Modern speaker upgrade, please help
- Thread starter MWalt
- Start date
thedelihaus
Nocturnal transmissions
Mark- the suspense is KILLING me. I'd hire a few short high school kids for a few hours to stand and hold them if need be.
Quite excited about the whole thing, so I can only imagine how you must feel.
Quite excited about the whole thing, so I can only imagine how you must feel.
:yes:
komoyuki
Super Member
hibuckhobby
Well-Known Member
At that price point, you'd be hard pressed to beat the Fritz Carbon 7's.
Hibuck....
Hibuck....
MWalt
Super Member
I got home from my business trip kind of late last night, so I really didn't feel much like messing around with audio. The good news is that my Skylan stands arrived on Friday. I took both boxes upstairs to my listening room and spent what was left of the evening on quality family time with my wife and son.
This morning I got up and unpackaged everthing. My first impression of the Boxers was really positive. These speakers are large and literally dwarf my Rega RS-1's. The fit and finish is first class and from a purely asthetic viewpoint they convey the look of a high end stand mount. At first I was disappointed with the Skylan stands. I was thinking that I overpaid for MDF and plastic stands. But, once I put them together I saw that they are well engineered and set up to couple the speakers to the floor effectively. I am going to add the sand later when I get a chance.
I went ahead and powered up my system to get an initial impression without any form of "critical" listening and comparison. I was advised that these speakers need at least 100 hours to break in, so I will wait a little while before I do a detailed amateur review.
My first impression of the Boxers is the following: They sound big with a huge wide and deep sound stage with a lot of detail around instruments. The highs are not overbearing but, seem to have a neutral quality. Midrange is their forte. I tried the Boxers with and without the subwoofer and I am not so sure I need it anymore. These speakers get down fairly low and I probably am not missing much from the lower registers of frequency. The Boxer seems to be a very well balanced speaker. I also have a feeling that the Boxer would do great in a large space. I need to do some experimentation with placement in my limited listening environmen and I am looking forward to breaking this speaker in. It took quite a while for my Rega's to sound their best, so I will be patient.
It is a nice day here in NE Ohio and it is time to break the Jeep out of garage hibernation. I will be wrenching this weekend and in the meantime, I will play my system all day (Techno
) to facillitate break in.
This evening I will post pics. The sad thing is that HypnoToad has my phono stage at the moment and all I have for back up is a DB Systems DB-8. The difference between the DB-8 and my Hypno modded 640P is the difference between a Z06 Vette and a Malibu. So, in the interim I will use my SBT/DAC/.flac files for breakin and listening.
Pics later today!
This morning I got up and unpackaged everthing. My first impression of the Boxers was really positive. These speakers are large and literally dwarf my Rega RS-1's. The fit and finish is first class and from a purely asthetic viewpoint they convey the look of a high end stand mount. At first I was disappointed with the Skylan stands. I was thinking that I overpaid for MDF and plastic stands. But, once I put them together I saw that they are well engineered and set up to couple the speakers to the floor effectively. I am going to add the sand later when I get a chance.
I went ahead and powered up my system to get an initial impression without any form of "critical" listening and comparison. I was advised that these speakers need at least 100 hours to break in, so I will wait a little while before I do a detailed amateur review.
My first impression of the Boxers is the following: They sound big with a huge wide and deep sound stage with a lot of detail around instruments. The highs are not overbearing but, seem to have a neutral quality. Midrange is their forte. I tried the Boxers with and without the subwoofer and I am not so sure I need it anymore. These speakers get down fairly low and I probably am not missing much from the lower registers of frequency. The Boxer seems to be a very well balanced speaker. I also have a feeling that the Boxer would do great in a large space. I need to do some experimentation with placement in my limited listening environmen and I am looking forward to breaking this speaker in. It took quite a while for my Rega's to sound their best, so I will be patient.
It is a nice day here in NE Ohio and it is time to break the Jeep out of garage hibernation. I will be wrenching this weekend and in the meantime, I will play my system all day (Techno
) to facillitate break in.This evening I will post pics. The sad thing is that HypnoToad has my phono stage at the moment and all I have for back up is a DB Systems DB-8. The difference between the DB-8 and my Hypno modded 640P is the difference between a Z06 Vette and a Malibu. So, in the interim I will use my SBT/DAC/.flac files for breakin and listening.
Pics later today!
Last edited:
MWalt
Super Member
He is replacing the opamp on the MM side and troubleshooting the loss of a channel which I somehow managed to screw up when I was messing around with the internals. It was a reminder for me to stick with the things that I am good at and leave electronics work to guys like Phillip, who is quite talented in that regard.
I set my SBT to internet radio that is going 24/7 through break in.
MWalt
Super Member
The Nola Boxers now have about 30 hours on them and are really coming into their own. They are definitely getting better as they break in. If I was blindfolded and walked into the room to listen to them I would guess that they were floorstanders. These speakers just sound bigger than they are. ArtK was right when he said the Skylan stands would be a marked improvement. The Skylans are good stands, and I had to use about 50 lbs of sand to fill them up. The Boxers really make good bass with these stands without the sub. I decided to see if I could improve the low end a little without affecting the fantastic midrange of these speakers and I think I succeeded by spending over an hour dialing them in. I have the sub crossed over at 50hz. The Nola's get down to 44hz flat, so there is absolute transparency. I am also running the Boxers full range. My little sub is sealed and is tight, fast and not at all boomy. I verified my sub settings with a Depeche Mode remix that has some flat out serious bass. The sub is transparent and has disappeared.
Without a serious attempt at critical listening I can tell you this thus far; the Boxers are fantastic for the retail price of $1500. For the price of $1200 shipped that I paid they are an absolute steal. They are very sensitive, fast and dynamic. Big wide, deep soundstage with just the right amount of space around instruments. The soundstage extends beyond the speakers from left to right. The midrange response is their greatest strength. Even though I have a tube preamp, I would love to try these with a Leben integrated amp or something similar because I believe they would sound awesome with lower powered tube gear. I also strongly suspect that they are limited in my small space and would be way better in a large room. How's that for versatility?
As I promised, I have some pics to show them to you. Hopefully the pics will give you a better perspective of my space constraints, so if you have placement suggestions, please, by all means speak up. I do wish to thank everyone and all that helped my in this quest. Pics:
Without a serious attempt at critical listening I can tell you this thus far; the Boxers are fantastic for the retail price of $1500. For the price of $1200 shipped that I paid they are an absolute steal. They are very sensitive, fast and dynamic. Big wide, deep soundstage with just the right amount of space around instruments. The soundstage extends beyond the speakers from left to right. The midrange response is their greatest strength. Even though I have a tube preamp, I would love to try these with a Leben integrated amp or something similar because I believe they would sound awesome with lower powered tube gear. I also strongly suspect that they are limited in my small space and would be way better in a large room. How's that for versatility?
As I promised, I have some pics to show them to you. Hopefully the pics will give you a better perspective of my space constraints, so if you have placement suggestions, please, by all means speak up. I do wish to thank everyone and all that helped my in this quest. Pics:
cableguy
In Twang We Trust
:yes:
MWalt
Super Member
I have thought about bass traps, etc. What do you suggest?
thedelihaus
Nocturnal transmissions
Those look outstanding.
Mark, I don't recall- what sub are you using with these?
Mark, I don't recall- what sub are you using with these?
MWalt
Super Member
It is an Emotiva Ultra Sub 10. I know a lot of people snub Emotiva gear, but this is actually quite a good sub for $400. It is a sealed, 10" long throw subwoofer rated at 200 watts. It is fast, clean sounding and has decent build quality.
Down the road I may upgrade, but it works well for now.
komoyuki
Super Member
Nice looking room. Terrific speaker. I bet you will like them for many years to come. They will get even better with more break time period. Congratz man, always a thrill to receive new speakers. If you can, try new placement with your speaker, 2 feet from front wall and little toe in. Anyway keep posting 