Classic Rock Listener - Help me build my system

That's a strange combination you have going on there, too dark and hard. Usually it's dark and soft or bright and hard. All I can figure is the Cardas is the dark and the Krell is the hard. Going to the Nordost should eliminate the dark, which would mean you're looking for a softer cd player? Again, I would go one step at a time, replace the Cardas and AQ with the Nordost and report back. If it still sounds too hard, I'd try a Classe CDP-1 cd player. I had one a couple years ago and it was smooth and punchy. You should be able to get one for well under a kilobuck.

Regards,
John

Bob aka Reb: I was referring to the newer series of Classe' amps. The 15 that you mention was closer in design to that of the original DR ( which stood for David Reich ) series. The DR's were probably the best sounding Classe' amps in my opinion. Given the closer design / sonics of the 15 to the DR series than to their modern day products, i bet that it is a pretty solid performer.

As to your comments suggesting Kimber cabling goes, my Father was also using PBJ's in his previous installation with his stock Legacy's. Once again, similarities in installation via trial and error seem to run parallel here.

As far as the 8TC's go, that too would probably work but it is a far more neutral sounding cable to me than comparably priced Nordost. Sonically, the 8TC will introduce more "air" into the equation as compared to the AQ's that Dave has right now, but it will still retain a good portion of the bass weight. In this case, i don't think that keeping the bass and just adding a bit of "air" and "openness" is going to be enough. On the other hand, Nordost speaker cables instantly introduce "added brilliance" while at the same time reducing bass, which would seem more appropriate. I like your way of thinking though : )

Dave: Bob aka Reb1208 is the one that suggested single wiring, not i. I simply expounded on his suggestion.

Your thoughts about Using Nordost speaker cabling may help as i've always found it to sound very "lean and quick". It will surely reduce the amount of bass weight involved. Then again, you are back into introducing one colouration to tame another. Do you want to keep feeding this vicious cycle or take steps to get off the ferris wheel now and possibly come out dollars and sonic performance ahead?

Two more questions for Dave:

1) Are these new speakers purchased from Legacy or one of their dealers or did you buy them used?

2) How long of a run of cabling do you have from your amp to your speakers?

Sean
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Reb1208,
Once I get my cables changed out and get a CD player, I'm going to do that and run single cable. When the time comes, I might send you an email if thats OK to make sure I do it right.
John,
That's what I meant in my original post when I said "if you can believe that" about being dark sounding with the hard "in your face" mids. I know they usually dont go together, but thats what I'm hearing time after time.
By, the way, i'm not Rock only. Love to listen to Poco,Heartsfield,
James Taylor, LRB, type music as well as some Tony Bennett,
Sinatra, Big Band (Ted Heath doing Miller is sweet). I might try that CD player you suggested also. I guess there are no Theta Miles fans reading this? I know getting rid of that ML331 is going to benefit too. Thanks to all for the input, except for one. After I make some of the suggested changes I'll report back. Sure is fun though!
Dave

Sean,
I bought the speakers used from someone close by who purchased them new 2 yrs. ago. He also had a control knob installed in back of each but Im not sure what its for. Plus the 4 switches also makes things more confusing trying to find the best position for each, but until I fix the other stuff, the switches and which position is the least of my problem. I do switch the rear tweeter on which helps a little.
I have about 4 to 5 ft. between amp and speakers.
Sorry to Reb1208 about the misquote.
Dave

Dave: You really should find out what all the switches do. The potential sonic differences might be quite a bit when properly configured. Dudleston typically includes some type of switching for the "warmth" region, which may help lean out the upper bass a bit. It is also possible that you may have the tweeters attenuated too.

You should probably contact the previous owner and / or Legacy technical support to see exactly what options the switching provides. If the knob on the back was a custom feature that the previous owner had installed, that may be something that only they can help you with.

As a side note, Legacy used to use telephone wiring going from all of the circuitry on the crossover board to the switches on the rear panel. While some think that this isn't a big deal, in some cases, all of the signal for that driver(s) has to pass through that cable with no other path for the sound to complete that circuit. On top of that, the woofers were wired with 18 gauge. The only place that heavy ( 12 gauge ) wiring was using was from the binding posts to the crossover boards themselves. Nothing like feeding 10 - 14 gauge speaker wire into a cabinet plumbed with 18 - 24 gauge wiring.

As far as converting from four binding posts down to two binding posts, i know that audiogon member "Darrylhifi" did the same thing with his Signature III's. He said it was quite simple i.e. a matter of moving a few wires attached to ring terminals using common tools. The earlier designs were actually soldered in place, making this more difficult.

If you don't mind Dave, i'm going to drop you an email. I've got something that i want to discuss that may save you some time and money. Sean
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