acoustic portrait pre- power combo

[captrajesh]

its a blind purchase

i am thinking to pair it with serenta villinos

My source is laptop . dac will be yulong mark ll

I asking fms that whthere i go for this combo.or i will get better than this in above mentioned price.

Is any better choice than this.

Firstly, we need to know a few things.

1. What are your musical tastes?
Single driver speakers sound good for certain genre of music which predominant midrange like Jazz, Indian Classical, Country etc. If you are into genre like Rock esp hard rock, you will be missing the soul of music with these kind of speakers.

2. What were your previous setups? Have you heard single driver speakers before? If so, what else was in the chain?
Trying to understand where you are coming from and gauge where you are headed.

As far as AP combo is concerned, they are great amps for a reasonable price. I do not have extensive experience, but I'm yet to find a preamp which throws up a realistic three dimensional sound stage that the AP pre does. The power amp is nice but the dynamics are so so.

If you haven't heard single driver speakers, Audire used to make similar back horn loaded speakers using Fostex drivers. IIRC, our erstwhile moderator VenkatCR used to have them. May be you can ping him to check the availability and his convenience.

Edit: Just read that you have heard the Harmony One and didn't like the sound. Now it is all the more a reason for you not to buy the speakers blindly.

 

[GeorgeO]

I have to agree with Denom on this, I liked the Dared sound when I heard it, and I have also owned Chinese valve amps in the past(Melody KT 88) which I liked, as well as diyhifisupply Joplin (2Ar DHTPP Class A) and liked them as well.

The truth is that a lot of cutting edge manufacturing, at least in this field( as well as many others too) takes place in China nowadays and their vacuum tube technology is among the very best that money can buy-Sophia, TJ Meshplate, Shuguang and the like.

 

[denom]

Firstly, we need to know a few things.

1. What are your musical tastes?
Single driver speakers sound good for certain genre of music which predominant midrange like Jazz, Indian Classical, Country etc. If you are into genre like Rock esp hard rock, you will be missing the soul of music with these kind of speakers.

2. What were your previous setups? Have you heard single driver speakers before? If so, what else was in the chain?
Trying to understand where you are coming from and gauge where you are headed.

As far as AP combo is concerned, they are great amps for a reasonable price. I do not have extensive experience, but I'm yet to find a preamp which throws up a realistic three dimensional sound stage that the AP pre does. The power amp is nice but the dynamics are so so.

If you haven't heard single driver speakers, Audire used to make similar back horn loaded speakers using Fostex drivers. IIRC, our erstwhile moderator VenkatCR used to have them. May be you can ping him to check the availability and his convenience.

Edit: Just read that you have heard the Harmony One and didn't like the sound. Now it is all the more a reason for you not to buy the speakers blindly.

Bro,
The serenata audio speakers that i've heard so far are not shabby with hard rock/metal either! Infact these speakers really surprise me with what they can do with hard rock/metal as those are genres close to my heart

I only wish more people can hear them before coming to making their own conclusions

 

[captrajesh]

Infact these speakers really surprise me with what they can do with hard rock/metal as those are genres close to my heart

I only wish more people can hear them before coming to making their own conclusions

Nice to know. May be Sereneta Audio should give a good discount to OP so that people residing at this part of the Country can hear them as well.

 

[denom]

Irrelevant post to the thread, hence deleted.

 

[Kittu]

How much is the Dared series we are talking here?

 

[john_k_antony]

How much is the Dared series we are talking here?

You can check out the prices at Analog Audio Labs India | Best Valve(Vacuum Tube) Amplifiers in India | An audiophile enterprise from Cochin(Ernakulam) Kerala | High-end audio systems made-in-India. Owner of analog audio labs - Mr Byju Chacko is a friend of mine and I had an extensive audition of Dared VP 845 last week at his office in Angamaly, Kerala. They were singing very nice and bold, very much to my liking. I am going to place an order soon. But I wanted to try out their KT88 based push pull amp before I go for the VP 845.

The only issue I have seen with VP 845 is that they run really hot. You must be very careful if you want to place them "exposed" in a living room and you have small kids at home. The glowing tubes draws attention of kids and it is very likely that they will go and touch them.

I am planning to put them in my dedicated listening room.

Thanks,
John.

 

[nagurum1974]

i was informed the price for villianos 50000.after discount its 45000 what they asked.now i dropped the idea buying villianos.

Thanks for the fellow member for their prompt replies

 

[arj]

i was informed the price for villianos 50000.after discount its 45000 what they asked.now i dropped the idea buying villianos.

Thanks for the fellow member for their prompt replies

what budget are you looking at for speakers ? from all that i have read this seems like a good price for this Vis a vis other brands. While i do have one view on amps (because of several points of failure and multi components), speakers are far less riskier as long as you like their sound signature.

Typically you will be spending the majority of your funds on your speakers...

 

[denom]

i was informed the price for villianos 50000.after discount its 45000 what they asked.now i dropped the idea buying villianos.

Thanks for the fellow member for their prompt replies

May we know why ???

 

[nagurum1974]

Iam considering the paradigm monitor7 v2 to pair with AP combo

 

[Shivam]

Contact AP and discuss the option of their own speakers too. They are well tuned to work with their amps.

 

[arj]

i would think the Paradigm monitor is step down in terms of voice quality than what you can get,or the AP amps are capable of...if you are really not sure get he amp with your current setup.
Maybe you try even a ATC19 sometime in chennai with your amps...and even the villianos (if you can) and then compare with the Paradigm.

You have the "advantage" of building from scratch which very few folks have..use it to your advantage by listening after fixing 1 product..and the amplification is much easier to lug around than speakers.

Or as suggested by Shivam, make a trip to bangalore meet shiva and try to audition a full AP setup.

 

[denom]

Iam considering the paradigm monitor7 v2 to pair with AP combo

Is this due to getting influenced by another FM who has similar set-up??? Mind you the v2 are older series of paradigm speakers than what he has, so advise you to listen to this combo prior to going ahead.

Meanwhile, hope you have informed Serenata Audio of your change of plans, since they make speakers based on committed order only & might have already progressed on the build based on your earlier intimation to buy them.

 

[Kittu]

@op ,

I think you should reconsider on the Paradigms thought. Thou they are not bad speakers, I have heard many DIY speakers that are completely a class apart and 10 notches above better sounding in the same price bracket.

My suggestion would be to audition the combinations before you buy. As Shivam suggested check with AP if they have speakers too, I doubt if they are still making but u can check.

Other brands like Usher V601 will be a nice combi with AP pre-power setup.

Best of luck
Kittu

 

[iaudio]

nagurum 1974, I somehow did not like the Paradigm sound paired with AP amps. ( I listened to it paired with Studio 60s).
Try to get used AP speakers, that would be a match made in heaven.
Else get something with Scanspeak drivers.
As someone suggested, I believe Ushers, PSBs would pair decently.
You have mentioned that vortex's setup was not exactly to your preference. Else I would have anyday suggested Lyrita amplification with Fostex based speakers.

 

[rohitmusic]

True, AP amps are much more capable for sure.

IMHO, Paradigm are on the brighter side and therefore get balanced out when paired with warmer amps like NAD. I find AP amps to be quite neutral and transparent.

AP used to come with speakers using scan speak drivers which went well with the amps as per what I have heard. These amps are very resolving and hence the better the speaker the more justice it will do to the amps.

 

[iaudio]

Even the Vifa driver equipped AP speakers can provide a very satisfying experience, but sourcing one may be difficult. It is for the same reason that I suggested trying out other Scanspeak equipped speakers.