*****y weensy bit more bass?
Posted by: caddyman on 17 April 2002
Just discovered this forum and i think it's gaffer! I have just bought a CD5 ( which has replaced an elderly Arcam transport/black box combo), to partner my Nait 2/Kan 2/LP12 system. I am using my dealers' well run in CD5 until mine is delivered, and I think it's superb. I've been buying new cds like sweets! I'm finding it ever so slightly bass light compared with the old Arcam and I was wondering whether a flatcap might just sort it out? Or should I junk my old Sound Organisation table? Any comments would be appreciated. It's a bit odd really as I can feel the bass but not hear it! I'm using the correct Naim speaker wire.
Just as an aside my K9 died today. I'm going to give it a decent burial in the yard alongside all the failed Audiotechnica M/Cs which I've had over the years. My dealer told me today that the new Linn MM is available NOW! It's £200 and I'm ordering one on Saturday.
Just as an aside my K9 died today. I'm going to give it a decent burial in the yard alongside all the failed Audiotechnica M/Cs which I've had over the years. My dealer told me today that the new Linn MM is available NOW! It's £200 and I'm ordering one on Saturday.
Posted on: 17 April 2002 by ejl
quote:
It's a bit odd really as I can feel the bass but not hear it!
This comment makes me think that perhaps there is no problem with the bass reproduction. Perhaps what you were hearing before was certain resonances of the room or speaker or something and, for whatever reason (the new source, or moving things around, maybe?), that's been cleared up. A system guilty of "one note bass", which is the problem of hearing bass but not really hearing different (low) bass frequencies, might produce the expectation that low bass frequencies ought to be heard in a certain way(when in fact the expection of what is to be heard is an artifact of other factors). When the one note bass problem is resolved perhaps it could be construed as a loss of "hearing" the bass.
A hypothesis, anyway.
Posted on: 18 April 2002 by caddyman
I thank you all for your help. I think Geoff and ejl have hit the nail on the head. The bass is far more accurate. I guess I'm just not used to hearing it that way! I listen to a lot of vintage rockabilly stuff and I can really hear the strings rattle now on an upright slap bass. Ray Campi has never sounded as good. I'm just missing a smidgeon of weight, but having said that it's funny how your brain sort of makes up for that and almost adds it inside your head ( on familiar recordings). Does anyone else notice this, or am I going daft?
My Kans are hard up against the wall and the spikes sit in the heads of 4 posidrive screws driven into the floorboards. They sure don't wobble!
I'd love to get everything on MANA, but I can't afford it! Being an engineer though I'm sure I could manufacture something very close!
Ta y'all.
My Kans are hard up against the wall and the spikes sit in the heads of 4 posidrive screws driven into the floorboards. They sure don't wobble!
I'd love to get everything on MANA, but I can't afford it! Being an engineer though I'm sure I could manufacture something very close!
Ta y'all.
Posted on: 18 April 2002 by J.N.
Acclimatise yourself to the charms of the CD5.
Then put the Arcam combo back and you will perceive it as thick, bloated, harsh and ill defined.
I know 'cos I had one. I got better!
Then put the Arcam combo back and you will perceive it as thick, bloated, harsh and ill defined.
I know 'cos I had one. I got better!
Posted on: 19 April 2002 by John Luckins
Caddyman
For a year now I have been running my Kan's/Kan II stands sitting on screws through the carpet onto Hardwood boards. Two days ago I took them off the screws (straight onto floor) and was amazed by the improvement, particularly in drive, urgency and bass. I did a comparison with the left spaeker on the screws and the right not. Switching the preamp to mono I panned left to right with the remote. The speaker without the screws was clearly better. A more lively and engaging sound. Interestingly it seemed louder than the speaker with the screws.
The screws do seem to surpress the dynamics and despite having lived with them for a year I have now done away with them. Even the other half agrees this is better.
I tried driving the screws right into the floor and using the spikes for adjustment. Still worse than with no screws. As for an explanation, well, I think it is nearly impossible to get four hard spikes to sit evenly on any four hard receptors such as possidrive screws. There is always some rattle remaining. Three screws would solve this problem.
I also think that the spike/wood interface filters and damps the vibration from the speaker more evenly.
Eventually I removed small inch squares of underlay where the spikes were going to allow the spikes to sit on the wood and not just ride on the carpet. Very fine slits in the carpet would also help.
I'm now listening to Kans as I remember them in the showroom.
John
For a year now I have been running my Kan's/Kan II stands sitting on screws through the carpet onto Hardwood boards. Two days ago I took them off the screws (straight onto floor) and was amazed by the improvement, particularly in drive, urgency and bass. I did a comparison with the left spaeker on the screws and the right not. Switching the preamp to mono I panned left to right with the remote. The speaker without the screws was clearly better. A more lively and engaging sound. Interestingly it seemed louder than the speaker with the screws.
The screws do seem to surpress the dynamics and despite having lived with them for a year I have now done away with them. Even the other half agrees this is better.
I tried driving the screws right into the floor and using the spikes for adjustment. Still worse than with no screws. As for an explanation, well, I think it is nearly impossible to get four hard spikes to sit evenly on any four hard receptors such as possidrive screws. There is always some rattle remaining. Three screws would solve this problem.
I also think that the spike/wood interface filters and damps the vibration from the speaker more evenly.
Eventually I removed small inch squares of underlay where the spikes were going to allow the spikes to sit on the wood and not just ride on the carpet. Very fine slits in the carpet would also help.
I'm now listening to Kans as I remember them in the showroom.
John
Posted on: 19 April 2002 by caddyman
John you were right about those screws! I've moved the Kans off them and they sound hell of a lot better. I've used my Kans for 8 years on those screws and I wish I'd done it years ago! I can't believe I didn't think of it myself.
I have owned and demoed (is that a word?) loads of speakers over the years and I haven't heard a pair that gives me the same emotional response as a pair of Kans. I love 'em to bits. Just thought I would chuck that in to tell the world that I'm in love with my Kans.
Ta y'all.
I have owned and demoed (is that a word?) loads of speakers over the years and I haven't heard a pair that gives me the same emotional response as a pair of Kans. I love 'em to bits. Just thought I would chuck that in to tell the world that I'm in love with my Kans.
Ta y'all.
Posted on: 19 April 2002 by Andrew Randle
I would take the Kans off the screws right now. A couple of months after buying my old Kan 2s (about 10 years ago now) I tried this posidrive screw "tweak" and it seemed to rob them of their musicality and drive. If your Sound Org stands are the fully welded type then they are fine (in fact I swear by them).
A Flatcap will improve matters.
The new MM is the Adikt. I would be very interested in hearing you opinion of it as I am currently using a K9. It is either to be the Adikt or go MC (when I save more "pennies") plus MC stage. I'm wondering if the Adikt is anything like the K18, which was a fantastic cartridge.
Andrew
Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"
A Flatcap will improve matters.
The new MM is the Adikt. I would be very interested in hearing you opinion of it as I am currently using a K9. It is either to be the Adikt or go MC (when I save more "pennies") plus MC stage. I'm wondering if the Adikt is anything like the K18, which was a fantastic cartridge.
Andrew
Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"
Posted on: 19 April 2002 by caddyman
I will do a report on my new cartridge when I get it installed. I agree with you Andrew, I thought the k18 was a stonking cartridge. I remember hearing one on a LP12/Ittok many years ago and it blew me away. At the time I couldn't afford one though...bummer! I don't know why the K9 gets such a bad press, i think they're great. Properly installed on a good deck, preferably an LP12, they are musical, lively,rhythmic and not a bit harsh or aggressive as some people suggest. I followed Hi Fi Worlds' advice once and junked my worn out K9 for the reviewers fave, the Goldring 1042, and thought it was awful, shut in, unmusical, and harsh. I sold it to a mate and bought another K9!
I too was going to go for a MC but I don't really get on with the breed. I find them too clinical. I like that warm toe tapping boogieness of a good MM. I've also had reliability problems with MCs. I had 3 Audiotechnicas in a row before I got one that worked! An Ortofon I once had went deaf on one channel, it was replaced under warranty then the cantilever came off at the end of an LP! I'm sticking to MM!!
I'm looking forward to getting my new 'un.
I
I too was going to go for a MC but I don't really get on with the breed. I find them too clinical. I like that warm toe tapping boogieness of a good MM. I've also had reliability problems with MCs. I had 3 Audiotechnicas in a row before I got one that worked! An Ortofon I once had went deaf on one channel, it was replaced under warranty then the cantilever came off at the end of an LP! I'm sticking to MM!!
I'm looking forward to getting my new 'un.
I
Posted on: 19 April 2002 by Andrew Randle
quote:
they are musical, lively,rhythmic and not a bit harsh or aggressive as some people suggest.
Yeah, I noted on this forum that my K9 was harsh (See thread titled "How fierce is the K9's bite"). It transpired that because my LP12 deck was delivered by courier, the Akito was knocked out of alignment slightly and the arm was not as tight as it should be. Hence the cartridge was out of alignment and mistracking because of the mis-aligned arm.
I got another dealer (Audio-T in Reading) to reset the deck and install an Ekos.
Harshness of the K9 has been significantly reduced to near-zero.
Here's hoping your Adikt betters a K18. I remember hearing a K18 on an LP12/Valhalla/late Ittok and being blown away by the solidity of the performance (I was also a poor student at the time).
Andrew
Andrew Randle
Currently in the "Linn Binn"
Posted on: 20 April 2002 by John Bailey
A flatcap does fill out the sound on the CD5. Make sure if no other compenents are being powered from it to connect the CD to 'socket A' for best effect.
I used to use my Kan 1's with a Nait1 years ago and I often felt that they lacked Bass. Solution: NAP140, (next stop NAP250!)
I also found them very bass shy with the NAC112 but great with a NAC102 when demoed earlier this year.
John.
I used to use my Kan 1's with a Nait1 years ago and I often felt that they lacked Bass. Solution: NAP140, (next stop NAP250!)
I also found them very bass shy with the NAC112 but great with a NAC102 when demoed earlier this year.
John.