New Member, long time CJ owner

[AnotherJohnson]

Here is a live animal who is also a listener.

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We had had snow that day, and was plumb tuckered out from playing in it. He loves to track the rabbits and squirrels.

[AnotherJohnson]

Here he is on the flip side. Hobbes, king of the soft coated wheaten terriers.

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He has been known to stand up … especially if there’s food involved.

[admin]

Sounds like the good life... lay around all day and only get up for food!

[Big Dog RJ]

Ha! Nice one AJ mate.

Here are our two ... absolutely useless!
Cheers, RJ

[Big Dog RJ]

They certainly like jazz though, good choice!

[AnotherJohnson]

Hobbes had allergy testing recently… it turns out that he is allergic to cats. I’ll bet a lot of dogs feel that way.

We had cats growing up. They are certainly cute. I am always reminded of Rudyard Kipling’s story about the cat who walked by himself and all places were alike to him.

[AnotherJohnson]

More alert …

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[AnotherJohnson]

In these photos you can see the patina difference between the pretty new ET7s2, and the older CJ components.

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[Big Dog RJ]

AJ mate, nice one on the monoblocks. Just small question, are they placed flat on the floor?

Are you using any sort of isolation platforms?

Cheers, RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

At one time I used platforms. From a sonic point of view in this setting, I prefer no platform. The engineered wood product is installed with a vapor barrier and thin cushion directly over the concrete. The amps are dense and compress the thin cushion so that they essentially sit directly on the concrete. There is virtually no vibration of the chassis. Absolutely dead silence during silence.

You can see in the 6th post how they sit in proximity to their attendant speaker, and their natural elevation from their OEM feet as supplied by CJ.

[AnotherJohnson]

One advantage of amp stands, depending on their design, would be the possible use of rolling jacks (like Wilson includes with their speakers) to move them around. Roll in under the feet, lift, move, drop back to feet, done. If the jack could extend up enough, it could facilitate picking the amp up for boxing too.

Does anybody make such a product? Someone must make them for Wilson.

Edit:
Here’s a link to the same question on Audiogon.

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/ ... floor-jack

FWIW, if a product costs $200 for Wilson to buy, it would not be unusual for them to sell it to the dealer for $400. Nor would it be unusual for the dealer to sell it for $800. Everybody likes their margin.

Here’s a link to one used on Teslas. Seems like a fair price compared to $800.

https://evannex.com/products/schwaben-u ... _BwE#tab-1

[admin]

I also have my amps on the floor but I do have them on some custom isolation feet that I made myself. Back when I had the CJ Evolution 2000, I had that on an amp stand but didn't notice any sonic differences on the stand or the floor,... I just used the stand because I had it,... maybe looked nicer?

[AnotherJohnson]

I also have my amps on the floor but I do have them on some custom isolation feet that I made myself. Back when I had the CJ Evolution 2000, I had that on an amp stand but didn't notice any sonic differences on the stand or the floor,... I just used the stand because I had it,... maybe looked nicer?

My experience has been that either the platforms give no effect, or that the effect is negative due to the addition of the radiative structure. I’ve got assorted feet here, including the once popular Tip Toe cones. Most have come connected to something I’ve bought used.

One base that I do find to be an improvement is the Linn Turntable base called Trampoline 2. That actually works, but instead of pretending that a cone is a mechanical diode, they’re using damping.

[AnotherJohnson]

A new old thing to try.

Still enamored with the idea that there will be a monitor out there that I can live with for the long term, I ran across a used pair of Sonus Faber Liuto Monitors in walnut (with their Sf stands and hardware) recently. They were so beautiful, and the price was right, so I brought them to the CJ system and set them up just outboard of the Revel F228Bes. They’re standing with their faces about three inches in front of the Revel faces, and aimed at the listener.

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Linn would say that the presence of two speaker pairs will cause neither speaker to sound as it would w/o the other present. I dunno … they sound good. Maybe the Revels are passively vibrating in sympathy.

These Monitors should be fully broken in since they could be as much as 15 years old.

The leather and wood don’t show their age. So far the drivers and boxes seem perfect. An hour of opera, an hour of Norah Jones, and two hours of acoustic jazz, and I’m impressed.

TAS reviewed them in 2011.

https://www.theabsolutesound.com/articl ... or-tas-214

My impression of the pair here (11 years later) is that the review is pretty close to right.

I’ve not tried these on the ARC system yet, and I probably won’t bother. My real idea is to use them with the Levinson 5805 when the replacement gets here from Levinson.

FWIW, the LP275Ms drove the Sonus Faber (nominally 8 Ohm) with delicate authority. The sound seemed both rich and real. Admittedly I’ve not given them a serious test yet … but I did play a varied program for four hours, and I can’t think of a passage that I thought was poorly reproduced.

In showroom demos I’ve always found the Sf offerings to be less than hoped. But these are more than hoped. Another example in my experience where the showroom audition isn’t the last word on the product.

[admin]

Congrats on the SF. I've said this many times before on the forum. I think SF has the highest and most luxurious quality of any speaker manufacturer. I've never owned a pair myself as they are an "expensive" brand. But I was fortunate to have the ability to put in some serious listening on a range of their speakers back about 15 years ago when I worked across from a SF dealer. I was poor at the time so they we're not even an option, but it was fun to listen to these "super expensive SF and Wilson speakers I would never be able to afford."

The manufacturing quality of SF is really at the highest level and unsurpassed in my opinion. Their aesthetic designs with beautiful wood veneers and curved bodies are just amazing. Hands down the most "beautiful" speaker I have ever seen in my life was a SF Stradivarius.

Again, congrats.

[Big Dog RJ]

Yes, nice one on the SF monitors AJ.

That will be one very sweet sound! Enjoy those fine tunes!
RJ

[AnotherJohnson]

I spent another few hours listening yesterday.

And I played some of the programs with the F228Bes.

Two thoughts:

1. One reason instantaneously comparing one speaker to another is invalid is that the speakers do “warm up”. The speakers are mechanical devices, and like any mechanical device, it has to get settled in to running each time it’s started.

2. The Sf monitors are very different from the F228Bes. And not just in bass extension. The missing bass is not nearly as exasperating on the Sf as it was on the B&W 705S2s. Something else is in play … almost as though they were designed for opera.

It is obvious that they’re not remotely similar to the Revels, and yet it is obvious that they have some other special quality.

[admin]

Not surprising. The Revel's are full spectrum speakers and it is just impossible to get the same bass extension with smaller monitors. This is something I have found in essentially all monitors. Sometimes a subwoofer pairing is a good solution in these situations. However, with picking the right kind of music they can sound truly wonderful and complete on their own.

[AnotherJohnson]

After four more hours of Wagner, Diana Krall, etc, I think I’ve shown myself how easy it is to be seduced by some difference that, on longer exposure, wears thin.

I happily ended the session back with the Revels, and the Sf will wait for the return of the Levinson for further work.

I mentioned Diana Krall. The CD I was using for the audition was Turn Up the Quiet.

This is a complex album with as many as 13 violins, 4 violas, 4 Celli, and more, on some cuts.

Obviously the vocal and piano were the focus of the mix since these ARE Diana. There must have been a bunch of microphones, but the piano and vocal mikes were emphasized.

So the vocal and piano appear large.

I started thinking about pianos. I went and measured mine. It’s an upright style, but it’s still nearly 6’ wide. Diana plays a Steinway Grand in concert. It’s HUGE.

So the idea that the vocal and piano would be larger than life is not far fetched. Quads rendering them as large would seem like a strength, not a weakness.