teajay,
have you heard the Pendragon before the Double Impact? I know your review is coming out but if you have heard both I was hoping you could give us a mini comparison. One I guess is do you think the Double Impact is better and in what areas.
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Teajay,
did you listen to any rock / metal on the Double Impact? Did they do well with less than perfect recordings? My listening tastes are varied but rock / metal is a big staple. |
Just put in my order for a pair of Double Impacts with cap upgrades. Pretty excited. I hope they are as good as the initial feedback suggests. I will post my impressions late next week once I have some time with them. |
Yeah I was surprised at the quick delivery. I could have got them by this Friday but I am going out of town on business on Wednesday and won't be back till Tuesday. I am hoping they are sitting on the front porch when I get home. I did ask about the custom paint and it was 4-6 weeks. I have a buddy that paints cars for a living and at some point may have him give them a nice Ford Electric Blue paint job.
I will be pushing them with an Odyssey Stratos Extreme so I should be pushing 360wpc into 4 ohms if I remember correctly. Should be plenty. My Jolida Fusion Pre is having a static issue so looks like I'll be using my old Denon 5803 as a preamp till I send that in to get fixed. Actually sounds pretty descent in Pure Direct mode and using Amarra for any eq adjustments needed. |
Mac, I see your room on the Audiokarma website. Looks like you have a whole lot of room treatment. Just curious did you come up with what needs to go where, how many etc on your own or did you have some consultation to help you figure it all out? I currently just have some owens 703 in basically random places but am interested in doing it right but don't really have a clue how to start. |
mykeryte, wondering if you had any comparisons in the 5-8k range new that would be good competitors for the double impact? I just ordered them so obviously I am hoping they are very good. What do you think the Sahas do better or other speakers of a higher price point. I am really just curious so not trying to act like I bought world beaters since I haven't heard them yet nor have I heard the Wilsons. Did a demo with some big ole Focal speakers that I could never afford a few years back in a treated room powered by really pricey front end and it was jaw dropping. |
Question guys. I can't find a pic of the backside of the DI. Are there bass ports on the back? Are the holes in the front of the speaker next to the mid drivers ports or really big holes for the grill pins? |
@Corelli
Supposed to arrive Tuesday. I am hoping. Could have got them today if that pesky business trip didn't get in the way. Did you go for the cap upgrade? |
Pickin my Double Impacts up tomorrow on the way to Mi from Ohio. They called and said they could deliver Thursday but they are already right where I am driving through so I am happy to be picking them up sooner. |
Last night I listened for about 4 hours. To be honest I am a little dumfounded how they can be as good as they are. I was very skeptical in some of these posts, maybe a little insulting a few times "sorry" but these are something special IMO. |
Mac, Not sure if you have ever put your ear up to the speakers but it sounds like to me the 10 inchers are just bass as would be normal, the mid drivers don't seem to go very high either. Sounds like most of the upper mids as well as the highs are coming from the 7 tweeter array. Whatever crossover magic is going on here I think Eric is definitely on to something. |
Haven't blown over any walls yet. I do have poured walls in the basement so that's understandable ;-)I'll give them some days but I am thinkin I may be selling my JL f113. |
the standard upgrade is the better crossover parts and internal wiring. That is $300 extra. I too am curious if there is something over and above this. When I talked with Eric this is the only upgrade he was offering. |
Have about 50 hours on the Double Impacts now and have to say they are phenomenal. I expected them to be good but not this good. I have put them through all the paces with my test songs and they nailed it every time. The wife came down and wanted to hear a bunch of songs she likes last night.This never happens unless I drag her kicking and screaming to listen to some tunes. Her comment after a few songs was "I can't think of anything I would change about them". Might hook up my Cayin A100T tonight to see what some descent tube power sounds like with them.
On a side note does anyone know the thread size for spikes on these? |
Update on the Double Impacts..
Currently running them with a Cayin A100T until my Tube Pre gets fixed then I will probably go back to the Odyssey Stratos Extreme.
I have probably a good 100 hrs on them at this point. The bass has gotten more powerful and detailed and the speakers are seamless from top to bottom. The dynamics are amazing at whisper quiet to full throttle.
The level of detail is amazing but is presented differently from most speakers that are detailed imo. They are never stressed, harsh, or trying very hard it seems. An example would be against the KEF 201/2 which I owned for several years. This speaker is a detail whore but can be tiring at times and can sound thin because of the detail level. I find the Double Impacts detail level very comparable but has a very meaty sound and is easier to listen to. To be fair the KEFs are 30lb monitors and the Double Impact is what it is.
Every speaker I've owned in the past has done certain things if not most things very well but I always ended up playing music that played to their strengths. I don't do that with these because they do everything very very well. I could tell you exactly what I did not like about all my other speakers but I can't pinpoint anything these do not excel at. If you want to hear what this speaker can do with drums and bass guitar check out some of the re mastered Primus albums. Wow! Drum solo at the beginning of Eleven is unreal cranked to 11 ;-). You can check out a video of this on YouTube on the Pendragon to give you a little bit of an idea. I probably sound like a fanboy but I am a happy dude. |
Mike, can you comment on the differences from the originals? Drivers, crossovers, cabinet, etc. |
So do the SEs have the same drivers? |
I was outside grilling a bit ago and noticed how loud the music was outside and how I could feel the bass and it was slightly rattling the cedar shingles. Could hear every vocal. Crazy ... my last speakers I would get ear fatigue way before I could hear them. These don't sound overbearing at all when I am sitting in front of them. Better watch it so I don't go deaf! Or wake up the creep. (The creep is my kid😀) |
@Correlli I'm about 25 miles from you in Fruitport. Small world! |
Regarding the spikes I didn't find them till a couple weeks later when I was ripping the boxes up to go in the trash. They are not obvious at all! In the meantime I had gotten some 1/4-20 bolts which I cut the heads off and sharpened as a temp solution. Could have saved me a burned finger if I had found them sooner🙄 |
I like mine best about 2ft from rear wall. Others say more but I have tried it all and this works best for me. |
rlphillips
Yes no problem. I would like to check out your Sea Pentdragons as well if you are up for that. I'll send you a PM if I can figure out how to do it and we can set something up. I actually work in Grand Haven. |
Teajay,
Have you tried the MicroZotl as a preamp feeding a SS amp? Specifically a high current high wattage one like the Odyssey Stratos Extreme I am powering my DIs with? |
@rlphillips Sorry I am not ignoring your request to hear the DIs at my house just can't figure out how in the hell to send a PM. I'm sure it's simple and I'm an idiot but can anybody help me out? Thanks |
333Jeffrey,
I am right on the edge of ordering a Schiit DAC. Did you like the Yaggy better than the Gumby?
Also what other DACs did you compare with? Right now have a Wyred4Sound DAC-2. |
To those with the MZ2 using as an amplifier....
Do you feel that one watt does justice to rock music at 90db average volume from 8 ft away with the DI?
Does the MZ2 only have one set pre outs? Can another be added if so as an option? If I was not happy with the one watt I would want to run the MZ2 as a preamp and still have an extra preout to run a JL sub.
Mac, if I am over in your neck of the woods possibly in the next couple of weeks would it be possible to hear your system? I travel to Detroit often for work. |
@audioman58
The $300 upgrade version uses Clarity caps.
Just curious if you have ever heard the DIs? You say the Sonus Fabers are much better balanced. I heard the Olympica 3 at Hansen's audio in Dayton Ohio and did not care for them much. Seemed like they slowed and rounded transients somewhat for a lusher type of sound. |
Bullitt,
i am using a Stratos Extreme with Jolida tube preamp that has some upgrades with the DIs with great results. I think you will like the Odyssey. I switch back and forth with Cayin tube amp with the Jolida still as the pre. Depending on my mood changes which I like best. They are both very very good! |
bullitt,
Klaus probably already mentioned it to you but be prepared for a rollercoaster ride for a couple weeks with the Odyssey amp. They have a notoriously long break in time which I can attest to. Should sound pretty good after that and will continue to improve for months. |
333jeffrey,
I know your Ulfs may not be completely broken in. So far is it safe to say you prefer the sound of them to the DIs? |
Well I got about 2000 miles in this year so far on my bike. But ...... it's got a big ass motor! Maybe I should go the peddly route and I wouldn't be such a fatass! Lol |
evolvist,
i listen to a LOT of metal on my DIs. Slayer, Megadeth, Soilent Green etc. If it is a descent recording they sound very very good. It takes really good mid bass for metal to sound right and the DIs have that in spades. Lesser recordings like Pig Destroyer sound better than they will on most speakers but nothing is gonna to magically transform bad recordings to sound great.
I mainly listen to acoustic rock, Primus, Classic Rock and they are phenomenal on that as well. hip hop I don't listen to but have played some for my wife and she loves them.
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I picked up a Calyx CTI this weekend. Sounds awesome with the DIs. What a wonderful little integrated. Very very precise with a hint of warmth and great flow or prat whatever you want to call it. |
Yes I believe you can compare them sonically. Visually, fit and finish not so much. I owned the previous version of the KEF reference and much prefer the DIs. |
333Jeffrey
i have been using a Calyx CTI for over a week now. Class d integrated 200 watts per channel into 4 ohms. Used and pre broken in. Sounds very good I must say. Awesome bass control and clean clean clean. Great dynamics and just a shade of warmth. Like it way better than the class d Rougue Sphinx I had for a while. Volume control goes from 0-92 and about 25 is about as high as I go and it's very loud. |
Someone on here said it, I will echo it. Take a screwdriver and tighten your woofers and mid woofers on the DIs after you have some hours on them. I took the advice and I was getting visible movement as they pulled in tight. Made the bass tighter at higher volumes. Subtle but seemed to make a small difference. |
Anybody using a tube based system using 211 tubes with the DIs? |
The Jolida Fusion Preamp is phenominal for the price. Lots of gain and really musical. Has XLR out but don't think it's truly balanced but not sure. |
Kdude,
very interested in your take on the Lyngdorf. Everything I have read points to it being a pretty amazing piece. If I could get rid of a big stack of components and replace with a 20lb integrated with no loss of sound quality and the benefit of room correction that would be the cats ass! |
@kdude66
did you receive the Lyngdorf yet? I blew up my Odyssey amp trying to bias it. Shorted something. Trying to get it fixed but that Lyngdorf looks pretty sweet. |
The SEs appear to have Eminenance 10s and 6s and what looks like another version of the SB acoustics tweeters. Just speculation from the pics. Thought I read these were going to be scanspeak drivers or similar. |
@hfaddict,
tighten up all the screws to all the drivers with a Phillips head screwdriver. You may be suprised at how loose they are or have gotten. I was. Not saying it's gonna make a night and day difference to what you are hearing but it's free and may help. |
@charles1dad ,
are all the tweeters revelators or just the center one. Just curious.
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@charles1dad ,
Sorry for the confusion. Lots of posts on the DIs.
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He should booby trap them😜 |
So from your car analogy I guess I can assume a Rolex keeps time better than a Casio. Not sure what sports cars have to do with speakers. One is a complex mechanical machine whose performance can be fully be measured and explained.
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Nitrobob,
Will be interesting to hear your comparison since Ascend is known to be a Big Bang for your buck product. I have a pair of Vapor Stiff Breeze with the Raal. They impress the hell out of me in a lot of ways. They only stayed hooked up for about a week before I put the DIs back in. I could see though how someone could prefer one presentation over the other. Trying to figure out room for a second system for them.
Give them 50-60 hours to break in. They sound great out of the box but a tad edgy IMO.
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The Zero Fidelity youtube guy has another video on the DIs. He mentions that they have semi recently had a minor voice change. I believe it was something like a 2db drop around 1000hz. He had a resistor on an alligator clip guessing was sent by Tekton. Anyone know anything about this? |
Thanks Granny. Will definitely be looking into doing this. Could a guy just use alligator clips to attach it at first to try it out? |
