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[sidvee]

Coming from you that made me laugh even harder!

Congratulations on an excellent speaker upgrade. For the Sabrinas to convincingly top the Ascendos that is really saying something. Granted the Ascendos you had were in a slightly different bracket than the Sabrinas but I wasn't expecting this! Really looking forward to the next listening session.

Regards.



.

Even I am surprised Nikhil. I expected something good, perhaps slightly better than my Ascendos but these are something else entirely. My method of selecting speakers is a long drawn out affair (a couple of years at-least), I first hear them at a show or some other large venue and if it tickles my fancy, I will make the effort to go to a dealer. Nothing like a home demo, but as you know in India that is like finding a honest politician. So for these I have heard them twice at dealers and really liked them, but again as you know a dealer demo is based on his setup and his equipment. So bringing them home to play with your own room and equipment is always a big If. Anyways will allow them to break in a bit then we will hook up along with Sameer and have a session - with this Hyderabad heat, today was 38 degrees - I will make sure there are a lot of cold kingfishers.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[sanj]

Congratulations .grt setup Sir.

 

[square_wave]

To-day listening to Tsuyoshi Yamamoto's Midnight Sugar DSD rip - which is an excellent album and one my references- on the last track - Sweet Georgia Blues there is a drum solo toward the end. Now I have heard this a thousand times, but today for the first time I could clearly delineate the deep kick drum beat against the beats of the snares, ride cymbals, crash cymbals, hi-hats etc. and even better I could tell the position of the kick drum which was slightly lower in space and to the left of the rest of the drum kit. Normally what I heard previously was the whole drum kit occupied a small space in the soundstage and though there was deep bass from the kick drum impact it was part of a whole, not separate. This is a first for me where not only did the textures/frequency of the various components of the drum kit stand out but also their position in space and leads me to conclude that these are the best speakers I have ever had the pleasure of listening in my room - period. Forgive me for sounding so gushing and giddy as a teenager who had his first smooch or a feel (who can forget that), but in about 25 years of being a music/audio aficionado I haven't felt so excited. I think I may be in love with Sabrina .
Cheers,
Sid

Wow ! Coming from you, it says a lot about the abilities of those speakers. I foresee many of those non peaty single malts downed in the company of the new seductress in the room

 

[hydrovac]

Even I am surprised Nikhil. I expected something good, perhaps slightly better than my Ascendos but these are something else entirely. My method of selecting speakers is a long drawn out affair (a couple of years at-least), I first hear them at a show or some other large venue and if it tickles my fancy, I will make the effort to go to a dealer. Nothing like a home demo, but as you know in India that is like finding a honest politician. So for these I have heard them twice at dealers and really liked them, but again as you know a dealer demo is based on his setup and his equipment. So bringing them home to play with your own room and equipment is always a big If. Anyways will allow them to break in a bit then we will hook up along with Sameer and have a session - with this Hyderabad heat, today was 38 degrees - I will make sure there are a lot of cold kingfishers.
Cheers,
Sid

I'm also a big believer that when you hear the right speaker for you, you just know. Given your words about the Sabrina, it sounds like you may indeed have found your boy.
And now that you have the Sabrina as your benchmark, you'll know very quickly whether a speaker "does it" for you or not.

All the best and Happy Listening!


...

 

[renjith lal]

Thanks Oracle, I will list my equipment from source onwards:
Aurender n100H
Bricasti M1se
Music First Audio Classic v2 passive or Lyric Audio Ti100mkII with pre out option
Symphonic line Kraft 250
Interconnects: Kimber select 1011
Speaker cables: Kimber select 3033
Power conditioner: Sine Gateway 2 & Vertex 3kva servo
Power Cables: Shunyata venom, Audio Art Power 1se
Usb cable: Lavri cable.
Acoustic treatment: GIK 244 panels - 6
GIK gridfusors - 8, Evolution Polyfusor - 2
Vicoustics wavewood - 4
Rack: Soundfoundations
Also have a second setup as described in my signature.
Cheers,
Sid

Excellent system Sid.
You have taken care of every link in the chain, from power products, cables,excellent (steamer, DAC, pre amp, power amp, speakers) and room acoustics . Really impressed by the time, money and effort you put. Thanks for sharing your journey.

Only thing I can see missing is vibration control, not sure if it is needed with your gears.

Thanks
Renjith

 

[renjith lal]

I meant compared to hard core audiophile systems vibration control is missing and it was not a complaint.

 

[sidvee]

Wow ! Coming from you, it says a lot about the abilities of those speakers. I foresee many of those non peaty single malts downed in the company of the new seductress in the room

lol, its already begun Square.

I meant compared to hard core audiophile systems vibration control is missing and it was not a complaint.

Actually Renjith, I have various footers scattered around under the equipment. Some from finite element, some brass footers, my Bricasti m1se dac already comes with stillpoint feet etc. Also a lot of the footers we read about in the western press have had little or no effect in my system, perhaps due to the fact that 99% of all floors in India are likely to be poured concrete where as other than basements very few homes in US for instance will have concrete and are likely to have wooden beam supported floors which have more flex and susceptible to floor borne vibrations. For airborne vibrations I have experimented with damping plates on the chassis of my equipment, currently using 8 ss plates on my Kraft amplifier. Also the rack of acrylic and aluminum from Ali is excellent, not sure what a similar branded rack which is likely to cost upwards of $10k like a Stillpoints ESS will bring to my system. Maybe marginal improvement at best. I have also experimented with 2 or 3 branded racks, like a massive usher audio rack with HDF shelves. There are some minor improvements with all this but currently I am quite satisfied with what I am hearing.

I meant compared to hard core audiophile systems vibration control is missing and it was not a complaint.

These are the vibration control devices I have currently:
1. Under aurender - ssc pucks http://www.nunudistribution.co.uk/products_ssc_magicpoints.php
2. Under Lyric - agora magic hexa http://www.agora-acoustics.com/xe/magichexa
3. Under music first audio - FE ceraball - https://www.finite-elemente.eu/en/products/ceraball/
3. Under Kraft - soundfoundations cerabase http://soundfoundations.in/products/cera-base/
4. Audio rack - soundfoundations alpha http://soundfoundations.in/products/alpha-series/
5. Linear PSU for router - soundfoundations brass spikes - http://soundfoundations.in/products/spikes/
Lastly I have ss damping plates on the kraft amplifier and speakers cables are supported by cable risers.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[renjith lal]

These are the vibration control devices I have currently:
1. Under aurender - ssc pucks http://www.nunudistribution.co.uk/products_ssc_magicpoints.php
2. Under Lyric - agora magic hexa http://www.agora-acoustics.com/xe/magichexa
3. Under music first audio - FE ceraball - https://www.finite-elemente.eu/en/products/ceraball/
3. Under Kraft - soundfoundations cerabase http://soundfoundations.in/products/cera-base/
4. Audio rack - soundfoundations alpha http://soundfoundations.in/products/alpha-series/
5. Linear PSU for router - soundfoundations brass spikes - http://soundfoundations.in/products/spikes/
Lastly I have ss damping plates on the kraft amplifier and speakers cables are supported by cable risers.
Cheers,
Sid

Sid,

You have tried everything already, I guess no need to bother anything now, sit back and enjoy music nirvana.....
Thanks once again for providing all the deails of the product you have tried, really appreciate it. After some point once you have taken care of all fundamentals ( speaker position, excellent speakers, excellent amp/ dac, room treatment, power , cables ....... ) vibration control and other tweaks will add only very minor or incremental improvement, I agree with you 100%.

I am planning to get 244 and monster bass traps from GIK. Did you opt model with scatter plate or broad band absorption?
Diffusors you are placing behind listening position?

Thanks
Renjith

 

[sidvee]

I am planning to get 244 and monster bass traps from GIK. Did you opt model with scatter plate or broad band absorption?
Diffusors you are placing behind listening position?

Thanks
Renjith

I am using the broad band ones. Since my listening position from the wall behind me is only 2 feet away I was recommended not to use 2d diffusers (like the gridfusers) which, GIK advised, need atleast 6-7 ' distance to work properly. Hence I don't have any diffusers behind or around the listening position. All diffusers are located on the front wall (behind the speakers), on the ceiling first reflection point and the side wall first reflection points (where I am using the evolution polyfusors) which are all 7-8 ' away from my listening position.

Just so you get an idea, here are my room treatment pics around the room. The sequence of installation consisted of various phases:
1. Phase 1 - 6 gik 244 panels, 4 in corners 2 at first reflection
2. Phase 2 - 4 vicoustic wavewoods on the front wall
3. Phase 3 - 4 gik gridfusors on ceiling/1 echobuster on wall behind listening position
4. Phase 4 - 2 polyfusors on side wall first reflection, 2 244 panels moved to front wall
5. Phase 5 - 4 gridfusors on front wall/ceiling
All were done with measurements and listening tests and chosen for what felt/sounded best acoustically to me.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[renjith lal]

Just so you get an idea, here are my room treatment pics around the room. The sequence of installation consisted of various phases:
1. Phase 1 - 6 gik 244 panels, 4 in corners 2 at first reflection
2. Phase 2 - 4 vicoustic wavewoods on the front wall
3. Phase 3 - 4 gik gridfusors on ceiling/1 echobuster on wall behind listening position
4. Phase 4 - 2 polyfusors on side wall first reflection, 2 244 panels moved to front wall
5. Phase 5 - 4 gridfusors on front wall/ceiling
All were done with measurements and listening tests and chosen for what felt/sounded best acoustically to me.
Cheers,
Sid

Sid,

Thanks a lot for sharing the details, got a good idea about the room treatment. Great to know that you have put lot of effort for
room treatment.

I was watching you tube videos about Wilson speakers, they give a lot of attention to speaker placement.
Please try to watch the video. Did the dealer help you in speaker positioning?

Thanks
Renjith

 

[sidvee]

Sid,

Thanks a lot for sharing the details, got a good idea about the room treatment. Great to know that you have put lot of effort for
room treatment.

I was watching you tube videos about Wilson speakers, they give a lot of attention to speaker placement.
Please try to watch the video. Did the dealer help you in speaker positioning?

Thanks
Renjith

Thanks Renjith. Will do. No I did not seek dealer help for positioning as of now. BTW just noticed you are Detroit. Whereabouts? I lived in Clinton township/Farmington hills/Troy areas for about 18 years till 2009 when I moved back. I was there last summer, spent some time in Paragon sight and sound in Ann Arbor listening to Sabrinas and Paulsons in Farmington Hills listening to the new 8 series B&W which were just introduced along with the Mcintosh ma252 integrated. Plan to be there this summer as well.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[renjith lal]

Sid,

Great to know that.I am staying in Farmington Hills now. In the past I have lived in Troy.
Please let me know if you are visiting, please ping me. I am coming to India for a shot trip in May. I am familiar with Paragon and Paulsons in Farmington Hills, never been to the one in Ann Arbor.Will try to go there and listen Wilsons.

Thanks
Renjith

 

[sidvee]

Sid,

Great to know that.I am staying in Farmington Hills now. In the past I have lived in Troy.
Please let me know if you are visiting, please ping me. I am coming to India for a shot trip in May. I am familiar with Paragon and Paulsons in Farmington Hills, never been to the one in Ann Arbor.Will try to go there and listen Wilsons.

Thanks
Renjith

Sure will do Renjith. I usually come every year to visit my old friends and play a few rounds of golf. My current favorite course is the Links of Novi, plan to be there end of May this year. Will msg you when I get there.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[renjith lal]

Good to know that, my office is at Novi.
Sure we can catch up, I will be back to Detroit on May 20th.

Thanks
Renjith

 

[sidvee]

I recently changed all my signal cables to Acoustic revive SPC -Reference II Triple C speaker cables and Line-1.0RS interconnect - single solid core copper cables along with jls001's interconnect and USB cable. I am hearing a lusher sound that is definitely more musical.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[arj]

I recently changed all my signal cables to Acoustic revive SPC -Reference II Triple C speaker cables and Line-1.0RS interconnect - single solid core copper cables along with jls001's interconnect and USB cable. I am hearing a lusher sound that is definitely more musical.
Cheers,
Sid

good for you sid. is this the cumulative effect or were you able to feel a cable by cable difference ?

 

[sidvee]

good for you sid. is this the cumulative effect or were you able to feel a cable by cable difference ?

Thanks Arj,
I think it is a cumulative effect, however I think jls001's usb cable really contributed a lot, especially if one is solely relying on usb from the source. It adds a level of musicality that is missing from other cables I have heard in the $200 to $300 range. He is upgrading mine to the latest version, so looking forward to hear that. So yes with his usb cable I was able to notice immediate difference.
Cheers,
Sid

 

[essrand]

Hi Bhaskar,
The M1se has a very detailed sound without sounding cold or clinical. It can resolve the minutest details in the music, which tend to get muddled over by other DAC's. Additionally it is very neutral and most importantly very musical. Personally I didn't find any weakness in the sound, for me it is the best DAC I have heard at the $10,000 price point. Other DAC's I heard before getting this was the Chord DAVE (having owned the HUGO TT this was a logical step up), the Schiit Yggdrasil, the DCS Debussy, Berkeley Audio Design Alpha DAC Reference & the playback designs Merlot. I think the DAVE is also an excellent DAC, and I would have got that if I didn't get this.
I never owned a DAC at this price point before this but some of the DAC's I had prior to this (at various price points) are the Ayon Skylla II, Chord Hugo TT and the Cary Audio 200ts. Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Sid

Partly based on your recommendation and zillion of other praises across the internet for Bricasti, I bought the Bricasti M12 to serve as a DAC and preamp.

It should arrive soon, I am super-excited.

Cheers,
Bhaskar

 

[Rajeshh]

@sidvee Your wonderful review of the Wilson Sabrina made me go and audition it. I must say I was blown away by the sound coming from a relatively small speaker. The bass extension & the dynamics was something else. Startling at times with "Hugh Masekela- Stimela"
The speakers were driven by a Pass INT60 & a CD transport.
I auditioned the Sopra N2 right after, I have heard them quite a few times before, this time I wanted to have a back to back comparison. The Sopra's mid range is outstanding- hypnotic and I also feel that it has very smooth highs & punchy mid bass.
Outstanding speakers both.

 

[sidvee]

@sidvee Your wonderful review of the Wilson Sabrina made me go and audition it. I must say I was blown away by the sound coming from a relatively small speaker. The bass extension & the dynamics was something else. Startling at times with "Hugh Masekela- Stimela"

Thanks Rajesh. Yes I agree, for me it is the best speaker I have had in my listening room - it does require a lot of time/energy for proper positioning, but once that is done it is pure magic. I am off the upgrade wagon for now. And even if I consider future upgrades, I don't think I will ever move away from Wilson Audio.
Cheers,
Sid