Could have been something about positioning of the Allaes. I have found that mine go fairly near the back wall even in a smallish room.
I wonder if the OP has found a pair yet?
I have found Allae’s over the years to be quite unfussy about positioning and have used them in two entirely different rooms/dwellings.
I dont subjectively find them to be particularly dry either, if one is finding them dry maybe that may have more to do with partnering equipment and front end?
1 Like
Sorry but I don’t quite understand “dry”. I had Allaes for 10 years and that adjective never struck me as appropriate. They are splendid speakers
3 Likes
As an addendum to my earlier contributions re tightening torques;
I was quoted values of 3.6Nm and 0.8Nm by Naim.
I’ve just got around to checking this out and bought a brand new Sealey digital torgue wrench with quoted range of 0.05 to 5Nm.
Loosening and retightening the screws with the Sealey set to the quoted values seems way too tight and I stopped before I approached anywhere near those settings.
Setting the Sealey to 0.36 & 0.08Nm feels about right.
So, either my tool is out by a factor of 10X or the quoted figures have an error with the decimal place or they should be in Ncm not Nm?
I have replied to Naim service to see if they can confirm.
In the meantime if anyone here can help further?
@Richard.Dane
Those are the values I have from Naim as well. I set my own torque driver to those values and it’s all good. 0.36Nm is not much resistance at all. But if yours is rated at 0.5Nm at the lowest range, how come you can set it to 0.36Nm? That doesn’t make any sense to me.
@Richard.Dane Sorry that should have read 0.05 to 5Nm, I have edited my post to correct.
With my the Sealey torque driver set at 0.36Nm, the LF drive unit bolts are about 1/3 of a turn tight once the screw shows resistance.
Maybe you have misread the gauge on the wrench?
Do you have a link to the model that you bought?
I dont think I have misread it has a 3 digit display with two decimal places 0.00 with increments of 0.01 up to 4.99 Nm
3.6 on this tool is way over the top, like I said 0.36 feels just about right.
Thanks
The only thing I can think of is that it may be faulty (not unusual judging by some of the Amazon reviews). I would get in touch with the shop where you bought it.
Agree with Richard. 0.36Nm isn’t tight at all unless you are a watchmaker.
I torqued the bass driver fasteners on my Credos to 3.6Nm and they were a good, snug fit. And sounded better too.
I will, I didnt get it from amazon but an online tool supplier.
It seems to work fine albeit with the LCD out by a decimal point.
When you use your torque wrench Richard, does about a third of a turn tight on the screw seem about right? 3.6Nm shouldn’t be very tight.
I used to be a mechanic long long time ago and used to the “feel” of tightening bolts & screws. As I said, the screw tightened feels just about right with the .36 setting on the Sealey tool. I think the LCD oddly may have the decimal point in the wrong place.
I will have to contact the manufacturer.
Thanks for your and @Richard.Dane help at this late hour.
Have good weekend
1 Like
Dread, Are the 2 AAA batteries fresh?
C.
They are the batterys supplied with the tool in a sealed pack. Maxell branded I think. I will change them for some Duracell. As above I think the tool for some reason is reading .36 as 3.6.
Okay, thanks. I looked on Amazon at the tool. Said it was supplied without batteries. Fingers crossed for some Duracells.
I bought it from an online tool specialist. It’s working fine apart from the peculiar display anomaly. I swapped the batteries for some brand new Duracells but no difference. FWIW I looked at Amazons reviews just now and to be fair the negatives seem to me by a couple of people who were not using it properly. It is fiddly and you need good eyes or glasses to read the display.
Anyway I have torqued all the drive unit and base screws using .08 and .36 with this tool and I’m satisfied that the torque “feels” right.
In any case I’m going to send the tool back.
Will report back later on how they sound now.
I removed the screws completely from one of the LF drivers to inspect the washers. I note that the driver is lightly bonded to the cabinet with a sticky green silicone like material.
Anyone have any idea what the substance is?
Also, the cabinet face has very fine triangular recesses, perhaps 1/2 mm deep where the Male equivalent on the drive unit frame locates.
With the screws removed the drive unit is still quite secure in the cabinet so torque wrench or not they dont need to be very tight.
Probably very similar to the stuff used in the IBLs. (Not that that necessarily helps!)
It’s probably blue Hylomar, which Naim used on most drivers to ensure a good seal with the cabinet. It sticks well, so you need to be really careful that if you ever have to remove a drive unit, you don’t wreck the veneer or the cabinet at the same time.
1 Like
Well I’m damn bloody well gobsmacked!
With some trepidation that I might have committed an almighty balls up on my speakers, I just listened to the CD of Ken Boothe Inna De Yard, a current favourite here.
It’s a mostly all acoustic recording in an open air house in the treetops of the mountains overlooking Kingston. (Check out the Inna De Yard website)
Right from the first track my ears pricked up. I am hearing more of the subtle nuances like the background sounds of birds and insects in the trees. The deep heavy nyabhingi drum still rocks the floorboards as it should but I am hearing more of the sound of the skin and how it’s being struck, likewise the sound of the palm of the hand on the conga drums and the different inflections. It’s easier to pick out the individual instruments, backing vocalists, the decay of the piano, the tune played on the bass the air of the open space, the emotion in Ken’s idiosyncratic voice…
In contrast, although I didnt notice it and thought it sounded fine, before messing with the screws, I feel the sound was kind of heavy and muddled, bass heavy but without so much tonal colour. It’s now a lot more evenly presented open and insightful.
I reckon at some time in the past I must have had the screws too tight, a misguided belief that this would give a tighter and more controlled sound.
“Linn Tight” remember that? I remember sometime a review of Linn speakers where the author said the stands should be tightened “eye bulgingly tight!”, this became the accepted norm but I guess we live and learn.
Got the beers in it’s going to be a long musical weekend.
3 Likes