Hi Jorge. You should post new pictures and tell us about how your system has evolved.

lordcloud October 25, 2018 10:27

We moved and have now finally have a set up I am happy with.  Big changes and even new model horns.  I tried to keep most of my sources the same to have a handle on how my system is sounding with respect of my older room.  As I settle in I will be upgrading sources too.

sadurniacoustics October 08, 2016 22:10

Hi Jorge, thought I would pick your brains here (as well as on WBF and PM). Can I say that I respect your reasonably informal nature, and lack of oversell on your horns. I can tell you love your babies, and feel they will speak for themselves. A breath of fresh air in the high end which is full of hard sell.
I've recently moved to 75W/ch Nat Audio SETs using a pair of '48 GE 211s per channel, and two beefy transformers pre chassis, and this has been a major step up in terms of combining SET transparency and delicacy, w/close to SS muscle amp grip and control.
I believe your subwoofers take their signal from the main amp, and I'm confident the synergy may be great.
I'll know when I hear them.

spiritofmusic May 28, 2015 04:20

HI Daveyf,
Well I still have my EAD dac of course, I have not tried it head to head against a better DAC or against DSD files, but from memory I still think it stands its ground nicely, driven by the Forsell. Very few dacs have impressed me, but the ones that did, really leave the EAD in the dust.
MSB is just amazing, but also the Empirical Audio, with a different taste to it.
Funny thing: my favorite tracks even with the Uber DACs and servers are always WAV....

sadurniacoustics May 26, 2015 17:04

Hello Dmarkov,
Yes SET amps can vary greatly! At 110 dB we are inmune to wattage, so very interesting finds can be made. Given the low wattage I found a 45 SET amp with the driver and 45 tube regulated, not expensive and sounds amazing! But one of my Favorites is still some expensive Audio note.
Which is your favorite SET amp?

Just had the pleasure to try a very good server and DAC: wow. It is not the tape with all the organic load it carries, but some details I thought were hard to beat even by the tape!

sadurniacoustics May 26, 2015 16:57

Very cool and interesting summary of the challenges and benefits.

mapman May 05, 2015 10:11

Are you still using the EAD? I have this model as well and I think it is still fairly competitive with the current DAC's on the market. The EAD has somewhat of an analog sound and really sounds best in the HDCD mode. Have you 'AB'ed it against some of the newer DSD DAC's?

daveyf May 05, 2015 10:05

Nice system. I have "similar" speakers and I had Orphean at home for several months: compression driver and active bass, all front horn loaded. Amazing transparency. So I am with you.
And I did hear reel to reel, Studer 37, right after one of the best vinyl setups with Kuzma 4XL, and it was in the same system, the owner wanted me to hear what analog can do. So I am with you here too. I don't know why I invested so much in vinyl. You mentioned a good server to compete with Forsell AR, I think I know 2 options, but only 2.
I tried several SETs in my system, several other amps too, D-class as well. I strongly prefer dynamic SETs, SETs can be quite different from one another I found. My speaker sensitivity is about 110 db, the compression driver version was even more sensitive.

dmarkov May 04, 2015 20:02

A new review of our horns

http://dagogo.com/sadurni-acoustics-staccato-speakers-review-part-i-setup

sadurniacoustics March 29, 2015 10:03

Hello Skushino,

Well the horn integration is indeed complicated. Horns seem to have a mind of their own when it comes to Xovers, and no matter what level xover you put, they just do what they are designed to do.
Horns have a good response for a given range, past that range the response drops pretty fast, so you could say they have their own integrated Xover, given their design frequency cut off. After that you can just tune the sound of the horn with an electrical Xover.
When we decided the Upper bass horn sounding properly,we measured the response a built several horns of different sizes, from 300 hz up to 700 hz and tested all of them with just a simple Xover at speaker level, first order. Once we had the horn size that integrated the best, we played around with a first order Xover just to tune the response to our taste, getting a nice integration with the channel below it as with the tweeter on top.
Being able to time align every driver-horn combination by itself helps a lot also.

Love my Forsell BTW.

sadurniacoustics November 28, 2013 13:06

Hi, what a fascinating and unique system! I had the Forsell Air transport and found the sound to be the most analog of any digital front end. I'm especially interested in your speakers - would you mind replying with a brief description of how you integrate the individual horn / drivers? Specifically the type of crossover used? When I began assembling my horns, I was under the misunderstanding that it would be a relatively simple process of buying good sounding horns and drivers. What I learned instead was that the parts are just the price of entry. The magic comes alive in 'how' everything is integrated through the crossover.

skushino November 26, 2013 16:40

I heard a lot of good things about the Cantilever mods, but I hear ESCCO is sort of packed with work.
I have the aluminum body ready to recieve the 103, but havent got the guts yet to "cut it out"

I am just beggining to get some horns rolling out to reviewers and reps. When I have soemthing ready I will let you know. NYC and Chicago are on the list.

sadurniacoustics November 03, 2013 21:17

Thanks Sadurniacoustics, My two amps are close in how they sound, but the SET 300B has that something extra that the push-pull EL 34 can't quite do, and that's to provide greater involvement in the music.

Since my Zu Denon 103R came back from its ESCCO mods, I haven't removed it from the Dynavector arm. It's become a proverbial giant-killer for me, especially for the small investment compared to the mega expensive cartridges, which won't be gracing my vinyl rig, unless I hit it big on the lottery. But, you've got to play to win, so I'm out.

I'd be interested to hear your horns, anywhere in the Pac. Nor'west to hear 'em?

Regards,
Dan

islandmandan November 02, 2013 17:16

About First Watt, my reference preamp for a while was the B1, a stepped attenuator was a big upgrade.
I tried F3 and F5 amps first in full range and then multiamped with a SET amp for the mids and highs, much better but phase missalignments are a real problem if you use different amps.
I heard a lot of good things about the SITT amps, would love to try them out.

sadurniacoustics November 02, 2013 15:52

Drajreynolds, Interesting questions. It is most important to have everything time aligned, physically and acoustically If possible, the speakers leave the possibility to slide the drivers back and forth a bit for this, though it takes patience and a little knowledge to do it.
I am using an Active xover for lower bass from around 100 hz down to 25hz (high passed). Yes there is a provision for EQ and my listening room has a resonance at 50hz. SO I tried using the EQ to fix it, it does nothing if you try to be conservative, If you go crazy and turn the knob all the way it kills bass, dynamics and tone: all gone. Complicated thing this EQ.
I connect Bass Xovers at speaker lever so the SET amp is pushing down to 25 hz, if you use only one amp (plus the bass amp). Now if you want to use 2 amps or say one stereo per side, I like using a low pass from 800hz down so the Upper bass horn is run by one amp, and this same amp runs the bass Active Xovers (and bass amp, of course); And another amp to run midrange and tweeters.
I have tried active Xovers, digital Xovers, Passive line level Xovers and speaker level Xovers, and the one that offers a lower insertion loss IME is the speaker level XOver. If you multiamp I would recommend to leave the speaker level XOvers do the hard work and add a simple 1st order PLLXO, to loosen the work of the amps.
The nice thing about multiamping is the transparency achieved and the possibility to do volume micro adjustments that really blow things up. Once you time align acoustically, set volumes perfectly with an RTA and readjust by ear, it gets scary how good it can sound.

sadurniacoustics November 02, 2013 15:45

Charles, I love my Forsell, I cannot listen to digital without it. I am waiting for a server to compete with it.

sadurniacoustics November 02, 2013 15:24

Hi,
Given your system make up and taste I think you'd love the Coincident linecstage (it has only one gain stage). My SET has two gain stages, so a total of three for the entire system isn't bad. I came 'very close' to buying a used Forsell CD transport a few years ago but concerns about possible part replacement and qualified repair services caused a change of heart. I can imagine you're quite happy with yours.
Charles,

charles1dad November 02, 2013 04:51

Hello Charles1dad,
Love that Coincident preamp, I was about to get one a few years back.
Small fractions of a Watt, I probably could run the speakers with a preamp! jajajja
Kidding aside, I have been looking into getting rid of most amplifying stages as possible, so a preamp and a spud amp will do, most tubes for a spud amp are preamp tubes!
Of course there are now DACs that can put out 3 huge watts, maybe that could work... but thats not analog!

sadurniacoustics November 01, 2013 22:38

Islandmandan, You got a nice system.
One of my Favorite amps was the EAR 861 Push Pull, beautiful, rich, full sound, but missing just that bit of dynamics against a low powered SET, now Low power SETs are so easy to make and can sound so interesting they open a whole world of posibilities. I tried multiamping with mixed results, hard to do but if you can nail it down... wow!

I have tried MM on my horns but they tend to sound too frontal. I loved the Signet TK10ml in a friends system so much, I had to get it, but in my system, its just not the same.

sadurniacoustics November 01, 2013 22:30

Nice horns, good to see them physically time aligned and arranged on a single Y-axis.

Presumably the amplifier for the passive low bass modules is connected at speaker level? Any provision for EQ in the low bass?

Have you tried the First Watt SIT amplifier/s with these horns? If so, can you comment on the supporting equipment (front end, preamplifier, etc and the sonic results?

Have you considered using an active line level crossover with dedicated amplifiers for each horn?

drajreynolds November 01, 2013 16:27

Very nice system you've developed. With the efficiency of your speaker you're using only small fractions of a watt. Same as Dan wrote, my speakers are also 94 db sensitive but 8 watts of 300b SET is plenty of power and sounds magically good.
Congratulations on your very fine system.
Charles,

charles1dad November 01, 2013 12:18

I enjoyed reading your thread. It spoke to me, as I fairly recently acquired an SET 300B amp, which is mated with my custom built Tannoy HPD 315's, which are in the range of 94db sensitivity.

You are absolutely spot-on regarding the characteristics of 300B's. This has opened my mind regarding how much power is really needed to have great sound. With the right speakers, of course.

I can't get over how good my amp/speaker combination has proved to be, better that I don't have to.

I am also using a vintage Garrard, a self-restored 401, that will hold me until I reach the end of my road.

Nicely done!

Regards,
Dan

islandmandan November 01, 2013 11:54