Eye Candy

Hi,

I spent quite a bit of time at SOM (Sounds Of Music) this week which is a very nice dealer a few miles out of Tunbridge Wells. So, while I was there I thought I would take some pictures on my crappy camera phone so y'all can have a bit of a drool

...now the painful act of uploading!

 

Very nice Simon, but where are the turntables!

 

Simon, I think you should go back with a better camera. I'll come with you to help you find the TTs.

 

Turn...tables? Thats not high fidelity!

There are 4 in that room on the last photo, just they are out of sight. Don’t be fooled by the photos there is much more kit there, just not in shot. The new Stratosphere was being reviewed at the time so not there. There were lots of bits of TTs but not many full ones for some reason.

 

Not an exponent of single speaker dems then?

 

Just what I was thinking, as well as why is is that the more kit costs, the more butt-ugly it tends to be.

Those lumleys look bloody awful, couldnt live with them no matter how good they sound...

 

I don't care how good it sounds. If it's as ugly as some of that it's not getting over the door..........supposing of course that I had the budget that ugly hifi usually demands

 

You can demo with just one pair lol, they don't all get used at the same time!

Agree about the Lumley but some of the other kit is gorgeous.

 

two words spring to mind...

ram and raid..

 

Nice work Simon.

I'm particularly interested in the last shot of your first post. It shows a pair of Focal Utopia's and some Accuton based Wilson-alikes.

Reason for the interests is because these were shown off on DIYAudio as a DIY hobbyist's design that he went commercial with. I believe he was from the East if I remember, Japanese or maybe Chinese.

Did you hear them? And any other details such as price?

I'm not about to go out and buy a pair! But would be interesting to see just how much he's asking and if there upto scratch considering their humble beginnings.

Hat's off to the guy in any case.

Oh and did you hear anything of particular note?

PS. I've gotta laugh at the Lumleys. Its like the designer tore up all the established theory on how a 'correct' design is implemented. Did the over enthusiastic use of driver numbers and unconventional topology do OK?

 

Ant, those speakers are 'JAS Audio' and yes I remember the guy. I don't think he started as a hobbyist, I thought he was just letting us see how he was making them for interest and a few comments.

I didn't listen to them, but they are supposed to be very good indeed for the money. They are not as expensive as they look, but no I also don't know the price! ...maybe £12k or something.

I actually rather liked the Quad 988s, the Ascendo C7 and the Hanson Prince. The Rockport Aantares are also good, but so they should be!

The bigger Lumley is an odd design but some of the newer ones conform much more to accepted design, using a single ribbon tweeter with a MTMW arrangement. They still have a tonality that is a bit recessed in the midrange for my liking but I can see why others may want that.

 

I think your right. I've just looked at the old threads on DIYA and there isn't a mention of DIY specifically, more that he has a machine shop and thought he'd show off the results. Not sure where I got the idea from, perhaps it was simply a case of "it was posted on DIYA therefor it must be DIY!"

 

The lumleys are without a doubt one of the worst speakers I have ever heard so you wont ever be forced to tolerate their ugliness for the sake of performance. Truly awful sounding.

 

Not a big fan then BB? :latte:

 

Not at all. Multiple drivers playing completely different songs. Quite comical.

 

I close my eyes when listening, it enhances my hearing!
Two phrases spring to mind. 1. The source is the most critical part 2. piece of wire with gain
- SOME WIRES!!

 

Never spent any time listening to Lumley speakers, but the tapered/bowed cabinetry is stunning IMHO - the internal bracing is very complex and quality of veneers are top notch.

The monitors are particularly pretty, though ultimately given the choice, I'd walk home with the Cremona Auditors every time....