david ellwood
Kirabosi Kognoscente
ES14 ain’t a flat earth speaker though.
Split pre/power, (preamp having its own winding in the transformer so it stays clean regardless of what the power stage is doing), NORMal/LABoratory inputs to the power stage (Norm having sub/ultrasonic filtering, Lab being straight in clean), output protection, the tape input is a monitor switch (allowing comparison of source with off-tape if you have a three-head machine), a low-level switch (20dB attenuator in front of the volume control) so you can twist your knob up past 10'o'clock, and a headphone socket.The NAD has ...
Not sure about that! My one abiding memory of a flat earth system was my ears bleeding from ES14s with LP12/Naim gear with a spotty youth furiously banging his leg up and down as he shouted at me to feel the rhythm! I (and my mate with me, who was looking to buy some new speakers) made a sharp exit. Cannot remember the dealer - somewhere in Moseley, Birmingham in the late 1980s.
What flat earth systems have folks heard over the decades that worked really well as a whole?
I've had a similar experience or two, although it has worked out fine several times as well.I don't hold with this idea of feeding LP12 / Ekos / Akiva into a NAD 3020 and Mission 700s. An Ekos or an Ittok produce too much bass, it sounds awful and flabby as the cones try to reproduce what they weren't designed for and the amp hasn't got enough grunt to rein things in.
Unfortunately once you introduce a component from a higher tier into a lower tier system you start getting problems that will persist until you climb all the way onto the next tier.
The Nad 3020 pre amp section was much touted.The NAD has about three times the power of a NAIT, tone controls to tame bass from the source and shrillness of the speakers, will not fall apart if presented with a 2 ohm load (stuff two sets of cables into its outputs and run doubled 700s), its LED peak meter will tell you how much power you are using, all for well under £100 in 1978, and you could sell it today for silly money.
On the old Linn forum, I recall a Linn employee stating that the Majik 109 speaker was signed off with a Majik 6100 amp in aktiv configuration. This suggests the 109s was voiced for Majik amps and perhaps more so in active mode.
The Rega One system was easily one of the most enjoyable systems for me at Bristol Show early this year. Their new amp was obviously voiced for the P1 and Kyte speakers and they did a great job.
I'm increasingly keen on systems from a single point in time comprising products that were developed and voiced for one another.
What flat earth systems have folks heard over the decades that worked really well as a whole?
I like that a lot of people are talking about a flat earth system when they don't know what one is!
I like that a lot of people are talking about a flat earth system when they don't know what one is!
RD 80SL/LVX/K9 >> Magnum IA125 >> HB2 - still got the Magnum and keep perusing eBay listings for the RD80 and HB2s - resisted the urge so farLP12/Ittok/P77 -> Magnum IA125 (Wonfor) -> Arcam Ones. Replaced the amp & speakers the next year with 42/110 -> Kans, and while great fun, bit of a sidestep and a nod to the prevailing winds.
Thanks herb!This explains it well, though some of us preferred Exposure amps.
http://www.tomtomaudio.co.uk/flat-earth-audio.html