A truly exemplary system

[spiritofmusic]

On further consideration, I'm going to delete my original post, it's distracting from the thread.
Please delete your replies to me re that.

 

[bonzo75]

On further consideration, I'm going to delete my original post, it's distracting from the thread.
Please delete your replies to me re that.

Don’t give up fomenting agitation Marc it is all fun

 

[spiritofmusic]

One thing I'll request if I'm ever invited back to this system is listen to CD and even Qobuz Direct on the Wadax Studio Player a lot more, maybe a whole hour straight.
Get to know this level of digital a lot better.
And then see my emotional reaction to vinyl after sustained digital immersion.

 

[stsxerses]

Marc
You are more than welcome to visit again. The Wadax Studio Player is the best digital I have had in my system. Streaming can be surprisingly good but generally CD/SACD trumps it. Good as my digital is I still listen far more to vinyl and that is only likely to increase as I continue to “upgrade” my vinyl collection (first pressings, best performances etc)
Steve

 

[spiritofmusic]

Hi Steve, welcome to...your thread.
I mean, I may have written it, but you take the credit.
The words kinda write themselves.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Appreciate the offer of a return visit...next time I avoid driving to you (or more accurately, sitting stationary in traffic for 30 mins.

 

[bonzo75]

Marc
You are more than welcome to visit again. The Wadax Studio Player is the best digital I have had in my system. Streaming can be surprisingly good but generally CD/SACD trumps it. Good as my digital is I still listen far more to vinyl and that is only likely to increase as I continue to “upgrade” my vinyl collection (first pressings, best performances etc)
Steve

Now this will become a digital vinyl thread - someone from the digital tribe will politely ask you to expand on that, with a catch that makes the thread go boom

 

[stsxerses]

Now this will become a digital vinyl thread - someone from the digital tribe will politely ask you to expand on that, with a catch that makes the thread go boom

I plead the 5th on that topic!

 

[spiritofmusic]

Now this will become a digital vinyl thread - someone from the digital tribe will politely ask you to expand on that, with a catch that makes the thread go boom

I've always admired your optimism and sunny outlook.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Steve, other than stuff like CH Precision adjustments (is that damping factor?) choices, one area that intrigued me was sitting more nearfield than I'm used to.
You're at c3.25m from the Stenheims?
Obviously, this distance is compelled by room dimensions, and again at first glance it seemed like this was a compromise, another facet of shoehorning big spkrs into a small room.
But in the end, it all felt and sounded very natural.

 

[bonzo75]

ne area that intrigued me was sitting more nearfield than I'm used to

You should have then heard the Avalon in London. It was even more nearfield, even though he had a 14ft wide by 30 feet long clean rectangle room with no obstacles or pillars or bay windows.

 

[spiritofmusic]

...and Mike Lavigne?

 

[bonzo75]

...and Mike Lavigne?

He is nearfield in terms of relative size of room to sitting, but has more space between him and speakers than the Avalon guy for sure. Might be his actual measurement from tweeter to seat during my first trip in 2016 was similar to Steve's, he pulled the chair back since.

 

[mtemur]

I'm saying that small/mid sized rooms have had the best sounds I've heard
Every system in a large room I've visited has had some issues.
Granted, these may be the systems not the rooms, and these Stenheims were *surely* too big for the owners room...
Or so I thought...lol

Maybe you’re right — I’m not sure small rooms can really deliver great sound compared to bigger ones. I’m currently listening to Stenheim 5s in an L-shaped, 11.5 m² room. RT60 is between 0.38 and 0.29 s from 63 Hz to 16 kHz. It feels a bit like listening through big headphones. No bass issues, extremely dynamic and enjoyable. I listen 4-5 hours every other day.

I’ll be moving my setup to a 30 m² room that doesn’t have much damping. Unfortunately, it has huge windows on two sides, but there’s also a large entrance for the sound to escape. Fingers crossed — I hope you’re wrong and the bigger room will sound great, because I have no intention of treating it with sponge and drywall.

 

[stsxerses]

In my room placements options are of course limited but one advantage of near field listening is that it can reduce the impact of room reflections. I think what also helps is that my room is vented (via a hole in the wall fireplace) and it is solidly constructed (all walls are masonry and the substrate area under the speakers and equipment is concrete). Perhaps most critical is good mechanical grounding for the speakers (which a solid bamboo floor covering over solid concrete facilitates) and the ability to precisely adjust speaker position (via the x-bases). I should add I do not use any room treatment - have tried it in the past and did not like it. The room itself seems to me to have a natural acoustic.

 

[microstrip]

Steve, other than stuff like CH Precision adjustments (is that damping factor?) choices, one area that intrigued me was sitting more nearfield than I'm used to.
You're at c3.25m from the Stenheims?
Obviously, this distance is compelled by room dimensions, and again at first glance it seemed like this was a compromise, another facet of shoehorning big spkrs into a small room.
But in the end, it all felt and sounded very natural.

What distance were you exactly sitting from the speakers? Considering the photo you have shown I can't see how it could be nearfield - speakers look to be too far from each other for such listening mode.

 

[spiritofmusic]

Steve the owner says 3.25m.

 

[Kingrex]

Based on a whole series of experiences with a variety of horns in a variety of rooms, I would struggle to press the button to live with them day to day.
Audiophile Bill's horns are a very unusual outlier, they did some things that were really addictive and hard to live without.
But in my albeit limited experience, they've been the exception to the rule.
What I heard with the Stenheims has become my new reference for seamless and faultless sound, with a massive helping of sheer magic to top things off.

Owe boy. Is this fodder for SS and boxed speakers over SET and Horns.
And put it in a small room!!!!!.

I can see how a medium to medium large speaker in a not overly large room might make a very big and immersive sound. Sort of like being in a body suit headphone.

Did you see the guy at PAFest that made a small enclosure to sit in to make small speakers work like large ones.

Now this will become a digital vinyl thread - someone from the digital tribe will politely ask you to expand on that, with a catch that makes the thread go boom

And more. A.whole hornets issues.

 

[Al M.]

Steve the owner says 3.25m.

That is pretty far away for such a small room, 13x14 feet as Bonzo says.

I sit about 7 feet 8 inches away (ear to tweeter) from my speakers in a 12 ft wide room. That is about 2.35 meters.

 

[Al M.]

And more. A.whole hornets issues.

Not really. Digital lovers know how to behave themselves, unlike some vinyl lovers who constantly have to tout the alleged superiority of their preferred medium.