Minimalist companies: 47 labs, Scott Nixon,Decware
The prometheus go down to 100Hz and fall off rapidly below that because of the open baffle. Then the dual powered subs take over and provide flat bass down to 30Hz or so. Not too bad considering both speakers, the subs and the sub amp, and the wood kit costs under $2k. http://www.bastanis.com/diy/prometheus_en.htm Gary |
I'm in the middle of putting together an uber-minimalist system right now as a matter of fact. Here's the amp I'm getting: http://www.geocities.com/vinnie822/cta_desc.html It's a heavily-modified and battery-powered Tripath chip. The DAC will be a Scott Nixon DacKit (not the tubed one), and it'll go into the same kind of enclosure as the amp, and be powered by the same kind of battery: http://www.geocities.com/vinnie822/cta_desc.html Finally, the speakers are Bastanis Prometheus... they're full-range, extremely high-efficiency speakers with no crossover between 100Hz and 10kHz. These are the speakers Peter that Brueninger raved about in Stereophile last month. http://www.baulsaudio.com Aside from the powered sub amp and my transport (for now...) I'll be completely independant of a/c power. Just can't wait until everything gets here to see how it all sounds. Gary |
Linaeum, welcome to the future. Another company that is very reductionist, if you want to call minimalist is Final Laboratories. They produce a series of components that are battery powered, kiss goodbye to power cords, power conditioners, other voodoo stuff and plunge some money in C and D batteries are most possibly, a pair of Fullrange horn speakers. I have the Final Music 5 and 6, with batteries and also a tubed power supply for the amp, they are astonishingly fast in the delivery. I do not think that there are other companies that can ever surpass 47 Labs with their Gaincard. It is next to impossible. Most DYIers and other cloners try, spending little money, but their finished products and cabling is no competition with the 2 cm or less length of the signal path of a Gaincard. I mean, you need to be hardcore and precise to get to that short of a signal path. A review of the last manufacture you mention appears in 6Moons.com Still, I do not adhere to the remarks of the writer who critized the 47 Labs Shigaraki. I have the piece and I can say that it is in a sense, aesthetically 180% to the Canadian company products. |
cdc: My interest in minimalism is on two levels. First and foremost I want to acheive the shortest signal path and least amount of components possible (taking the Einstein quote into account of course). Secondly I am intrigued by minimalist art work and would like my system to reflect that. I find that many companies who strive to make short signal paths also manifest this minimalist philosophy on the exterior ( 47 labs being the best example i've encountered so far) |
Epos and Axiom speakers with ~ no crossover. Carolinaaudio.com with Jordan single driver speakers. ELF 1.5 from Creative Sound in Canada does not have the rising response curve of the Jordan driver but I haven't heard the Jordan to compare actual sound. Mistral integrated amplifiers. But I ask you, why the interest in minimalism? The Mistral is a perfect example of a minimal design which offers clear sound but is far from neutral precisely because it is minimalist. Without the feedback to control the signal you're trading one distortion for another. As Einstein said, make things as simple as possible, but no simpler. |
