Matt's system

[f1eng]

Have you listened to the Sanders speakers too?
I am unlikely to change my hifi now, but Sanders seems like a sensible fellow and i wondered whether his speakers are as well thought out and BS free as his amps.
When it first piqued my interest there was no UK distributor.
Who is the distributor now, please?

[Jwg1749]

1. it's possible to get very high quality from a fairly low spend on a digital front end and DAC; the same isn't true of turntables.

Matt

There's an on-going (literally for months) discussion on the Naim forum in which several Chord Hugo customers insist that their £1,400 DACs outperform the £13,000 Naim NDS/555PS streamer. So you may well be correct

It wouldn't surprise me if the Chord Hugo measured better than the Naim streamer.

If you set any store by measurements (I do), the differences between digital sources/DACs are quite small, which isn't to say that a digital front end can't be badly implemented or spoilt by poor installation.

Analog front ends are another matter altogether. Back in the 1950s Arthur Janszen, one of the pioneers of electrostatic speakers, showed for the first time that it was possible to build a SOTA audio system in which even the speakers distorted less that the turntable.

All of which may, of course, be irrelevant if you prefer the sound of analog or the expensive Naim streamer for that matter.

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Have you listened to the Sanders speakers too?
I am unlikely to change my hifi now, but Sanders seems like a sensible fellow and i wondered whether his speakers are as well thought out and BS free as his amps.
When it first piqued my interest there was no UK distributor.
Who is the distributor now, please?

No, Frank, I'm afraid I haven't heard the speakers.

I've been impressed by Roger Sanders's straightforwardness. His website is a breath of fresh air. Plenty of solid technical info and very clear justifications for his design principles. The products come with a lifetime guarantee. Judging by the Magtech amp, his products seem reasonably priced for what they do.

The Magtech really does make my Martin Logans sing like canaries. I recall the first time I heard Martin Logans I thought they were awful: nasty plasticky tone in the upper mids and some serious distortion at the top end when driven loud. I can only think they were being driven by the wrong amp.

The fly in the ointment with Sanders is, as you suggest, UK distribution. AFAIK the only UK outlet is Scott Nangle Audio in Scotland. Dealing with Mr Nangle is not recommended if you have a heart problem or high blood pressure. He did eventually ship me a demo model of the Magtech against a £3K payment, but there were occasions when I suspected I was being taken for a ride. One thing I would say in his favour is that his price of £3.5K for a new Magtech is pretty good when you think that the US price is $5.5K direct from Sanders. I can think of a few UK dealers who'd be charging closer to £5K.

The Sanders website claims that they'll ship anywhere in the world on a one-month trial basis. I haven't explored this option. Might be a better than Mr Nangle.

Matt

[Rufus McDufus]

I thought I'd heard that name before ...
http://forums.linn.co.uk/bb/showthread.php?tid=26653

[PhilP]

.deleted

[f1eng]

The Sanders website claims that they'll ship anywhere in the world on a one-month trial basis. I haven't explored this option. Might be a better than Mr Nangle.

Matt

If I were younger I may have tried these.
I like the soundfield created by planar speakers. I enjoyed a pair of Apogee active Divas for a long time in another house but they were a poor match with this room.
I did have some reservations about the fact that the soundfield of dipoles is, in my estimation, a product of the radiation pattern and room reflections, rather something which is in the recording that panels reveal, but my it sounds fabulous.
I first auditioned Duettas against ATC 50s and the stereo imaging was so much more impressive and the reason I went Apogee in the end.

[Jwg1749]

I thought I'd heard that name before ...

Indeed. There are similar complaints on the 'Wam. My experience suggests he's just a bit chaotic.

If I were younger I may have tried these.
I like the soundfield created by planar speakers. I enjoyed a pair of Apogee active Divas for a long time in another house but they were a poor match with this room.
I did have some reservations about the fact that the soundfield of dipoles is, in my estimation, a product of the radiation pattern and room reflections, rather something which is in the recording that panels reveal, but my it sounds fabulous.
I first auditioned Duettas against ATC 50s and the stereo imaging was so much more impressive and the reason I went Apogee in the end.

The 2D imaging is remarkable, and so is the 3D imaging with the right amp (which I think I have now).

When you talk about the soundfield being a product of radiation patterns and room reflections, I guess you're referring to the rearwards radiation of dipoles. Some ESL manufacturers (ML and Sanders are examples) make out that this is all part of the ESL experience. Like you, I'm unsure about this. There's something to be said for cancelling it out with acoustic absorbers or diffusors behind the speakers. I've heard this work well, though it seems to be frowned on.

As I understand it, Janszen ESLs cancel out the dipole effect by putting their 'static panels in a box with an internal baffle. At least that's how they look to me. Their small floorstanders, the JansZen zA2.1, look very neat and sell for $8750. They're one on my to-do list. They're distributed in the UK by soundsetup near Cheltenham.

Matt

[amabrok]

Their small floorstanders, the JansZen zA2.1, look very neat and sell for $8750.
Matt

Looks very good and the Janszen's tech friendly writing on his website sounds very convincing.

the smaller ESL panel does not seem to be as demanding as ML bigger ones. it is a shame that there is no local dealer here to try them !