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Reclaim sound from the past?

The best sounding system I've ever had was almost ten years ago and included the following: CJ 14,12s,DR1,Da2b with Wilson WITTs. The speakers were almost 14 ft apart with lots of toe in (room size was 21 x 14 x 8). The sweet spot was huge and female voices the best I've ever heard. I moved out of this home and sold this gear. I purchased a pair of Revel Salons and have run numerous electronics (Pass 600,Proceed AMP5,Krell 400xi,Cary Slam 100s,VTL TL 85, Mac 275s but nothing seems to bring back the magic of the old system. Is it the old CJ tube gear I'm missing or the Wilson's or neither. Thanks for your opinions.
tommy
wavetrader
260 posts
 
Probably the speakers...amps...and the room. The good news is unless the room has real problems you can get close or better. I think the amplifier can make so much difference..but I think you experienced a synergy. The speakers are next....I'm lucky as I have had the same for 28 years. Moved 3 times...big rooms and now I have a condo...but the sound is as good or better. What's changed not the speakers....but I have had 6 different amps. So I would maybe look at different speakers(wilsons) first and go from there. Btw I think you describe a combination of really coherent speakers and a great tube amp. But I get the same qualities with my SS amp and my tube amps..they both have one thing in common...great design and quality componets.
tommy OP
32 posts
 
Thanks all for your feedback...the best sound I have gotten from the Salons was when the front end and amps have been in the Levinson family. I was amazed at how much better the Proceed AMP 5 sounded than the Pass 600s it didn't make sense from a dollar standpoint. There is something to be said for keeping all the components from the same company. Looks like I may go back to a set of Wilson's first. Then some CJ amps however I understand that the new amps sound different than the older 8s,11s,and 12s.
sns
3,222 posts
 
I bet on the CJ amps. I previously ran CJ MV-55 with Alons, magical vocals and fantastic imaging. I've yet to match the sweet, burnished glow of those vocals in any subsequent systems. Still, I don't have any regrets in changing out that system, as every other parameter of sonic performance has improved in my present system. Older CJ gear had a warmth and/or golden hue that can be intoxicating.

I also still run that CJ MV-55 with single driver speakers in a bedroom system, magical vocals in that system as well.
iplaynaked
193 posts
 
Ok, then change out your Revels for the Wilsons ONLY. Then, keeping your existing equipment in place, you can compare to see if it's the speakers that are or are not doing what you need!
At that point, I would still see if your Wilson's are sounding good or not. If not, then you can assume it's a setup/acoustics, or associated equip problem, obviously.
I'd still start removing or fixing one variable at a time to see what changes. Otherwise you're never going to know what's doing what, and the complete formula you're working with.
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