Koss CM/530 - Milw CL

[Danimal]

No Affil...

Have heard that these are a very nice speaker. $50.00 on Milw CL. No cash on this end after paying for some repairs on my preamp today.

http://milwaukee.craigslist.org/ele/1476859064.html

Pic is of the CM/1030 - The big brother of the CM/530

Thanks to koseltri for pointing out my mistake.

 

[JohnVF]

I don't think they'd sound better than those DQs anyway...but I bet they do sound nice. I have a very tiny pair of Koss M-80s that are really cool, and sound great for how tiny they are...wouldn't mind a pair of the CM/530s, just to hear what they can do with a speaker about 20 times bigger.

 

[Danimal]

I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't sound better. I, like most people on this site, have a need to constantly be in the know of what is on my local CL.

"Hi, my name is Dan and I have a speaker addiction.... "

Everyone together now... "Hi Dan!"

 

[JohnVF]

I'm pretty sure that they wouldn't sound better. I, like most people on this site, have a need to constantly be in the know of what is on my local CL.

"Hi, my name is Dan and I have a speaker addiction.... "

Everyone together now... "Hi Dan!"

Oh, me too. I check all the time, and still buy stuff. I did leave a pair of AR-2ax at the thrift today. That was progress..but they only got left because I'd already owned a pair at one time. I love my Sony SS-m7, more than any speaker I've owned and most I've heard, but I still look. I even buy sometimes, for other systems....when you are satisfied with one system, you can always make another...

I also have a preamp addiction, and amp addiction, and vintage receiver addiction, and tube amp addiction, and a very very serious turntable addiction. Even having the VPI hasn't cured me from eyeballing every TT on Craigslist, and a certain Empire at a local store...

 

[Danimal]

I hear ya. I'm always looking. I have to sell a couple more things to be able to make a play at a better preamp or CDP. I'm even thinking about a tube buffer. I listened to a Grant Fidelity tube buffer where I got the DQs and was quite impressed with how it handled the highs. It was ear opening to say the least.

 

[JohnVF]

I hear ya. I'm always looking. I have to sell a couple more things to be able to make a play at a better preamp or CDP. I'm even thinking about a tube buffer. I listened to a Grant Fidelity tube buffer where I got the DQs and was quite impressed with how it handled the highs. It was ear opening to say the least.

Why not get a tube preamp instead? Instead of inserting tube goodness, just get tube goodness from the get-go if you're looking for a preamp anyway. I often run one with a solid state amp.

 

[Balifly]

There is a pair of CM 1020 in my basement recreation room.
They have been fully refurbished, sounds great with rock music!

 

[koseltri]

Not picture of actual speakers for sale.

You got that right. The pic is of a CM/1030, the flagship. For $50 they'd be a steal. Good thing they're not, I'd be mad they aren't closer, I need a woofer, one of mine is rubbing ever so slightly, the buzzing drives me nuts at low levels.

 

[Danimal]

You got that right. The pic is of a CM/1030, the flagship. For $50 they'd be a steal. Good thing they're not, I'd be mad they aren't closer, I need a woofer, one of mine is rubbing ever so slightly, the buzzing drives me nuts at low levels.

OOPS. Sorry about the confusion. That is the pic that showed up when I did a Google image search. I guess I should have investigated it a little further. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Danimal]

Why not get a tube preamp instead? Instead of inserting tube goodness, just get tube goodness from the get-go if you're looking for a preamp anyway. I often run one with a solid state amp.

Can I find a decent one for $200.00 max??

 

[JohnVF]

I bought my YS Audio Symphonies preamp used for about that. It's a little, simple, Hong Kong preamp that was slightly modded by the previous owner, but I really like it. It absolutely destroys the preamp section in every one of my vintage receivers and intregrated amps except my luxman and Yamaha A-1. But, it has no phono section (I use an external one, sometimes even the phono section from an integrated). There are a number of threads here on affordable tube preamps. The Bottlehead products get a lot of mentions. I heard the Foreplay at an AK get-together and it was stellar. A passive preamp might be something to explore, too. Interesting preamps show up in bartertown from time to time. Not that this is the only way to go..I'm listening to a solid state preamp right now that sounds as good as my tube preamps (audire legato).

 

[Danimal]

It sounds as though I need to be diligent with my ePrey shopping if I want to get one at a decent price. I have all the time in the world as I do like my SAE. I cannot put my finger on it, but to me there is something with the SAE. It seems "hollow" for lack of a better descriptor. My Onkyo A-7022 makes a wonderful pre (I like everything about it) but I just sold it along with the matching tuner. I am sure I will be posting in the thread about equipment that you sold and wish you never did. Is there a possibility that I like my music "colored" and not acurate? hhmmmmmm :scratch2:

 

[JohnVF]

Is there a possibility that I like my music "colored" and not acurate? hhmmmmmm :scratch2:

Wouldn't be anything wrong with that. I could also just be that the SAE is not a great synergistic match with the Dahlquists. I've had preamps sound great with one speaker, terrible with another. I like 'accurate' but not sterile. Sometimes it seems one equals the other, but I don't believe it has to. I know I sold my Yamaha C-85 preamp because I thought it to be clean to a fault. I didn't get any emotion out of it.

 

[Danimal]

I didn't get any emotion out of it.

That's it!!! That is what is missing. It's a very esoteric description but that fits!

Thanks :thmbsp:

 

[JohnVF]

If it's emotion you're after, I can't recommend the Audire Legato enough in that price range. I don't think it's a coincidence that the Audire, looking like a little guitar rack processor, captures emotion better than the receiver sized-C-85. Of all the gear I've had through here, it seems with all of it, the more involved the preamp/preamp section, the less of the emotional impact is carried through to the amp/speakers. The Audire is very simple if you look inside, but what's there is top quality. Very clean, very smooth sounding, excellent phono stage. All of this is opinion, of course, some people like to have a million tone controls (the audire has none), but I don't miss them. I really get sucked into the music with this thing. Since I got it, any other preamp I've tried hasn't lasted more than a day before I put the Audire back. It may not be the most accurate preamp...it seems to add a hint of midrange 'bloom' that I like, which is one thing I also like about tube preamps, at least vintage ones. It has a 'fat' sound.

I have to say that part of this must be some sort of synergy with my power amp, a really sweet, smooth sounding Robert Grodinsky Research unit (he lived up in Skokie or Evanston, north of Chicago). But for preamps in the $200 range, I don't know what I would recommend that would be better. There are probably some really nice, simple preamps from the '90s that get overlooked. A lot of the '90s high end gear is going for really cheap it seems. The Audire is from around 1980...designer was a former Apollo moon-landing engineer.

 

[Danimal]

Thanks for the recommendations! Some day I'd like to drive down and check out your set-up.

 

[JohnVF]

Thanks for the recommendations! Some day I'd like to drive down and check out your set-up.

My girlfriend and I make it up to Milwaukee every so often, too, if you're near there. You're welcome to come by anytime you're in the area...I hope to rent a bigger place in a few months so I can more properly set up my gear. The loft I have is not ideal for multiple systems, and I'm down to two...used to have 5!

 

[Danimal]

Check your PM.