Spoiled by Karma sound, Fyne not to my liking, too 'metallic' (like licking brass :)...
M. 🇿🇦
M. 🇿🇦
My Long List of Amplifiers and My Personal Review of Each!
I auditioned the F704s with the Boulder 866 integrated at Suncoast on Friday afternoon for two full hours and bought them on the spot. I find them to be incredibly musical, excelling with all kinds of music. As always, YMMV, horses for courses, and so on. For anyone considering them, I recommend making arrangements to hear them and not rely too heavily on Youtube videos or audio forum posts to form your judgment. They are special. |
For those who have wondered about the M6, here is a video teaser i just took 10 min ago: https://youtu.be/VMzuYUtD90w |
Walter will you use sub(s) or just the 704’s ? in regards to your choice of 866, did you compare it with any other integrateds and if so which? edit: oh maybe you only bought the 704’s and not also the 866. Not clear from post (depends whether your use of “them” meant speakers only or also amp demo’d) but I assumed both initially but on second read you maybe meant just speakers..... |
I find it hard to believe that some are saying they like the sound of the Karma/Boulder over the Gryphon/M6. From what I'm hearing it's not remotely close. And this latest vid is 'wow' good. But again...to each his/her own. I thought the Fyne/Classe combo was very good but was a bit too lean and bright. A pair of AQ Dragon PC's might just balance out the sound....for me anyway. |
The Fyne 704 has some design features with objective technical characteristics that correlate with the excellent midrange/HF neutrality and resolution. The tweeter compression driver has its own small horn, which enables high efficiency. For a given SPL output, the excursion of the tweeter is less than for a non-horn tweeter, enabling lower distortion and greater purity. Also, covering the range down to 900 Hz is another factor accounting for the speed and purity. Jay has not liked the horn speakers he heard in the past, calling them "shouty." This Fyne speaker is probably the lowest coloration "horn-like" speaker I have heard. One tiny caveat--the tweeter appears to be at about 44" height, which is higher than ear level of about 39" sitting straight up in an average chair. Even though the horn radiation pattern would give excellent dispersion, it would be even better for full HF perception to sit on a higher chair. The top F-12 has even better coverage of its tweeter down to 750 Hz. Its titanium material is probably better than the magnesium for the 704. I also like the brilliance control for 2.5-5 kHz, for customization. (The flexible adjustment with resistors for each driver in the Wilson Alexx is also a great feature). I hope Jay does a video of the F-12 so we can compare these two superb Fyne speakers. Who cares if some people think that this thread is advertising for Mike's Suncoast shop? Mike has a great lineup of products, and he has the highest degree of honesty and integrity. Even though he may not need the additional advertising here, he deserves the widest recognition. The pre-eminent NY dealer, Lyric Hifi, is closing its doors for good. I knew Mike Kay who founded it in 1959. I bought my first high end speaker, the Maggie Tympani 1D from him in 1978. The current owner, Lenny B in an interview in the latest Stereophile, said "it was a wonderful life" but young people today with their phones and such don't appreciate quality. Sad, but true. Mike of Suncoast is trying to preserve the quest for quality--more power to him. |
@t_ramey Do you have a link to the video? Needless to say, I really enjoyed the audition. @kren0006 No subs for me. Very powerful and articulate bass and I bet it will get even better as the 704s I heard are still breaking in. I found the speakers to be admirably balanced and convincing in all areas. As for the Boulder 866, I did not have a chance nor really any interest in comparing its most obvious competitors such as the Gryphon, PassLabs, Accuphase, etc., not after I had it in my house for a couple of months and found that it checked all of my boxes. With the onboard digital, the 866 was just a no-brainer and a bargain. It is also—at least to my ears—a match made in heaven for the 704s. |
Sorry, but I must share this. I had no idea there was this footage. Unreal. look how young they were. The Synthesizer.. Love it . One of the best tunes ever https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-E7_VHLvkE |
Delightful surprise. In several ways, the Franco Serblin is my favorite speaker of all that Jay has presented, for its brilliance in midrange/HF. Its obvious shortcoming is the mid bass bump which is typical of many of these mini monitor type speakers. The tiny midrange/bass driver cannot produce any honest bass, so the mid bass is boosted electronically to give fullness. The resulting incoherence between the thin midrange/bright HF and the mid bass is unacceptable. This reminds me of the fun I had in the early 80's with my Rogers LS 3/5a, probably the most well known of the mini monitor speakers, and still sought after today. Back then I hadn't discovered the utility of EQ, so I just lived with the mid bass bump in return for the accurate midrange/HF. But now with my Rane EQ, I would reduce the mid bass bump to achieve decent coherence, and have a nice time enjoying a lot of music with little bass. In a very small room with the EQ to give coherence, the bass might be satisfactory, enabling excellent enjoyment of a lot more music down to 70 Hz or so. The Hegel is good amplification. Another amp or cable wouldn't make much difference. A tube amp would create a more mellow balance, but it wouldn't correct the big problem which is the mid bass bump as a deliberate design to obtain fullness from a tiny speaker. |
inna, Please listen to the Franco Serblin (FS) carefully. The opening lower freq instruments are bloated and muddy compared to the clear voice and upper freq transients. I prefer the highest midrange/HF clarity of the FS to that of the Fyne 704, but the larger speakers have honest bass which is coherent with the rest of the freq range, resulting in more clarity in the lower freq and overall better musical balance. The incoherence of the FS is a design flaw which cannot be corrected with amps or cables. But EQ is the only electronic intervention that can "correct" the incorrect design. What the FS does well is excellent. Some YT videos show the Fyne F1-5, another stand mounted speaker. With unfamiliar music, it seems like this Fyne doesn’t have the mid bass bump and might be a better design. It would be great if Jay can present the Fyne F1-5 and F1-12 on this Iron Hand song. Sorry, I know people must be getting tired of this song, but the only way to reliably distinguish products is by using the same song as a reference. A few reviews of the FS are highly complimentary, but none mention the obvious mid bass bump and incoherence. This shows how many reviews have limited value, because they are "politically correct" and don’t honestly present the drawbacks. |
WC, You just can't win - there's always some who are not satisfied. If you play the same songs, then some folks want new ones, and vise-versa. If you play with expensive components, you have folks complaining that you aren't playing with lower priced components, and then when you actually do that (like now), then you get folks who complain that you are not using expensive components. Not enough break in for some folks, however, if you don't get new stuff to play with, then you get complaints then too. Can't folks just enjoy your journey without complaining? :-) Dave |
If there is new music then we just don’t make comparisons to the old gear, that’s all there is to it no big deal. Maybe Jay isn’t asking you to compare to the old system but to start comparing changes in this system. However any comparisons have to have same songs. So if we’re not comparing then what are we doing. Just listening? Well it all sounds good but compared to what? If you want opinions on what our preferences are then same song has to be there in my opinion. Even in my home system if I want to evaluate a change I play the same piece on both. |
Post removed |
Post removed |
Post removed |
klh007 makes good sense, which gives everyone what they want-- "For comparison purposes, maybe Jay could play 30 second to 1 minute clips of past songs, perhaps 3 or 4 clips, then move on to newer tunes, we can compare to older gear with the same songs and enjoy some new ones as well?" When I do A/B's and go back and forth, I choose a 30-60 second passage. Any longer than that, you get used to what you last heard, and comparisons are more difficult. Judging tone quality in midrange/HF, I can often tell within 1-2 seconds. |
I am currently messing around with Shunyata Sigma V2 interconnects, speaker cables and Omega powercords. That is what you all heard yesterday (besides the new amp and the dac). You all didn’t just hear a new amp but pretty much a new system with the M6 on this last video. If you felt the sound went backwards then it may very well be the combination used. I am still figuring things out and playing around with a bunch of cables that were loaned to me. Shunyata is indeed warmer than Synergistic (i am sure you all heard that on the video) so it is a matter of reaching the perfect balance perhaps using a combination of Shunyata and Synergistic cables in the system. THIS IS what is HARD as well when it comes to system matching. Changing an amplifier is the easiest thing, but cables are a WHOOOOOLE other animal that takes more out of you. More to come for sure! |
We are moving away from the same tracks over and over again. It’s done. Please don’t start asking for the same thing. I’m actually bored myself to the point that i want to just watch movies instead. Can’t keep playing the same thing. Time to leave the same tunes behind. There is more to explore. I am the type of personality that can't do repetitive purchases of anything. I even get tired of habanero margaritas and i love those but if you give me too many then i am looking for cranberry vodka. I’m sick of dire straits and sick of the same damn songs you all have been hearing. This is why I don’t buy blu-ray movies. I can’t watch the same movie everyday. I have enough with my daughter playing the same "baby shark" song 24/7. We move the hell on and begin with new music which won’t include classical music since i don’t have an ear for that and i won’t criticize those who love whisky or classical music. It’s their thing, more power to them. |
No way to judge the last video since the song hasn't been presented before here. Even though the recording is dated, this great song is a hit classic and is useful as a new reference for midrange with the voice and sax. Of course, you enjoy all of your music at home and don't need to keep repeating demo songs for yourself, but for audio evaluations, there is no substitute for repeated hearings of a few references. The best audio quality song was "Perhaps Love" (or something like that) which you presented about 1-2 years ago. This is a true reference for female voice. |