Do Tubes Homogenize the Sound of Our Music?

bonzo75

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. Universums have plenty of flaws that are easily heard as well...their bass is rather a weakness of the design despite looking cool.

This is playing with a 400 GBP AT 33 and 2k Ming da phono.

please produce a better bass weight on your Odeons. iPhone 7 used in




 

Walter66

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That's an impressive sound from the horn speakers.
Just one thing, and it seems very common today, the highs sound totally artificial.

I've never heard a real Guarneri del Gesu or the "Hercules" Strad that Szeryng used to choose to play with, but one thing is for sure: this is not how they sounded. Not even a cheap chinese violin would ever produce such harsh and shrill, totally artificial highs.

Man, this is an instrument, his whole resonant body is made from the finest woods availabe, made by the greatest experts of their profession.
Why should it sound the way we hear it in those videos? It would be rubbish instead of a great instrument.
The answer is: it simply doesn't sound that way in reality. Otherwise, no violinist would choose to play it.

And this is not because the record is that bad or the recording engineer did a bad mix, no, the blame is only on this audio gear we see and hear, the reproducing equipment of the recording at someones home.

As a DIY with some decades of experience, I have some suspicions on how this audio gear would turn a lovely sound into an inferior one, but this is possible, even with so called "high end" audio gear. It's just a shame, but it's reality today. We have to face it, and some people love this artificial sound. They have been walking for too long time in unfit small shoes and don't recognise the pain anymore. And in my ears, it's just a pain to listen to the system.

Btw, I've auditioned way better bass compared to this one, but it has been generated by speakers, so rare that I will deny telling anyone else, just because, don't need additional ten more people hunting for unobtanium things in audio.
 
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morricab

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This is playing with a 400 GBP AT 33 and 2k Ming da phono.

please produce a better bass weight on your Odeons. iPhone 7 used in




You've wheeled these out before and well they are ok but not mind blowing. I agree with the previous poster about the violin sounds.
 

bonzo75

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You've wheeled these out before and well they are ok but not mind blowing. I agree with the previous poster about the violin sounds.

No video pleased Walter.

like i said, please post better bass from Odeons. And since you mentioned violin sounds (stage and tone), that change with the recording.



 

morricab

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No video pleased Walter.

like i said, please post better bass from Odeons. And since you mentioned violin sounds (stage and tone), that change with the recording.



The bass is nothing special here...
 

bonzo75

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The bass is nothing special here...

you want a constant bass in each recording? I put the first three for weight the next post for change on violin tone and stage.

plus change in amp to 14 watts GM70
 
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just to make clear:
I didn´t dispose of TAD 2002 to save money
It was part of a strategy to simplify system and get more "pointsource" soundstage
but it took some 3 years from design start to finished CD horn to make the TAD 4003 perform as desired from 600-20K with even frequency response over 85x45 degrees and no more head in a vice sweetspot sound
after having rid of the JMLC I also confirmed a suspicion I had for a LONG TIME.......the JMLC profile acccentuated a range around 2-4K which is hard to detect until you get rid of it....
also the crossover benefits from being simpler
same parts used so no signature change there
Ked mentions my new Tommy Hørning SATI nanocrystalline LITZ wired OPT, which also enhanced definition and tone
Yesterday TH shipped my new nanocrystalline interstage transformers too, which I strongly suspect will give me even better resolution
so in sum I´m changing 2 of 5 parts in the direct signal path of my all out 300Bs
no wonder I hear it.....
to be continued
 
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bonzo75

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bonzo75

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Walter66

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No video pleased Walter.
That's not quite true. I've posted very positive comments for videos I liked, like this one for example:

It has a very fast, domesticated bass section, that's what I prefer and what I'm after. The bass could be more colourfull in this example, but it goes in the right direction. It seems that this speaker system is powered by transistor amps, but I've auditioned this same stiff bass with tube amplification, that sounded much more superb.

I like the bass of Shindo Latour speaker very much, even that is fast, vibrant, full of energy and full of colours of tone, and the speaker sounds very much homogenic like the old Western Electric speaker designs.

But a bloated bass, which isn't domesticated and out of proportion, reaching into the midrange and covers up details in this most important section of the music is just not my cup of tea. And that's what is audible to me in your videos of this artificial sounding horn system. Sorry for my rant against it, but in real life music, there is no such thing like a much bloated bass existing in music. It may be for the taste of some audiophiles, but it has nothing to do with reality.
 
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morricab

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That's not quite true. I've posted very positive comments for videos I liked, like this one for example:

It has a very fast, domesticated bass section, that's what I prefer and what I'm after. The bass could be more colourfull in this example, but it goes in the right direction. It seems that this speaker system is powered by transistor amps, but I've auditioned this same stiff bass with tube amplification, that sounded much more superb.

I like the bass of Shindo Latour speaker very much, even that is fast, vibrant, full of energy and full of colours of tone, and the speaker sounds very much homogenic like the old Western Electric speaker designs.

But a bloated bass, which isn't domesticated and out of proportion, reaching into the midrange and covers up details in this most important section of the music is just not my cup of tea. And that's what is audible to me in your videos of this artificial sounding horn system. Sorry for my rant against it, but in real life music, there is no such thing like a much bloated bass existing in music. It may be for the taste of some audiophiles, but it has nothing to do with reality.
The amps in the Aries Cerat example are what AC calls Triode/FET, which is a unique design that uses a triode and FET as a single stage amplification device. This is driving the mid horn and horn loaded ribbon tweeter. The bass is active with a class D amp I think.

The LaTour uses an Altec 604E coax driver, correct? Lovely…
 

morricab

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just to make clear:
I didn´t dispose of TAD 2002 to save money
It was part of a strategy to simplify system and get more "pointsource" soundstage
but it took some 3 years from design start to finished CD horn to make the TAD 4003 perform as desired from 600-20K with even frequency response over 85x45 degrees and no more head in a vice sweetspot sound
after having rid of the JMLC I also confirmed a suspicion I had for a LONG TIME.......the JMLC profile acccentuated a range around 2-4K which is hard to detect until you get rid of it....
also the crossover benefits from being simpler
same parts used so no signature change there
Ked mentions my new Tommy Hørning SATI nanocrystalline LITZ wired OPT, which also enhanced definition and tone
Yesterday TH shipped my new nanocrystalline interstage transformers too, which I strongly suspect will give me even better resolution
so in sum I´m changing 2 of 5 parts in the direct signal path of my all out 300Bs
no wonder I hear it.....
to be continued
Nice. I was running a CD horn from 1 to 20Khz. I have now switched to solid wood Tractrix horns and some bit of coloration on make vocals is now gone.
 

bonzo75

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That's not quite true. I've posted very positive comments for videos I liked, like this one for example:

It has a very fast, domesticated bass section, that's what I prefer and what I'm after. The bass could be more colourfull in this example, but it goes in the right direction. It seems that this speaker system is powered by transistor amps, but I've auditioned this same stiff bass with tube amplification, that sounded much more superb.

I like the bass of Shindo Latour speaker very much, even that is fast, vibrant, full of energy and full of colours of tone, and the speaker sounds very much homogenic like the old Western Electric speaker designs.

But a bloated bass, which isn't domesticated and out of proportion, reaching into the midrange and covers up details in this most important section of the music is just not my cup of tea. And that's what is audible to me in your videos of this artificial sounding horn system. Sorry for my rant against it, but in real life music, there is no such thing like a much bloated bass existing in music. It may be for the taste of some audiophiles, but it has nothing to do with reality.

the first is not a phone video.

the entire Shindo system that I heard in person, Highly coloured, slow, sluggish, quite the opposite end of the uni.
 
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Nice. I was running a CD horn from 1 to 20Khz. I have now switched to solid wood Tractrix horns and some bit of coloration on make vocals is now gone.
this CD horn is conical first 2/3 then last 3rd tractrix like
super precision throat/adapter......CNC´d in marine MDF...no resonances
 

morricab

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this CD horn is conical first 2/3 then last 3rd tractrix like
super precision throat/adapter......CNC´d in marine MDF...no resonances
Mine are machines stacked birch plywood…quite well damped naturally. My Odeons have a similar stacked plywood machined Tractrix or Spherical (not sure which) mid-high horn .
 

Walter66

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the first is not a phone video.

the entire Shindo system that I heard in person, Highly coloured, slow, sluggish, quite the opposite end of the uni.
To each his own.
The Aries Cerat system isn't a phone video? Who claims it is?
 
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Walter66

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I had this kind of discussion earlier, everytime someone presents an audio fair video which sounds exceptional good, someone else jumps right out of the hedge and claims: "But this is no mobile phone video, because it sounds so good." Even when audio fair smalltalk is audible in the background, they claim this has to be a fake video.

This one confirms the same sound quality and character of the speakers and it has a fast, superior and accurate bass. Btw, Shindo has the same fast and domesticated bass qualities, just with the combination of tube amps. That's not easy to achieve, many amps and speakers fail to deliver this. So it's one quality criteria for me to judge about sound systems. An excellent tube amp audio system always have all the qualities of transistor equipment. And if not, it's just a bad or mediocre one. Most of them are of the later category.

I wonder what Shindo system Bonzo had heard, maybe a bad one to sound slow and sluggish. Maybe not a full Shindo system or a bad setup, as they are quite expensive and rare today. If he has auditioned one at a dealers place, the reviews speak just the opposite to his comments. And the video confirms this.
 
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PeterA

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Here is a question which I hope is not too skeptical or insensitive: If the video shows a still photo as the first Aries Ceret, (or is it a camera on a tripod) how do we actually know the sound is of the system rather than just a digital file? I'm not suggesting the AC video is not the sound of the system, but on a different thread, a video was shared that claims to be a digital capture of a vinyl source playing straight into the recorder with no room, amp, or speaker influence. How do we even know it is that and not just a digital file?

Sorry if this is off topic. I am just curious. It seems if we are using videos to support arguments, we should know what we are actually listening to. I am also not saying that they all have to be iPhone videos for comparison. Better quality is nice too.
 
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Walter66

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Even if the first AC video will be just a still photography with a digital voice recorder only, the sound of the speaker is comparable and has the same tone characteristic compared to the second, mobile phone video.

This gives proof about the sound being recorded from the speakers, oterhwise we would hear the signal coming from the amps directly into the digital recorder and that would mean, the sound character of the speakers would have to be bypassed and can't be therefore on the video. So it's very clear, if we hear the sound charcacter of the speakers, this audio would have recorded from the speakers.

Here's another audio fair video, which fulfills my criteria for good sound. And voila, the same domesticated, fast and ultra precise bass that is quite the opposite of the Universum speaker. Another proof that excellent tube amp- horn speaker combinations can sound as superior as transistor amps. But unfortunately, the Universum audio system can't deliver this quality. Despite of it's price, it's just a mediocre sounding system.
This video seems to be made with a mobile phone but has a very good sound, too.
 
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