Opinions on why this system is uninvolving

Obviouly should have read "DON'T throw out the baby yatta, yatta ... Oops!

I heard the Revels at Ambrosia in Beverly Hills sourced by a Meridian CD player with Rowland amp and had the exact same feeling, "uninvolving". Also I'd add "sterile", "cold" and "clinical" to the description. I was with two other people that felt the exact same way. We then substituted $400 Acoustic Energy 300's which sounded much nicer - bass suffered but we all liked it better. Try substituting in some other speakers and see what happens.

Kevin

Well, Revels do take about 200 hours to break in! That's about 1/5 to 1/10 of your output tubes' lives just to brak them in. I love the MFAs but, try running a solid state amp for a week straight to see if it helps. Also, 30' between amp and pre? Too long.

I heard the Revels at Ambrosia in Beverly Hills sourced by a Meridian CD player with Rowland amp and had the exact same feeling, "uninvolving". Also I'd add "sterile", "cold" and "clinical" to the description. I was with two other people that felt the exact same way. We then substituted $400 Acoustic Energy 300's which sounded much nicer - bass suffered but we all liked it better. Try substituting in some other speakers and see what happens.

Kevin

Znak,

Thanks for writing back with so much additional information.

I'm not familiar with your amps, but I am somewhat familiar with the KT-90. That's a helluva tube. Incredibly powerful and dynamic, almost impossible to kill, but a bit on the bright side (that's where rolling the front end tubes comes in). Your amps are rated at 200 watts, and I bet that's conservative. Those tubes could easily crank out well over 300 watts.

I still think you're primarily looking at a speaker problem. But before you go speaker shopping, if feasible try moving the speakers about six feet out into the room. Turn up the rear tweeter a bit. Put a couple of your tube traps (or some other treatment - I use fake ficus trees for diffusion) at the first sidewall reflection points. I suspect you may have too many tube traps around the speakers - see if you can get away with fewer, or move the ones you have farther away.

In the meantime, if you still want to play along, I'd like to ask you a few questions about your personal speaker preferences. The speakers you've chosen and the dissatisfactions you've expressed give me some idea of your personal priorities - I think you want a smooth, forgiving tonal balance; excellent inner detail and articulation; good dynamic contrast (though that's not the top priority); natural timbre and rich textures; fairly deep bass extension (subterranian not necessary); excellent soundstaging characteristics (especially in depth); and last but not least long-term fatigue-free listening. Correct me where I'm wrong, and add anything else you see fit. And if you'd like to play along, I could use a little more information:

Would you prefer very good soundstaging for a single listener, or good soundstaging over a wide listening area?

Would you prefer more of a front-of-the-hall presentation, or a more middle-of-the-hall presentation?

Could you rank by relative importance: Good sound at low volume; good sound at medium volume; and good sound at high volume. What's the loudest (at the listening position) that you normally listen?

How much flexibility do you have in speaker placement?

And finally, are there any other traits you especially want - or do NOT want - in a speaker?

If you want to explore this line of thinking, I'll try to come up with a few potentially useful suggestions. Don't worry - I'm more than willing to suggest something I don't sell if I think that would better meet your needs.

Best wishes,

Duke