Hi Andy about 475 mm from the wall. At present have a Moon 700iv2 Integrated driving them. On loan from the dealer until the Progression arrives in a couple of weeks.
Also will do some fine tuning with the speaker placement as well. Still in the process of running in
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Sabrina X came out about 5 years after the original Sabrina’s.
X denotes the use of Wilson’s material X used in the construction.
Also the drivers have been revised.
Haven’t heard the Tunetots but they get great reviews.
Very very nice Mike. I do like the thought of some Wilson speakers one day…
Here we go…
Mission 731i - purchased 1996. Now used on my desktop system with an AVA Media Maestro 50. Sounded a bit flat with original Cambridge amp - much better with Arcam Alpha range - used for many years buy my great aunt with an Arcam Alpha One. I ‘inherited’ them again in 2010. Work really well with the AVA (very clear) but require a bit of bass reinforcement from a sub.
Tannoy Mercury M2 - purchased circa 1997. Worked better than the Missions with the Cambridge amp but came alive with more power/clarity from Arcam Alpha 7r + Alpha 5 CDP. My university system. Hopefully someone is coming to buy these today!
Tannoy Revolution R2 - purchased 2004 with matching R15 subwoofer. A step-up from the M2 but we’re too much for the 7r so added an 8p power amp for biamplification. Much better. Unfortunately it took me many years to work out how to match the sub properly. Ironically once I got it dialled in, the plate amp died soon afterwards!
I now have them exactly as I want them: well away from the front wall, driven by an Arcam A28 FMJ, they are mass loaded (Custom Designs Inert Filler) and I have added ‘Dynamat’ + acoustic foam inside + they sit on Soundocity outriggers and my own DIY ‘isolation’ plinths. IMO they were an absolute bargain when new (well braced cabinet, excellent finish and veneered both inside and out) but just need subtle tweaks + very careful set-up to become an excellent speaker. They are now paired with two BK Gemini 2 subwoofer and produce excellent scale, clarity, stage depth etc.
Celestion AVF 302 glass version - purchased circa 2005. Bought for their looks. Used for many years in my AV system, where they worked well. A bit to mid-forward for me as HiFi speakers and lacked bass. Sold last year.
More recently:
Tannoy Revolution Signature DC4T - purchased 2 years ago for £61. IMO a gorgeous UK-built small floorstander that works well in small rooms. Limited bass extension but what is there is tuneful, accurate and has good coherence with the coaxial driver. Currently being used as rear speakers in the AV system. I made small plinths to make them more stable.
Piega TS3 - purchased approximately 3 years ago for £68 in ‘as new’ condition - still boxed etc. Used in our bedroom with an Arcam Solo Movie 2.1. An excellent sound from an unbelievably small, but heavy speaker.
Piega T-micro AMT 60. Purchased 2021 ex-demo. Tall and slender 3-way (3 x 10cm MDS drivers) aluminium columns with AMT tweeters. Front speakers in the AV system but very accurate/clear HiFi speakers in their own right. I prefer the Tannoy R2s overall but do swap them occasionally into the main rig.
The DIY brigade:
2 x passive bass modules using Dayton Audio Classic 6 inch drivers. Built to go with the Missions but now being used with the open baffles mentioned below. Powered by a little sub amp.
1 x subwoofer using Dayton Audio 8 inch DVC driver - built for our son’s bedroom and partnered with wall mounted Tannoy Mercury MRs. Powered by a little sub amp.
Open baffle ‘floostander’ using SB acoustics 8 inch full range driver. Has been an excellent learning curve and, when partnered with the two bass modules, produce a very ‘live’ full-range sound. Not perfect but excellent at what they do well. Thanks to the SB driver, they don’t need complicated EQ which open baffle speakers often do.
That’s it for the time being but I keep a keen eye on eBay😉
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Main system only over half a century:
73-79 - Wharfedale Denton kit built at home £50 all in. (Marantz integrated and Akai tape deck.)
79-84 - Kef Concorde £160 Student years, party sounds! (Thorens TD 160, Marantz upgraded to Naim 42/140/HC, LP12 added 83)
84-98 - Kef 103.2 £650 Family years, great fun great system no money.
98- 03 - Naim SBL £1250 (first passive 140 upgraded to 180 then active + £2500 for active bits Snaxo 2/4/HC/2 x NAP 180, 82 plus 2 x HC added 99) SBL’s great but vulnerable to teenage children.
03-22 - Naim SL2 Active £4500 + 2x 180’s upgraded 2x 250 DR, 82 upgraded to 252/SC NDX2/XPS DR added 20. SL2’s deserve to be a legend, unbreakable musical joy!
22 to now - Kudos Titan 808 Active £28,500 + 250DR, Snaxo 362/SC, 252 upgraded to 552, NDX to ND555 plus 2 x PS555. All the best of what went before plus so much more, probably the last throw of the dice until my kids put me out to grass!
PS LP12 still going strong, after 40 years on, somewhat upgraded…
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Nice to see a few Rogers LS7’s and Epos ES14’s mentioned in some of the above loudspeaker histories.
My own history - From late 70’s through to present day 2023.
Monitor Audio MA6
Rogers LS7
Epos ES14
Linn Ninka passive, then active
Meridian DSP 7200 + DSP 5200 + DSP5000C (surround system)
Back to Epos ES14
The ES14’s came into my life late 80’s and went into storage late 90’s while other items were used - Linn and Meridian - then coming back into use about 2015.
I’ve tried to replace them with modern alternatives. All the usual suspects being auditioned. But yet to find anything (below c.£4k) that might tempt. I think these ES14’s are that good, (compared). The search continues…
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Dalquist DQ 10-early 80s. Driven by NAD integrated. Nice sound, poor man’s quad ESL
Vandersteen 2c- late 80s. At one time driven by Quicksilver monos, decent sound but not a lot of detail.
Linn Saras- early and mid 90s. Big upgrade and driven with Linn lp 12, 32-5, 250 CB. In a small room they rocked.
Linn 5140s replace Sara’s when moved to new house with large listening room. A very fine all around speaker that could fill a large room. A lot of speaker for the money.
Linn 5150 sub added to Linn 5140. Large and expensive at the time . Showed me that subs do more than just add bass. Improved overall sound
Piega 8c Ltd- late 90s -early 2000s. A mistake. Didn’t work in my large room, even Olive 135s couldn’t make them work
Focal Electra 1038be- better than Piega. Used with cds2/52/135s. Decent Hifi but in retrospect upper frequencies were a bit harsh. Easy to drive and worked in my large room. Ultimately didn’t satisfy me
Kudos Titan T88- even with the above Naim system they were best speaker I have owned. Now with my current 500 system they are very good. I can live with this long term. Had them about 5 yrs now.
Would love to hear the 808s….
David
Not many in my case.
KEF 104
KEF 104aB (new internal crossover fitted by clever friend while I was at University)
QUAD ESL63
QUAD ESl57 (stacked pair, plus rear auxiliary pair), so three pairs in total
Stacked pair of ESL57s I am familiar with (on paper), but not an auxiliary pair. If that doesn’t simply mean spare pair, how are they connected?
Hello there, IB.
The ‘front’ stacked pair (four panels) are in front of the leather sofa (my listening position), as you’d expect, LHS and RHS.
The rear pair are bolted to the ceiling, upside down and immediately behind the sofa.
I have a pair of Olive NAP135s driving the front four panels, and one of Naim’s rarest products (I think), the AV-1 rear sound processor, feeding an Olive NAP250 for the rear pair. The AV-1 rather cleverly takes out of phase information from the LP or CD being played and transmits that to the opposite side speaker.
(I’m rather out of words to explain this, as I don’t really understand the workings.)
Best described as producing something like a concert hall ambience, with the sort of echo and reverberation that you’d get in a live concert.
As a non-technical summary, it produces a very pleasing noise indeed.
I have no idea how many AV-1 units Naim ever made. Very few, I think, as I have never come across any other user on this Forum in over 20 years.
If you are ever in the fair city of Brighton, you’d be welcome to come and have a listen.
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Long list of speakers and I am not even sure if I remember all of them:
- B&W 110i
- Tannoy Saturn S6
- Infinity Kappa 90
- Tannoy Definition TD8 (had four in a surround setup with a TDC, great for multichannel SACD)
- Pioneer S-1EX (Andrew Jones TAD design)
- Dynaudio Contour S 3.4LE
- Elac Navis ARF51 (Andrew Jones powered speaker design)
We have been downsizing over the years as we felt the Pioneers were too dominant in our living room, even though they sounded marvellous. We have always been very fond of dual concentric designs from Tannoy and those designed by Andrew Jones.
Having powered speakers is very convenient as they turn on and off automatically. The Elacs are a complete analogue design, which works really well for us as they sound excellent both with the Atom HE and the Classé preamp we use today.
BR,
Richard
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Fascinating! Thanks for the explanation.
Any window in sight for you being able to return home and enjoy them again?
Thank you for asking. I’m delighted to report that I got home five or six days ago (lI’ve lost count already!). I have deliberately put off going up to the music room to listen to music while I readjust to being home after over a year away. i will probably go up to listen for a few hours early in the coming week. And probably the new Deep Blue LP of ‘Grace’ will be the first onto the LP12.
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Great to learn of your return home. When you get round to music again, it’s going to sound sublime after a year without your system. 
Thank you, Graeme. Yes, I hope that it will sound sublime. I feel that I should invite someone round for my first proper listening session, just to confirm that the system is indeed sounding sublime.
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Couldn’t help but notice how few Focal speakers are used in member systems.
Interesting…
There doesn’t appear to be a lot of synergy between Naim and Focal products - or have I missed something obvious?
I’m so pleased to hear you’re out of incarceration. Time to rebuild normality in your life as well as listen to music properly - with your interesting speaker setup!
According to the recent (and still open) poll on this forum, 7% of the 665 responding members so far use Focal - the same as Proac, slightly more than ATC and Dynaudio (6% each) and beaten only by Naim, PMC and Kudos.
This brings back memories, my very first system was all Technics in 1977 , I was 14 at the time and worked three different odd jobs over a year to save up… mostly washing dishes at the family restaurant or Canadian Tire.
Technics Turntable SL2000 direct drive Shure cart
Technics SU7700 integrated amp
Technics SB 5000.
System has long been retired but it brought great joy and memories
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