Using Crown XLS 2502 as the PA
After getting the Focal Aria 926 I was keen on improving the music listening chain as i was not very satisifed with how it sounded directly out of the X4500H for stereo listening. I had already got a Crown XLS 2502 to see if it gets any improvement in the chain with my existing speakers before the Focal arrived and I noticed that the XLS2502 did synergize very well with the Emit M20 , Emit M20 which were previously run directly via the X4500H and the PM6006 now sounded much more open with a lot more bass/sub bass quantity & soundstage, imaging was really good at that point with my only point of reference being the X4500H & PM6006. Since the Dynaudio Emit M20 already do mids really well the shortcoming of the XLS2502 was not very apparent though noticeable versus the PM6006.
The Focal Aria 926 arrived shortly after within a day or two, so all attention was showered upon this for setup/stereo listening. I setup the Aria using the Crown XLS 2502 as the PA and the X4500H as the preamp and the sound was not very impressive. The presentation felt rushed , vocals were recessed and felt somewhat congested in comparison vs using M20 in the same. I got the Node2i shortly after that and tried running it directly to the Crown XLS2502 bypassing the AVR and there was some improvement in the details and also got a PM8006 to test out how the Focal Aria 926 sounds with the same. The PM 8006 really presented the vocals with amazing lushfulness and emotinality , very good lows but the treble was rolled off to quiet an extent ( noticed the Audyssey also report similar measurement when PM8006 was used as a pre).
Indiq Saptak as PA with PM8006 as Pre
At this time I was casually exploring different PA options with Class A/B amplification and thanks to @avtar2008 stumbled upon the offering from IndiQ the Saptak Monblock amplifier. I was (still am) a newbie when it comes to technicalities when it comes to the interior of the amplifiers, but did some reading and found that Saptak amplifier seem to be quiet decent in terms of the fact that they have a mononblock construction with dedicated lines to each channel and offer a generous 190+ watts @ 8 ohms per channel. In addition the owner Amit seemed a very nice guy who answered my noob queries patiently and in depth, plus the 15 day return policy , 3 year warranty extendible upto 5 years and the free upgrade if the amplifier gets any modifications in future was very enticing. So i pulled the plug on a Friday and recieved the amplifer by Saturday afternoon with Amit personally coming and helping setup the PA in the room.
We setup two paths , one for stereo which was Bluesound Node2i-> PM8006(Pre) -> IndiQ Saptak and AVR -> PM8006 -> Indiq Saptak for movies. Played 3-4 songs immediately and the first impressions were that the presentation was much more calm and composed, musical with good imaging & seperation after which Amit & team left for the day. Had a few cans of beer that night and listened to this setup for a good amount of time, the setup seemed blissful and did not feel like switching it off at all. Over the next 2 weeks , never once did I feel that i should return the PA despite the 2 week return window as each genre of music I listened to sounded really good out of this setup. Th initial impressions I developed was the following
- For smaller & medium sized rooms too PA does make quiet a difference, on adding a PA (XLS 2502 for the M20 & the IndiQ Saptak for the Focal Aria 926)
- The dynamics certainly improved, soundstage was huge and this resuled in better seperation and imaging with decent amount of depth (I noticed much better depth at a FMs place for the Aria 926 but it was the living room with the speakers placed infinitely ahead of the rear wall).
- Vocals seemed at the forefront when using the Marantz PM8006 as the preamp which seemed good for some songs and not very ideal
Indiq Saptak as PA with Schiit Saga + as Pre
Within a period of 2-3 weeks @anirudhchandrashekar (who immensely helped me in better understanding stereo chains & power amplifiers) parted with his Schiit Saga+ which i gladly jumped on. On moving to the Saga+ from the PM8006 as the preamp with the Saptak as the Power amp brought some changes in the overall signature
- The soundstage seemed to be even bigger & enveloping which some would describe as holographic
- The imaging & instrument seperation was even more prominent
- There was much more details in the high frequency/treble region as agaisnt the PM8006 as preamp
- Vocals seemed more natural , with some songs having recessed vocal/some upfront and some rightly balanced as per the song
- There was a marked improvement in the lows , but the reverb and boominess was quiet high
Upon some discussion with FMs I decided to try out the Paradigm PW Link which replaced the Bluesound Node2i and there was a marked improvement in all the above aspects with high volume harshness from the presentation reduced to a good extent , the room echo/reverb was reduced to a large extent possible and has improved the music experience even further. I have covered the details of the PW Link in a seperate review so wont go deeper on the same.
To summarize I am quiet satisfied with how the system sounds at the moment with the current chain, the pre and power seem to synergize really well and combined with the ARC makes the overall listening sessions much more pleasant and musical.
Here are a few videos i have recorded using a mobile phone , sounds much better in person but the recording gives a fair idea.
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After getting the Focal Aria 926 I was keen on improving the music listening chain as i was not very satisifed with how it sounded directly out of the X4500H for stereo listening. I had already got a Crown XLS 2502 to see if it gets any improvement in the chain with my existing speakers before the Focal arrived and I noticed that the XLS2502 did synergize very well with the Emit M20 , Emit M20 which were previously run directly via the X4500H and the PM6006 now sounded much more open with a lot more bass/sub bass quantity & soundstage, imaging was really good at that point with my only point of reference being the X4500H & PM6006. Since the Dynaudio Emit M20 already do mids really well the shortcoming of the XLS2502 was not very apparent though noticeable versus the PM6006.
The Focal Aria 926 arrived shortly after within a day or two, so all attention was showered upon this for setup/stereo listening. I setup the Aria using the Crown XLS 2502 as the PA and the X4500H as the preamp and the sound was not very impressive. The presentation felt rushed , vocals were recessed and felt somewhat congested in comparison vs using M20 in the same. I got the Node2i shortly after that and tried running it directly to the Crown XLS2502 bypassing the AVR and there was some improvement in the details and also got a PM8006 to test out how the Focal Aria 926 sounds with the same. The PM 8006 really presented the vocals with amazing lushfulness and emotinality , very good lows but the treble was rolled off to quiet an extent ( noticed the Audyssey also report similar measurement when PM8006 was used as a pre).
Indiq Saptak as PA with PM8006 as Pre
At this time I was casually exploring different PA options with Class A/B amplification and thanks to @avtar2008 stumbled upon the offering from IndiQ the Saptak Monblock amplifier. I was (still am) a newbie when it comes to technicalities when it comes to the interior of the amplifiers, but did some reading and found that Saptak amplifier seem to be quiet decent in terms of the fact that they have a mononblock construction with dedicated lines to each channel and offer a generous 190+ watts @ 8 ohms per channel. In addition the owner Amit seemed a very nice guy who answered my noob queries patiently and in depth, plus the 15 day return policy , 3 year warranty extendible upto 5 years and the free upgrade if the amplifier gets any modifications in future was very enticing. So i pulled the plug on a Friday and recieved the amplifer by Saturday afternoon with Amit personally coming and helping setup the PA in the room.
We setup two paths , one for stereo which was Bluesound Node2i-> PM8006(Pre) -> IndiQ Saptak and AVR -> PM8006 -> Indiq Saptak for movies. Played 3-4 songs immediately and the first impressions were that the presentation was much more calm and composed, musical with good imaging & seperation after which Amit & team left for the day. Had a few cans of beer that night and listened to this setup for a good amount of time, the setup seemed blissful and did not feel like switching it off at all. Over the next 2 weeks , never once did I feel that i should return the PA despite the 2 week return window as each genre of music I listened to sounded really good out of this setup. Th initial impressions I developed was the following
- For smaller & medium sized rooms too PA does make quiet a difference, on adding a PA (XLS 2502 for the M20 & the IndiQ Saptak for the Focal Aria 926)
- The dynamics certainly improved, soundstage was huge and this resuled in better seperation and imaging with decent amount of depth (I noticed much better depth at a FMs place for the Aria 926 but it was the living room with the speakers placed infinitely ahead of the rear wall).
- Vocals seemed at the forefront when using the Marantz PM8006 as the preamp which seemed good for some songs and not very ideal
Indiq Saptak as PA with Schiit Saga + as Pre
Within a period of 2-3 weeks @anirudhchandrashekar (who immensely helped me in better understanding stereo chains & power amplifiers) parted with his Schiit Saga+ which i gladly jumped on. On moving to the Saga+ from the PM8006 as the preamp with the Saptak as the Power amp brought some changes in the overall signature
- The soundstage seemed to be even bigger & enveloping which some would describe as holographic
- The imaging & instrument seperation was even more prominent
- There was much more details in the high frequency/treble region as agaisnt the PM8006 as preamp
- Vocals seemed more natural , with some songs having recessed vocal/some upfront and some rightly balanced as per the song
- There was a marked improvement in the lows , but the reverb and boominess was quiet high
Upon some discussion with FMs I decided to try out the Paradigm PW Link which replaced the Bluesound Node2i and there was a marked improvement in all the above aspects with high volume harshness from the presentation reduced to a good extent , the room echo/reverb was reduced to a large extent possible and has improved the music experience even further. I have covered the details of the PW Link in a seperate review so wont go deeper on the same.
To summarize I am quiet satisfied with how the system sounds at the moment with the current chain, the pre and power seem to synergize really well and combined with the ARC makes the overall listening sessions much more pleasant and musical.
Here are a few videos i have recorded using a mobile phone , sounds much better in person but the recording gives a fair idea.
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