New Speakers

2

Comments

  • tonyb
    tonyb Posts: 32,902
    DSkip wrote: »
    Nightfall wrote: »
    So I take it I would like but not love Harbeth and Spendor?

    I wouldn't go that far. Harbeth is not rolled off on the top end. I can't speak for Spendor.

    The US importer for Harbeth IS quick to mention that these speakers are not intended to be rock out speakers, but that doesn't mean they can't do it. The only one I see really struggling with Rock is the little P3ESR. My personal feelings towards this speaker is that its a helluva nearfield monitor anyways.

    I would agree with that also. Steve has had the P3's and also felt Rock was their weaker link. The 5's should do better with Rock music, but for the price of the 5's, your options open up fairly wide.
    HT SYSTEM-
    Sony 850c 4k
    Pioneer elite vhx 21
    Sony 4k BRP
    SVS SB-2000
    Polk Sig. 20's
    Polk FX500 surrounds

    Cables-
    Acoustic zen Satori speaker cables
    Acoustic zen Matrix 2 IC's
    Wireworld eclipse 7 ic's
    Audio metallurgy ga-o digital cable

    Kitchen

    Sonos zp90
    Grant Fidelity tube dac
    B&k 1420
    lsi 9's
  • SIHAB
    SIHAB Posts: 4,491
    I was hoping Skip would jump in. The Harbeth P3ESR aren't rated to go as low
    as the WD equivalent, but as noted rock isn't the strong suite. HOWEVER,
    what the P3's do is darn near perfect. Rock and Jazz were good and you
    were left with a feeling of "I want more good" rather than lacking.

    Anyway, I would be interested in @DSkip experience w/ cables and this
    type if speaker...
    Speakers: Polk Lsim, ATC SCM19 v2, NHT SuperzeroSpeaker Cables: DH Labs, Transparent, Wireworld, Canare, Monster: Beer budget, Bose ears
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    @DSkip Could cables make or break these speakers?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,862
    @nightfall, what's the rest of your system?
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited September 2019
    Dared MC-7P tube preamp, RCA 5U4GB, RCA 6V6, Amperex 12AT7, Amperex 12AX7 X2, PSVane 12AX7 X2 Special Edition.

    B&K Reference 4420 350 watts @ 4 ohm

    Cambridge CXN

    PS Audio, Wireworld, and the brand bluefox uses (brain ****) power cords. Edit: Shunyata
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,862
    if you want to try new cables look into analysis plus and straley reality cables.
    reality has two lines, standard and reference, i am about publish a review on the reference line.
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    I'm too poor for that concept. ;) I need all speakers to work perfect on what I got.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • marvda1
    marvda1 Posts: 4,862
    the new usher book shelf
    Amplifiers: Norma IPA 140, MasterSound Compact 845, Ayre v6xe, Consonance Cyber 800
    Preamp: deHavilland Ultraverve 3
    Dac: Sonnet Morpheus 2, Musical Paradise mp-d2 mkIII
    Transport: Jay's Audio CDT2 mk2, Lumin U1 mini
    Speakers: Rosso Fiorentino Volterra II
    Speaker Cables: Organic Audio Organic Reference 2
    Interconnects: Argento Organic Reference 2, Argento Organic 2
    Power Cables: Argento Organic Reference, Synergistic Research Foundation 10 and 12 ga.
    Puritan PSM156
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    I've always thought of cables as fine tuning, not make or break difference.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    DSkip wrote: »
    Nightfall wrote: »
    @DSkip Could cables make or break these speakers?

    They make or break every system. With that said, every component is important and blindly blaming cables probably isn't ideal. The B&K might not be the right fit for those speakers honestly. If you've got some speakers that are dark and also have no top end extension, you're going to want gear behind it to liven it up.

    So I need to get my Yamaha CA-1010 repaired and recapped.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited September 2019
    What about the small sound stage? You could say the room is the problem then I'd say why isn't it for the Dyn's.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • BlueFox
    BlueFox Posts: 15,251
    Nightfall wrote: »
    I've always thought of cables as fine tuning, not make or break difference.

    I used to think that, but then I realized that cables and power are the foundation for a stereo. The better the foundation then the better the stereo.

    Lumin X1 file player, Westminster Labs interconnect cable
    Sony XA-5400ES SACD; Pass XP-22 pre; X600.5 amps
    Magico S5 MKII Mcast Rose speakers; SPOD spikes

    Shunyata Triton v3/Typhon QR on source, Denali 2000 (2) on amps
    Shunyata Sigma XLR analog ICs, Sigma speaker cables
    Shunyata Sigma HC (2), Sigma Analog, Sigma Digital, Z Anaconda (3) power cables

    Mapleshade Samson V.3 four shelf solid maple rack, Micropoint brass footers
    Three 20 amp circuits.
  • How far do you have them out from the front wall?
    See my profile for list of gear.
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited September 2019
    Back wall? (I might just be confused what's considered front and back) 15"

    Any further from the wall and they'd need to be closer together to make an equilateral triangle and they're right up against the sides of my Salamander rack already.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • I would try getting them out 2' or so. It's just an experiment,so don't worry about the equilateral triangle. More near field listening in this case. They may just need a little "breathing" room.
    See my profile for list of gear.
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    I always liked that look.
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited October 2019
    dromunds wrote: »
    I always liked that look.

    It's all subjective. Just IMO.

    They look like they're straight out of a 1980's living room when their grills are on.

    james-clark-1.jpg
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    I have their big brother.
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    How do you like them?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • dromunds
    dromunds Posts: 9,969
    I always liked the vintage Infinity sound. Those EMIT tweeters are nice.
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited October 2019
    I am really starting to fall in love with these speakers. They throw sounds all over the room like nobody's business. Some sounds come from well behind the speakers.

    Have any of you ever gotten crossovers redone on an Emit era pair of Infinity? Are they pretty complex or relatively simple crossovers?

    How about removing the tweeter pots from the circuit?
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • erniejade
    erniejade Posts: 6,288
    marvda1 wrote: »
    if you want to try new cables look into analysis plus and straley reality cables.
    reality has two lines, standard and reference, i am about publish a review on the reference line.


    I think that guy lives out by me if it's who I am thinking of.
    Musical Fidelity Tri-Vista 300, Audioquest Thunderbird Zero Speaker Cable, Tyler Highland H2, Audioquest Thunderbird Interconnect, Innuos Zen MK3 W4S recovery, Revolution Audio Labs USB & Ethernet, Border Patrol SE-I, Audioquest Niagara 5000 & Thunder, Cullen Crossover II PC's.
  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    Nightfall wrote: »
    I am really starting to fall in love with these speakers. They throw sounds all over the room like nobody's business. Some sounds come from well behind the speakers.

    Have any of you ever gotten crossovers redone on an Emit era pair of Infinity? Are they pretty complex or relatively simple crossovers?

    How about removing the tweeter pots from the circuit?

    Somehow I missed your first post in these a couple days ago. First, I’m glad you are enjoying them - they were just collecting dust at my place, lol. While the Kappa 7’s, 8’s and 9’s are great (I have a nice set of 9’s), the real sweet spot in the Kappa line is the 6, IMHO. Nice bass, not too big, and they add a Polydome mid. If you find a pair with shot Polydomes, negotiate a good price, then send the domes to a guy on EBay (magicmarksy, I think) that rebuilds them. He’ll put a black dome on them, but the performance is pretty darn close to spec. He charges $80ish per dome.

    As for the crossovers, they tend to be pretty complex, although the 5’s may not be too bad...

    It was good seeing you again, man!
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    daddyjt wrote: »
    The real sweet spot in the Kappa line is the 6, IMHO. Nice bass, not too big, and they add a Polydome mid.

    I'd be interested in hearing them but 1) They're too small for the floor 2) They're too big for my stands.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    edited October 2019
    You know what would go perfect with these Kappa 5's?

    Polk Audio LF14. Kappa 5's with the very excellent vintage Polk bass would go together real nice I'm thinking.

    What's the chances of actually running into an LF14 though? Very slim.

    IMG_8503.thumb.JPG.539f5bfe6ff83fec219209aa9552b39c.JPG
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk
  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    Nightfall wrote: »
    daddyjt wrote: »
    The real sweet spot in the Kappa line is the 6, IMHO. Nice bass, not too big, and they add a Polydome mid.

    I'd be interested in hearing them but 1) They're too small for the floor 2) They're too big for my stands.

    Just get new stands...!
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • daddyjt
    daddyjt Posts: 2,305
    One other thing - IIWM, I’d avoid the “.1” Kappas (Kappa 6.1, 7.1, etc...). They attempted to make the Kappa line easier on amplifiers by smoothing out the impedance curve, along with going from sealed enclosures to ported. They also changed the EMIT tweeters to a “radial” design, which killed a lot of the magic of the EMIT.

    Just my .02
    "Conservative Libertarians love the country, progressive leftists love the government." - Andrew Wilkow


    “Human beings are born with different capacities. If they are free, they are not equal. And if they are equal, they are not free.”
    ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  • Nightfall
    Nightfall Posts: 10,042
    These little Kappa's keep impressing me, they're here to stay. I added a little sub and they're even better.
    afterburnt wrote: »
    They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.

    Village Idiot of Club Polk