hORNS Universum 3 MKII

[marslo]

Thank you Shakti for very interesting installation report with pictures.
Congratulations on your color selection of the horn, it’s a perfect harmony with your room, very cosy.

As I understand you compared AG to Universum before your final order- could you pls share your thoughts?

 

[jeff1225]

Congratulations on your purchase. I've followed these horns closely since their introduction but have yet to hear them in the USA.

 

[GMKF]

Very interesting colour combination shakti That must have been a Porsche Exclusive Boxster....
How are they sounding now ?

 

[shakti]

not too much to say at the moment, as the most components, the Universum III is changing their character during the burn in period, so I have to wait for the final set up. In the mean time a pair of subwooferamps arrived, so I can change between three methods to amplify the Universum III:

- direct in BiWiring (Bass in my room like 2to 3db missing)
- Horns adjustable connection box (currently running a separate burn in program)
- BiAmping with dedicated and adjustable subwooferamps

Final decision will take some time, until than I just enjoy listing to music with the speakers, which is already great.

 

[shakti]

some month have passed by and I had many listening hours with the Horns Universum III.
To understand the needs of the UniIII, I tried as well the great VTL S- 400 amplifier ( the stereo version of the well known VTL Siegfried)
The VTL ha a very low damping factor (<5), compared to the >100 of the CAT Convergent Statement.

After some listening hours, I decided, that the VTL is a better match for the Uni III, on other speakers I like the CAT Statement much more, but on UNI III the VTL sounds more natural, so I listened many weeks with the VTL.

Both, VTL and CAT do have not too much information available in the web, but combining them all means, that the CAT has something like 30 to 31 dB gain and the VTL has between 24 and 26 dB gain (depending on Tetrode or Triode mode).

The Uni III has 5 to 6 dB efficiency difference between the Horn and the Bass section.
So in principle a real BiAmping configuration would be possible.

So I connected the CAT Statement monos to the Bass Section and the VTL S-400 (triode mode) to the Horns section of the UNI III
And to my surprise ii is working!, all the benefits of a BiAmping configuration is audible.

I will give this configuration a chance for some hours, than I will go back to the VTL -S400 as single amp to compare.

But at the moment I like the BiAmping configuration a lot!

 

[bonzo75]

Nice. Did you try any SETs on this yet?

 

[shakti]

yes, I tried the NAT Transmitter. Great Amps, but not in the league of the CAT Statement (which is 6 times of the Transmitter retail price).

I am sure, that there will be better matching amps out there, but the random luck to have two amps onside with 5 to 6db gain difference is great.

Would love to hear Air Tight or Kondo with the UNI III, as this Japanese amps do have adjustable Vol integrated.

 

[wisnon]

I think Christoph is using a Kronzilla on his Unis.

 

[christoph]

I think Christoph is using a Kronzilla on his Unis.

Exactly :b

 

[morricab]

yes, I tried the NAT Transmitter. Great Amps, but not in the league of the CAT Statement (which is 6 times of the Transmitter retail price).

I am sure, that there will be better matching amps out there, but the random luck to have two amps onside with 5 to 6db gain difference is great.

Would love to hear Air Tight or Kondo with the UNI III, as this Japanese amps do have adjustable Vol integrated.

Interesting, we found the NAT SE2SE monos (with 211 tubes) to better the CAT JL2 Signature...not sure how that compares to your monos though.

 

[morricab]

yes, I tried the NAT Transmitter. Great Amps, but not in the league of the CAT Statement (which is 6 times of the Transmitter retail price).

I am sure, that there will be better matching amps out there, but the random luck to have two amps onside with 5 to 6db gain difference is great.

Would love to hear Air Tight or Kondo with the UNI III, as this Japanese amps do have adjustable Vol integrated.

If you want to hear an Aries Cerat on them, just drop me a mail and let me know.

 

[bonzo75]

Interesting, we found the NAT SE2SE monos (with 211 tubes) to better the CAT JL2 Signature...not sure how that compares to your monos though.

I think the EL84 style amps that the designer had on the universum sound excellent. They are lower powered and very liquid and fast, great mids. Bass can be a bit low for Shakti type rooms. Nats and 211s may be a bit forward for these though of course each 211 amp implementation differs. As do the valves. The presentation I prefer on these speakers, apart from the usual tone liquidity flow thing, is I prefer these more backward layered and side ways, relaxed, rather than forward or aggressive.

 

[morricab]

I think the EL84 style amps that the designer had on the universum sound excellent. They are lower powered and very liquid and fast, great mids. Bass can be a bit low for Shakti type rooms. Nats and 211s may be a bit forward for these though of course each 211 amp implementation differs. As do the valves. The presentation I prefer on these speakers, apart from the usual tone liquidity flow thing, is I prefer these more backward layered and side ways, relaxed, rather than forward or aggressive.

Forward and aggressive is often a bad thing in an amplifier...usually a sign something isn't quite right in the highs.

 

[bonzo75]

Forward and aggressive is often a bad thing in an amplifier...usually a sign something isn't quite right in the highs.

I intended to say some amps might sound too powerful and aggressive for this speaker while they will not for other speakers

 

[infinitely baffled]

Nice thread. I love the finish on your speakers, Shakti.

I also really like the wood block diffuser on your wall.
May i ask where you sourced it?

 

[spiritofmusic]

It's the GIK Gotham Quadratic diffusers if I'm not mistaken.
I'm going to be investigating those in my room in the near future.

 

[infinitely baffled]

Very nice.
I wonder if it'd bring any benefit attached to my ceiling. I have windows behind my speakers

 

[spiritofmusic]

Shakti, and initial comparisons to be made w yr Zingalis?

 

[shakti]

It's the GIK Gotham Quadratic diffusers if I'm not mistaken.
I'm going to be investigating those in my room in the near future.

The diffusor is the RD Acoustic QRD 67

https://www.rdacoustic.cz/en/high-end-audio/acoustic-diffuser-qrd67/

 

[shakti]

Very nice.
I wonder if it'd bring any benefit attached to my ceiling. I have windows behind my speakers

My rear wall is not parallel and has non symmetric windows, so I decided for the big diffusor , which helped a lot!