Soundlabs, AR Ref 3, modwright, shun mook

So finally heard the sound labs after 4 hours of travel each way. The room didn't do justice to them 4m by 4m, bright, wood flooring, barren and some glass . Fired by Krell fpb 600. We first put the modwright ls 36.5 in. Poor source in marantz.

The guy who owned them and his friend are both electrical engineers. One builds amps for a hobby and the other does measure his room, well versed in hifi. This is important for the bit of info that follows at the end

Though due to the room the speakers could get bright, they were quite easy to listen to and very well rounded. They go really deep, though due to the room we were getting a bass boom so I can't say how well refined the bass is.

They have a very clean and transparent sound. Acoustic guitar plucks are huge as compared to Logans you can see the guy plucking a broader guitar. We played rock, jazz and opera, but you can easily play disco on these. And you can just keep them playing. If you can find an amp that can drive them, these are the least fussy of the planars I have heard so far in terms of what music you can play on them.

I am sure they were playing at 60% of what the system can be made to do

We then replaced the modwright with my AR Ref 3. The mod is better on rock. It is more forward, the guitar plucks on stairway to heaven were much thicker and bassier and ACDC had more energy.

However on opera, jazz, the AR was much superior. The modwright is brighter, the AR is more richer, the speakers disappear way more. However unless you have a specific music you want to focus you pre for, I wouldn't bother changing what you have.

Then I took out the shun mook discs. We experimented with them on ACDC you shook me all night long. First I put them on the pre, power, CD, and first reflection points. Then I took them off. The guys commented that the top hard edge had become smoother with the discs on (this was later much more evident with the modwright, because, as I said earlier, it was brighter).

Then I just played around with the discs on the pre, turning them in or out to widen or narrow the soundstage. Each time the two heard exactly what they were supposed to (without me telling them what I was doing). There was a lot of laughter and disbelief that this was actually working, with one commenting that this was sorcery and was not supposed to happen. Occasionally I pulled the triangle in or took it out. Only on the pre. They kept noticing it.

Incidentally the fact that they take the edge off, and make the sound warmer is also consistent with what the guy who sold them to me (some random guy from the US) told me, so everyone is hearing the same thing. He actually sold them because his system was too warm, and he now prefers the synergistic ART which keeps things neutral.

Interesting post Kedar. I tried something similar with the SMD with two different people, except that the disks were on top of the CDP spindle. Without my telling them what to expect, they both reported the same thing: without the disks the system seemed brighter (harsher); with the disks in place the harshness was gone, and it sounded richer.

Any update on when you'll be shipping those disks to Justin?

I am just planning to make Justin itch and suffer reading all our positive reviews.

Justin, can you m message me your address?

Kedar, you might only have been an audiophile for 6 months or so but boy are you one now. 8 hours round trip to hear those. That's dedication for you. Which Soundlabs were they again? A3s wasn't it?

Will PM...

User211 said:

Kedar, you might only have been an audiophile for 6 months or so but boy are you one now. 8 hours round trip to hear those. That's dedication for you. Which Soundlabs were they again? A3s wasn't it?

Will PM...

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Thanks. The Pope gave out his sainthoods today as well. Yes A3s. He mentioned there is one more in Sheffield, I have asked him to check if that guy can demo (maybe has a better set up).

And yes, it will be a year in July that I walked in to Graham's to say my favorite system so far was LG 9.1, better than Sony and Panasonic. Best moment have been listening to a floorstander for the first time, than the electromotion, than the Tune Audio Anima and Cessaros, and the Analysis Audio set up. The shun mook demo was equally fun too

I don't have much more on speakers now though - Audio Exklusiv and an Analysis Audio comparison will happen in Germany end of May, and if possible, a Beveridge and Soundlabs comparison in Faterland as well.

Then I will mostly do home demos - try out a modded mini, compare cables and accessories. And will get a Datasat Dirac demo (though no plans to buy it, too expensive, and never comes used)

bonzo said:

Thanks. The Pope gave out his sainthoods today as well. Yes A3s. He mentioned there is one more in Sheffield, I have asked him to check if that guy can demo (maybe has a better set up).

And yes, it will be a year in July that I walked in to Graham's to say my favorite system so far was LG 9.1, better than Sony and Panasonic. Best moment have been listening to a floorstander for the first time, than the electromotion, than the Tune Audio Anima and Cessaros, and the Analysis Audio set up. The shun mook demo was equally fun too

I don't have much more on speakers now though - Audio Exklusiv and an Analysis Audio comparison will happen in Germany end of May, and if possible, a Beveridge and Soundlabs comparison in Faterland as well.

Then I will mostly do home demos - try out a modded mini, compare cables and accessories. And will get a Datasat Dirac demo (though no plans to buy it, too expensive, and never comes used)

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I went off Dirac pretty quickly. Seems I prefer the room with speakers rather than the "bugger the room here's the speakers" approach. TBH I think JRiver PEQ works well in taming a 30Hz bass bump I have. But I like that bass bump so even PEQ isn't getting used much. PEQ is easy to use if you've measured your in-room response and know what to target. And it is cheap.

Dirac processing is Dirac processing. Don't pay a lot of money for it. The algorithms probably won't change between implementations.

Yes, so far I haven't liked correction because I think it takes the life out, but I want to give another chance to a professional to set up trinnov and dirac

Dirac may well have been interesting with the huge Soundlabs in a 13ft square room, however.

Also, Dirac, I reckon, would probably make discrepancies between various systems much less apparent. In a really quite strong way I believe it is a "standardiser" of sound.

Kedar has been an audiophile for only 6 months? That's amazing! He sounds like a longstanding audiophile.

I would rather put my faith in synergistic research ART, And if willing to pay, Frank tchang's resonators. I haven't tried both but the guys who suggested them are very credible and high OCD experience. The room needs to be really bad to choose correction and traps, which to me sound like the lesser of the evils as compared to a really bad room

With Dirac, I feel you know the sound "is better technically" but it seems to destroy the fun/involvement aspect. So yes Kedar, I think we're on the same planet there.

Shun, SRART & Tchangs remain unknowns. Send me that email BTW.

Bernard said:

Kedar has been an audiophile for only 6 months? That's amazing! He sounds like a longstanding audiophile.

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Thanks Bernard, I know my life is ruined when I get off on compliments on an audiophile forum. Less than a year ago, you look fitter, nice shirt, or nice job were enough.

That said, all I can say in my oscar speech is it is not experience in years - I think just listening without reading reviews and without listening to noise including the science behind it - is the best way to go. 30 minutes of listening is enough to rule out stuff, and what you rule in, give extended sessions. And if people seriously recommend something you haven't liked, give it another try. And I go to a lot of live shows, so that helps in recognizing fake stuff

To sum up, it is all BS. Just mess til you find something you really like. Way to go Kedar

Well that is a bit extreme, but I hope you know what I mean.

Hola my dear friends. I had the pleasure to listen the A3 about 10 to 12 years ago. I had at that time, my CLS, and of course, I wanted to listen how they were doing with another electrostatic brand. My very first impression was the prevailing of the overall quality of the sound. Clear as the crystal, coherence between all the piano notes, and the size of the instruments were right to my ears. I heard the plucking of the guitar strings very close to my ears, that they remind me my beloved Apogee Ribbon Duetta. They were a little bright if you make a comparison with my CLS, and also the bass was better. But the stage was narrowed and the 3 D was absent. With the help of their owner and patience, we moved around his room, the speakers, and we got almost the same image, stage presentation. I took 9 SMD and definitively the overall image and stage did got better. Also, the spacious between the instruments got better too and the brightness was more easy to go, more less evident. Even that this is a snake oil, I do recommend to any audiophile to listen to them, there is nothing to loose, and I do believe, a lot to gain in the overall quality of sound presentation. It looks that my friends Kedar and Bernard are now hooked with them.

Getting back to what I was saying, please, do not get me wrong here, I could live with the A3s, if ML was not in the market. The Electrostatic speakers is the way to go to my liking. Every time that I go to a friends house to listen to the music, and of course, dynamic speakers are all over the world, in 40 minutes to an hour, I start to get a head ache. My ears get a fatigue easier with them than the electrostatic, and I do not why is this.

Here we have Acoustat, Quads, Soundlab, Magnepan and Rogers. It is good to know that out there, there are a lot of great designers that are trying to give to us the best. I do love all planar speakers. I do know that Magnepan is not electrostatic, but their design is very interesting and before I was their user.

Getting back with the sound of the Soundlabs, when I came to very CES, I went to their room, and always got the same impression. They sounded there horrible to my liking. But their look is awesome! You need a big room to have them...and yes, I do know that the CLXs do sound very good too in bigger rooms. I wish to all, a very happy listening!