Hi,
just thought I'd share my weekend experiences with you guys.
Last year, I bought a pair of Dynaudio X12 and a Rotel Ra-1520 to go with my Sonos connect. I spent ages auditioning the speakers and when I got them home I was very disappointed until they had fully run in. but even then, I knew there was something missing, the setup sounded so much better in the demo room of Frank Harvey. the only difference was the source, in the demo room I was using an Audiolab 8200 CDQ and at home using a Sonos connect with FLAC files.
At home the sound was very lifeless, no separation of frequencies and no sparkle. There was also a severe lack of bass!
I started to put all of this down to room acoustics due to not having a dedicated listening room. My listening room is an apartment livingroom/kitchen area. with funny dimensions.
I decided to take my speakers and cable to Frank Harvey and run them from a Rotel amp similar to mine and instantly found that the sound was amazing. the difference...... Audiolab CDQ.
I had initially booked the demo room to try out some more speakers thinking that mine weren't giving me what I wanted. So i swapped out my speakers for some:
Monitor Audio GX200. these were very detailed and had a lot of information at the top end but were missing the synergy with the lower mids and bass. I can see how these would be good for home cinema purposes but to me they were too revealing for music.
Next I tried the KEF R500. Complete opposites to the MA GX200. Loads of mid to lower end welly but vocals and higher frequencies seemed very recessed and hidden. but the soundstage was amazing. the speakers just disappeared from in front of me.
Then I tried the Dyn X32 expecting bit things from these but they sounded just like my X12 with a little more in the lower end.
The last pair I tried really blew me away! The Sonus Faber Toy Towers. These little beauts really delivered. Perfect amount of everything, they just felt really comfortable to listen to, gave me the basslines when required, nothing was added or taken away, the vocals were very clear and I just didn't want to turn them off!
Finally, I then went back to my Dynaudio X12 to compare them to all the other speakers I had heard. instantly, they sounded muffled, like someone had thrown a blanket over both speakers! I am definitely going to be saving up for a pair of the Sonus Fabers.
But in the end I wanted to try out an Audiolab M-Dac at home after hearing my speakers with the 8200 CDQ. Got it home and connected it up! I was shocked! My system now sounds like everything I ever wanted it to be! To my ears, it has cured every issue I had with it running directly out of the Sonos connect! There is now a sublime bass that eminates from the speakers, the vocals are rich and solid and the treble is perfect and airy without any harshness. Every instrument or aspect of the tracks just stand out from one another and it is as though the speakers aren't there anymore and like there is a live performance going on! Needless to say, I'm going to keep the M-Dac
Many thanks to Kevin @ Frank Harvey for being patient with my requests and offering great advice.
just thought I'd share my weekend experiences with you guys.
Last year, I bought a pair of Dynaudio X12 and a Rotel Ra-1520 to go with my Sonos connect. I spent ages auditioning the speakers and when I got them home I was very disappointed until they had fully run in. but even then, I knew there was something missing, the setup sounded so much better in the demo room of Frank Harvey. the only difference was the source, in the demo room I was using an Audiolab 8200 CDQ and at home using a Sonos connect with FLAC files.
At home the sound was very lifeless, no separation of frequencies and no sparkle. There was also a severe lack of bass!
I started to put all of this down to room acoustics due to not having a dedicated listening room. My listening room is an apartment livingroom/kitchen area. with funny dimensions.
I decided to take my speakers and cable to Frank Harvey and run them from a Rotel amp similar to mine and instantly found that the sound was amazing. the difference...... Audiolab CDQ.
I had initially booked the demo room to try out some more speakers thinking that mine weren't giving me what I wanted. So i swapped out my speakers for some:
Monitor Audio GX200. these were very detailed and had a lot of information at the top end but were missing the synergy with the lower mids and bass. I can see how these would be good for home cinema purposes but to me they were too revealing for music.
Next I tried the KEF R500. Complete opposites to the MA GX200. Loads of mid to lower end welly but vocals and higher frequencies seemed very recessed and hidden. but the soundstage was amazing. the speakers just disappeared from in front of me.
Then I tried the Dyn X32 expecting bit things from these but they sounded just like my X12 with a little more in the lower end.
The last pair I tried really blew me away! The Sonus Faber Toy Towers. These little beauts really delivered. Perfect amount of everything, they just felt really comfortable to listen to, gave me the basslines when required, nothing was added or taken away, the vocals were very clear and I just didn't want to turn them off!
Finally, I then went back to my Dynaudio X12 to compare them to all the other speakers I had heard. instantly, they sounded muffled, like someone had thrown a blanket over both speakers! I am definitely going to be saving up for a pair of the Sonus Fabers.
But in the end I wanted to try out an Audiolab M-Dac at home after hearing my speakers with the 8200 CDQ. Got it home and connected it up! I was shocked! My system now sounds like everything I ever wanted it to be! To my ears, it has cured every issue I had with it running directly out of the Sonos connect! There is now a sublime bass that eminates from the speakers, the vocals are rich and solid and the treble is perfect and airy without any harshness. Every instrument or aspect of the tracks just stand out from one another and it is as though the speakers aren't there anymore and like there is a live performance going on! Needless to say, I'm going to keep the M-Dac
Many thanks to Kevin @ Frank Harvey for being patient with my requests and offering great advice.
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