bluedog Posted November 9, 2010 Posted November 9, 2010 Well as i think i may be the only Vaf owner on the forum i thought i would tell a little of what these upgraded vaf can do but as i have only had them hooked up for some 3 hours i had better hold off a little BUT from what i a hearing ummmm they are a new beast and i guess beast is a sort of good way to start to explain the shear dynamic ride one is taking on :eek:.The old mark ones were in my room a little over powering to tell the truth but i still took the plunge with the mark 11's as i just couldn't see past the amazing figures these speakers were capable of and having listened to vaf for the past 12 or so years it is hard to teach an old blue dog new tricks. I am loving the new bass it is considerably tighter and the treble is much more extended and way smoother than before but as i said i should have held of saying anything until they have run in the other thing is i am back to my Denon 4308 as a pre into the perreaux until the EAR 868 arrives so all in all a little hard to compare as the Sm6 is also out of the mix.But anyone who loves a HUGE sound stage with top to bottom sound should have a little listen to what these are capable of they really convey music in a real no compromise way IMHO they can be very delicate if that is on the recording or rattle your teeth out if that is what you desire as i do from time to time. I had a chance to look at other speakers including the likes of Proac d38, B&W 803d's Dyn audio etc etc but had it the back of my mind what a thrill the Mark 1's gave me when called on to produce that big sound of a live band. As they run in i will post my finding and when the other bits arrive cheers BD PS they look as good as they sound a few cosmetic changes very nice IMHO of course . Attached files
ilikecrumpets Posted November 9, 2010 Posted November 9, 2010 They look beautiful Bluedog, you must be chuffed (wagging tail perhaps)!
bluedog Posted November 9, 2010 Author Posted November 9, 2010 Ilikecrumpets;138524 wrote: They look beautiful Bluedog, you must be chuffed (wagging tail perhaps)! Te he thanks mr crumpets yes been smashing plates within reach with it been a long wait dont do it well worth it !
Electra Posted November 9, 2010 Posted November 9, 2010 bluedog;138518 wrote: beast is a sort of good way to start to explain the shear dynamic ride one is taking on :eek:. I remember the first time I hooked my Focal Electras up. A similar experience, and that was running on a Rotel 135wpc amp. The first song cued up was Metallica's Enter Sandman. Craked it up during the intro druming, and when it gets into the ( I dont know the musical term sorry ) heavily distorted intro rif, everyone in the room at the very least blinked, if not jumped. And it only got better. Those were the first speakers I owned which exhibited the totally uncompressed dynamic abilities I found that I now require in my system. The sheer scale, and sense of being there, was unreal with them. Of course, my new system, with about 15 times the amplification power, and speaker sensitivities about 2dB higher, delivers even more, but that revelation of the immense speed, dynamic abilities and full range reproduction was really quite something. I am guessing thats exactly what your experiencing right now. Enjoy it Soon you will start to hear much more subtle details which actually are what make the system stand out, micro dynamics, imaging etc.. Enjoy them too They make your CHT15 look pretty tiny though!
bluedog Posted November 10, 2010 Author Posted November 10, 2010 Well a kind santa sort of bloke made my day today and lent me his EAR 868 for a couple of days before mine arrives well ummmm valves ?
bluedog Posted November 13, 2010 Author Posted November 13, 2010 Well a week in and with the EAR in the mix how do they sound "Bl##&y fantastic !.I am now convinced that it all these speakers do is play what they are given for good or bad.The only thing that was a just to big in my room was the bass and i love base but it was a bit fatiguing to tell the truth.I remember talking to Vaf about this and they suggested i try damping the port to reduce out put so i got some of the acoustic packing foam and basically stuffed it into the huge rear ports of the speakers.At first i put enough in to block completely and to me not enough so i folded it in half allowing a gap through the middle and had a listen and to my ears perfect nice tight deeep bass but it is now not taking the room for a ride.When i spoke to Phillip at Vaf he did say that he has people using them in smaller rooms with great results there must be a certain frequency in my room that is being over blown.As for the rest of the sound well i am now starting to get the music on some albums coming 180deg like having my surround left and rights on very cool ,my other mark1 did hint at this but didn't do it so well in my room ,the i66 did it very well maybe a bit smaller more suited but they were not up to the animal in me after a ummm couple .I am for ever looking up at the moment as i am hearing bits of detail that i have never heard in some very familiar albums bits i have not heard on any systems not sure if this is is the pre or the speakers put money on the speakers though.I can now hardly wait to be able to afford some good interconnects and speaker cables albeit in triplicate da the disadvantage of tri amp. I did try the speakers with my better ic's and speaker leads by just using 2 channels of the perreaux with a nice result sounded more balanced but lost a bit of the 3d affect and authority so i will be getting all the same IC,s as apposed to 3 different kinds so i am guessing that the balanced sound should come from the same IC's. I am glad i went with my gut instinct on the Vafs i do love the new tweeter and the way they have done the crossover seems to allow the speakers to really shine now i think they now have a range 17kh-25khz + - 1.2 db so the top has really been extended. I will post more as they run in or i try some different IC's cheers BD:D
bluedog Posted November 13, 2010 Author Posted November 13, 2010 "never heard in some very familiar albums bits i have not heard on any systems " sorry should have added in my room :rolleyes:
homebrew1553552745 Posted November 15, 2010 Posted November 15, 2010 they sound very nice bluedog and i bet it is a big sound.i had my image revs upgraded ,only the midrange and crossover changed and that made a huge difference,so i bet the vafs are going to sound great
bluedog Posted November 15, 2010 Author Posted November 15, 2010 homebrew;139307 wrote: they sound very nice bluedog and i bet it is a big sound.i had my image revs upgraded ,only the midrange and crossover changed and that made a huge difference,so i bet the vafs are going to sound great Hi homebrew i did read about the wee upgrade i bet they sound wonderful by all accounts as i said a mate of mine has some too and they are a great sounding wee speaker i must catch you up for a listen i was going to call but lost my bit of paper with your number on da :rolleyes:. Yea things are allot different sounding here now the new vafs are great IMHO but i love the valve sound. As i said a Mate lent me his EAR 868 pre for the weekend as mine is on a slow boat from china opps england it well was a lovely sound very full 3d and sweet.Happy camper when my one gets here
bluedog Posted November 19, 2010 Author Posted November 19, 2010 I am so looking forward to the EAR turning up missing what it did for sure.I swore black and blue that valve's were old teck but how wrong was i was trying to explain to a mate of mine who is into hi fi as well as plays guitar and he asked me if it made it "softer" and "warmer" my answer probably just confused him as i really cant put my finger on it.If anything there is more sparkle in the top end like when a triangle is played it just shimmers and the mid range is more full ? :confused: but as good as the EAR sounded in the mix these new model Vafs are just fantastic the leading edge of the notes just hang in the air beautiful and by golly have they got big lungs when called on unbelievable !!!! would love to through a 350 at them one day see what they would do but as my audiophile mate said get a hall here are some pictures with the covers off the main difference is the felting around the tweeter and mid range drivers very complicated little air pockets in behind etc etc.Always makes me think that Vaf spend an awful amount of time on there speaker designs to come up with some of the bits they do. Attached files
bluedog Posted November 26, 2010 Author Posted November 26, 2010 Well it justs gets better my lovely wife took pity on me and has brought me one of Marks komako Ic's for my Christmas box but i am not getting it until the day.But while she was looking the other way :rolleyes: i ordered a couple more katapo's well the sonic difference between these and my ummm pudney and lee component video leads is quite profound.The Ear still on that slow boat so it is going to be a treat to hear with all the Ic's in the chain.If the komako is better than the katapo,s i will be very happy.I am just listening to Mark knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia and this in the past on my system has been a little harsh in places now ummmm it sounds bloody fantastic ! i do think this is alot to do with this fabulous new magnesium tweeter so effortless now but the Ic 's have helped heaps only wish i could afford all Komako's or one day try the gold reference :eek: bloody recession!
bluedog Posted November 28, 2010 Author Posted November 28, 2010 too_tall;138563 wrote: I remember the first time I hooked my Focal Electras up. A similar experience, and that was running on a Rotel 135wpc amp. The first song cued up was Metallica's Enter Sandman. Craked it up during the intro druming, and when it gets into the ( I dont know the musical term sorry ) heavily distorted intro rif, everyone in the room at the very least blinked, if not jumped. And it only got better. Those were the first speakers I owned which exhibited the totally uncompressed dynamic abilities I found that I now require in my system. The sheer scale, and sense of being there, was unreal with them. Of course, my new system, with about 15 times the amplification power, and speaker sensitivities about 2dB higher, delivers even more, but that revelation of the immense speed, dynamic abilities and full range reproduction was really quite something. I am guessing thats exactly what your experiencing right now. Enjoy it Soon you will start to hear much more subtle details which actually are what make the system stand out, micro dynamics, imaging etc.. Enjoy them too They make your CHT15 look pretty tiny though! Which modle were the Focal Electras TT ? i googled and got a few different ones ? :confused:
Electra Posted November 28, 2010 Posted November 28, 2010 937be - several models old now. They have gone from twin 8" woofers to triple 7" woofers now, I think to narrow the cabinet without sacrificing any bass potency. I have heard the new models and feel they are an improvement ( at a significant cost increase also, about $4K I think!! ) Knopflers Sailing to Philadelphia is almost my favorite album.
bluedog Posted December 4, 2010 Author Posted December 4, 2010 Well the slow boat finaly got i spent a really nice day yesterday with Mark Erceg who supplyed the new toy and a couple of other mates.Very intereasting once again just starting to get the sence that i am only just starting to learn about this hobbie of ours.Stuff i scoffed at in the past are now starting to come out more and more as one ventures beyond home theater into the world of pure two channel here is a wee picture of the EAR sorry hard to take a good picture as the front is so shiny Attached files
johnnyC1553552718 Posted December 5, 2010 Posted December 5, 2010 bluedog;141353 wrote: Well the slow boat finaly got i spent a really nice day yesterday with Mark Erceg who supplyed the new toy and a couple of other mates.Very intereasting once again just starting to get the sence that i am only just starting to learn about this hobbie of ours.Stuff i scoffed at in the past are now starting to come out more and more as one ventures beyond home theater into the world of pure two channel here is a wee picture of the EAR sorry hard to take a good picture as the front is so shiny Welcome to the EAR club - and yes they sure are shiny but look so cute and sound sound so sweet
Luckiestmanalive Posted December 5, 2010 Posted December 5, 2010 Nice on, BD. Your new baby looks gorgeous! I, too, started with HT. Then I transitioned to hybrid HT/stereo setup (using pre-outs from HT receiver to Plinius power amp for fronts) and now I have separate TV and listening rooms. It sounds grander than it is - the wife would not allow my man-fi gear in the main living room so I get to use the entrance room at the back of the house, which has no other obvious use. Still, I'm not complaining, even if the room is extremely 'live' and directly below my baby daughter's room so I can't play loud when she's asleep!
Omegaspeedy Posted December 5, 2010 Posted December 5, 2010 Very nice Bluedog, I bet that EAR sounds fantastic with the VAF's! I bet with those lovely speakers a turntable would sound mean:)
bluedog Posted December 5, 2010 Author Posted December 5, 2010 omegaspeedy;141401 wrote: Very nice Bluedog, I bet that EAR sounds fantastic with the VAF's! I bet with those lovely speakers a turntable would sound mean:) I have got a turntable with a shure v15m111 cartridge in it ,and when i borrowed my mates EAR it had the phono stage in it which is suppose to be the ducks nuts.I didn't really think to much to it but then again i don't have much on vinyl so probably not fair. My pre is minus the phono stage
bluedog Posted December 24, 2010 Author Posted December 24, 2010 Well an update just opened my Christmas box a pair of Marks Komako's. Well what a clever dude!!! straight out of the box the improvement are incredible!!!!! i would not have believed it could do what it has.My goodness these speakers!!! the bass now has lost the flabbiness i was some times getting and they are controlling so much better and man do they go deep so nice:D.The top end has way more air and the image now goes beyond the speakers left to right heaps more so happy now .It now has me wondering how much different the reference Antipodes could sound perhaps i don't want to know :eek:
eRaS1553552749 Posted December 25, 2010 Posted December 25, 2010 bluedog;143155 wrote: Well an update just opened my Christmas box a pair of Marks Komako's. Well what a clever dude!!! straight out of the box the improvement are incredible!!!!! i would not have believed it could do what it has.My goodness these speakers!!! the bass now has lost the flabbiness i was some times getting and they are controlling so much better and man do they go deep so nice:D.The top end has way more air and the image now goes beyond the speakers left to right heaps more so happy now .It now has me wondering how much different the reference Antipodes could sound perhaps i don't want to know :eek: Glad to see you finally made the leap If you haven't tried the Kokiri digital cable, then I highly recommend that too. It did replace a very basic cable, but it made a even bigger difference in my system than the interconnects (particularly in terms of smoothing things out, and reducing some of the harshness in my system). I'm very interested to see how Mark's speaker cables perform too - has anyone had any experience?
bluedog Posted December 25, 2010 Author Posted December 25, 2010 eRaS;143185 wrote: Glad to see you finally made the leap If you haven't tried the Kokiri digital cable, then I highly recommend that too. It did replace a very basic cable, but it made a even bigger difference in my system than the interconnects (particularly in terms of smoothing things out, and reducing some of the harshness in my system). I'm very interested to see how Mark's speaker cables perform too - has anyone had any experience? Great to hear i was a little reluctant to try a good Digital cable as i was under the impression that unlike analog it would make no difference as only 1and0 's:confused:and yes the speaker cable will be interesting but i doubt i will be able to afford as i will need three sets
bluedog Posted January 1, 2011 Author Posted January 1, 2011 Well a week in probably 30/40 hours on the new IC and what a difference. Golly when i was reading mycenius's comparisons on the two cables i would not have believed what i has been doing unless i heard it with my own ears. It has been all over the place !!! finally today i have been listening to some tracks well wow it has all come together and my wife concedes it now sounds as good as she heard at my mates place with all the very nice kit that i have been trying to emulate the sound.Not quite there IMHO but closing the gap. but it is nice when someone that couldnt give a toss about speakers amps and cd players can hear the big differance the ic from Mark has made :cool:
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