Tír Na HiFi

how are you getting oon with the xeros?are you happy with them?

Hi,


I do not think this is the section to write a review but I am far from writing one any anyway!
For me listening and describing your impressions is like tasting a wine. I know what I like; has to be powerful with good concentration of fruit, spicy, peppery or oaky but when it comes to describe little details I am bit lost.

First of all there are some limitations that prevent me from proper judgment of those speakers.

Time: I found out those speakers were brand new when I bought them. They were advertised as ex demo in order to justify the price drop below prices that appears in other shops. I have them for a good while but there are some days that I keep my stereo off so they have much less than 100 hours, so are not fully burned yet.

Listening room: The speakers are placed on Epos stands but too close to the back wall which is made from plasterboard. That results in bit boomy bass. There is a big solid piece of a furniture in-between the speakers so obviously it affects stereo image. My listening position is only 2 m away form the central point (in-between the speakers). There is a wall right behind my head too! So all together my room is little bit of disaster!

Amplification: I am running the Xeros using Linn Classik combo amp/cd/radio in one unit. Despite its 75 W the amp seem to struggle to provide enough power to achieve good level of performance. The speakers start to breathing at 75-80% of Linn’s power. Cd on this unit is good enough.

Speaker cable: I bought Chord Odyssey not so long time ago, so it is still not performing at its full potential.

About the speakers…. Well they are beautifully made; in gorgeous ebony natural veneer and I have no objections to their look and design. The size of mid-bass drive is something that makes you think that someone fitted a computer drive to wood cabinet it is so small.

Due to their size they have some obvious limitations. They will never sound like full scale florstanders or bigger stand speakers. The sound is natural, honest but it lacks some dynamics and muscle. I suppose this is something you should know when you decided to buy mini monitors.
They are very fast and respond pretty quickly on the changes in a music dynamics but at the same time when playing multi instrumental tracks they tend to loos little bit organization. Sound becoming too disorganized and tiring. It might be due to Linn’s internal amp, as with separate amp the result improves.
On its own, without the subwoofer I would definitely notice lack of lower frequencies. I ordered second sub so I am hoping to raise the frequencies on both units so they should work with the Xeros like full scale speakers. At the moment I can not do it as with one sub it will result in mono.

I tried the Xeros with separate amplifier and in bigger room and the difference was noticeable. I am getting Leema Pulse amp in 2 weeks so I hope it will improve the performance greatly.
Those speakers will probably suit someone with space limitations, someone who prefers more analytical, precise with good insight sound to musical, entertaining and dynamic sound.
I am not over excited about those speakers, but I want to give them chance so that’s why I decided to add second sub and change the amp.

I want to apology for my poor English, as it is not my native language I found difficult to express at the best my impression but it’s not so easy.

I will let you know in some time if there are any improvements after I will add the amp and sub and I will spend some more time with my system, I hope I need only be patient.


I have question to anyone who has a pair of mini monitors and 2 subs. Is it worth to add second sub to the audio system? As the subs are placed next to the speakers but obviously on the floor if I raise the frequencies on the sub to 400-500Hz will this sound ok? Any sort of advice on setting the system with 2 mini monitors and 2 subs please?



Cheers

Maciej

Well done Maciej, I enjoyed reading that report and I look forward to your next installment.

I think that 500hz is too high for the sub. Most will only work up as far as 160 or so.... And it's probably better to stay a little below that.

Get yourself a test cd from the web with frequency tones from 20hz to 20khz. These are available free to download. Next, get a sound level meter, or if you have an iphone or android phone you can download an app. Then use the meter to get a level response from about 30hz upwards.

You'd be surprised how much you need to have the sub turned down!


The sub setup depends on the make... Mine are rel and I just run one from each channel in parallel with the horns.... Your subs may work differently.


Fran

Thank you guys!

As the Pulse has only enough connection on the back to plug 1 pair of a speakers mine subs will be connected to pre outs left/right. Anyway I think with powered a sub that is the way to do it, is I right?
By raising the frequencies on the subs I am hoping to ,,amplify ‘’the medium/low tones which the Xeros are lacking. I am not looking simply for more bass but I want to add more texture to the instruments that cover mid/low frequencies. At the moment they seem to be one dimensional, so I want them to sound more complex in terms of texture and layer (again to express what I want!) I will get the test obviously but this only show me …..I am guessing the level where the Xeros start to produce bottom end. This is something very scientific but this is not what I am looking for, I want to add more scale, texture to low/medium freq so I think only my tired sense on hearing will let me to make the adjustments.

I will sheer my remarks with you once I will gather other pieces and will spend time with all my new system.

(The subs are form Leema as well SPLX10 called)


Regards

Maciej

Oh yes! Good amplification was the key.
Now with the new amp the Xeros sound much, much better!

The Pulse its only 10 watts more then internal amplifier in the Linn Classik, but I can hardly rise the volume (it’s not about the loudness) on 40-50% of Linns power to achieve far better dynamics. Still you will not get ground shaking bass form Xeros ..comon! but they sound multilayered with nice textured, rich instruments. It was definitely worth to invest in the amp. Now I am using Linn as the source, but I think good cd player would improve the sound even further, perhaps something from Rega ....Apollo or Saturn, any suggestions please?

Regards

Maciej