Yes, that makes sense. I'll see how things work out. Presently, with just the SL speakers, and playing the 16 Hz note on vinyl, the walls shake; oddly, playing the same piece on digital doesn't cause much to shake, but just the normal vibration of the listening chair, etc.
Phono Stage upgrade to complement Dohmann Helix One Mk 2
Thanks to the recommendations from many users on this Audiogon blog, I think I was able to make a more informed purchase of a turntable, the Dohmann Helix One Mk 2. I've really been enjoying the turntable for the past month!
The next phase of my system now needs attention: the phono stage. Currently, I'm using a Manley Steelhead v2 running into an Ypsilon PST-100 Mk2 SE pre-amplifier (into Ypsilon Hyperion monoblocks, into Sound Lab M745PX electrostatic speakers).
I've been told that I could really improve my system by upgrading the phono stage from the Manley Steelhead (although I've also been told that the Manley Steelhead is one of the best phono stages ever made).
Interestingly, two of the top phono stages that I'm considering require a step-up transformer (SUT). I'm not fully informed about any inherent advantages or disadvantages of using an SUT versus connecting directly to the phono stage itself.
I suppose my current top two considerations for a phono stage are the Ypsilon VPS-100 and the EM/IA LR Phono Corrector, both of which utilize an SUT. I don't have a particular price range, but I find it hard to spend $100k on stereo components, so I'm probably looking in the $15k - $70k price range.
Thanks.
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@lewm @rauliruegas @drbond , that is lay instinct. I can make a 7 hz sound in a telephone booth. It will not reverberate but it is quite measurable. Same goes for most rooms. It is true that you only hear the harmonics but you feel the note and you can measure it with a calibrated microphone which I have. Very few subwoofer systems are capable of projecting anything below 25 Hz. It takes a lot of surface area to create the wavefront properly. I currently use four 12" drivers in a 16 foot wide room. The 3 dB down point is 18 Hz and it falls off rapidly under that. The system I am working on has eight 12" drivers. I would use 15s but they would make the enclosures too large for my situation. Eight 12's are the most I can cram into the room. If that does not do it then I give up. Playing Vinyl I use a very steep subsonic filter anyway, 80 dB/octave. |
@lewm , it depends on what state I am in. In New York and Vermont I can, but in Rockingham County, New Hampshire, not at all. SLs have so much surface area impedance matched to air that they can surprisingly produce very low notes even though they are dipoles. I don't think they can do it accurately, the wild swings in output below 100 Hz are measurably worse than regular dynamic speakers in my room anyway. As lewm knows I cross out of them to the subwoofers at 100 Hz. Relieving them of low bass helps them to perform better everywhere else. It sounds like lewm is thinking of the possibilities. I was always a volume freak. If it did not go loud I was not interested. I got into subwoofers back in 1979 because I had fallen in love with loudspeakers that did not go loud enough, not even close. Subwoofers solved that problem but added others which I struggled with for years not willing to give up on ESLs running cleanly at volume playing anything from Chopin to Nirvana and everything in between except Lawrence Welk. ESL owners who lead more sedate lives might fare better without subwoofers especially if they are unwilling to go down the digital signal processing path. Bad subwoofers are way worse than no subwoofers. Distortion is noticeable lower in full range ESLs if you remove the bass from them. The louder you listen the more noticeable this becomes. I have to go clean my Schumann Resonators now. |
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