CLX odyssey begins.... now!

[tsv_1]

Todd - I'd lend you my Rowland 301s and Nagra CDP - but you're such a long way away....

No no... I'm just a short flight away. I'll split shipping with you (not really). I would LOVE to borrow the Rowlands though. Couldn't agree more with your praise. They look fab in your setup too!

With massive ribbon excursions as you describe, I assume there was literally quite a breeze to go along with the giant decibels, no?

 

[User211]

With massive ribbon excursions as you describe, I assume there was literally quite a breeze to go along with the giant decibels, no?

The mid/treble ribbon was curling so intensely at the edges it looked to be spherically shaped a lot of the time. This was with the older KLM2 ribbon which tended to curl a lot more anyway. Still rather alarming to see. The bass panel excursion was so profuse I was worried that they'd literally rip themselves away from whatever it is that holds them in place.

Perhaps rather upsettingly considering the Rowland's price, the 211 amps I have were almost universally preferred sonically by those who attended the event I held.

In a return favour, I'm taking the 211s round to the chap that owns the Rowland's (and Nagra) in a couple of weeks time. We'll give the 211s a spin with his Wilson System 7s - just to see how they get on. There'll be 12 or so at the event, which we call a bake-off over here - though I believe that is an "Americanism". Be interesting to see what the general consensus is. There'll be shed loads of other kit to play with, too.

EDIT: don't get me wrong about the Rowland's - in my opinion, they are the second best amplifiers to grace my system. They really are very good sounding amps. I could live with them. They just don't have the spaciousness, fluidity and organic feel of the 211s, though. The owner, however, felt they were superior to the 211s in every way

 

[tsv_1]

There'll be 12 or so at the event, which we call a bake-off over here - though I believe that is an "Americanism". Be interesting to see what the general consensus is. There'll be shed loads of other kit to play with, too.

Sounds wicked awesome! (a definite Americanism, though with origins perhaps somewhat local to my home state). I am British-racing green with envy. One day soon I'll wing back over to the land of draught ale and crisps and drop in for some tea and ribbons. I was last there 4 years ago. I'm quite friendly with an excellent bloke who lives in Cirencester - one Mr. Weetman. There aren't that many people in England, so I figure you must know him... and probably well.



p.s. "Shed Loads"... mind if I borrow that one?

 

[Hocky]

The new set up looks great - good to see they're finally there and in one piece. I'll let you know when I'll be there to visit. ;-)

 

[tsv_1]

The new set up looks great - good to see they're finally there and in one piece. I'll let you know when I'll be there to visit. ;-)

Thanks Hocky!

 

[Necrosuit]

Hey folks,
Since I just removed my closet door, shelves and trim and am feeling like I actually did something constructive in Leu of the CLX arriving, what do you all think about leaving my Vinyl rack where it is in the picture?
Where the walls are now is where the CLX will be once they are destroyed Saturday, 5FT from that said wall.
That rack is 20" deep and 7' wide, will it affect the sound that much?
Todd I noticed most of your gear looks to be behind your speakers, any thoughts?
yes BobF let it rip

 

[tsv_1]

Where the walls are now is where the CLX will be once they are destroyed Saturday, 5FT from that said wall

Your wording made my heart skip a beat there for a minute

Your question about front-wall shelving comes frightening close to the dreaded "treatment" discussion (said in a hushed voice looking over shoulder)...

Here's my input: Try it with the shelves there, if it sounds good, leave them there. If you're not sure it sounds all that good, try moving them. I know, dead simple... but effective because in the end, the only thing that really matters is my syste... wait, no, your system's sound

 

[tsv_1]

I'm actually chasing a little 60Hz hum issue with system somewhat sliced upon for surgery at the moment.

Who else here has JL F112 subs? I ripped my whole system apart looking for a faint but entirely audible 60Hz hum and narrowed it down to the JL subs

Everyone raves about these things (including me initially)... but now that I'm really mentally dialed into the system (due to the CLX installation) I will let no noise come between me and the music... and I'm sorry, but the JLs hum, period. Turn them on and don't even hook anything up to them and they hum (presumably just from the internal amp being switched on). Connect them to the pre-amp and the hum volume shoots up at least 6dB, or maybe more... and once hooked up the hum propagates into other components (like the CLXs!). Ground loops suck and need to go to the hot place! And yes, I've tried replacing all my my power cables with cheaters (removing earth ground), I've tried removing the PS Audio PPP, I've tried a slew of different combinations in terms of PCs and ICs... always the same result. Everything is dead quiet until the JLs enter the picture. As a test, I brought my Velodyne SPL1000 up from the HT and plugged it in, guess what... no hum. Works flawlessly (except it doesn't come close to the JL's performance... well, hum aside). Have I lost my mind? I don't think that's even possible. How does the song go?... " nuthin' from nuthin' leeeaaaves nuthin' "

I'm actually pretty pissed about this. If there's no epiphany soon, I'm gonna move the JLs down to the HT and try my luck there (can't wait to wrestle those monsters down two flights of stairs... weeeeeee).
:banghead:

I do love the CLXs on their own, sans-sub, but there's no going back now. The game is on to rectify the situation and get a sub in here that will do the job it's designed to do... i.e. go from vacuum-of-space quiet to organ-displacement loud while blending perfectly with the panels. Maybe that new Paradigm Sub2? Hmmmm:think:

 

[Gordon Gray]

Todd,

Silver IC's, noise pick up? Odd.

Ground loop with the subs. Have you tried isolating cable, satellite feeds to your CLX system if they exist?

Could be interrelated. RFI / EMI induced.

GG

 

[tsv_1]

Todd,

Silver IC's, noise pick up? Odd.

Ground loop with the subs. Have you tried isolating cable, satellite feeds to your CLX system if they exist?

GG

I checked with WZA and they said they've had a few reports of trouble due to bad connectors... I'm sending them back for a refit.

There's no RG cable in my setup. In a direct comparison between the JL and the Velodyne with identical power and audio connections, - the JL hums, the Velodyne does not.

Let me add that as far as (apparent) ground-loop hum volume goes, this is pretty far down, but it's there (anyone could hear it) and now that I'm hyperaware, it's unacceptable. Especially since the Velodyne produces virtually zero noise.

 

[Krazikiwi]

Danke Sehr

Prost Jeff. I assume you caught a much earlier post where I called out at least one of my favorite weissbiers, ya? I've had Franziskaner (Hell and Dunkel). I prefer the Dunkel, but tragically, cannot seem to locate it anywhere nearby (I have to be careful to not trip over the Hell... it's everywhere).

Next time you're stateside, and more specifically near New England, let me know and we'll break-out the good stuff (biers and speakers).

Cheers and thanks for the kind comments

Thank you for the kind offer Todd,

I used to be in New England every 2nd month when I worked for DEC, I have fond memories of Maine's countryside and coastline, Leaf Peeping, LL Bean etc etc.

As to Weissbier, yup, I saw your post, I used to live in Bavaria ( the home of Weissbier) and learned to brew it whilst living there, nectar of the Gods!

How are those new speakers settling in? It might be a month or two before your next move on the sub and cable front..........there is a lot of panel to break in!

New Zealand might be worth a visit one day, I know of an ML set up

Have fun rediscovering your music.

Jeff

 

[Krazikiwi]

Hum?

Todd,

Is the negative stator binding post connected to the AC power earth on the CLX? If so, what happens when you isolate the earth?

Just an idea.

Fjeff

 

[Bernard]

Justin (User211, that is), do you not care about hearing damage? I am always amazed at the insane levels to which audiofools submit their ears. Believe me, tinnitus is no fun. I once suffered from it for two weeks, and know what I'm talking about. I always wonder whether to believe a reviewer's evaluation when he says he listens at deafening levels

 

[User211]

Justin (User211, that is), do you not care about hearing damage?(

The duration wasn't prolonged, Bernard. We were just exploring what happened when you cranked the Rowland's up. The BBC sound engineer who was present was noting that the personality of the speaker didn't change with high level input. It just got louder, and was somewhat bemused as to why so few speakers achieve that supposedly simple task. He later bought a pair.

Anyway, could you repeat what you just said a bit louder, please, Bernard? I'm a bit hard of hearing today...

 

[User211]

One day soon I'll wing back over to the land of draught ale and crisps and drop in for some tea and ribbons.

Tea and ribbons? Sure. Cirencester is pretty close by in the general scheme of things. Be sure to pack the CLX's in your suitcase first, and we'll set them up in the lounge. Much more space than the listening room...

If there is one thing I'd like to do more than anything else, is put my D. Sigs 2010 spec up against the CLX sans subs in a big, big room. That'll never happen, but I just wonder what the outcome would be.

 

[Bernard]

anyway, could you repeat what you just said a bit louder, please, bernard? I'm a bit hard of hearing today...:d

i was saying ....!!!

 

[Gordon Gray]

Todd,

Another idea for kicks. You have two subs and one is "slaved" to the other correct?

Try running each sub separately and check for the hum. Maybe it's one sub and not the other.

Also, when both subs are in the system, try switching the master and slave arrangement.

Did you hear the hum when you had the Maggies hooked up?

Gordon

 

[tsv_1]

Todd,

Is the negative stator binding post connected to the AC power earth on the CLX? If so, what happens when you isolate the earth?

Just an idea.

Fjeff

Hi Jeff,

I briefly searched for a CLX schematic and came up empty (though I did find an interesting diy-audio forum thread on CLX user modifications). So, I don't know exactly what earth ground is connected to inside the box. At any rate, I did remove earth ground from the AC connection to the CLX (and every other component in the system in various configurations) and that made no difference.

On this hum issue, I keep coming back to the fact that the Velodyne SPL1000, when connected identically to my system, exhibits zero hum. I think the JL design is simply somehow susceptible and I would be very interested to hear if other JL owners hear even the faintest hum from there subs. Then again, the last thing I want is to "infect" anyone with this issue... that is, if there is some subtle hum that hasn't been heard yet... perhaps it's best to let sleeping dogs lie.

 

[tsv_1]

If there is one thing I'd like to do more than anything else, is put my D. Sigs 2010 spec up against the CLX sans subs in a big, big room. That'll never happen, but I just wonder what the outcome would be.

That's easy... the Sigs will go lower and we will hear beautiful music. The CLX's, on the other hand, will reproduce the original musical event with mind-bending purity, fidelity, and deeply moving sonic ecstasy... and upon receiving such heavenly strains, we shall blush, pulses racing, as we (in a minor panic) look for an album cover suitable for hiding our inevitable anatomical reactions... we shall then drink a toast, nodding with disbelief, at the CLX's audible-obliteration of the Sigs. You will then immediately log onto Agon and post a classified to "unload" the Sigs and begin a fevered search for a pair of the most enlightening transducers ever devised by man. I see no other possible outcome.

 

[tsv_1]

Todd,

Another idea for kicks. You have two subs and one is "slaved" to the other correct?

Try running each sub separately and check for the hum. Maybe it's one sub and not the other.

Also, when both subs are in the system, try switching the master and slave arrangement.

Did you hear the hum when you had the Maggies hooked up?

Gordon

Thanks Gordon. I do plan to try more combinations today and will replicate each test with each JL in each M/S configuration as well as solo connection.

And yes, I heard but chose to ignore the hum when the Maggies were standing in. The Maggies, being 4dB less efficient than the CLXs tended to mask things a bit... and I simply accepted (and mentally filtered) the physical hum from the JL chassis when they were switched on.

The patient remains sedated and in critical condition...