So who won the great bake off?

[avole]

Was it the all-conquering (according to their forum) avi, the atc/hegel challenger or the rank outsider?

 

[oivavoi10]

I'm also curious to hear results! Not just the "winner" - I guess there might have been differences of opinion. Just listening impressions etc.

 

[chebby]

.

 

[Al ears]

.

Whatever, it was obviously one of the Class A's.

 

[knaithrover]

...

 

[luckylion100]

#2 Did the bake off actually happen? They've been very quiet about it in the build up then, perhaps understandable considering all the passionate types and opinions on here!

Maybe they're having such a fun time they've decided to make it a sleep ever?! ;-)

 

[lindsayt]

This is your opportunity for you to tell us which system you think won the bake off.

Feel free to copy and paste or use the Quote button and put an X in the appropriate box:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[ ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[ ] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[ ] There was no consensus on which system won

 

[plastic penguin]

Perhaps the crusty old buns have gone stale.

 

[radiorog]

This is your opportunity for you to tell us which system you think won the bake off.

Feel free to copy and paste or use the Quote button and put an X in the appropriate box:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[ ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[ ] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[ x] There was no consensus on which system won

Well, at least one of you are still alive, so the worse case scenario didn't happen. I'm voting no consensus simply because we already know one of you prefers the avi's over the Hegel, but I'd be surprised if you went that way. I hope I'm wrong tho.

 

[luckylion100]

This is your opportunity for you to tell us which system you think won the bake off.

Feel free to copy and paste or use the Quote button and put an X in the appropriate box:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[ ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[ ] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[X ] There was no consensus on which system won

My X must go there as I've only heard one system in the bake off similar to my own. I can't wait to find out the opinions of those that took part and have now heard all the systems being considered.

 

[nopiano]

This is your opportunity for you to tell us which system you think won the bake off.

Feel free to copy and paste or use the Quote button and put an X in the appropriate box:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[x ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[ ] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[ ] There was no consensus on which system won

By a majority....

 

[oivavoi10]

Same guess from me:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[ ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[ ] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[X] There was no consensus on which system won

 

[chebby]

Stop fannying around and just tell us.

 

[steve_1979]

This is your opportunity for you to tell us which system you think won the bake off.

Feel free to copy and paste or use the Quote button and put an X in the appropriate box:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[ ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[X] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[ ] There was no consensus on which system won

I think there was a fight to the death and as you're the only one left posting you were obviously the victor. Therefore the EV Sentrys have won by default and the DM10s are probably laying all around the living room smashed to pieces.

 

[lindsayt]

I think there was a fight to the death and as you're the only one left posting you were obviously the victor. Therefore the EV Sentrys have won by default and the DM10s are probably laying all around the living room smashed to pieces.

I made a promise on this forum to Ashley James that I would report on the results of the listening tests at this bake-off in the fairest and most impartial way.

Keeping that promise and acting with the utmost integrity is more important to me than the results of this bake-off.

 

[lindsayt]

I'd also like to get out of the way, any comments anyone might have on the set-up or methodology at this bake-off.

Maybe you feel the books are in the wrong place in this picture? Maybe you think the books should be evenly distributed under each speaker?

Perhaps you feel it's unfair that the sub was only used with the AVI's. To make it fairer we should have used the sub with the ATC's and the EV's as well?

Or you might think that there are too many speakers in this photo. That the tune would have been all wrong and that we should have listened with only 1 pair of speakers in the room at any time. The ATC's would have been at the biggest disadvantage as they were closest to the inbuilt speakers in the TV.

And of course, it goes without saying that the number of eclairs in this photo is all wrong, There should have been 3 of them. 1 for each listener so that the sugar content in each of our bloodstreams was equal.

 

[avole]

system 1 lost. For sound quality, system 3 won.

That's an educated guess, by the way. Lindsay has commented circumspectly on another forum.

I'd like to see what the others made of the day. I wonder if they found sound quality depends on the speaker and listener preferences, and that active or passive crossovers don't matter to the extent some claim.

 

[oivavoi10]

I will find it really interesting if the Sentrys came out on top, and even the AVI guys agreed on that. That would confirm a hunch I've been having for a while: that size matter quite a lot in hifi, much more than people think. Bigger speakers quite often just sound better, to my ears. I'm not entirely sure why, though. But looking forward to reading more about your experiences!

 

[Frank Harvey]

There are pros and cons to larger drivers and cabinets, and they certainly do produce a different sound.

The early 90s saw the introduction of Mission's 753 loudspeaker, after which many floorstanding speakers suddenly got thinner, utilising more smaller mid/bass drivers rather than one larger one. 8" bass drivers all but disappeared, and I don't think there was the technology around then to fully exploit the performance of smaller bass drivers. You could argue it was this point in time where hi-fi took a step backwards, but it was certainly the point where people started to take into account aesthetics.

 

[steve_1979]

I will find it really interesting if the Sentrys came out on top, and even the AVI guys agreed on that.

Now that would be very interesting indeed!

 

[lindsayt]

There are pros and cons to larger drivers and cabinets, and they certainly do produce a different sound. ..

So, David, what do you think were the pros and cons of the relative driver sizes at this bake-off and how do you think they manifested themsleves in terms of how the systems sounded?

 

[steve_1979]

I made a promise on this forum to Ashley James that I would report on the results of the listening tests at this bake-off in the fairest and most impartial way.

Keeping that promise and acting with the utmost integrity is more important to me than the results of this bake-off.

No worries, I was just pulling your leg and have no doubt that you'll all report back honestly.

I also think that there'll be plenty of positive comments about the EVs too.

 

[ID.]

I honestly have no idea and not enough experience with large speakers with big drivers.

I also believe that lindsayt has the knowledge and experience (including bake offs and shows, not just faffing around in his own living room) to back up his recommendations, so I'm very interested in reading the impressions, even if I don't have the kind of room I'd need to run such large speakers and for my current room sizes.

I have pretty much baseless assumptions as to the scale and "big picture" capabilities of larger drivers, but can't even guess how they work in terms of detail, speed, treble, etc.

 

[luckylion100]

I will find it really interesting if the Sentrys came out on top, and even the AVI guys agreed on that. That would confirm a hunch I've been having for a while: that size matter quite a lot in hifi, much more than people think. Bigger speakers quite often just sound better, to my ears. I'm not entirely sure why, though. But looking forward to reading more about your experiences!

I wouldn't be surprised at all if the Sentrys came out on top but for me this never was a true three way shoot out, it was always between the similiar sized Hegel/ATC combo and the AVI's, with one pairing swapping a collection of books for decent support! It's a shame the proposed Devialet entry was absent... Sheer size makes a massive difference but in all honesty how many people could incorporate speakers the size of the Sentrys into their homes...? The inclusion of the Sentrys will for sure make interesting reading but it's a case of apples and oranges. I'd still like to thank those that took the time and effort though, can't wait to read up on their opinions.

 

[Electro]

This is your opportunity for you to tell us which system you think won the bake off.

Feel free to copy and paste or use the Quote button and put an X in the appropriate box:

[ ] Laptop - Hegel H360 - ATC 11's

[ ] Laptop - AVI DM10's with Sub-woofer

[x ] Denon C630 or laptop - NVA P50SA + Korneff 45 clone or Creek CAS4040 - EV Sentry III's

[ ] There was no consensus on which system won

Purely a quess, but an educated one I think. *smile*

No matter what anyone says cabinet size does matter, but I would add that muliple smaller bass drivers can sound as good if not better than huge single bass drivers ime .

I am really looking forward to the results. *scratch_one-s_head*