Page 31 - Hi-Fi_News_-_December_2020 video

HI-FI @ HOME

HI-FI @ HOME – CATCHING UP TEN YEARS LATER...

ack in 2010, Lawrie was
happy with his system,
but not with the way it
Bwas arranged in the room.
Ten years on, though, this long-
standing problem has been fi xed:
‘You remember I had to have
everything up at one end of the
room because nothing worked
the other way – there’d just be far
too much bass. I wanted to sit and
look out at the conservatory, but I
couldn’t. I had to sit at the narrow
end of the room instead.’

TRAPS ’N’ FLAPS
But now the speakers are sited
at the other end of the room,
along with an array
of Acustica Applicata
resonators, or bass
traps. ‘Stephen Harper
of Audio Consultants ABOVE: The and the latest replacement would
suggested that I try speakers, now be more like ten. Ken had stuck the
these, and it worked. Quad S-5, are at Quads on the end of a pretty decent
Stephen brought a the narrower system, saying that no-one would
load of stuff round, end of the room use them with stuff as good as
and we solved the where Lawrie that – but I have done. And they’re
problem and more. always wanted absolutely bloody good!
‘Over the next year them. A mix ‘I ordered online from a Quad
or so I bought quite a of Acustica dealer and got them in two days.
lot of it, and I’m very Applicata So within about three days of the
happy with what it’s ‘resonators’ are old speaker having failed, which
done. I also bought deployed behind was probably about four days after I
the Acustica Applicata Volcano. Then it got worse and worse, and by way of bass spoke to you, I was up and running
This is a clear tube, a tunable trap suddenly all hell broke loose! One of tuning with a new set of speakers.
that you put between the speakers, the cones was just fl apping around. ‘So it all worked out well in the
slightly back. And it really focuses The surround had gone. ABOVE LEFT: end. When you see Ken, say thank
y
the soundstage in the middle. Now ‘I looked at the other speaker, At the wider you very much from me!’
I’ve got everything how I wanted and that showed signs of going as end of the room
it, and it sounds pretty good! well. I couldn’t send them back to can be seen
‘When I last saw you, I said I’d Denmark for repair – they weigh Lawrie’s shelves
like to have got Spectral amplifi ers. 50-odd kilos each!’ of LPs, and he
Of course, they’d stopped bringing can now enjoy
them into this country. But I did QUAD SPEED looking out on
manage to get a mint Spectral It certainly would have been diffi cult the conservatory
DMA-100 power amplifier. It’s a and expensive to get the speakers while listening

more sophisticated sound, but with repaired. As for buying new units
all the power I got from the Ayre.’ from the driver manufacturer, this

When I first caught up again would have cost ‘many hundreds’, RIGHT: The
with Lawrie in the locked-down and wouldn’t have got him the electronics
summer of 2020, he was still bespoke version Peak Consult used. remain largely
happily listening to his Peak ‘So I looked around for something unchanged
Consult Princess speakers. But else. But of course at that time I except for the
when we spoke again, just a few couldn’t go out for dems and so on. switch to a
weeks later, he said, jokingly: ‘You Then I came across Ken Kessler’s Spectral DMA-
put a jinx on my system!’. review of the Quad S-5 [HFN Jan ’16]. 100 power
‘I was playing the soundtrack ‘This cost about £1500, which amplifi er. The
from American Beauty, and it’s got was more like the amount I could cables have
one or two fairly deep bass notes, afford these days. The Peak Consults been upgraded
and I thought, that’s not right. were about five grand 14 years ago, to GutWire

DECEMBER 2020 | www.hifi news.co.uk | 31