Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure

Sounds awesome David. Congrats!

Can you remind me what your current 2a3 model is and how the new build differs?

Great, thanks. I've been following Mike's speaker journey recently, so this is great context.

Sounds great David. Would love to hear them, especially with the Nenuphars. As Charles said, I'm sure it'll be an amazing pairing.

Well said Charles. These are the times where I wish that this community was smaller (in terms of geography). So very jealous and I'd love to ride the coattails and listen along with you David. 

Congrats Mike, what a great result.

And always good to end up with a Pass Labs product.  Periodically you run into alternative approaches (e.g., https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/100-w-tube-amplifier-malfunctioned) and it highlights how nice it is to support a company that cares about more than profit.

@rwpollock Perhaps you’re just suggesting that pass finds a new manufacturer for the SIT devices? The first run was custom made by Semisouth for Pass Labs (hence the Pass label on the transistors), but they have since closed the factory.

Some interesting discussion here with input from Nelson: https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/222098-semisouth-goes-dodo.html

Maybe he will given the success of the sit amps. I've heard they're starting to get low on their supply and the sit3 was only possible because the parts have been so reliable. Previously, those transistors had been held in reserve for replacement service. 

Funny that Nelson said this in 2012 (from the above thread on diyaudio):  "I predict that long before I run out of SITs there will be some new, perhaps more interesting devices to play with."

@abd1 Congrats! Looking forward to reading more as they break in and you settle on positioning.

I find my 94db/1w/1m, 8ohm speakers somewhat limiting in terms of amplification.  Plenty of people do, but I don't think I'll ever move beyond the 25W/channel I currently use.  Watts may be cheap, but if I'm dumping funds into amplification, I'd still rather dump them into fewer watts than more of them. 

The amps also tend to get so complicated the more power they're managing... just look at Nelson Pass' First Watt line to see how alluring the low power designs can be.  He has the capacity to build some of the best reviewed high wattage amps available and still spends a huge amount of time (perhaps the majority?) playing with low power designs.  

I've only heard superlative reviews for the Bakoon products, would love to hear one.

@charles1dad  What's crazy is that Nelson not only makes the commercial First Watt amps, but also releases (for free) additional FW-like designs for the diy community.  I was just reading about a single-ended 8W SIT amp that he's going to release kits for soon:  https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass-labs/357517-simple-se-sit-amp.html

I like this quote from him regarding the design:  "I tried to make it more complicated and obscure, but it's just not in me."  

Just more evidence in favor of the combination of sensitive speakers and low wattage amplifiers in my book.

@charles1dad Are you using the EMLs these days?

@riaa I'm considering you my new connection. Thanks!

Have yet to see a bad one!  Thanks @david_ten 

@abd1 If it works it works.  I had a bad experience with system wide room correction (Lyngdorf), but still use it on my subs (miniDSP).  In the end you have to trust your ears.  Dogma is for people who prefer thoughts of superiority over experimentation and subjective experience, and what is music enjoyment if not the latter?  We've all got different rooms, systems, ears, and brains. 

Congrats.

@ricardoosusa Please do report back if you take the plunge.  I'd love to read about the experience of comparing Dynaudio and Cube Audio.  Such different approaches, it would be very informative.

@charles1dad Definitely.  Agreed.  And it's clear from that thread that even the person who changed to WvLs still loved the Nenuphars.  

Interesting thing about my possible venture to build Cube Audio based head units for my Coincident PREs is that I could switch back and forth between two high quality presentations by just swapping out the head units (and changing what amps the bass cabs are connected to).

Hi folks, wondering if anyone with these Cube drivers listens to rock (e.g., Tool) or heavy electronica? 

I was reading a WBF thread where people pointed that out as a potential weakness... while still loving the speakers.

https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/wills-horn-finalists.28945/page-7

Wish it was easier to hear everything...

I read a number of pages of this thread (starting from the end), and was getting very jealous at all of his listening experiences: https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/keithrs-dream-speaker-search.27069/

@charles1dad I just started participating over at WBT.  Agreed with you on the heightened sense of community over there and the loss of it here... 

There's also so much more interest in mechanism over there.  People may fight and bicker, but they do care about why things sound differently.  And much more interest in educating others by sharing experiences and perspective.  I find it incredibly refreshing.  

Also lots of interest in high efficiency and SETs.  Right up your alley!

And most critically for the objectivist "it's all in your head" crowd, the change was contrary to the previously developed preferences and expectations. 

Sure, you could also blame a bad mood at the time of testing, but in line with Charles' sentiment, it's clear that our ears are meant for hearing and they do a wonderful job. (Despite the constant biasing influence of extra-auditory factors) 

No need to apologize for loving your gear!

I'd never heard of the amps and always enjoy reading about anything new that's carefully made. Whatever you think about 6moons, you've got to appreciate the concerted effort to show internals and discuss design decisions. At least there's some objective information there to learn from and use to supplement the usual subjective adjectives.

@stephendunn A couple dac thoughts. Have you tried anything from the aries cerat kassandra series? http://aries-cerat.eu/products/da-converters/kassandra-series

Also curious if you’ve tried anything from SW1X. They've got a range of products up to the DAC V...  https://sw1xad.co.uk/product/sw1x-dac-v/

Would love to hear listening reports if you have tried something from either company.

@yorkshireman As you'll no doubt see, prices can be all over the place for various SET designs. Charles rightly points out that the circuits are simple, so if you can, look for "under the hood" pictures that show you parts and power supply quality of the build.  If you're not confident evaluating, then post links here and I'm sure many will opine.

If you can at all swing it, I would recommend mono-blocks (or a single chassis dual-mono design).  I built my own amplifiers (from pre-made Nelson Pass boards), and the change in sound quality when going from a standard stereo build to a mono-block design with independent power supplies was quite substantial.  There is good reason why all cost-no-object designs have independent power supplies, as the two channels create distortion when they are simultaneously pulling on the same transformer. 

I like the tempo electric solid core silver in Teflon (and use VH audio solid core silver in my interconnects and components).

@stephendunn Congrats Stephen, great to hear.  Do you have a thread up where you discuss your DAC auditions?  I'd love to read more about the competitors and decision making. Have heard many good things about those PD dacs.

@stephendunn Thanks, even that little bit helps.  Appreciate it.

@david_ten No affiliation, but I would point basically everyone to audio kinesis’ swarm solution. It fixes issues in a scientifically proven method. I truly believe that multiple sources of sub80hz bass spread around the room fixes a problem that can only be solved by that approach or an absolutely perfect room.

@charles1dad I suspect the Cube Audio solution is of higher quality (17,000 euros for the two Cube subs vs $3200 for the Swarm), but at the end of the day you've still only got two sources of bass and all the standing wave issues that that brings. 

Obviously many people can obtain sufficient bass performance in this manner by adjusting speaker and listening position, but four (or more) sources of bass spread around the room is really the only way besides room modifications to truly smooth out those inevitable peaks and valleys. 

Imagine a rectangular wave pool with actuators on only one end vs one with actuators on all four sides. If I worked with Duke/AudioKinesis, I would construct a small countertop model and allow people to see the different standing wave patterns created as you add actuators around the space.  You'll move from large standing waves to more of an even chop with smaller peaks and valleys as you do so.

In any case, like you said, it would make an interesting comparison.  And agreed, horses for courses.  

Completely unaffiliated, but I saw a Bakoon 13R up on USAM... thought I'd draw attention here since a number of people were talking about using a Bakoon with their Nenuphars.