No tunes from the main rig for me for a few weeks. My B60 is running a bit too hot, and now there's a roll off in the highs and bass. Confirmed it with my Rives test tones CD. Checked it through multiple sources and inputs.
I've been meaning to have it upgraded to the current model for a while now. I guess now's as good a time as any. The parts upgrade to the current model will cost me $125 in parts and labor. He's also going to call me when they've got it open and let me know what else they can do - it was built right at the time of a change over. Not too shabby.
Anyone know any other company that'll take an 11 year old amp and update it to the current model for that price?
Mike Pickett (the guy who designed the stuff) is a great guy to deal with. He never talked down to me nor got too technical. I know of a lot of companies that'll do anything they can to avoid taking back their gear. Not him. He also wants to know how it sounds when its all done because he hasn't upgraded very many older B60s and would appreciate the feedback.
My B60 was built in 99, is still under warranty, and will be until 2019. The new parts will have a new 20 year warranty on them.
For this stuff, it has to go to Canada. Mike told me to ship it to the Vermont center, and they'll take care of getting it across the border - customs, duties, etc.
Whenever people are contemplating buying stuff second hand, I always mention Bryston for precisely this reason. Sometimes, you really do get what you pay for.
The downside to all this is I've only got the iPod for what Mike and I estimated to be about 3 weeks. I guess there's worse things in life. I can always clean some vinyl while I wait. I know I've got enough of them to keep me busy for a while.
Wow - I think we all expect a certain level of service, and some companies offer what we'd call great service. Bryston sounds like they are on a whole other level. They go above and beyond what I think most of us even hope a company would do. I am very happy with my system right now and don't know if I will ever upgrade the electronics, but if I do and move to another brand I am sure it will be to Bryston.
Vinnie at Red Wine Audio would probably do the same for you, Chris. Turn around time would probably be a bit longer, but RWA doesn't have the same operating capacity as Bryston.
Yes, I've heard nothing but excellent things about Vinnie. I had a couple of questions about the amp and he got back to me the very next day with answers and an offer to talk about speaker matching. First class outfit.
That is fantastic Stu. Glad you took the jump, you wont be disappointed. It will come back better than new. I know your pain of not having it though, when I sent my pre/pro back to them it was gone for about a week ( Live about 1.5 hour drive away from Bryston) it felt like it was gone forever.lol. In reality for what they did to it, and with how busy they were at the time, it was a very fast turnaround time. Mike Pickett is the man. Super honest, and will take anything in with a Bryston label on it no matter how old and fix it up, or upgrade it so its better than new. Got to love it. Keep us posted. Does your B60 have an attached power cable or a regular plug?
Thanks for the encouragement, guys! I know it'll be worth the wait, but its not easy looking at my cabinet with the B60 missing.
Nick - Mine has the removable cord. I don't think any had an attached cord. The earliest gear had them. I asked about upgrading the speaker outputs to the current ones, and Mike was a little amused. No sonic or mechanical advantage, more or less just eye candy. Seeing as how I can't see the binding posts, I'll pass.
They're also going to look into upgrading the feet - the current ones have too low of a profile to effectively use spade lugs or bare speaker wire. I'm limited to banana plugs, which isn't really that big of a deal to me. The change depends on the chassis material and if it makes sense to tap and thread it for the new feet. That'll only cost a few dollars if its advisable.
Now my god damn Apollo is on the fritz. Its a conspiracy!
I borrowed an old receiver from a co-worker and hooked up the Apollo. It stopped in the middle of a burned CD and started making that reading noise like when a disc is severely scratched. No commands would get it to do anything. Opened and closed the lid and the display said no disc. Tried a few other original and immaculate discs with the same result.
Unplugged it over night, as static build up has been an issue with my and other Apollos. No luck today either.
The warranty ends in the beginning of April. I guess if it had to happen, now's the best time. I'll call the dealer tomorrow.
Not to hijack, but my Saturn has done the similar to a few CD's burned from FLAC files downloaded via BitTorrent and converted via Toast to AIFF files. They'll play about halfway thru, then skip and static is all thats left. Discouraging .. and naught but incentive to look for / at Bryston's DAC.
When my Saturn passes on, I will not buy another Rega product. They are passing on pure garbage here in the US and many dealers are fed up, they just won't tell most customers. Meanwhile the distributor continues to pretend that nothing is wrong. What a shame...they don't appear to be having the same problem overseas. I have one story after another of failed Rega products, most DOA and some shortly thereafter. That includes someone I know who was to take home a P5 today and it was DOA at the dealer...he's now interested in a Clearaudio. I have to find another cd player that I'm as happy with the sound of as I am with the Saturn...it's not high on the priority list now as the Saturn is functioning (Knock on wood).
Uh.....CA? FWIW, I'm still liking my CA840 and the DA section works with my confuser. Software update for player scheduled as soon as I can find a Serial cable! Needed only because it doesn't like the digital output from that darn Apple Airport Express.
I have to agree Art. The Gundy camp is in full denial mode across the board, if most web accounts are correct. I would be very cautious moving forward with an Isis purchase indeed.
The only problem I've had with my Apollo is it occasionally freezes up - continues to play music, but it stops responding to commands from both the face plate and the remote. Then it'll all of a sudden perform every command about 3 minutes later.
The Sound Org told my dealer it was due to static electricity build up. Something about some unshielded parts. Rega ommited them in favor of increased sound quality. My dealer said I was the only customer they had with the occurance. I believe the dealer as they've been very honest with me (same dealer I was talking about in Art's dealer thread).
I rarely if ever have the static problem in the summer. Somehow whenever the Apollo has the problem, my cable box (which is supposedly unshielded too) has issues.
Unplugging it over night when the problem occurs more and more often, as The Sound Org advises, makes the problem go away for a while.
Still, it rubs me the wrong way. A $1k CDP should have this problem. Nor should it have reading problems like a lot of others on other forums have complained about.
All this is in the back of my mind as I await a Rega DAC. How The Sound Org handles my situation will be a pretty big part of if I take the chance.
I have serious doubts about Rega's ability to supply an all new DAC at this time. I do not know with whom Rega ia aligned or associated with, but the next offering will be from China, I bet. Bryston makes a DAC, I hear...
My Saturn had a few little issues. Skipping occasionally (it was rare) and not responding accurately to remote control commands. I would ask it to go to a song and it would go to something entirely different and then I couldn't rely on it to respond accurately to any command. When I stopped the disc and pushed play again then things seemed to work. If not, unplugging the unit and plugging it back in made things go back to normal.
I don't mind glitches but the fact remains that I've never experienced anything like this on my other CD players over the years (Denon UD-M50, CA650BD, Marantz DV7001, Arcam DV135). Having said that, the Saturn glitches weren't so bad, and if those were the only issues the player would give me over 15 years I'd be satisfied.
I moved on from the Saturn several weeks ago, however. Reading this thread only says to me that I made the right choice. The Saturn is a fantastic sounding unit and giving it up was tough, but at the price I paid I would probably have owned it forever. I simply do not need major problems outside of warranty. I have an Exposure 2010s2 player in my system right now. If ever I really want to get that Saturn kind of sound again I will consider upgrading to a 3010s2 or using an external DAC with the 2010s2. I'm very happy with Exposure and the sound I am getting, so hopefully I'll stay put for a good long while.
No issues with my Saturn at all unless I cause a problem by pressing wrong buttons and confusing the computer. Pressing stop and starting again makes it all good.
Any brand will have a few problem units. Let's not over react gentlemen.
Not over-reacting at all, Rantz. The problems we've brought up have been posted about numerous times in numerous places. I don't think the freezing up from static electricity is a big issue, as the cause and fix was explained by the distributor and confirmed by me and others.
Others haven't been as fortunate however. Not reading the discs is another issue altogether. A lot of people have had the problem too.
I haven't seen the latest issues with tonearm and turntable QC, but I don't have much reason to doubt it either.
Every company has its issues and problems. If a perennially great company like Toyota has problems, no one is immune.
Here's another reason why it pays to have a great dealer -
I called them up and explained what's going on. The warranty runs out in 2 weeks. I can't get the Apollo to them until Tuesday or Wednesday, so they told me to e-mail them the serial number and they'll get the RA# and everything else ready. I'll drop it off to them, and they'll ship it out. A lot of places would have told me to deal with the distributor myself. Its happened in the past with other dealers and gear.
If Rega would admit to having relaxed relative to QC and promise that a change is in place and that they will work hard to fix any problems as a result of their issues I would be totally OK with it. It's the denial of the problems that have me saying, no more Rega for me. Since I like the Rega sound that all could change if Rega changes. I think part of their problem has been a focus on R&D and pushing new products. There have been more new product introductions at Rega over the last couple years than at anytime I can remember. Slow down the bus, Rega!
That was meant to be tongue-in-cheek Stu. No, people having problems with their Regas is not over reacting at all. I think it's tough actually. It may be that their gear had become too popular and they have been rushing to keep up with orders - I don't know. But as Art says, they should admit the problem and lift their game. Maybe chinese manufacturing would benefit them. I can tell you some of their stuff is first rate.
"It may be that their gear had become too popular and they have been rushing to keep up with orders - I don't know."
That's my suspicion too, Rantz. A few people on another forum were talking about the pressing quality of vinyl has dropped significantly over the past few years - manufacturing defects, not recording quality, which is another discussion - and I brought up the same issue that you did; maxed production to meet a relatively huge demand usually means relaxed QC standards.
Its partially the whole 'gotta have it now' consumer mentality. But I'm pretty sure most Rega or other hifi owners wouldn't have a problem waiting a few weeks for new gear to be made if it meant better QC. Maybe not.
Just decided to take a look at this thread due to the activity on it. Normally I would not waste any more time on a thread with iPod in the subject than I would with Bose in the subject.
Stu, have you had any storms in the area or power surges? Just the anomaly of two pieces of gear going at about the same time is why I ask.
I am not understanding the Rega issue about QC. Sound Organisation did a great job on my Saturn because it was the only one in their shop at the time. If a company only sells a couple of thousand devices there is not that much opportunity to hear about complaints. Add a zero or two the that thousand and of course there will be a larger pool of consumers who have and report issues.
Most of the problems I had with my Apollo were between the listening chair and the remote. With the Saturn the issues have reduced 90% - 95% from the problems I had with the Apollo. Cleaner power may be at play here too.
I would not hesitate to purchase a Rega DAC or a used Isis some day if I really liked their sound.
The issues with Rega QC are many...cd players and amps being the least of it. Turntables with bad motors, bent arms, out of true subplatters. Cartridges that don't work, RR125 drivers that fail. One fella bought an all Rega system and nearly every piece had a QC issue, most causing failure or less than maximum performance and others just cosmetic. As I've said, I like Rega sound and hope they get it together.
"Stu, have you had any storms in the area or power surges? Just the anomaly of two pieces of gear going at about the same time is why I ask.
No storms or power issues until after the issues. I have all my gear connected to an APC UPS that does batter backup, voltage regulation, etc. Being in the Northeast and my community specifically, there's a lot of issues with power. Too many to risk plugging stuff directly into the wall.
I asked Bryston about this, and they doubt power quality has anything to do with it, as its not a typical problem related to power. A CDP not reading discs seems more like an alignment issue, but I'm no tech.
I can't speak of anyone else's Rega gear. I can only report what mmine does. I have no doubts as to what Art has said or what's been reported on places like Audiogon either. There are obviously problems. The extent of it all speculation IMO. No one has any solid numbers to come up with percentages. I haven't delved into Rega's current QC with my dealer. Then again, its probably their least selling gear. They sell a ton of Naim and Linn stuff, relatively speaking of course.
The thread was meant to praise Bryston, not to bash Rega. But then again, I don't think anyone is lying just to make them look bad. If I have a bad experience with a company that's supposed to support their gear, it weighs very heavily on my decision to do business with them again. A lot of people hate Toyota right now, and for very good reason. They've never done me wrong at all. When the time comes to buy another car, as long as their mechanical issues have been resolved, they'll be at the top of my list. If I had issues with them and their service, I wouldn't give them another dime. Isn't that how it should be, regardless of what you're buying?
I wish Frank Abela was still around. Maybe he could shed some light on how QC has been, as he's a dealer.
As to storms after the gear went down - we had a huge wind and rain storm in my area. Some places had 75 mph winds. Trees and power lines down everywhere. I have 3 ways to get off my street. All were blocked this morning. Power went out last night at about 6, and came back on around 1 PM today. I'm pretty lucky - 10's of thousands are still without power, a lot of homes and cars have been damaged by falling trees. 1 confirmed death so far - a guy had a huge tree fall onto the roof of his car as he was driving. A lot of schools have damaged roofs and no power.
Glad you escaped a worse scenario Stu. As for the Apollo and Saturns, if the laser goes out of warranty it's a relatively cheap fix. My dealer told me both use a Sanyo laser unit with a replacement cost of around $20 AUD. So being a fairly simple task, the laser repair shouldn't be expensive.
I've asked the question relative to QC on PF and I believe that there is a difference in the products they ship to us, could be wrong. There are many of the same issues regarding the Apollo and Saturn but less regarding the turntables (though there are plenty of complaints about shoddy workmanship), see the audioreview page for the P3. The RR125 driver do fail from time to time but they don't tend to listen as loud and so don't see as many. I had one service tech tell me that he see's more of the rr125's that fail than the other northern European drivers like the Seas etc.
Sorry to hear about your gear woes Stu. Bryston will take good care of you. I remember a while back Nick sent his stuff back to Bryston and it came back better than new.
"I wish Frank Abela was still around. Maybe he could shed some light on how QC has been, as he's a dealer"
Do you have Frank's contact info? I still keep in touch with him on FB, I could pose the question to him...
I really wish Frank was still on this forum as well. I still feel guilty at his leaving even though it was not really my doing. He took a comment of mine, thought it was aimed at something from a post long before and shot off the forum before an explanation could be given. A few here tried to explain his misinterpretation, however it was to no avail. Frank is a true gentleman, very knowledgeable, had a sense of humour and was an big asset to this forum. It would be good if someone could convince him to return.
I just got back from dropping off my Apollo to my dealer. Great people. They offered me a replacement player until my Apollo comes back. Maybe after the B60 gets back.
While there I had a chance to play around with the Naim Uniti. Talk about a well thought out product. They didn't have a Nait 5i and CD5i to compare it to, but the dealer said he's A/B'ed both a bunch of times for customers (with CD) and no one can tell the difference. It got me thinking...
Maybe sell the B60 and Apollo and buy a Uniti? Its a Nait 5i, CD5i, streamer, internet radio tuner, FM tuner, iPod dock (not digital though) and DAC all in one. Even the low bit rate internet stations sounded very good. He's not sure how they got them to sound like that, but he's not complaining. Neither am I. The only thing missing is a phono stage. He thinks there's probably too much digital stuff going on inside to get a good phono signal.
The amplification won't be a step up sonically. I like the B60 better than the Nait. But the CD, DAC, tuner, etc will all be a step up. It'll also be one box (plus phono stage) vs the B60, Apollo, Apple TV, and Theta DAC.
The wheels are spinning a little bit. If I sell off my stuff and some other stuff laying around, it'll probably be about $1000 or $1500.
The dealer thinks it would be better to keep what I have and get a better DAC for the money it would cost. He's probably right, but he thinks its worth considering too. If I'm serious about it, I can take a demo unit home for a weekend. I'm pretty tempted.
If you haven't seen it, here's a link -
http://www.naimuniti.com/about.php
$3750, which is expensive, but think of it as a Nait 5i and CD5i with a DAC, streaming, and a tuner for and extra $700. The Nait and CD5i retail for $3050 combined.
Wouldn't it still be more expensive than just standing pat, and eventually spending $2000 on the Bryston DAC ? And if the all Bryston solution is ultimately better (I don't know that it is....just guessing), don't you end up with more for less.....albeit with more boxes than the Uniti ?
The Bryston is going well up in price very soon. Impending parity of the Loonie and Greenback the likely reason, as the Loon will be 1.10 USD by the end of the summer. Shopping in the USA!
Good points Chris. I'm a big fan of the Naim sound. The Uniti sounds great and makes things very simple and convenient. I'd rather a BDA-1 and B60 to be honest. I didn't factor in the cost of a phono stage, which would add to the cost.
When/if Rega releases a DAC, I'll have to contemplate all my ifs. My dealer carries pretty much everything I'm interested in (except Bryston) including Arcam. I'll be able to A/B pretty much everything. I may be able to demo the Simaudio DAC this week at another shop too.
Just brought the Apollo home from the dealer's. His diagnosis - "It failed to fail." "I tried everything short of hitting it with a rubber mallet." He used it for the past 2 days without a single problem. In a bunch of different rooms and in his own home. He played discs that most others wouldn't play. He shook the the Apollo while it was loading, while it was playing, etc. Not too violently, but way more than it would sitting on any rack. Not a single problem.
He told me to bring it home and see what happens. If it doesn't work, he'll come to my house with his rubber mallet. If it fails within a reasonable time after the warranty is up (in about 2 weeks) and Rega doesn't make good on it, he will personally. I've got the utmost faith in his word. I had the option to send it to Rega anyway, but what'll most likely happen is that it'll be with them for 6 weeks and they'll find nothing wrong with it.
It reminds me of when people bring their cars to my father's garage - people's cars make odd sounds until about a block away.
In his work room, he has boxes and boxes filled with all sorts of cables - mainly Naim, Linn, Rega, Chord, Tara Labs. Seeing all those cords tangled up in boxes kind of put their ultimate role in a system into perspective for me. At the end of the day, they're just wires. Some may be better than others, but they're still just wires.
When the B60 gets back, I'm going to borrow a few and try them out in my system. He recommends the Rega Couple above the rest for the Apollo. He said he's tried every cable he has with an Apollo, and the Couple is by far his favorite. Maybe not a better cable than others in a hifi sense, but easily his favorite. He doesn't like it nearly as much with non-Rega gear.
Good stuff Stu - except - doesn't it just irk you when machines just don't play up when you need them to?
Let's hope that all the movement and downtime has actually fixed the problem in the Apollo and that it continues on for a long, long time to be problem free. I think any brand, low, mid to very high end can suffer from gremlins. Lets keep our fingers crossed. Great dealer btw.
My parents bought a German TV from a dealer friend of mine (back in the Denon/B&W days) and it blew 3 months outside the warranty. A bit of a fiddle with invoice copies did the trick and it was fixed gratis. Not entirely ethical, but this was done in the name of looking after good customers. He scored a couple of very nice bottles of wine for his trouble.
While there, he just started burning in a pair of Naim's new flagship speaker - the S600, priced at about $11k. Monsterous speakers.
Connected to the top of the line Naim seperates and new Naim DAC. Mrs. Pitt loved it too. She asked me how much the system cost. My reply - about as much as a down payment on a house. Dealer's reply - that sounds about right.
Thankfully no shopping, Nuck. There's a great Greek restaurant across the street from the dealer. Phenominal Greek salads and souvlakis. Perrty cheap too. She bought.
Anyone who's going to be anywhere near Mt. Kisco, NY, check out visit David and Alma Wilson at Accent on Music, then stop by Lefteris Gyro right across the street. It doesn't get better than good people, good music, good gear, and good food.
I just got home after a long road trip. The B60 was waiting on the table for me. Mrs. Pitt went to pick it up at Fed Ex because she weren't home when they tried to deliver it. Have I ever said how great she is? I'm glad Bryston ships with a signature required, because the douche bags will leave anything outside in any weather.
They used a new box and packing materials. The old ones were fine, but I guess Bryston thought otherwise.
Its a bit late to the system together and fire it up, so I'll give it a go after wrok tomorrow. I'm thinking Dancing Days by Led Zeppelin as the first song.
Maybe I'll take some new pics of the system and the washer and dryer that were supposed to be a BDA-1.
Stu, are you still using Audio Physic Yara speakers? I happened upon that thread you created when you reviewed them. I may listen to some AP speakers in the coming weeks. Not sure what models will be in stock. I looked at the AP website a bit, but it doesn't appear that they have the kind of speaker I'm looking for (basically a 6.5" or greater bookshelf). It looks like they pretty much make floorstanders only, aside from the Compacts. I'm still interested in hearing them though, and maybe comparing them to something from Dynaudio.
Anyways, nice to hear that you got your amp back. More great Bryston customer service. I know what you mean about the courier. I got some CDs today from Amazon and UPS just left them on the front porch. They are only CDs, but I hate that. It's just a dumb thing to do, I don't care if it's UPS's cheapest option or not. If I knew Amazon started using UPS I would've opted for another means of delivery. I guess Amazon should get some of the blame though, they need to make this clear during the ordering process.
They all leave my stuff on my front porch and I'm thankful. I'm rarely home when they deliver and would never get my packages if they didn't. No time for me to pick them up during their business hrs.
I don't think I've ever had anything swiped that was left at my door in all these years. Maybe people are more honest than I give them credit for. Still, I don't like taking the chance. CDs are one thing (they still cost me almost $100), a box with an amp in it quite another. I always make time to pick up my packages from the shipping facility, even if I have to juggle things a bit to do it. I get where you are coming from though, Art. It can sometimes be a pain in the butt driving to UPS. Fed Ex isn't as bad because they are open on Saturdays, and they are also closer to home.
Dan, is there a reason you're zero'd in on a specific driver size ? It isn't the only indicator of bass response in a speaker, and larger drivers have some drawbacks as well as benefits.
Chris, I've learned that proper set up plays a large role in the sound that a system produces. But I want a speaker that sounds big, something fitting for rock music, and I'm thinking that to some degree there's no substitute for enclosure volume and driver size. When I think back to speakers that have given me the sense of size and scale that I like, they were all relatively large enclosures with 6.5" drivers.
It's a factor. But also consider what speakers you're comparing. There are a number of higher efficiency speakers that do scale very well with 4" drivers (Hornshoppe Horns). Now, scale and bass need to go hand in hand, but more bass alone doesn't equate to scale. You can add a sub and get more bass, but "scale" in my mind is more midrange based than bass. Most of the orchestra (or band) is in the midrange, and to do scale (get loud), feel the impact, and keep the music organized and fluid is quite a trick.
The thing for me is always to protect the midrange first. I mean, that has to be right or music ain't music. You may get a speaker with a bigger driver or cabinet that does 30 hz instead of 50 hz, but if the midrange isn't as good because you've lost some speed and coherence, the trade off isn't worth it to me.
I'm rambling a bit, but I guess my point is to focus on the requirement (plays loud, does scale), don't lock into one way that might be accomplished (big drivers). As Jan mentioned in another thread, bass can be achieved through TL or other designs. And higher efficiency speakers play louder with less stress on the amp, which to my ears tends to lead to "loud" sounding better once you get there, since your amp isn't threatening to tap out.
I still use the Yaras and will do so until they die or I move in to a bigger room. Mine aren't the current Yara Compact, they're the Yara Evolution Bookshelf. The Compacts are a lot smaller and use a driver that's proportionally smaller.
My Yaras go down to the lower 30's (hz) in my room. There's a faint measurable output at 20 hz, believe it or not. The spec sheet claims 45 hz or so. I guess that's before any roll off. I don't need a sub in my room, but I could see some people wanting one.
I listen to classic rock, current rock/metal, and alternative almost exclusively. No problems what so ever. Bob Marley's Legend CD sounds fantastic too.
When I was looking for speakers, I needed something that wouldn't need a sub. Very few subs integrate well into a 2 channel system IMO. The Yaras easily fit the criteria.
If you have a dealer near you, you should make it a point to check them out. Maybe the Compacts will get the job done? The Step is a great speaker too. A bit more money, but very good none the less.
I agree, Chris. I was using a sub with my Quads but prefer the sound without it. The Quads do bass very well. They go plenty deep and I'm not missing that part of the sound. I think it is the midrange that's lacking. It sounds good, it just seems compressed, it's not breathing as it should. The best examples of scale that I've heard are through my old Tannoy F2 and the PMC TB2i, both fairly large speakers. And through my dealers huge Tannoy Prestige speakers that are probably 5 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide. Their sound is totally effortless.
The Quads have improved substantially since I took Michael's advice and move my large CD rack behind my listening spot. Scale is still not where I'd like it to be, even though it too has improved.
Hey Stu, that's an impressive bass measure. I recall doing a measurement for my 12L2, I think I only heard something, very faint, at 30Hz. Then nothing below that. But it really drops off below 45Hz or so. Going by memory on these numbers, so I may be off.
Agreed about subs and integration. I've never had much luck with that, despite moving my sub around and playing with it's volume and crossover. I listened with it in the chain for a while, and it even sounded good (or so I thought) after making all the adjustments. Then I tried listening without it and was surprised at how much better the sound was that way. I guess with a sub, it will sound bad in many different spots and with many different settings, but only sound perfect if it's set up just right. So there is lots of room for error.
I always had trouble integrating subs too, but for some reason was able to get the Reel sub integrated with the Lings really easily. It sounds terrific. You can see the sub, but you don't really hear it....if you know what I mean. It's just part of the band. It ended up integrating best well out into the room. It's actually closer to my listening position than the main speakers.
The rolloff point of the Ling's, Chris, always made me want to integrate a REL sub into the mix. The rolloff is square enough, without a lot of rolloff, because of the sinfgle driver, to make the transition pretty easy with an unassuming sub. Good stuff!
A surprising thing about the Yaras to me was that there was very little difference in bass between the bookshelves and towers. In a blind listening test, I doubt I'd be able to tell the difference.
I haven't had much time with the B60 yet. Work and family stuff getting in the way. But i have heard a few differences...
It has better resolution. It also seems like there's more insight into the music. Hard to describe that one. It doesn't sound like a new or different amp, which is a good thing. I hate to steal James Tanner's line when describing the difference when they upgrade from one line to the next, but it's definitely appropriate and better than I can put it - the difference is evolutionary, not revolutionary. To me it seems like the next logical progression for the amp without changing it's charecter.
In a nutshell, it's easily the best $115 I've spent on it. Far better and more improvement than any tweak or cable I could have thrown at it.
Now I need some type of cable (TV) ground breaker or whatever it's called to keep the hum out.
That reminds me - if you have your TV connected to your system, disconnect it and see what happens. I had a hum coming from the speakers through all the inputs except the phono stage due to the seperate grounds between the stereo and the incoming cable. Not sure if the cable in/out on the TV's surge protector will eliminate it or not. That'll be experimented with tomorrow. And no, the stereo isn't on the same line or surge protector as the TV.
If you have a splitter box, Stu, see if there is an open port(or 2) on the splitter. If so, grab a cap for it. There is a 75ohm cap for that. Also see about running a ground strap from the outer cable in some handy place.
