Some Strad Porn

[Myles B. Astor]

How did we go from talking about Strads to Ktemas? While it's interesting, I think we should stay OT.

[MDP]

Myles - do you think a 35 foot SE run is a bad idea for CJ Art Monos?


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Uh oh...............

[microstrip]

Myles - do you think a 35 foot SE run is a bad idea for CJ Art Monos?



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Mike,

It will depend a lot on cable type and mainly on the preamplifier, not on the power amplifier. A GAT could probably easily drive many 35 feet long cables - I know about someone using a 30 feet Transparent Audio Reference MM2 - but I would be more careful with the ART S3, as it has much higher output impedance. For long runs we must avoid some ultra high capacitance cable brands. Both Cardas and Kimber have low capacitance IC cables, suited for long cables.

[Alpinist]

Myles - do you think a 35 foot SE run is a bad idea for CJ Art Monos?


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Mike,

I see a vision of XS Pre/XS150 on one side of your upstairs room and GAT/ART on the other side.

Ken

[Mike]

Mike,

I see a vision of XS Pre/XS150 on one side of your upstairs room and GAT/ART on the other side.

Ken

OR ARC REF250's with some sweet KT150's....or wait for ARC GS250's (we know they are coming) OR VTL 185 III's OR Pathos Adrenalin OR McIntosh 2301's.

Thoughts?

[Mike]

Mike,

It will depend a lot on cable type and mainly on the preamplifier, not on the power amplifier. A GAT could probably easily drive many 35 feet long cables - I know about someone using a 30 feet Transparent Audio Reference MM2 - but I would be more careful with the ART S3, as it has much higher output impedance. For long runs we must avoid some ultra high capacitance cable brands. Both Cardas and Kimber have low capacitance IC cables, suited for long cables.

Thanks! Kimber would work well I'm sure.

[Alpinist]

OR ARC REF250's with some sweet KT150's....or wait for ARC GS250's (we know they are coming) OR VTL 185 III's OR Pathos Adrenalin OR McIntosh 2301's.

Thoughts?

Mike,

CJ GAT/ART is my favorite tube gear but I really like the Ref5SE or Ref10 with Ref250 too. I'm less familiar with the others you mentioned. I don't think you could go wrong either way with these for adding some tube flavor to your upstairs room.

Ken

[bzr]

OR ARC REF250's with some sweet KT150's....or wait for ARC GS250's (we know they are coming) OR VTL 185 III's OR Pathos Adrenalin OR McIntosh 2301's.

Thoughts?

... yeah, you left out BAT Rex II








& if you are going into such territory, I'd have a google at Thrax Spartacus too. Here they are with a Thrax Dionysos preamp etc..... They seem to keep reasonable company.

[Mike]

uh oh. Those sure are pretty!

I also thought about BAT too.

Curious about Air Tight, Aesthetix, Triode Corp, etc.

[bzr]

uh oh. Those sure are pretty!

I also thought about BAT too.

Curious about Air Tight, Aesthetix, Triode Corp, etc.

...Ha! isn't the choice of an audiophile terrible Heres a locally made 300B, Weston Artisan 300B.



[URL=http://s1096.photobucket.com/user/_bzr_/media/WestonArtisan300B1_zpse0c7fcc2.jpg.html][/URL[URL=http://s1096.photobucket.com/user/_bzr_/media/WestonArtisan300B_zpsce068e0d.jpg.html][/URL

[Mike]

[joeinid]

Wow! MC1.2KW's, I'm in trouble

[bzr]

Indeed Joe


[URL=http://s1096.photobucket.com/user/_bzr_/media/strads_zps5107f4cd.jpg.html][/URL

[joeinid]

Nice Kev!

Thanks!

[MRJAZZ]

Had a pair , circa 2005, (customer trade in ). Lovely speakers.......

[crwilli]

My addition to the world of Strad porn.

[joeinid]

OMG! Outstandingly beautiful setup crwilli. I absolutely love it.

How do you like the MC452 with them? I've been thinking about that combo for a while now. I had MC601's but unfortunately sold them before my Strads arrived so I never heard the combo.

[crwilli]

OMG! Outstandingly beautiful setup crwilli. I absolutely love it.

How do you like the MC452 with them? I've been thinking about that combo for a while now. I had MC601's but unfortunately sold them before my Strads arrived so I never heard the combo.

Hey Joe, Honestly, I don't have much to compare to as I have only had the Strads for about a week. I heard them elsewhere with MC2301s and loved them from the start. I am still adjusting to them in my room. They are just so different from my IRS Betas. Craig

[joeinid]

Hey Joe, Honestly, I don't have much to compare to as I have only had the Strads for about a week. I heard them elsewhere with MC2301s and loved them from the start. I am still adjusting to them in my room. They are just so different from my IRS Betas. Craig

Hi Craig,

Congratulations!

That's funny because I fell in LOVE with my Strads many years ago when I heard them with the MC2301's, C500T and a killer turntable setup. I was hooked from the first note.

[joey_v]

CR -

If you can, try to pull the Strads together and decreasing toe in and going a little more "straight" out. try that.

Btw, beautiful!

[joeinid]

CR -

If you can, try to pull the Strads together and decreasing toe in and going a little more "straight" out. try that.

Btw, beautiful!

I find that I do not need much toe in at all, just a little and and I get a beautiful, wide sound stage with a perfect center. Could I improve my setup? Probably, but I just love these speakers and what I am hearing.

[tunes]

Agree with the suggestion to try less toe in. Based on the photo of the room (and it could be exaggerating elements through wide-angle distortion) if there is space behind where the photo was taken, i'd gamble they'd open up your soundstage if you try reducing toe in. In my previous house, Strads were in a similar size room and were only slightly toed in and approx 7-8' apart measured from tweeter.

[PMCH]

I really like the sound I am getting out of the Strads. Longer interconnects don't arrive until next week. I will be keeping these longer than my MC275's.

[joeinid]

Paul,

Absolutely beautiful. Wow!

I unfortunately got rid of my MC601's before I received my Strads. I am kicking myself now because I'd love to hear that combo. I love your setup.

So you really like the MC601's on the Strads?

[XV-1]

How time flies, almost 4 years ago that Beauty left the building and the beast arrived No matter what speaker went into that room, the acoustics just sucked. thank god I ultimately moved some gear into the smaller TV room for a listen. - smaller room = much better sound - go figure.

[bzr]

Shane, could have been the disco ball..

[XV-1]

Shane, could have been the disco ball..

ha ha. Ultimately it was the combination of the room dimensions, alcove, 4500 lp's, brick wall with large garage behind it and bass standing waves giving lots of bass gain.
As the acoustics guy that came around once. After he measured - hmmm difficult room indeed

new room is smaller, but sounds a lot better. no disco ball - perhaps your are right

[joeinid]

I remember that photo. Beautiful setup but too bad the acoustics were terrible.

I absolutely love my Strads.

How time flies, almost 4 years ago that Beauty left the building and the beast arrived No matter what speaker went into that room, the acoustics just sucked. thank god I ultimately moved some gear into the smaller TV room for a listen. - smaller room = much better sound - go figure.

[joeinid]

Holy cow, even more stunning. Well done.

ha ha. Ultimately it was the combination of the room dimensions, alcove, 4500 lp's, brick wall with large garage behind it and bass standing waves giving lots of bass gain.
As the acoustics guy that came around once. After he measured - hmmm difficult room indeed

new room is smaller, but sounds a lot better. no disco ball - perhaps your are right

[gusgranite]

I don't think I realised the size of the Strads until I saw this thread. Beautiful speakers everyone.

[Paul]

Master Franco Serblin...

[joeinid]

May he rest in peace.

[Mike]

A genius. He knew how to create musical speakers that sounded as good as they looked.


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[bzr]

A genius. He knew how to create musical speakers that sounded as good as they looked.


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Yeah, the Ktema are a speaker that would lure me away from Wilson Benesch, although I won't part with the Infrasonics' ....

[MDP]

I've never heard Strads, but I would sure love to!

Beautiful speaker!!

[PMCH]

The Strads look better and sound better now that I have the longer interconnects to place the speakers where I want

[Harris4crna]

I went to listen to the Strads while living in Italy. Found a hi fi shop selling a pair on Audiogon from Italy. I notified them and traveled to Audio Plus in San Benedetto. Fell in love instantly listening to the awesome speakers until........gentleman stated, listen to these speakers....i thought, those speakers are not the speakers i came to listen to and there is no way they are going to compare to the Strads. He connected the speakers and all of sudden i realized there is a God. I purchased the speakers on the spot and now own a pair of Franco Serblin Ktemas. Now, if the Ktemas were not in house that day, i would have purchased the Strads for sure..


Harris4crna. Accuphase A-70 class a amp and C-3850 preamp. Franco Serblin Ktema speakers. VPI Classic 1 TT with Simaudio 810LP phono stage and VPI SDS. Transparent Reference Speaker cable and IC. Quadraspire racks and much more.

[bzr]

Harris, thats a really neat story worthy of the telling, thanks for sharing!

[Harris4crna]

A caveat to the story. Both the Strads and the Ktemas were being ran by a Soulution 7 series system.


Harris4crna. Accuphase A-70 class a amp and C-3850 preamp. Franco Serblin Ktema speakers. VPI Classic 1 TT with Simaudio 810LP phono stage and VPI SDS. Transparent Reference Speaker cable and IC. Quadraspire racks and much more.

[crwilli]

Updated pic - Strads seem to love tubes.

[joeinid]

Wow!

Beautiful. They love a little power too, great choice!

[Mike]

Updated pic - Strads seem to love tubes.

Gorgeous! Love the Strads with tubes!


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[crwilli]

Thanks for resizing the pic Joe! I am giving them some time to settle before making any firm judgments compared to the MC452 but already, it is easy to hear the fuller midrange. Interestingly enough, it feels like there is more weight in the upper bass regions and the highs seems very similar.

[joeinid]

You are very welcome. Glad you are happy so far. I predict you'll be even happier as everything breaks in. Your setup looks AWESOME! Thank you for sharing.

[Yoga]

ha ha. Ultimately it was the combination of the room dimensions, alcove, 4500 lp's, brick wall with large garage behind it and bass standing waves giving lots of bass gain.
As the acoustics guy that came around once. After he measured - hmmm difficult room indeed

new room is smaller, but sounds a lot better. no disco ball - perhaps your are right

Looks awesome - so clean and precise. I'm sure it sounds nice too :¬)

[Gene]

Here's my Strads (No.788), driven beautifully by an ASR Emitter I Exclusive Blue.

[PMCH]

Gene, your Stads look very pretty. What is on top of them?

[Gene]

Gene, your Stads look very pretty. What is on top of them?

Thanks, Paul... The small objects are called "blue diamonds" and are a part of the SteinMusic Harmonizer system that I use in my room.

[PMCH]

Gene, reminds me of the Synergistic Research product. It always amazes me with what can make a difference in our systems. I put down 3 different rugs to hear which one sounded the best to me. I even switched from dedicated 12 AWG circuits to dedicated 10 AWG circuits and swear it sounds better.

[1kw]

I love mine as well