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February 22, 2008 - 10:10pm
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Advice on warm sounding speakers/CD player for bright amp
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Vandersteen 2Ce Signtaure II $2000/pair
Jolida JD100A $950
Maybe Stephen M can chime in here... I think he has Exposure 2010S. Vandies are warm-sounding, it's true. You also might want to look into a used pair of Spendor S100 or something from the 90's.
Warm-sounding CDPs? You can save a bit of $ and give Sony Playstation 1 SCPH-1001 a try. It'll be a $25 experiment that might surprise you.
Cables... I've heard some people praise Cardas line for warmth, but I haven't A-B'd Cardas w/ other cables, so this is just hearsay on my part.
How many hours do you have on the Exposure? It might really settle down after 100-hours. Run it constantly for a week before you make any changes. It's pretty common for electronics to need a significant burn-in.
Dave
The fault may not be in the amp - very possibly the brightness is coming from your speakers... what kind are they?
In any case, I second the suggestion for new Vandersteen speakers, regardless of which amp is used.
yes. Exposure is a british brand, not known for any brightness. I'd say cables, source, speakers and AC power quality could be culprits, but I'd suspect the Exposure amp last. This comes from my exposure to Exposure products, which is about 20 years, off and on.
you also have to consider the possiblity that your room makes your system sound bright. I have plaster walls in an almost square room and have been fighting this for years now. i know my equipment is not bright in and of itself. there was a great post on this in the room treatment section with links to Ethan Winer's informative videos. if you watch these you will get some good idea of how much the room affects what you hear.
tom
I have loved the sound of the Exposure, especially with DeVore Fidelity gibbons and Totem Arros. "Brightness" is not a quality that comes to mind.
Give some Tannoy speakers a listen if you have a dealer nearby. They have a very accurate, but never bright sound. Most models have excellent bass response also.
-Bill
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I am looking at auditioning the Totem Arros and Sttafs. Unfortunately, there is no Gibbon dealer in my area.
Stephen - What CD player would you recommend as a good match with the Exposure and Totem? Exposure? Rega? What about the Cambridge Audio 840C?
I actually haven't heard the Exposure amp with anything but the Exposure CD player. They work very well together. I've heard Totem speakers with many different amps and CD players, and I've always -- really, truly always -- been impressed.
Exposure, Rega, Cambridge Audio. All good choices, I think. Once you listen, you'll have a better idea of what's right for you. Have fun, and let us know how it goes.
Thanks. I auditioned Totem speakers, but unfortunately the only place that carries it in my kneck of the woods is a big box tv/stereo store. After being promised a private room to audition over the phone, I showed up to find that they had given it to someone else (it also houses their home theatre surround sound set-up)and instead set the speakers up in the lobby area, a 25x50ft room with 17 foot ceilings, plasma tvs all around, and customer and sales clerk chatter. Very unimpressed. Couldn't get a good sense of the speakers as a result (I auditioned the Rainmaker, Arros and Staffs), and sad to say the experience has kind of turned me off of Totem. I also auditioned Harbeth HL-P3ES-2 elsewhere but it didn't do well at all with my style of music (pop, rock, folk) likely owing to its size. B&W CM1 were good, not great. Epos M12.2 were better. I also auditioned Tetra 120 and they were excellent, but cost strikes me as somewhat high. I'm planning to audition Paradign Studio 20v4 and Signature S2v2 (to gauge the difference between the two) as well as the Revel M22 and PSB Synchrony One B. Hopefully I'll be able to narrow it down from there. With the rave reviews I've read about Gibbon speakers, I'm almost tempted to pick up a set of Gibbon 8s or Super 8s blind on the used market. On the up side, my amp has really started to sound much warmer/less bright. I assume it's still breaking in.
I wouldn't keep a bright amp; however, the question arises in my mind, "is this amp burned in." Generally you need to get 100-300 hours on an amp before it's ready for prime time. You can just leave it on. Better yet, if you can, leave it driving the speakers whenever the house is empty. A week or two of that will tend to get an amp up to its potential.
If you've already done that, the Pioneer Elite DV-58AV is a great universal player with a non-lean sonic signature. It's available for under $400 on line. (BTW, the Pioneer also needs to burn-in, and any cables you buy, etc., etc.)
Dave
Well I went for the Tetra 120U, a Canadian-based company that the likes of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, and Keith Richards all use in their studio and at home, albeit the more expensive models (Richards actually tours with a pair). I auditioned and loved them. Awesome sounding and looking little speakers. Warm, detailed, and realistic. I also like the fact that they basically disappear in my room (both sonically and visually). They seem an ideal match to my Exposure 2010S. Thanks to all for your advice.