sonosphere
Well-Known Member
Background: Refer link here >> http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/2...ons-various-gear-combinations.html#post310038
For previous demo see here (Adam A7 Monitors + Electrocompaniet pre-power amp + Yamaha S2000 SACD player) >>
http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/3...aniet-pre-power-amp-yamaha-s2000-sacd-pl.html
For this demo, we continued with concept of changing the Monitor only, while the back-end* remained the same. The monitor this time was B&W 685 (Brought by Santy. MRP @ 45k ~). This Monitor was almost brand new, hence we need to consider that the it may sound unrefined in some aspects, as it wasn't "broken-in". Just like the previous demo's Adams, the B&W looked very dimunitive compared to back-end gear. However after hearing the Adam's we were prepared for all kinds of surprises coming from small sizes.
*Back-end: Electrocompaniel EC 4.7 Pre, Electrocompaniet power-amp AW120, Yamaha S2000 SACD Player.
Songs played:
See the song-list in the Observation-report.
The two "common songs" were >> Hotel California by Eagles... This soft-rock classic needs no introduction and "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff... is another classic, er. western classical. This was chosen as it is a really dense and highly dynamic combination of choir, string sections, steel drums... you name it. (A combo that can play it with all details but without strain on your ears, gets entry to HiFi club).
We played three "uncommon songs" this time.... >> "Life in fast lane" by Eagles, a classic soft-rock track . Second track was "Jai Ho" by A.R Rahman, a peppy number in "Bollywood format" (read zingy /spicy orchestration). Third one was "Probably me" by Sting, a soft, sparsly orchestrated, pop number having a simple bass-line groove carrying the whole song with little help from drums, guitars and string section.
Demo# 07 in progress
Demo# 07 pre and power amp closeup
Electrocmpaniet Preamp EC 4.7 & Poweramp AW120
Demo# 07 CDP Closeup
Yamaha S2000 SACD player
Demo# 07 Speaker
B&W 685 Monitor
Observation report
For those new to above Observation-report...
- Explanation of criteria used in audition, is given in Observation feedback form here >> https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B0...EyOTItYWFiY2ZiNTZlYTRi&hl=en&authkey=CI2L5P8H
- Since all the observation feedback forms were submitted as anonymous, the actual HFV IDs were substituted with Sample ID from "A" "B" "C" onward.
- The "1" numeral you see in the form indicates the tickmark that was made under that criteria. So all tick marks get added at the bottom to compare which criteria got max tick marks
Observation-Conclusion:
Since the sonic-character of "back-end" gear was fairly known by now, the audience found it easy to spot contribution of speaker in the overall presentation. Having witnessed "superlative" attributes in previous demos, most of the audience could attribute slightly un-polished sound, to the "un-broken" state of the speaker. Observation report shows that despite this handicap the B&W could display its highlights in aspects of dynamics, distortion and soundstage. The B&W's sounded big, loud and wide, with no hint of getting stressed. The un-polished sound perception was formed mostly due to less details in textures and almost absence of low-level details. This of course will cease to be an issue once the speaker has been run-in sufficiently (I would guess run-in time of at least 150 hrs).
Refer Observation-report for audience's remarks and conclusion-statistics at the bottom of each table
My two cents...
The overall sound appeared to be dense compared to open sounding presentation. The instruments appeared to be spatially closer to each other in terms of depth, and such close overlap gave a kind of homogeneous character to overall sound instead of spaced-apart separation between instruments found in Adams /Logans /Ushers/Titans of earlier demo. Some of this "homogeneous-effect" may be due to the fact that fresh /un-broken speakers are in any case deficient in "open" sound. Based on my earlier experience with fresh /unbroken Paradigm Titans, and B&W 685 in another demo (with same back-end gear), it can be said that Titan's are designed to be "open" sounding whereas the 685 were designed to be "homogeneous" sounding. The burn-in period will result in some details and open character being added to B&W, but I don't foresee it transforming itself into a Titan in terms of Open and detailed character. I believe this speaker is designed for someone who likes thick, ballsy presentation, and who perceives "open /delicate" presentation too thin to get into groovy mood.
Regards,
Sonosphere
For previous demo see here (Adam A7 Monitors + Electrocompaniet pre-power amp + Yamaha S2000 SACD player) >>
http://www.hifivision.com/reviews/3...aniet-pre-power-amp-yamaha-s2000-sacd-pl.html
For this demo, we continued with concept of changing the Monitor only, while the back-end* remained the same. The monitor this time was B&W 685 (Brought by Santy. MRP @ 45k ~). This Monitor was almost brand new, hence we need to consider that the it may sound unrefined in some aspects, as it wasn't "broken-in". Just like the previous demo's Adams, the B&W looked very dimunitive compared to back-end gear. However after hearing the Adam's we were prepared for all kinds of surprises coming from small sizes.
*Back-end: Electrocompaniel EC 4.7 Pre, Electrocompaniet power-amp AW120, Yamaha S2000 SACD Player.
Songs played:
See the song-list in the Observation-report.
The two "common songs" were >> Hotel California by Eagles... This soft-rock classic needs no introduction and "Carmina Burana" by Carl Orff... is another classic, er. western classical. This was chosen as it is a really dense and highly dynamic combination of choir, string sections, steel drums... you name it. (A combo that can play it with all details but without strain on your ears, gets entry to HiFi club).
We played three "uncommon songs" this time.... >> "Life in fast lane" by Eagles, a classic soft-rock track . Second track was "Jai Ho" by A.R Rahman, a peppy number in "Bollywood format" (read zingy /spicy orchestration). Third one was "Probably me" by Sting, a soft, sparsly orchestrated, pop number having a simple bass-line groove carrying the whole song with little help from drums, guitars and string section.
Demo# 07 in progress
Demo# 07 pre and power amp closeup
Electrocmpaniet Preamp EC 4.7 & Poweramp AW120
Demo# 07 CDP Closeup
Yamaha S2000 SACD player
Demo# 07 Speaker
B&W 685 Monitor
Observation report
For those new to above Observation-report...
- Explanation of criteria used in audition, is given in Observation feedback form here >> https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B0...EyOTItYWFiY2ZiNTZlYTRi&hl=en&authkey=CI2L5P8H
- Since all the observation feedback forms were submitted as anonymous, the actual HFV IDs were substituted with Sample ID from "A" "B" "C" onward.
- The "1" numeral you see in the form indicates the tickmark that was made under that criteria. So all tick marks get added at the bottom to compare which criteria got max tick marks
Observation-Conclusion:
Since the sonic-character of "back-end" gear was fairly known by now, the audience found it easy to spot contribution of speaker in the overall presentation. Having witnessed "superlative" attributes in previous demos, most of the audience could attribute slightly un-polished sound, to the "un-broken" state of the speaker. Observation report shows that despite this handicap the B&W could display its highlights in aspects of dynamics, distortion and soundstage. The B&W's sounded big, loud and wide, with no hint of getting stressed. The un-polished sound perception was formed mostly due to less details in textures and almost absence of low-level details. This of course will cease to be an issue once the speaker has been run-in sufficiently (I would guess run-in time of at least 150 hrs).
Refer Observation-report for audience's remarks and conclusion-statistics at the bottom of each table
My two cents...
The overall sound appeared to be dense compared to open sounding presentation. The instruments appeared to be spatially closer to each other in terms of depth, and such close overlap gave a kind of homogeneous character to overall sound instead of spaced-apart separation between instruments found in Adams /Logans /Ushers/Titans of earlier demo. Some of this "homogeneous-effect" may be due to the fact that fresh /un-broken speakers are in any case deficient in "open" sound. Based on my earlier experience with fresh /unbroken Paradigm Titans, and B&W 685 in another demo (with same back-end gear), it can be said that Titan's are designed to be "open" sounding whereas the 685 were designed to be "homogeneous" sounding. The burn-in period will result in some details and open character being added to B&W, but I don't foresee it transforming itself into a Titan in terms of Open and detailed character. I believe this speaker is designed for someone who likes thick, ballsy presentation, and who perceives "open /delicate" presentation too thin to get into groovy mood.
Regards,
Sonosphere
