Mana, especially at my place. I think a person with taste could make either one work well.

Vuk.

quote:

---

It's funny how John's Hutter pictures confirmed even more how pedestrian and unattractive it is to me, though I could see it working well in a place that had shiny black floors and lots of chique industrial piping to offset the playpen look

---

Vuk,
If you don't like the general shape of the stuff then fair enough, but what the pictures do not convey very well is the general fit and finish which really is truly superb. In my room, which is pretty big with a wooden floor, my old black metal stand (pictured above) looked really great, so I can believe that Mana can look good in the domestic environment, but hey, that is not the reason why any of us buys a stand.
In your picture I see that you have your Neat Elites very close together, why is that? Also, why is the CDX so low down with the old style 250(?) right at the top? Did you try all combinations?
John

Music is the answer.

I'm just teasing the Swindon taste patrol (the one that wants to put teapot woolie cozies over toilet paper in every home). The Hutter is failry attractive if one is into that look. I prefer Mana, but I could easily imagine a totally different decor in which I would probbly like Hutter. That said, I am not terribly impressed by Joel's choices in assembly (sorry Joel, I know there is a point to it).

Neats are close because (choose an answer):
1) more FEPs
2) with Mana, you can put your speakers anywhere
3) photographic distortion

The speakers are spaced at the equivalent of 2/3rds the midpoint disatance from the listener. It just looks funny in the photo (my bookcase in the corner is also much wider than it appears).

The positioning of equipment was based on consistent findings with every rack I've tried over the past 2 years. I really can't be bothered to f*ck around with it anymore. Also, when I post the next set of pictures showing the TT/prefix dilemma, among other things, you'll see that there is a practical reason too.

Vuk.

Vuk, congratulations on the Elites. If they're anything like the Petite/Gravitas I've heard then they'll be fantastic.

Although I'm not keen on the idea of placing the kit between the speakers, mainly from a soundfield point-of-view. Maybe there's no other alternative (however I say "where there's a will there's a way").

Andrew

Andrew Randle
2B || !2B;
4 ^ = ?;

quote:

---

That said, I am not terribly impressed by Joel's choices in assembly (sorry Joel, I know there is a point to it).

---

Vuk,
Joel is a law unto himself and no-one else really understands what he is trying to achieve with his stand arrangement.
John
Ps. I have scanned a load of pics from when we went to Joel's. Is it bad netiquette to post pictures of people without asking them first if they mind? I know Joel asked and someone (unnamed) objected, but hey, if we all did that we wouldn't have any fun!

Music is the answer.

quote:

---

Congrats dude! I hope you're experiencing a similar level of performance to what I'm now getting.

---

Wow, looks like Vuk chooses to place his novelty gonks on his speakers before remembering he has a P9.

Tony.

PS What's the verdict on the new Mana rack then?

If Hutter is better than what my stack of angle iron is doing, then I would sell all of my gear, by the Austrian stuff, stick a Sansui all-in-one on top, retire from internet audio and go on a nice trip with the money I would pocket.

The son of the owner of the former Naim shop came by for a listen the other day and said it was the best system he had ever heard (and he has heard way more than I have). I also took the opportunity to ask him about Exposure gear, which he sold in Toronto a while back, and he commented that the amps were probably better than Naim at various price points, but that the pre-amps were not nearly as good.

Vuk.

P.S. The Neat Elites are absolutley stunning and are contributing in a big way to the fantastic music my system is producing.

quote:

---

If Hutter is better than what my stack of angle iron is doing, then I would sell all of my gear, by the Austrian stuff, stick a Sansui all-in-one on top, retire from internet audio and go on a nice trip with the money I would pocket.

The Neat Elites are absolutley stunning and are contributing in a big way to the fantastic music my system is producing.

---

Vuk,
And you know that there are a few ex-Mana owners out there who think it is!
I'm interested in the Neat Elites. I've heard them sound both fantastic and rather nasty. Are they definitely the best speakers you have tried? Better than Kans?
John

Music is the answer.

They don't sound nasty here! Best transducer I have ever heard. Kans are fine speakers but I don't think there is anything substantial that they do better than Elites, yet there is plenty that Elites trounce the Linns on. Kans also can't play orchestral music adequately as far as I'm concerned and it's primarily why I ruled them out in the end (in addition to the midrange "honk" that made all singers sound as if they came from the same family and inhereted a severe nasal problem). Anyhow, keep in mind that the Elites are about 8 times the cost of s/h Kans.

Vuk.

quote:

---

(in addition to the midrange "honk" that made all singers sound as if they came from the same family and inhereted a severe nasal problem).

---

Vuk's insistence on this "honk" merely proves he still has not heard Kans set up correctly yet! Poor chap. If he ever gets to the UK he is more than welcome to eat his words… I even run my Nicam TV through them as I love the neutrality they provide to voice - there is none of the chestiness or boxiness associated with so many inferior hi-fi speakers. TV with real pace rhythm and timing is a whole different ball park. Oh, they do music too.

quote:

---

Anyhow, keep in mind that the Elites are about 8 times the cost of s/h Kans.

---

That would make them at least 1600 quid, that is a lot dearer than I thought, I had them down as a Credo competitor. That is actually a good pricepoint, pretty much midway between Credos and SBLs. Would be interesting to put the Elites up against SBLs.

To give an idea of pricepoints, when the Kan II were discontinued they cost 540 quid without stands, which I suspect was about the same as a HiCap - that would put them somewhere between 800 and 900 without stands I guess (the stands are now 185), the Tukan came in a lot cheaper at 400 quid when it was released.

I would love to hear a pair of Elites, as I certainly like the Petite, though I remain deeply suspicious of reflex ports, and especially rear ports - low frequencies arriving from the wrong side of a transducer, through a hole in a box, and then bounced off a totally unknown rear wall before you hear them… hmmm…

Tony.

Boxing day, triple time, bored.

Music is the answer.

I notice from your pics, that many of you (in fact the vast majority) have polished wooden floors.

Surely you would be better off with wall to wall carpeting which will soften the sound. A couple of oriental rugs will help but thats a bit like shovelling sand with a teaspoon.

Go out and buy some carpet......natural wool by the way is best from an appearance point of view.

The carpet will probably improve your accoustics as much as a Mana or Hutter rack.......so get some.

Also for Vuk........plain carpets look better.....do not but any of those multi coloured things, they are ghastly

Regards

Mick......whose waistline is at least 1" greater than before Christmas day

I tried all of your setup advice and the Kans still honked. I've also been informed that the honk is obvious in phsyical measurements of the speakers. Moreover, every single person I know, including FEP Sgt. Joe Petrik, who has owned or listened extensively to them says the same thing. I really doubt that we are all wrong. Even if we are, none of us can make the speaker not honk, so the problem remains in our practical reality.

John.

As it turns out, I have heard the PMC FB1s (a few months ago, but I did not know the model number until now) and, although they were quite competent, there was something dry, sterile and askew with the bass that to a degree robbed the music of tonal nuance and expressiveness. I also don't like how they look (at least the pair in cherry): finish seemed fake and the big piece of ugly foam in the huge port at the bottom/front does not help matters. Aside from aesthetic concerns, what really matters is that the Elite is in a totally different class of performance.

Mick.

I had carpet until I put in the floor this past summer (knee-breaking, back straining work, which I hope never to have to do again). It is actually a Pergo-like affair (wood laminate), so the whole floor actually floats in one huge piece with a thin layer foam beaneath. The room became a little more "lively," but there were considerable gains in focus and bass resolution: if you have a concrete floor, carpet is fine/desirable, but on a plywood platform, especially one that is not particularly solid, it can add mush and flub to the presentation.

BTW--your continued criticism of my taste is pretty childish and tiresome. It's not terribly polite to poke fun at man's home when he has gone through considerable effort to offer you a "virtual" tour inside. In this regard, people on the Mana forum are showing much more civilised behaviour than you.

Vuk.

quote:

---

I really doubt that we are all wrong.

---

Considering that I am on my third pair of "non honking" Kans, it would certainly appear to be that way! As I say, I have proof!

Tony.

PS I am assuming your definition of "honk" to be some sort of cabinet boom or box colouration in the mid that would be obvious on voice / instrumantal timbre - if you are just attempting to describe a slight mid forward balance then we are using a totally different definition.

I have found the Kan to be remarkably free of box colouration and to have stunningly good driver integration (though at the expense of efficiency).