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Post by splendor on Feb 4, 2008 12:50:03 GMT 7
Jo Ki has a good report on the spendor 15 ohms. He got this recently since he's been long wanting for a 15 ohm pair of spendors, plus his three more that are 11 ohmers.
According to Jo Ki, these spendors are amongst all his LSs the most well extended he's heard. Multiple layers of sonic heirarchy.
I have the Studio 3 Rogers, and typically Rogers sound has that beguiling lifelike emphasis but also keeps the lower and upper registers a little coy. Not so with spendor. Their dynamic swing is quite remarkable for a smallish speaker that can play louder without losing aire and composure. The modern spendor S3/5 sounds robust but will not give the same airiness of the spendor LS. This I believe is the consequence of taming the "hump" of the LS in the Studio 3, and lessening of the "squaky" treble of the LS in the Spendor S3/5.
As a consequence (removing the bark and the squak), out comes a modern "neutral" sounding speaker that lacks the so-called "coloration" commonly attributed to the LS sound.
I understand the "coloration" has more to do with the nasality caused by the old surround as reported by Gordon Holt, and the peaky anomaly that happens due to ageing.
Jo Ki comments that the spendor seem to have a lot of HF energy, and to me this explains why I like my spendor on the Stromberg Carlson 6V6 amp, the 6V6 having a richer tone than say an el84. I think the el34 tubes based on what I've heard from Moz's set-up before may have done the same treat or trick to the spendor's extension as reported now by Jo Ki.
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Post by mossback on Feb 4, 2008 18:37:18 GMT 7
What type EL84 tubes are you using? I find most 6V6GT tubes sound the same, great! So thankfully no need for $$ tubes. The Bendix/Redbank 5992 are on another level but $$$ and hard to find true matched pairs. Looking forward to visiting you soon!
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odaey
Junior Member
Posts: 62
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Post by odaey on Feb 4, 2008 23:43:37 GMT 7
Hi james,
Do you have any info on the serial number of JO KI's 15ohm spendors? I also have a pair of 15 ohm spendors in teak, serial no. 7,xxx( Greaves of sheffield cabs). Was just wondering if production batch is near so i could correlate what he was hearing.
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Post by splendor on Feb 5, 2008 6:13:49 GMT 7
Will ask at the next opportunity when he continues his post on the spendor.
Is there anything that does not fit here?
Lucky that you have those! I seldom see a spendor LS for sale, much harder would be the 15.
With all the many LSs that Jo has, I think it becomes a little harder not to develop any "preference" when one "hears" a little something better(?). Jo's fav are his Rogers ltd. ed. (15ohmers) and the GT Rogers I think. He used to think his Harbeths were last on the list with the spendors in between. Since his use of the "BS" amp, he thinks the Harbeths are great and the spendors very well extended and smooth.
As Ken Kessler aptly puts it after the shoot-out, it was just "unpredictable." The prime contender that everyone expected to win was the 15 ohm Chartwell, only to become second to the 11 ohm Harbeth. The shoot-out by the way used ss amps, MF I recall, and not tubes as many would have wished for.
So the shootout became a little less than the ideal for most of the LS users who insist on tubes and tubes only.
I see Jo in a somewhat similar situation of sorts "choosing," and bottom line, is it's all about matching and synergy. I've tried the most beautiful sounding Pilot SA 232 on my Spendor LS only to end up prefering my Fisher X100B, and the Stromberg Carlson 220, a 6V6. The Pilot is a dynamic amp with great hf energy that makes the spendor sound a little too forceful and concentrated in the hfs as already commented on by Jo.
The fisher x100b with all its power seem to downplay or roll-off the highs earlier than the pilot to good effect, and the Stromberg with its its little less rant in a smallish room seem perfect since it has both a deeper tone as an amp and quite well extended in the rich tone flavor of the 6V6. So at the end of the day, it's still all about synergy, our knowledge of tube tones, and how one cooks it out in combination with the sonics of a speaker.
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joki
New Member
Posts: 15
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Post by joki on Mar 16, 2008 8:54:36 GMT 7
Dear Fellow Friends,
I must apologise for the late reply as I was caught up by works in office. I did not get a chance to read these postings until now.
Thank you 'Spendor' for your report on my behalf, much appreciated. The followings are some of the issues raised and hence my replies...
My Spendor bears serial number 229, 230, an early pair (115th). I bought this pair from Lawrence in Singapore. I have yet open this pair to take picture of the internal xovers.
Initial impression of this Spendor is definitely its high frequency extension as report, but it is not disturbing kind of run away hf but a beautiful seamless smooth extension which, by comparison, more than the rest of my LS3/5A 15ohm versions. Having said that, I must also report that I did also detected pronounce hf extension from my Audiomaster LS3/5A but this hf is not as linear as the Spendor. Spendor has a natural extension that is smooth and open sounding especially after a month into using it; now it is just wonderful!
You are right, I do cast my own votes over my personal collection on LS3/5As, it is hard not to do that but that does not means that I love the lesser ones and less if you know what I mean? Its like our children, we know their individualities but appreciated and love them equally. Sonically speaking, Harbeth single wired ebony pair is my least favourite one in terms of sounding is concerned but under the 'BS', it makes Harbeth so listenable.
I used to love my Rogers Classic 50 LE especially on its midrange captivity level is just heart metling. But that was with the experience of using my vintage amp. Remember ythat all my vintage amps were set to 16ohm tapping which favors 15ohm and not 11ohm Rogers Classic. I have tried using 'BS' amp to swap between Chartwell (15ohm) and my Harbeth (11ohm) using their respective matching impedance, I do find 11ohm Harbeth could out perform my Chartwell. Now this is a daunting news for many 15ohm worshippers! Its my only case in point so far, but soon I will be putting up my 11ohm Spendor and I will be able to see if the results are consistant on 15ohm verse 11ohm.
Jo
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Post by splendor on Mar 17, 2008 7:20:42 GMT 7
I'd love to hear how the 11 ohm spendor would perform. Thanks Jo.
Most specially on that "BS" amp.
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Post by Moz on Mar 18, 2008 8:17:00 GMT 7
Here's KDs Spendor 15's. He bought it real cheap from a college student who inherited it from his dad. The boy said it didn't have a any bass so he was disposing of it.
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Post by splendor on Mar 18, 2008 9:07:19 GMT 7
What does KD use to power it up?
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Post by Moz on Mar 18, 2008 9:41:40 GMT 7
Last I heard he uses a Dynaco/Rivo ST70.
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Post by splendor on Mar 18, 2008 11:38:01 GMT 7
Talking about Dynacos, I'll post my new find, a pair of Dynaco Mark IVs, bought from Dan Hayes.
When we were all starting out with the LS3/5A, most all of us were on Dynaco ST70s.
I've since wanted a Dynaco amp like the ST70 or the Mark IVs, which is they say 1/2 part of the stereo ST70. Having listened to the Mrk IVs, what I like most and is most natural are the mids and upper mids of these amps. Powerful, engaging, and bubbly, specially when playing New Orleans jazz like Kermit Ruffins' and the likes. Norah Jones sounds fantastic with all the energy from these amps. Not to mention those old time tunes we used to hear from Oscar's old set-up, and yours Moz. Can't fault KD for keeping an ST70 for the LS!
I consider myself lucky that Dan so graciously offered these to me, considering that Dynaco amps are a big part of the Golden Age of tube amps.
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Post by splendor on Mar 18, 2008 11:56:02 GMT 7
Looking forward to get those JJ KT77s later for these.
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Post by Moz on Mar 18, 2008 17:00:27 GMT 7
Those are split ST70's having the advantage of separate power supplies. I see that the caps are now Angela's. I never did like the original Black Cat caps.
I remember a U.S. shootout once in the ls35a forum where i recall that the winning amp for the LS was a souped up St-70.
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joki
New Member
Posts: 15
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Post by joki on Mar 18, 2008 20:28:51 GMT 7
KD is really lucky to have gotten the Spendor 15ohm cheap. Its very hard to come by let alone it being cheap!
I have tried JJKT77, not that great and sounded far off as compared to my Goldlion KT77. There is report saying that a real copy of this Mullard KT77 pentode will be ready in the market (read this in HK Tubaudio forum), anyone could get more info on this? Richard do you know anything about this?
Thanks, Jo
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Post by splendor on Mar 19, 2008 7:32:26 GMT 7
Aha. I'd take that suggestion or comment seriously Jo. I know you'd been using some el34 amps on your LSs, and glean from a lot of tube rolling. What tubes are you sing on the "BS" anyway? Thanks.
Grant, I really like these amps. Very engaging. It has less than a hundred hours after Dan changed or upgraded the power supply. Good that you still could read the angela caps. I deliberately underexposed the shot to subdue the glary chrome somewhat and make it look it came out from keeping. Managed to put some shine on the chrome a bit. If any on the sound, I now understand why the el34s seem to sound well with the LS. It's due to the open mids and clear uppers. More realism to live music on drums and cymbals, vocals, guitar, trumpets, sax, and what have you. Powerful. I also now understand it's a little more towards the mids and upper mids sound which kind of lessens the perceived space towards the back we fondly call depth or soundstage. Piano is really superb in floating the clarity of the ivories, but lacks a little of the deeper tone on the whole compared to the Stromberg.
But these ones are using chinese rectys at the moment that are good anyway and I can live with. N. Jones' voice really stand out well and is planted firmly and clearly in the midst of different colorful instrumental voices including base. I've liked these dynacos since the beginning, when I heard them first, and at your place driving them spendors! I need some instructions from you how to bias them, and thanks.
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Post by Moz on Mar 19, 2008 17:56:26 GMT 7
James, You can download the Mark IV manual here: www.curcioaudio.com/Dyna%20MK4%20Mnl.pdfThe bias instructions are on page 6. It says to bias at 1.56V (just like a D-Cell battery) but some Mk IV users bias it at 1.3V if the unit is stock. Try it out and report back on the sound difference in sound if any.
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