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System pics 2017

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Spider said:
Looks really cool, Royd's look great on those SL24 stands. Great photo's as usual. You can come over the corridor and photograph mine at Scalford :)
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Thanks Spider. :)

It was down to Peter Empson at Deco that I got the SL24's about 10 years ago - I'd been complaining that my old Royd Merlins, whilst brilliant otherwise, tended to be bright and a little too shouty on some material. He let me borrow a pair of SL24's from the shop, within 10 mins of them being in place, I was on the phone to pay for them. They really are a win-win with Royds, smoothing-out the speakers' response yet losing not one ounce of their life and speed.

They also work well under Audio Note AX-2's - AN recommend very high mass stands but these work better - and they're significantly cheaper. :)
 
drummerman said:
Result indeed.

A second lease of life for the XV!
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It does sound better - the lower end has filled out for starters, and it'll take volume more comfortably now. That's within reason of course - I'm not running the Royds hard, too precious! Just a 15-20 degree change in toe-in (to straight-on) and the port about an inch nearer the wall. Who'dathunkit. :)
 
Gromit said:
Fair point - although the Cyrus isn't a pre/power, the plain box is the PSX-R power supply. After some more listening, the Exposure seams to cause the Royds to 'beam' more if that makes sense? The Cyrus, although still quite brightly-lit, has a more recessed (or less forward?) presence region.

Reading a couple of Sintra reviews just now (thanks to the brilliant Roydaudio archive site) they recommend listening with the speakers at approx 30% off-axis. So, I've put them flat against the wall, close to it as possible, as opposed to toe-ing in slightly - the effect is quite startling, and more than I would've thought such a simple adjustment could make. The beaming has subdued a not insignificant amount. Result! :)

Exposed by Boxertrixter, on Flickr
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The pre/power amps are a little more sophisticated than the integrated IMHO so should sort out that brightness you describe.
 
pjdowns said:
The pre/power amps are a little more sophisticated than the integrated IMHO so should sort out that brightness you describe.
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Yes, I've had a few of the Exposure pre-powers over the years, my favourite was probably the XXI/XVIII reg'd mono's. It was more neutral than the IX/XIV/IVDR I had before which having been my long-time ambition to own, ended up a bit of a disappointment. Well, it was still very good but I did - contrary to expectations - prefer the 21/18 rig.

One which was great fun was the Dual VII/2xVI/IV Dual - smooth, ballsy and very addictive. :)
 
pjdowns said:
The Naim is a lot more forward than Exposure.
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Interesting.

When I had some time with the XS I found immensely enjoyable.

Visceral, propulsive and on the button timing with great bass, just right. Soundstage was so so and top end extension was clearly limited compared to some which removed some 'air', I remember that well and it is perhaps also one of its biggest assets as it made music with body without distracting with the usual hifi traits.

I don't really know to well what forward means, perhaps a lack of both low and high frequencies, distortion? Bright I can probably better associate with but I would have never called that amplifier bright or particularly mid forward.

Not perfect but fun and well balanced to my challenged hearing. It would probably be my integrated of choice for limited funds had I to let go of my cyrus system.

I had a valve amplifier that seemed more mid forward than the XS from memory.

My experience with Exposure is unfortunately limited to only one model so I am certainly no expert.
 
Gromit said:
It does sound better - the lower end has filled out for starters, and it'll take volume more comfortably now. That's within reason of course - I'm not running the Royds hard, too precious! Just a 15-20 degree change in toe-in (to straight-on) and the port about an inch nearer the wall. Who'dathunkit. :)
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I'm not too surprised.

I've never enjoyed a speaker that has been toed in, even when it's suggested by the manufacturer. It just doesn't work for me, the second I start to straighten them up they start to disappear and creating that magic invisible trick.

My ES14s are firing dead ahead, to look at them you'd think they're firing completely past the listening position, but the imaging and holographic aspect of them is some of the best I've heard.
 
matt j said:
I'm not too surprised.

My ES14s are firing dead ahead, to look at them you'd think they're firing completely past the listening position, but the imaging and holographic aspect of them is some of the best I've heard.
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I did exactly the same with my ES14's, they work best they way by far.
 
Gromit said:
Fair point - although the Cyrus isn't a pre/power, the plain box is the PSX-R power supply. After some more listening, the Exposure seams to cause the Royds to 'beam' more if that makes sense? The Cyrus, although still quite brightly-lit, has a more recessed (or less forward?) presence region.

Reading a couple of Sintra reviews just now (thanks to the brilliant Roydaudio archive site) they recommend listening with the speakers at approx 30% off-axis. So, I've put them flat against the wall, close to it as possible, as opposed to toe-ing in slightly - the effect is quite startling, and more than I would've thought such a simple adjustment could make. The beaming has subdued a not insignificant amount. Result! :)

Exposed by Boxertrixter, on Flickr
Click to expand...

Hi again,
How close have you got your Sintra's to back wall? They look much closer than mine. I have reduced toe in to virtually nothing and got mine about maybe 4 inches off back wall. Yours look like they are as close as you can get them.
Ive got mine on some stands that are just two plain steel plates with one pillar about 2x3 filled with sand. They seems to prefer these stands to the atacama's. Will be interested to hear the difference the S24's make at Scalford.
 
Spider said:
Hi again,
How close have you got your Sintra's to back wall? They look much closer than mine. I have reduced toe in to virtually nothing and got mine about maybe 4 inches off back wall.
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Mine are as near as the cable and stands will get them - the cable's quite thick so won't bend as much as I'd like, but the distance now seems pretty much ok when taking the room's sonic behaviour into account (room's approx 22' x 12').

Having my old Sapphires and Merlins as close to a wall as this would've made them boom like crazy - seems the Sintra, along with the Eden, breathes very lightly through its port.
 
Ponty said:
No changes from 2016 for me, sounds great in this room (vaulted ceiling / A frame which you can't see in the photo). The only change I would consider in 2017 is the piano black LP12, just to give me a different vinyl flavour from Linn. The fluted LP12 (1974) was my Grandfathers and will be passed on when I pass on!
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That is a stunning looking system. Love the burner too.
 
Gromit said:
:)

48 hours in, and having had a lengthy play with positioning the Sintras, I've got to a point where things are singing ok. The amp's settled down well, we've got more bass now, and it's doing the groovy Exposure thing very nicely indeed.

Tomorrow, I'm going to have a mini amplifier bake-off between the Super XV and my Cyrus rig which could prove interesting. Put the Cyrus rig on for a brief dabble about an hour ago (first without, then with the PSX-R) and I can say quite confidently is that the Exposure will not be having it all its own way. Contrary to all the ridicule that Cyrus gear often gets on the forums, I cannot deny that it's a bloody good amp. It just seems to get more out of the Royds, making them sound bigger, more confident.

I'd really like the Super XV to come out on top (I'm a die-hard Exposure fan, having owned loads of it over the years) but have a suspicion it might not. Storming phonostage though. :)
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Hiya Richard, glad you're enjoying the Sintra II's and the Exposure Super XV. I felt rather attached to the amp having owned and used it for 16 years! FWIW, I always found all sorts of mains sensitivity with it that I don't get with it's temporary replacement (Sony N55ES), but was assured by Exposure that it was working to spec.

Will post pics of the new system once my Tisbury pre has arrived, thereby permitting me to wire in the Linn LK140 that I plan to compare to the big Sony.

Incidentally, you owe it to yourself to try a pair of Royd Sorcerors. Best small monitors I've heard. They are definitely a keeper. Maybe I'll seek out a IV DR to pair them with. :)
 
Cheers Simon - and good to meet up last week. :)

Spent a good few hours listening to the Expo/Sintras today and had a lot of fun. Interestingly, along with all the other Exposure amps I've owned, it's one of the only ones which doesn't really gel with the NVA speaker cable - for pretty much every other make I've had, this cable has been a go-to. This morning, I put some Talk3 back 'just to try' and it does even the amp's response up quite nicely. Clearly an electrical synergy with what the amp needs, and the Talk3 supplies. If I could only track down a 5m pair of Exposure cable...
 
Cereal Killer said:
Gromit, this will work perfectly well with Exposure and its only £3.30 p/m https://www.studiospares.com/ProductDetail.aspx?p=546410
I use it in my system, in fact I'll (probably) never use anything else.
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Thanks for the link CK - I'm presuming this meets the electrical requirements of old Exposure gear? Basically, it needs similar to earlier Naim etc which is probably why the Talk3 works well - a simple, low-cap copper cable.
 
That's exactly why I chose it. Its been faultless with my Naim kit. The amp doesn't even get warm, if the light wasn't on you'd not know it was working at all.
 
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