New living space - new listening space

[cybot]

Entertaining write up Claus. Luckily you've found a solution.....of sorts. Hopefully that gnawing in the recess of your inner core (wherever that is!) will prove to be unfounded and you'll all live happily ever after ;)

Let us know how you get on. Hedvig will be waiting too 🎸

[Claus]

Thanks for the moral support guys! It is very comforting😁. (Am I... really...still on the bus?)🤣🤣

Tony: I actually never thought I'd go down this road... I have a very understanding wife, who never really gave out about the amount of equipment in the house, and I was probably a bit smug when I heard of people having to conform to their other halves' interior design briefs. But after we got the house renovated and extended, I had to agree that the relatively small TV/living room was never going to accommodate all the gear. We had actually planned to build an office pod/log house type thing in the back garden for my home recording/rehearsal studio and Hifi. But at the age the kids are now (10 and 13) I think it will be hard for me to justify isolating in a room out the back. I can see why I'd want it (most of the time if not all of the time🤣🤣), but knowing myself I just don't think I will actually do it. When the kids get older and - perhaps even move out (dare I hope for such a thing...?😬) - the log house will be up in a jiffy (with all the leftover money from kids finding themselves all over the globe and tuition fees...😉😂).

Fran: I have looked at a huge amount of options including the ATC. I felt the bass response would be disappointing (and I have nothing but the tech data to base that on) which would necessitate a sub, which I am trying to avoid.... Also the WAF was a bit low... 😉. I also looked at Elac Navis, Dali and also Kef and Devialet (which I thought sounded pretty ok at the recent Dublin show)...

Dave: Yes, thanks for the suggestion. I had seriously considered headphone setup as I already have Hugo and it would be a great foundation without great expense. But as an amateur musician, I already spend a good amount of time with headphones when recording and composing, and based on this I don't find it as relaxing to listen through headphones. Maybe I just need a really good quality headphone to get that experience.... I might still consider this....

Si: Yes they are probably similar in concept to the Kii, but the price of entry is thankfully a bit more manageable. Now whether the sound quality is anywhere near our high end expectations, remains to be seen, but optimism from a few "insiders" on the danish forums, is quite promising....

Georgi: I can only recommend the Nord amp! Hudo is based in Dublin and he has one, so you could PM him and see if he'd be willing to demo it.

It is a big move in a completely new direction but I figured for the price of €25 it was worth the punt. If anyone is interested in the Focals they are welcome to contact me as I think they will be moved on to a good home in the near future, whether these A500s work out or not...👍😉

[Claus]

Entertaining write up Claus. Luckily you've found a solution.....of sorts. Hopefully that gnawing in the recess of your inner core (wherever that is!) will prove to be unfounded and you'll all live happily ever after ;)

Let us know how you get on. Hedvig will be waiting too 🎸

Thanks a million Dermot! I will keep you posted. I know that gnawing will be back before I know it... 😬😂

Oh I should thank Adrian as well who has been sharing some suggestions kindly helping me look into various solutions I wouldn't otherwise have considered. Cheers!

[DaveF]

Claus I was curious about your experience with the Hegel amp. When I get my next listening room sorted (quite some time away), I had in my mind to try out some Harbeths and a Hegel amp. They seem to come as a recommended combo and I've seen Alan Shaw praise them at the Bristol show a while back. They do have a pretty tight grip and damp any speaker quite well from what I've read so perhaps that just didn't match well with your speakers.

[Claus]

Claus I was curious about your experience with the Hegel amp. When I get my next listening room sorted (quite some time away), I had in my mind to try out some Harbeths and a Hegel amp. They seem to come as a recommended combo and I've seen Alan Shaw praise them at the Bristol show a while back. They do have a pretty tight grip and damp any speaker quite well from what I've read so perhaps that just didn't match well with your speakers.

Yes it was an interesting listen. On paper it should have matched the Focals well I'd have thought - great damping factor and not overly bright etc. I got Hudo out to listen without telling him about my own impression. He sat down and listened to a few tracks. I will let him chime in with his own impressions. But we both agreed that it was very disappointing. It was definitely not as good as my pre/power combo and not as good as Hudo's Nord amp with my or his preamp. I thought the imaging, detail and musicality were all a step down. Maybe it was a bad match and the Harberths would fare better, but I would definitely demo before I'd buy. HiFi-Hut were very accommodating, albeit completely indifferent, when I asked to borrow it for home demo over a weekend.

[hudo]

When I first heard Hegel with Focals at Claus place, everything was there; stage, highs, lows, but after song or two I noticed something's a little bit off (listening to the same speakers but in a different room is weird, like they're not the same speakers:). Even sound was there, music wasn't engaging, there's was a certain lack of musicality, warmth, organic feel to the music. I experience the same in my system when I put overly analytical and dry tubes, or use specific DAC which has that kind of sound (Focals and revealing and transparent, that's why I put a "romantic" sounding tube preamp in front of class-D Nord).
So I wouldn't rule put Hegel as bad sounding amp at all, but just need to find a good match. Like with every component, which makes this sport fun, and expensive:)

[hudo]

Nice write up.
That make me curious about these Nord Hypex amps, is there anywhere they can be heard?

Everyone's invited to my place for a listening session, when this whole lockdown is over! Just send me a PM and we can arrange a time ...

[Georgi]

Thanks, will do. 🙂

[cybot]

Hi Claus,

How did you get on?

[hudo]

Hi Claus,

How did you get on?

And pics:)