Isobarik v SBL v Sara

Posted by: Mick P on 09 December 2001

Chaps

I have enjoyed listening to my main system, over the past few years, through SBL's and my secondary system through Saras.

Despite my enjoyment, my son and my boss are always commenting that the system appears bass light. This led to conversations about true and authentic sound reproduction etc but no agreement was ever made.

To remind you, my systems are

Main...CDS11/XPS/52/Supercap/250/SBL's plus wireless and turntable.

Secondary...CD3.5+hicap/32.5+hicap/140/Saras
plus wireless.

Today I struck a deal with David, who recently advertised his late Grandfathers system and those tasty looking Isobariks are now in chez Mick and have replaced the SBL's.

The Briks certainly give a more open sound in my lounge which measures 21ft x 13 ft. There is a deaper and duller thud of base and it is a great improvement.

The downside is that they are big and because of a shelf, are about 8" away from the wall on either side of the fireplace. They do visually dominate the room somewhat, so the shelf is going to be modified to allow the Briks to the used up against the wall as they were designed to be.

I then intended to flog off the SBL's, but just for a buggeration factor, I replaced the Saras with the SBL's and although only powered by a 140, they sound great, so I may be flogging off the Saras instead.

I bought the Saras when the room was a 24 ft kitchen / dining room, but last year, Mrs Mick had a arched wall installed,as a divider, which means that we now have two smaller interconnected rooms. So the sound flows out from the dining room, through the arch and into the kitchen.

The result was that the Saras tended to sound boomy whilst the SBL's just seem completely at home.

I have been listening to the Briks all afternoon and it's great. The only downside is that they have ruined my back as I had to install them all by myself because the others were out doing their own thing. I am utterly wrecked and knackered but happy.

One question....would a pair of 135's improve the sound of the Briks?

I only have a 250 installed. It sounds good but I was wondering if the 135's would get more sound out of them.

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Hermann
quote:
...and I have no idea how much is required to really get them (briks) going , PD

Hi Paul,

Thats quite simple. You need phase 2 for the briks and 4 for the electronics. Thats the setup they really start to sing.

At this point the briks are faster then the SBl. Not to mention Stealth power and briks. smile

Listen to a active SBL system earlier this year.
Nice one but briks are better in every aspect.

Cheers
Hermann

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by matthewr
Mick,

I would agree with whoever it was earlier who said keep the Saras for now. Its probably a bit too soon to be 100% sure you prefer the Bariks over SBLs so retaining an option to go back might be a good idea (I am assuming the Bariks are too big for the dining room).

BTW If you are going to buy some Mana stands for them let me know. I would pay good money to be there when you ask JW for a discount.

Matthew

PS I suspect Vuk was drinking heavily last night. Either that or he is Mr Pig in disguise.

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Tony L
quote:
Seriously, though, I think we're all agreed that Mana deserves a good listen, and almost unanimously that Mana underneath Briks is a GOOD THING. It certainly is under my Neat Gravitas, although fiddly to setup.

What Mana have you actually got under your speakers? I would love to try some under my Kan stands as a hell of a lot of vibration is getting dumped into my hollow wooden laminate flooring at the moment. Trouble is that Mana is so bloody expensive, it would cost 400 quid to get a couple of Soundbases under the Kan stands (i.e. twice as much as the speakers / stands cost me!). I may investigate slate or marble as an option as well.

Tony.

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Top Cat
quote:
What Mana have you actually got under your speakers?

One pair of custom-made Mana speaker stands for the Neat Gravitas - these were Ian Wright's until he changed speakers (WAF of black Gravitas is low, so he's downgrading!)

I've also tried SBL bases (under my old speakers - they are too small for the Gravitas) and a pair of spare flat-tops with boards on top.

I'd say that the speaker stands sound best, although the flat-tops are close. The SBL bases under the old speakers can't really be compared, for obvious reasons.

The Gravitas stands are like mini Brik stands - slightly taller than a mini table, with a bracket at the back and a stop at the front, plus a glass shelf rather than a board. The spikes are removed from the Neats and the speaker sits directly on the glass, either mated via 3M feet, or in my case, Blu Tac (must do this right with the 3M feet, but didn't have any at the time).

I got my stands secondhand (as mentioned) but they would be well worth the full mullah for a pair of Briks...

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Top Cat
It shouldn't require anything so big as soundstages - a pair of SBL-sized soundbases are £175, if the footprint of your Kan stands is < the size of the board, or size 2 bases are bigger but a little dearer.

TC '..'
"Girl, you thought he was a man, but he was a Muffin..."

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Mick P
Chaps

This is going against my principles but....this Mana stand...do you use it instead of the Linn stand, or is it in addition.

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Mike Harris
Mick,

Its a replacement for the original stand.

Note the glass on spikes!!


'cut down' version stand.

Big Mike

Posted on: 10 December 2001 by Hermann
If somebody want to get a used Mana isobarik stand..... just give me a mail.

Cheers
Hermann

Posted on: 11 December 2001 by bob atherton
Congrats on your Briks. They have always been just about my favourite speaker. You now have a killer system, I would love to hear it one day.

Kind regards,

Bob.

Posted on: 11 December 2001 by Mick P
Bob

You have only to ask

Mick

Posted on: 11 December 2001 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Hermann:
..... just give me a mail.


Hermann,

Please e-mail me.

cheers, Martin

Posted on: 11 December 2001 by Mick P
Chaps

Do the briks just stand on the glass.

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 11 December 2001 by Mick P
Paul

Thanks for the info.

Now the only problem remaining is ...am I daft enough to spend £450 on two little angle iron brackets and the answer is....NO

So you guys, if any of you want to off load your unused stands, contact me or failing that it's down to the local metal fabricator for a bespoke jobbie at a fraction of the price.

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Hermann
I guess it's the wrong question.
It should be "Do I want to spent much much more money to get a speaker that it able to do a job like mana'd briks"

Ehmm and next question "Are there any other speaker who can do that???"

BTW I still got a pair original Linn Isobarik Stands, latest edition. If you want ....

Cheers
Hermann wink

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Mick P
Herman

E mail me with an offer.

michael.parry2@ntlworld.com

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Mick P
Herman

I am but a poor public servant who has spent my entire working career, serving my nation at great personal loss.

I seek neither recognition nor financial reward and hence hope that you will offer me the stand at the low price necessary for me to afford it.

Regards

Mick.....currently splitting an oxo cube in half with Mrs Mick for dinner.

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Dev B
Herman,

Mick wrote:

quote:
I am but a poor public servant who has spent my entire working career, serving my nation at great personal loss.

What he meant to write was:

quote:
I am but a poor public servant who has spent my entire working career makinh loads of money and with my spare cash, I own three houses, a vintage jaguar motor car and a twenty thousand pound hifi system.

Big Grin.

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Hermann
I made him an offer. And I guess it's a good one. If he get lucky with the briks and stands then it is really ok for me.

Cheers
Hermann

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Martin Payne
quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
Herman

I am but a poor public servant who has spent my entire working career, serving my nation at great personal loss.

I seek neither recognition nor financial reward and hence hope that you will offer me the stand at the low price necessary for me to afford it.

Regards

Mick.....currently splitting an oxo cube in half with Mrs Mick for dinner.

Hmm, change of tune here...


quote:
posted WEDNESDAY 29 August 2001 08:18

Finance is not a problem for me, I am middle aged and have all, but cleared my mortgage, so its only pocket money. You will be in the same position at my age.

I have managed to build up a good portfolio for my forthcoming retirement and no longer need to save money, so I spend it as soon as I get it on the things that please me and the wife. Hifi pleases me, so I buy it. I am soon to embark on a cruise in the Caribbean, so my wife does not suffer because of Hifi.

!!!

cheers, Martin

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Mike Harris
quote:
Originally posted by Mick Parry:
JW and I had an exchange of e mails a few weeks ago whereby he advised me, that I was, in his opinion, a sad two faced individual who..etc etc.

Looks like he was right then..

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Mick P
Mike

Business is business my boy

Regards

Mick

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Andy Kirby
Mick, you said you liked the sound of the SBL's better than the Sara's on your scond system.

I am currently in a speaker dilema, I would love some Briks for the way I 'remember' a friends sounding,I like SBL's but have only heard them in an audition room and like my sara's for they are almost Briks.

But the question is, do the sbl's sound better on the 250 than the saras, I had a 140 and was advised that the saras were a more difficult load than Briks and a 250 was what was really needed. This did indeed turn out to be the case.

I can easily imagine the 140/sbl souding better than the 140/saras but is it the same with the 250?

Thanks

Andy K

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Mick P
Andy

I have a 140 in my secondary system and the SBL's outperform the Saras in every respect. They are by far the better speaker.

They also out class the Saras on the 250, so yes the SBL's win all round.

The briks are exceptional for the money but their size can pose a problem whereas the SBL's are very small and discrete.

Hope that is of help.

Mick

NB ...I am putting up my black SBL's for sale and will buy some wooden finished ones at later date..much higher WAF.

Posted on: 12 December 2001 by Mick P
Herman

I have replied twice to you but both messages failed to send to your second address.

Can you let me know if your first address received the message.

I will not be near a PC until 8.00pm tonight.

Regards

Mick

NB I accept your kind offer.

Posted on: 14 December 2001 by Mick P
Chaps

Does anyone know the height of the Mana stand or by what approximate dimmension that it is lower than the standard Linn stand.

I need this info for adapting my shelves.

Regards

Mick