Which amp for BE-718 and Ayon CD-1s?

Do you think Fun 17 can be driven well with Leben 300 xs (15 WPC)?
Another speaker contender is Omega super 6 alnico. As per the review it is a good pair with Leben. Have you any experience about Omega alnico speaker?



Regarding the Fun..I am not TOO sure. Reason being
1. That it is a big speaker for a small room and hence placement needs to be very well done
2. Not sure if 15W is good enough for a large room although this may be ok for small room
 
Amit,
Please do not apologise for anything. I immensely enjoy doing research on these gadgets for myself and for others as well. I was only pointing out that my abilities are limited and these days I have very little time.

I agree with Ajoy especially for speakers that it is not prudent to rely on others' ears. This is not recommended for various reasons. Appreciation of music through a music system, even for connoisseurs and musicians, is a very personal thing. Let me give you an example. If you ever went to Bolpur (Shantiniketan) from Kolkata by train, there would be a few Baul-singers who usually board the train at about an hour before the train reaches Bolpur. Some of these folk singers are a treat to listen to - full of soul. But at times the music is not sweet, one may even find it quite harsh. However, the music has an impact, it touches you. Now personally I want that to be reproduced through my music system - with the same harshness and with the same impact, otherwise I consider that as a limitation of the music system or the recording. Now I know quite a number of people (in this forum and otherwise) who would prefer a more restrained presentation - a more measured approach. Some do not care for a lot of detail, and care only about a sweet presentation only which is regarded 'musical' to them. I cannot say they are wrong and I am right. Even among musicians I have noticed this difference of opinion. The whole Kirana style of Khayal singing used to depend on a particular kind of voice training (of course these days everything has sort of merged).

Since speakers are the final pieces of equipment which actually are responsible for producing the mechanical waves of sound, it is nearly impossible to rely on somebody else's ears , irrespective of how experienced these ears are, for the voicing of the speakers that you like. However, you can always rely on other people for recommendations and shortlisting.

Arj,
In your post #95 in this thread, you used a quote from my previous post, but I see that there are a couple of lines there about Dr. Bass's system which I actually did not write :). Do not worry about it. I actually am very impressed by what Dr. Bass has put together, but those are not my lines. BTW, did you try some Furutech or equivalent quality connectors for your power cords for the amp as you perhaps commenetd in some other thread some time ago. Sorry, if I am mixing up with something else (these days I spend very little time on the forum, and that too very sporadically). However, I am curious to know the results of your experiment if you tried it.

Regards
 
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Yes Asit, please forgive me for asking you to put hours for research for me. I am really sorry. I shouldn't have asked it. But I have no doubt about your research ability.

I am in touch with Santosh (SKR in HFV) now-a-days for helping me out of my dilemma. He also suggested about Zu Soul speaker and this speaker got Class 'B' rating in Stereophile.

But one thing is very true, speakers are very real thing and can be decided only after listening. Problem is that in India, Zu Soul, Omega alnico etc. speakers have very little chance to listen to. And a blind purchase of a speaker is too much risky. I may have to trust some reliable ears who have listened to these speakers in comparison to BE-718.

The designs criteria and presentation characteristics of all these speakers are very different. We are talking about a comparison between the following.
1.Traditional 2 way
2.Horn designs with wave guided tweeters
3.Single driver full range
Advice and opinion on these kinds of loudspeakers are very polarized. Most folks who vouch for one will most probably not like the others.
Listen to some good single driver speakers to see if it floats your boat. Audire and Rethm are good examples. From what I know there are no speakers in India currently which will sound like a ZU. You will have to buy blind. From what I hear they are very direct sounding speakers with chest pounding macro dynamics ! Rockers prefer them.

If you ask a horn or zu lover about 718 or such traditional speakers, I can only imagine what can happen ! :eek: The zu speaker followers are more like a cult.
 
Arj,
In your post #95 in this thread, you used a quote from my previous post, but I see that there are a couple of lines there about Dr. Bass's system which I actually did not write :).
Asit,
Actually that solves a Mystery. I knew I had put in that comment in my response but was confused why i did not find int in my post...hence reposted.

Appears that I inadvertently put in in your Quoted section the first time :sad: My apologies
BTW, did you try some Furutech or equivalent quality connectors for your power cords for the amp as you perhaps commenetd in some other thread some time ago. Sorry, if I am mixing up with something else (these days I spend very little time on the forum, and that too very sporadically). However, I am curious to know the results of your experiment if you tried it.

I do use some after market cords and also Finolex based DIY..the mix and match needs to be worked out although my setup is not really optimised to that extent today as last few weeks have been hectic on the professional front.. am more worried about getting my Sub to integerate with my speakers these days

fo this you should speak to Dr bass..he has done a lot of extensive experiments with Oyaide/Furutech/ Wattgate/Anchor/ Crabtree etc with several Powercords and got some pretty interesting results. I ws able to hear some of them on his setup..was a pretty educational experience for me.
 
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...
You could say I took a long shot with the Zu speakers, just hoping against hope that somebody would pop up with some news about them in India. If not for anything else, at least if we mention and perhaps also discuss a few such brands, somebody may notice the interest and go for a dealership.

Yes square_wave, I was talking about the Soul Super Fly speakers. Their nominal impedance is 16 Ohm, but can take also amps like the Leben CS300 with 8 Ohm taps (as pointed out in their website). The Leben is listed as one of the amps in their website they have voiced these speakers for. BTW, I think the Leben CS300 can also be ordered with an optional 16 Ohm tap if desired. But that is irrelevant once already procured.

Regards.

I'm sorry to raise this thread from the dead.

There is good news about Zu Audio. BBW Distributors ([email protected], 09810017130) based in New Delhi, now import Zu Audio. I know them well from my Car Audio days, and they are very passionate about music and about making good equipment available. They have been bringing some of the best Car Audio equipment (Dynaudio, Genesis, Mosconi, Rainbow, Micro Precision, Seas, Jehnert etc. etc. now, and previously Tru Technology, Image Dynamics and Audison) to India.

I stumbled upon this thread earlier while doing general research for my speaker (and amp) upgrade which will probably be spread over the next year or so, depending on how much I can save up. I'd been considering the BE718 and had been looking for amplification options. I'd just never got to read the last two pages, where Zus were mentioned.

I also had the opportunity to listen to a pair of Rethms (4th Model) with Tube amplification (Rethm's own old amp prototypes) a few weeks back, and to say I was smitten would be an understatement. I'm never going to be able to afford Rethms, so since then I've also been randomly looking at similar high-sensitivity single-driver type solutions, with tube amplification. That is how I stumbled on Zu Audio, and eventually back into this thread.

Right now Zu Omens with a Leben CS300 look very good to me. I don't think I'll be able to stretch as far as the Soul Superfly. I hope I'll be able to listen to a pair of Zus soon, even if it means travelling to New Delhi.
 
I have already listened to Zu Bookshelf, Zu Omen and Zu Super SoulFly with Leben cs300xs here at Delhi. I couldn't be satisfied.

Meanwhile, after adding TT & Trigon Advance phonostage and changing the speaker wire to shorter 2M Biwire and change of Interconnect (DIY), I can say that my system is now sounding better and airy with comparatively improved bass compared to earlier. The BE-718 driver cone is now visually vibrating to push air, which I didn't see earlier. I have plan to upgrade my speaker wire further to get more flow of current.

Now, my priority is to collect series of LPs, specially old Bengali LPs of my favourite artists e.g. Hemanta Mukherjee, Manna Dey, Kanan Devi, Debabrata Biswas, Suchitra Mitra, Sandhya Mukherjee, Manabendra Mukherjee, Lata Mangeskar, Asha Bhosle, Chinmoy Chatterjee, Sagar Sen, Ritu Guha, Sumitra Sen etc....
 
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Raising an old thread. Change of my speaker BE-718 still could not be done.

Recently I have listened Tannoy big driver speakers and I must say they produce life like fatigue free presentation.

Also, heard Lyrita horn speakers with very high sensitivity (96 b and 100 db) pairing with my Leben amp. After long long time I have found that my amp is performing effortlessly without any burden. Although these horn speakers are big and not possible to accommodate easily in my room. But, the Eminence drivers could not satisfy me, A better driver will make these speakers a fantastic design.


After listening to these speakers, I am finding that BE-718 produces unusually sweet sounds with energy boost, which is sometimes away from reality. I am now not able to enjoy the speaker like I used to do before.
 
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