Nearfields for audiophile listening?

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by sashafuckinggrey, Feb 27, 2016.

  1. Poleepkwa

    Poleepkwa Friend

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    So are these DIY ? Looking forward to your impressions.
     
  2. Malabargold

    Malabargold Flipper

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    The hypex NC400 kit (which was hypex's initial release of their Ncore amps I believe) is a DIY kit. They recently made it easier to build and now it is more of an assembly exercise as it doesn't even require to you solder.

    After the NC400 they made the NC500 and NC1200 which are OEM parts only sold to companies instead of hobbist. They are both very similar to the NC400, maybe very slightly better than the NC400 from what I've read. The Nord monoblocks I own use the NC500. It also uses a Hypex power supply though it is different from the one in the NC400 kit. It's optimized more towards a 4ohm load while the NC400 plays better at 1 and 2ohm. It does 400w into 8ohm, 700 into 4ohm and 550 into 2ohm. While the NC400 DIY kit does 200w at 8ohm, 400w at 4ohm and 580w at 2ohm.

    If you are interested in reading impressions you should definitely check out that audio circle link I posted. A NC400 kit was passed around the US and owners of Pass Labs, Atma-sphere and Modwright amps reviewed it.
     
    Last edited: Nov 14, 2016
  3. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    There are some new, lower powered models coming from Nord next month in the 250W range...should be interesting.
     
  4. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    I have heard the 8260-s in a shop and a friend of mine has 8330-s. I have recommended the small ones before.
    As for 8'' model, don't expect the dsp to fix the bass your crappy room gives you.
    I guess the price is fair, and you get off easy with acoustics. You'd need the mic and cal suite too, check if it's in the package. Otherwise the dsp is meaningless.
     
    Last edited: Nov 20, 2016
  5. Besnia

    Besnia Facebook Friend

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    Here's my 2 cents...

    If you can find a local carpenter to build small ported bookshelf boxes , i'd recommend this:
    https://www.hifisound.de/en/Do-it-y...rivers/Fullrange/Fostex-FX-120-Fullrange.html

    This is even better, but more expensive:
    https://www.hifisound.de/en/Do-it-y...ullrange/Fostex-F-120-A-Alnico-Fullrange.html

    Both drivers can't handle much power, they won't fill out a room. If you place them at no more than 1-1.5 meters distance from your head though, say on your desk, they're pretty good. They both sound clean and transparent and frequency response is very good for nearfield listening. If you want deep bass, these ain't for you, they'll be -3db at something like 50 or 60 herz.

    If you don't want to bother with boxes, years ago we listened to these: http://www.agoraquest.com/forums/images/2kab9626ad55.jpg
    Don't remember the model, but if you google "sony electrostatic", you'll find them. My memories aren't fresh, but I'd bet they'd beat most modern nearfielders in terms of sound quality. Should be able to find them used on Ebay.

    Cheers,
    Mario
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2016
  6. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    this is also my experience with many tripath/class d amp. I still like them with suitable speakers, especially the low powered class d chips like ta2020 or ta2021.

    for the subject of this thread, I was talking to a guy in another forum who tested for a desktop system for nearfield (about 4 feet away), he tested harbeth P3eSR, kef LS50 and atc SCM 11/19, PMC Twenty.22, Neat Iota, Dynaudio X10/X12/X14, Airmotiv.

    He finally bought P3ESR as he thought they sounded excellent at very close range from the speakers.
     
  7. fierce_freak

    fierce_freak Friend

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    Very interesting...that's a good group of speakers. Wonder how the rest faired for him.
     
  8. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

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    you got pm.
    if anyone is interested, I can forward the conversation I had with the guy, but wont share it publically. pm me.

    imo, the harbeth p3esr are clearly one of the best nearfield monitors. I even prefer them to the amphion one18 I had previously
     
  9. mrflibble

    mrflibble Friend

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    @murphythecat

    I've been reading alot of great things about the Amphion One15 and One18 speakers. I'm intrigued to know why you prefer the Harbeth P3ESR over them. Did you find the Amphions too bright?

    Many thanks

    mrflibble

    EDIT: Forgot to quote murphythecat
     
    Last edited: Nov 22, 2016
  10. Stuff Jones

    Stuff Jones Friend

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    Any thoughts on the Centrence Masterclass 2504? Seem to be well reviewed and only 200 now.
     
  11. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I know I'm the one that mentioned them, but I'll offer a couple other thoughts:
    - they are small, so have realistic expectations of bass
    - slight and narrow dippitydoodah in the mids where the crossover hits
    - nice even response overall otherwise
    - quite tolerant of being near a wall (you'll get some bass reinforcement, but it doesn't get too honky)

    I've been playing around with a few small speakers lately...
    http://www.head-fi.org/t/529140/sho...te-no-old-pictures-please/21435#post_13029928
     
  12. GoodEnoughGear

    GoodEnoughGear Evil Dr. Shultz‎

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    Looking forward to seeing your impressions. How's that IDA-8?
     
  13. Armaegis

    Armaegis Friend

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    I've had it over a year now and it's a great multipurpose piece of gear. Good sound, plenty of power, seriously my only complaint is that the remote has sluggish responsiveness sometimes. It's not the most resolving amp I have, but it has a slightly warm thumpy tone without grain and plays well with anything I've thrown at it (including my HE-6).
     
  14. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    EVE SC204 + TS107 sub....amazing....I highly recommend eve audio products......at least to anyone looking to buy adams....having owned both I can say clearly eves are much better.
     
  15. Hekeli

    Hekeli Facebook Friend

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    Does your SC204 make lots of self noise (hiss/buzz/hash)? Kinda bothered me with SC307's from 1.2 meters.. almost audible even from my current 2 meters..

    I should open up mine sometimes, I'm curious what amp they are using. They said from SC4xx series on they use Hypex amps, I suppose they would be more quiet.
     
  16. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    That's strange. I actually don't get any self noise from them at all.
     
  17. Hekeli

    Hekeli Facebook Friend

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    That's good to hear... or not to hear. :p I haven't read many complaints from Eves. Could be differences between SC2xx and SC3xx lines too. But I warrantied my first SC307 pair since it had clearly a faulty buzzy self noise. I knew to do that because the demo pair I had before that was much quieter. Now my "third" pair is about the same as the first. It does make a distinct lower frequency hash noise from woofers especially, which is quite different from the usual tweeter-hiss that's pretty easy to ignore. I see pictures from Eve users having 3- or 4-series very nearfield, always makes me want to message them if they really don't hear any noise?? Heh. Maybe I need to hear a fourth pair for peace of mind.
     
  18. Cellist88

    Cellist88 Friend

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    Definitely think you should just get a 4th pair. It's nice that is professional gear as it comes with at least 3 years of warranty.
     
  19. Priidik

    Priidik MOT: Estelon

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    So I got to listen a diy version of NC400 with Hypex psu-s.
    Speakers the dude had were Monitor Audio towers using 6 inch drivers I think.
    Room was reasonably treated with absorbing panels, three-sixty.
    I brought my own dac and EC 2A3 for reference point with me.

    So what I heard? :

    - At first I had trouble using my dac with the Hypex amp. So I used Jot as pre. (My EC didn't work as pre, as the Hpex needs ground reference from source, which my cable adapters lacked.)
    This was the first audio I listened at this day and right away it sounded dead and clinical. I was thinking: ''Sad, but my gut feeling was right'' Clean, fast, neutralish, dead and lean were the key words that came to mind. I was thinking maybe the speakers are quite crappy as well.

    - Then we connected the same speakers to my EC, it was able to play these speakers up to around 80 dB loud only. But with no obvious shortcomings in sound quality. Maybe slightly loose bass would be one.
    Nice sense of soundstage and depth. Very good dynamics. Surprisingly clean and slamming sound. Definitely no comparison to the previous sound. I was convinced the speakers are good, or very good.

    - The guy had the old tech Hypex modules as well. These sounded like a typical home theater receiver. Veiled, mushy and weak in dynamics in comparison to Ncore amp.

    - Up next I was determined to get my dac working with the Hypex amp. This time it worked, majick. Obvious upgrade from Jot doing pre duty. (In good acoustics it becomes clear that Jot is not very good pre, it eats soundstage and resolution up.)
    Hypex amp was gripping the drivers noticeably better than EC, as it should. Soundstage was still flat-ish, but at least now there were some depth of field. Tonally less lean and dynamics seemed to be improved vs the same chain with Jot in between, but still weaker in dynamics than EC. Tonal gamut and soundstage is no contest, my EC can draw acoustic instruments and el-guitar on 3-d canvas with oil paint vs the Hypex would have the same painting photographed with a good SLR and displayed on good quality screen. In short resolution is not on the same playing field. Clarity from the Ncores was better on extremes I think. Highs were nicely crystal clear and bass was quick and beefy.

    * The EC triode is not fair nor appropriate amp to compare it though. First of all, it won't go loud enough with most speakers, and it might have issues with crossovers.
    From memory the Hypex did much better job than the Devialet digital amp. I think it might actually be better than the better class A-B amplifiers I have heard, but I'd need to compare side-by-side to be sure.

    Indeed, the sense of driver grip was immediately evident with the Ncores. HE-6 worshipers take notice, this could be cheap way to power them lazy drivers.

    I think I'm going to build a pair for myself. If nothing more, I can always use them for sub duty.
     
  20. Malabargold

    Malabargold Flipper

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    I'm honestly surprised the EC beat the NC400 in dynamics. My NC500 has by far the best dynamics I've ever heard hands down. I'm curious to hear a NC400 based amp now so I can compare the two. Although the EC is obviously no slouch either.
     

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