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More Efficient Sound Labs on The Way?

My system consists of Thor Audio TPA-150 tubed monoblocks,
TP-2000 preamp with phono, Quad 988's, Audio Physics Minos
Subwoofer, Cary 306/200 as a transport with a Thor Audio tubed Dac, Scoutmaster table with a Clear Audio Discovery cartridge. Besides looking to upgrade my table I have
problems with my Quad 988's. The Quad gives a magical presentation of mids, but lacks as far as creating the illusion of a large orchestra, dynamic contrasts and deep
bass. I have looked into the Sound Labs the A1, $15,000.00
price range. At this point I feel that they require more power than I have to sound their best. But I have read that new models come with a new "core" which yields significant gains in sensitivity. I called Sound Labs and I was told on the phone that newer models will be more efficient. No more specific information was available. Does anybody know what the sensitivity ratings will be?
A differnece of 1-2db on sensitivity will make quite a difference. Does anybody know how I can learn what the new sensitivity figures are? In short how can I get accurate and reliable information?
kjl
swampwalker's avatar
swampwalker
5,138 posts
 
IIRC, member Duke @ Audiokinesis is a Soundlab dealer who has been very helpful on this board. Try sending him a private email. Also member Albertporter owned Soundlabs for many years and is very knowledgeable about all things hi-fi. Great collection of gear, BTW.
albertporter's avatar
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albertporter
4,949 posts
 
I owned the new cores and estimate the efficiency gain was at least 6 DB. Soundlab is shooting for 9 DB and perhaps when completely broken in, they may well achieve that.

As for the A-1, it is no better performer than the M-1.

The A-1 costs more due to the premium wood clad trim and finish. If your aware of that and want the wood, then that's an excellent choice. If your looking for performance to dollar ratio, the M-1 is the value in Soundlabs line of speakers.

I owned the A-1 and later the U-1 (physically identical to the A-1 and M-1, except for the premium steel frame). The deep bass and impact is improved with the Ultimate, making it the flagship product.

Regardless of which Soundlab you choose, the performance is in another world beyond the Quad 988. I'm not just referring to bass performance which is the most obvious gain, but textures, soundstage, dynamics and bandwidth as well.
audiokinesis
2,743 posts
 
I would expect the Thors to have no trouble driving the Sound Labs, though you might want to check with Paul Marks for his thoughts. I can describe the impedance curve to you if you'd like. The Thors use the same output tube complement as the SoundLab-friendly Wolcott amplifiers, and have a beefier power supply and probably even better output transformers (of course they also retail for 2.5 times the price of the Wolcotts). The Thors are rated very conseratively, so don't be put off by the "only 150 watts" rating.

Sound Lab has been shipping the higher efficiency panels since the early part of this year, and the feedback I've been hearing is consistent with Albert's estimated 6 dB efficiency increase. In addition, dynamic contrast and liveliness are improved, though this may be a side-effect of the amplifier not having to work so hard.

Sound Labs are still a difficult load, and at best of only moderate efficiency, but at what they do well their performance really is "in another world", as Albert said. Disclaimer - in case anyone doesn't know, I'm a Sound Lab dealer.
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