New CLXes!

[as350_b3]

Wow, that is a very nice system that you have put together. Congrats!

 

[Jeff]

System is all unplugged until tonight while Miss Irene pays us a visit. So far, so good, but it's not over. We still have power, but I'm worried about surges, so not taking any chances.

 

[Jeff]

I just re-read Valin's TAS review of the CLXes. Man, is he on the money. These speakers are completely unforgiving, if it is not a great recording, it does not sound good. 30% of my music is mind-blowing, some of the best sounds I've ever heard (this alone makes it worth it to me). 40% is good to very good. 30% is unbearable. My mediocre turntable is not cutting it, sticking with digital. I am still working with the placement, I am in full tweak mode -getting warmer though. they are still kind of bright though. I will start playing with the spikes this week too. The sub is dialed in pretty nicely. I think there is still much room for improvement.

All feedback is welcomed!

 

[User211]

Jeff - if you want to "tone them down" a bit - try and demo a Jadis JA200. That should smooth things out. I heard the CLX's with that an ARC Ref 3. That combo was far from bright... all I heard sounded just dandy, if lacking a bit in dynamics and slam. Very, very nice, though. Very nice indeed. To my ears.

Some tube amps won't drive the top end as well as an SS amp will due to lowering impedance. That might translate to a mellower all round sound.

Just an idea. Another idea is to get the x-overs tweeked. Not sure about the ML crossover, but it is pretty easy to change the HF response of an Apogee Duetta Sig by simply changing one inductor value.

Another poss. is of course room treatments, a digital box of some sort, or a graphic equaliser (avoid if possible).

EDIT: as they're so transparent, you'll really hear the personality of your amps. It may just be that the Mac/CLX combo isn't to your taste. Freakin' expensive to change - but it might be worth a try with a few other amps - ones that aren't very similar to each other. When you do, I'm sure you'll hear quite marked differences in presentation.

 

[Bernard]

I suggest that you get the sub completely out of the equation until you get the CLX's dialled in (easier to play with just one variable).

 

[Gordon Gray]

Jeff,

I don't want to overstate but vibration induced distortion can cause many anomalies including brightness.

I think if you install the spikes and place on hocky pucks, you'll be pleasantly surprised. Drill a small pilot hole in the center of the puck for the spike tip to "seat into".

Good luck.

GG

 

[Necrosuit]

Jeff - if you want to "tone them down" a bit - try and demo a Jadis JA200. That should smooth things out. I heard the CLX's with that an ARC Ref 3. That combo was far from bright... all I heard sounded just dandy, if lacking a bit in dynamics and slam. Very, very nice, though. Very nice indeed. To my ears.

Some tube amps won't drive the top end as well as an SS amp will due to lowering impedance. That might translate to a mellower all round sound.

Just an idea. Another idea is to get the x-overs tweeked. Not sure about the ML crossover, but it is pretty easy to change the HF response of an Apogee Duetta Sig by simply changing one inductor value.

Another poss. is of course room treatments, a digital box of some sort, or a graphic equaliser (avoid if possible).

EDIT: as they're so transparent, you'll really hear the personality of your amps. It may just be that the Mac/CLX combo isn't to your taste. Freakin' expensive to change - but it might be worth a try with a few other amps - ones that aren't very similar to each other. When you do, I'm sure you'll hear quite marked differences in presentation.

On the Money with that statment! I have had several different amps with my CLX's All were very fun and enjoyable, but once I got the MBL's my CLX have sounded no better! I think with the Solid State Monos and the Tube Pre, the mix is amazing, (and ofcourse different SS & Tube gear will matter) I still do get some Bright sounds but usually with very poorly recorded music, and yes I have too learned that the CLX reveal all! There are certain pieces of music I have purchased on Lp and cd because I truly like the sound of one better than the other in the same system with that recording.

 

[Jeff]

OK, major tweaking tonight with much improvement. I mounted the spikes and placed them on top of 3/4 inch thick solid Corian 2X2 squires with dimples drilled into the center. They are aligned perfectly vertical. They are within a 1/2 inch of the side wall distance recommended in the manual using the room width divided by 18 times 5 equation. they are also just shy of the recommended calculated distance from the front wall. Toe-in is minimal, did the flashlight test and it reflects right off the inner third of the Curvilinear panel. Nearly text book set-up. i think I'm good. Sub sounds good too, but tomorrow I will play with that a bit more and re-run the room correction program.

Good news: My goodness, when they are good, they are sensational. This is a testiment to the speaker. If they can sound so good, then when they don't sound good, it must be the fault of the source material. On good and great recordings, the sound stage, instrument placement, timbre are just incredible. The stage is huge and I am sensing increasing depth of stage qualities -something I consider the hardest thing for a speaker to achieve effectively. There is no sense of a physical speaker, none. Instruments and voices float totally free. Some voices are simply breathtaking. The acoustic version of Creep by Radiohead was mind blowing. Some Kind of Wonderful by Joss Stone, incredible. Literally in the room. The good recordings do not have a brightness issue. They are just glorious. I also keep hearing little things that I've never heard or noticed before in familiar tracks. I am finding myself spending a great deal of time in my listening sessions. It is difficult to stop!

Bad news: I think I am going to have to accept the fact that some tracks are just not going to work on these puppies. Some music is simply unlistenable. The poorer recordings is where I have isolated my brightness issues. Some voices are just downright shrill. I absolutely acknowledge that this is the recording and not the speakers because good recordings sound so fantastic. I am not sure what I am going to do about this. Maybe tube amps down the road, although this gets very mixed recommendations. I would love to try the fabulous Mac MC2301's. Unfortunately, I busted my budget with these boys, so there won't be any other major changes right away -just a bit more tweaking!

I will report further as I listen more. Thanks for the warm welcome to the ML community!

 

[User211]

Jeff - could be an idea to provide a list of some material you regard as unlistenable.

Maybe PM Todd (tsv_1), Necrosuit and any other CLX owners you have noticed and see what they think of the same material through their systems. Or better still post it here if you feel comfortable with it. The response could be interesting

Obviously, you'll need to find stuff they have access to as well, but Todd is resourceful... and may well be interested enough to get hold of said material anyway.

Just an idea.

 

[Jeff]

Jeff - could be an idea to provide a list of some material you regard as unlistenable.

Maybe PM Todd (tsv_1), Necrosuit and any other CLX owners you have noticed and see what they think of the same material through their systems. Or better still post it here if you feel comfortable with it. The response could be interesting

Obviously, you'll need to find stuff they have access to as well, but Todd is resourceful... and may well be interested enough to get hold of said material anyway.

Just an idea.

Great idea! I will do that later today. Thanks!

 

[tsv_1]

Jeff - could be an idea to provide a list of some material you regard as unlistenable.

Maybe PM Todd (tsv_1), Necrosuit and any other CLX owners you have noticed and see what they think of the same material through their systems. Or better still post it here if you feel comfortable with it. The response could be interesting

Obviously, you'll need to find stuff they have access to as well, but Todd is resourceful... and may well be interested enough to get hold of said material anyway.

Just an idea.

Happy to help if I can Jeff I'll reiterate that I did have brightness issues with my Summit-Xs, but that was almost entirely resolved with the CLXs. Also, as has been said (in certain variations on the theme), the CLXs are like scanning electron microscopes in terms of revealing the true nature of the source material (not to mention the source components, amps, cables, quality of line voltage... everything) - so no surprise that poor production-value music will be agonizingly recreated much to your tympana's dismay.

At any rate, as Justin suggests, feel free to let me know what selections you find especially unbearable and perhaps some corroboration/correlation/condemnation will manifest.

As an alternative, you can always invite yourself to Necro's audio nexus, or mine here in Maine for system/sound comparison.

Cheers

 

[Ron]

As an alternative, you can always invite yourself to Necro's audio nexus, or mine here in Maine for system/sound comparison. Or my house in Los Angeles.

 

[Bernard]

the CLXs are like scanning electron microscopes in terms of revealing the true nature of the source material (not to mention the source components, amps, cables, quality of line voltage... everything) - so no surprise that poor production-value music will be agonizingly recreated much to your tympana's dismay.

So Todd, are you saying that you can no longer listen to music which you love but that is badly recorded?

 

[beek]

are you saying that you can no longer listen to music which you love but that is badly recorded?

I dont own CLX but I too gave up on recordings that sound bad.When I call a long time friend of mine who owns thousands apon thousands of all formats of music (no kidding). I nickname him the walking Schwann Catalog, about a particular piece his first response is do you want it for performance,recording or historic reasons............. Jus chimmin in


I have spoke to people that say I Dont wanna hear your system because I gotta go home and listen to the shit stereo I have.....

 

[Gordon Gray]

Good question Bernard.

This hobby is about music. Right?

It does pose an interesting dilemma for those with systems that reveal all.

If the speaker and related hardware is the messenger, at what point does it become counterproductive to ones ability to enjoy the music?

GG

 

[tsv_1]

Out of my nearly 1000 albums, I can now listen to approximately 13 - the rest are beyond torturous.

Joking of course... in fact, the reverse is closer to accurate. There are only a small handful of albums (some Sumi Jo included ) that I now prefer to hear on alternative systems - out of reach of the CLX's curtain-pulling tendencies.

BTW, Alison Krauss's "A Hundred Miles or More" album is wickedly listenable via the "CLX experience". Really quite wonderful as I've been listening to it just today.

Cheers

 

[tsv_1]

This hobby is about music. Right?

GG

I think so Gordon... but I also think that statement is a bit too high-level.

For some (myself included), this hobby is just as much about the playback system as it is the music. That is to say, recreating the music and also enjoying the geekdom that is so alluring to many of us. Some will disagree and claim "I want to forget about the system and just hear the music". But truthfully, who here wants to forget their system? We all LOVE our systems and we love the journey as we upgrade, adjust, tweak ourselves further down the path as we travel ever closer to our personal versions of nirvana.

Cheers

 

[beek]

Did anybody here ever meet someone who has cash & picked up an ultra High end system & knows nothing about Music or sound just to be in the crowd? I have met a few

 

[tsv_1]

Did anybody here ever meet someone who has cash & picked up an ultra High end system & knows nothing about Music or sound just to be in the crowd? I have met a few

oddiophiles

 

[Gordon Gray]

Hi Todd,

Not sure what you mean by my statement being "high level".

For lack of a better example, Beek's friend and his attitude toward music listening (Post No. 54) sums it up quite well.

Do you want to listen to a piece of music for reason A, B, or C?

How silly and how, IMO, disconnected from the core reason we are involved in this hobby.

Gordon