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Achieving High Fidelity Sound

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Chris Firth View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Chris Firth Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2022 at 12:10am
Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

How many recording and production facilities around the world use Graham Slee electronics?
Have a chat with Graham.
Pick up the phone and dial the number.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Graham Slee Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2022 at 6:16am
Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

How many recording and production facilities around the world use Graham Slee electronics?

Don't ask me, ask John C - call him!

In my four short years at Audionics (John C was also there) the desks were designed for broadcasters, not recording studios.

As for professional users of our products, I can personally remember US Forces, but that was via one of their sourcing companies (a few hundred Solo's and Novo's, and I don't think they were listening to music); and BBC radio Oxford (two custom made Solo's).

And manufacturers who used our products for various purposes I'm not allowed to discuss, have been; Ortofon, Sennheiser, Shure and Grado.

That none should be able to buy or sell without a smartphone and the knowledge in how to use apps
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote discrete badger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2022 at 9:43am
"Even the best dynamic drivers have too much moving mass".

So the received wisdom goes, and near-massless mylar drivers such as in ESLs do indeed have a huge natural advantage.

But the best dynamic drivers have, in recent years, and with recent technology, caught up. The large Quad ESLs which used to dominate my living room are gone, replaced with a 3-way, 5-driver vertical array set into boxes of conventional appearance and having passive crossovers. And guess what - they objectively beat the Quads at their own game in terms of midrange transparency. I know this because I compared when deciding which to keep.

But IAG, the owner of Quad, will lose little sleep over this revelation. Overcoming the natural advantage of the ESL is possible by throwing a lot of rather serious engineering at the problem, which pushes the heavily-engineered dynamic speaker into a price bracket beyond the ESL. And it is not just the drivers which are significant; the engineering of the enclosure and the crossovers has to be on a similarly advanced level and they all have to work together as a system in order to reach this sort of performance. The structure supporting a mylar film has a much easier job, by comparison. I still believe the Quad ESL to be one of the greatest bargains in music reproduction if one can live with its limitations.

But the point remains that it can be done. It is just a question of "at what price?"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote discrete badger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 14 Aug 2022 at 9:56am
With £2k to spend on speakers - and especially small speakers - I would be looking at acquiring a used pair of Harbeth P3. They'd be easy to move on if necessary.

I've listened to the P3ESR extensively. IMO they give great musical satisfaction, sound superb, and are a step up from the LS50 - and that's saying something! A very different approach to control of cabinet resonance is used, but it certainly is effective. They also work very well with a correctly-integrated subwoofer.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote discrete badger Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Aug 2022 at 9:19am
Originally posted by Ash Ash wrote:

Large size, high expense and not easy to repair if a fault develops. Next...

Planar speakers do have a bit of a reputation for needing rather more TLC than conventional speakers, and this was my experience with the Quads (one needing minor repair after 5 years, then both completely refurbished after 10)

And when they need it, it's usually a case of having to send the whole speaker(s) away, for what might be a lengthy period of time. The option of just self-install of a replacement dynamic driver or crossover which might arrive in the post doesn't really exist in this world. These objects are particularly cumbersome to schlep around, having both a large form factor and being very heavy, especially when boxed up. Too big for a typical courier, a furniture-remover or palletised-freight carrier is needed. Or hire a van and self-drive.

My pair awaited their refurbishment for over a year (pandemic-related reasons). IAG's charges were IMO very reasonable for the labour and parts involved, and when they came back they sounded quite wonderful. But due to the delay and also due to the progress in conventional speakers, I sold them.

I regret neither the happy decade I spent listening to the Quads, nor the decision to move on from them.



Edited by discrete badger - 15 Aug 2022 at 9:31am
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Fatmangolf Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Aug 2022 at 8:28pm
Listening is believing on speakers as on other hifi kit, get a demo Ash if you can.
Jon

Open mind and ears whilst owning GSP Genera, Accession M, Accession MC, Elevator EXP, Solo ULDE, Proprius amps, Cusat50 cables, Lautus digital cable, Spatia cables and links, and a Majestic DAC.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Ash Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Aug 2022 at 8:40pm
I think I should stick with affordable dynamic drivers that have high quality control and close driver matching. Who wants huge electrostatic or planar magnetic panels in a small room... I'd regret it. If I focus on getting a flat response from dynamic drivers, they should be sufficient and hopefully should get further advancements as technology gets better. I considered panel speakers years ago but rejected the idea for all the same reasons. I will keep researching different concepts and ideas nonetheless.

Edited by Ash - 15 Aug 2022 at 9:00pm
We do not see things as they are. We see things as we are.
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