System Pics 2021

Quad ESL’s are still hugely popular you only have to look around the internet to see that have you ever tried them with a Quad power amp? A 909 or the Quad QSP that I’ve just owned would really put some power into them but the amp I very nearly purchased before my Hegel the Artera Stereo would be excellent.

Bob, thanks for your reply. I am very happy with my Naim Supernait plus HiCap, so no need for a new amplifier. I was just curious if there are other Quad ESL owners on the Naim forum.

Is that your password?

We’ve both placed them in a similar way, but you might have a better soundstage than me given the 2.4 m distance. However I won’t complain, my Sky Towers do sound great right now.

You are right, I just noticed it! Maybe they want the Sky Towers to replace the Hawks? My dealer wasn’t that keen on selling me the Hawks as far as I remember. It’s hard to say given the current situation, but I expect Totem to do something about their subs at least.

It looks that way. But THB, those Hawks just have something very special in their imaging.

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Did you compare the Sky Towers and the Hawks?
I can’t say anything, I haven’t been able to compare the two. However somebody told me exactly what you said! I’m already in love with the Sky Towers imaging, so I do wonder how the imaging changes through the range. I had a quick session with the Forests and, to be honest, I thought the imaging was a touch better with the Sky Towers. I found it a bit strange… maybe it’s because it was a quick session indeed.

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No, the Sky Towers came out well after I bought my Hawks (about 7 years ago). When I’ve heard the Towers, I have really liked them, so I think its just a matter of system matching and balance.

Lovely, tell me more about your system ( turntable, cables etc…), if I may!
Thank you,
regards
David

Looks like they use a version of the little scanspeak 5.5 coated revelator driver. A nice driver. I built a diy bookshelf using the oem version. Very smooth, and really great bass output for a small unit.

Looks great Joost but have you got enough space behind them? I had understood that the ESLs sounded best with about a third of the room length behind them.

You are right, indeed they changed for the better when I replaced my previous DAC with the NDX 2, they didn’t even seem the same speakers to my ears and the imaging had a substantial leap forward.

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They are now 50 cms from the wall and sound already pretty good. For serious listening I move them forward to 1 meter from the wall. This is in my experience enough to give a slightly better placement of the instruments and a tighter bass. My listening position is seven meters from there.

Hello jhavar, I wanted to ask you if you made the piece of furniture made to measure with that closure that interests me a lot or is it from a specific company? Can you give me the link or name of this company?

There have been a few changes since this time last year, prompted by a desire for something simpler and smaller, something that doesn’t dominate the room.

The Fraim, the PS555DR and the NAT05 stayed, while the 272, 300DR, SL2s, Super Lumina cables, Powerlines and a Music Works box all left, not to mention a Rega Planar 1 plus and its wall shelf.

New arrivals are an NDX2, a Supernait 3, Tellurium Q Black II speaker cables and Black interconnects, a pair of ProAc Tablette 10 Signature speakers and a Rega Planar 8 with Ortofon 2M Black, playing into the Supernait’s excellent phono stage. Mains duties are now undertaken by a Grahams Hydra. The final piece of the jigsaw finally fell into place today with the arrival of the speaker stands, as recommended to me by our esteemed Moderator, @Richard.Dane

I’ve been waiting for the arrival of the stands until posting my system pic for 2021. Mrs HH and I are really pleased with the changes.

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Your room looks charming! Love the ProAcs and the stands.

Someone will, so it might as well be me Nigel - what are the stands?

Very stylish. Better sounding than the ‘tripods’?

Ah, there is a little story here. They are made by Something Solid. Richard recommended them and the next day I rang Deco Audio and ended up speaking to Mark, who just happened to be in the shop and who makes them by hand at home. He explained that he’d stopped making them as he was moving and so had used up all his stock of steel rods. Anyway we got chatting about speaker stand design, as you do, and he asked what speakers I was using. When I explained he said that there was a chance he had sufficient lengths of steel, as the speakers are only small and don’t need much.

Anyway, it turned out that he had just enough to make a 59cm tall pair rather than the more standard 60cm, and told me that these would be the very last pair he would make. Being welded they are absolutely rigid, and being solid they resonate less. The speakers sit on four little bits of carbon fibre, with tiny blobs of blu-tak to keep them in place. They have something of a homespun look about them that I really rather like.

The usual recommendation for ProAc is very heavy solid stands. These are of course open frame and my little theory is that they allow the thin walled cabinets to work better - the T10 is different to other Tablettes and other ProAcs in that respect. I’m no speaker designer so that might be rubbish of course.

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Looking good Nigel. I much prefer them to the others you had.

They remind me a little of the stands I have for my currently unused JC1’s.

There were one of a run of five prototype pairs. Very heavy but with solid metal plates.

They bettered other stands that had come before them

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Oh, you are a lucky man Nigel!

They look lovely! And that 1cm deficit will allow you to slouch a bit on the sofa.

Squint a bit and you could be back to your Kans days.

Yes, I still listen to Quad 63 and the og Quad ESl. Most listening is done with the 63. Many speakers have come and gone but the Quads remain.

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