Modula MTMs big hit at club meet!

[JoshK]

My local audio club (New York Audio Rave) came over to my place yesterday for a monthly gathering. We played around with the typical gear fest, but I got many many positive comments on "my diy" speakers. They were none other than the Modula MTM's. :T

When we finally wired them correctly (my quick knock up zip cords cables had one with the wrong phase in the speakon connectors I use) they were damn amazing, if I do say so myself. Of course it helps that we had a pair of mono blocked Butler amps pumping a cool 800w/channel.

Here is a link for those that want to read some more comments or look at the pictures.

feedback starts at reply #85

[ThomasW]

Gee Josh, you don't look anything like your avatar.... :B

[oxcartdriver]

Hello

Oh so Nice to hear as I toil away trying to complete my modula MTM's.

I've completed the finish on the cabinets, one low pass x-over, and both High pass x-overs. I'm hoping to complete the final low pass x-over tonight and install everything for break in by mid week.

[oxcartdriver]

What was the name of the movie your avatar was taken from?

[JoshK]

Team America

That is one funny movie! Borat is another....

[Scott Simonian]

Looks like it's from, 'Team America'...

[JoshK]

Hello

Oh so Nice to hear as I toil away trying to complete my modula MTM's.

I've completed the finish on the cabinets, one low pass x-over, and both High pass x-overs. I'm hoping to complete the final low pass x-over tonight and install everything for break in by mid week.

You will be very happy no doubt. I replaced a $5-6k/pr (price changes) of huge speakers with these in my living room and am not missing the big ones. The Modula's just don't call attention to themselves in anyway, which is a good thing, IMO.

They aren't aggressive but are very open and detailed, they have good imaging (when wired right ops: ) and fairly deep and wide soundstage. Plus we were cranking at average levels ~95db and noone was complaining. When I busted out the meter to prove that we were at 95db, some were shocked saying, "it doesn't sound that loud."

Jon Marsh gets all the props here. :T

[JoshK]

Gee Josh, you don't look anything like your avatar.... :B

Haha... You don't think? :lol:

[JonMarsh]

You will be very happy no doubt. I replaced a $5-6k/pr (price changes) of huge speakers with these in my living room and am not missing the big ones. The Modula's just don't call attention to themselves in anyway, which is a good thing, IMO.

They aren't aggressive but are very open and detailed, they have good imaging (when wired right ops: ) and fairly deep and wide soundstage. Plus we were cranking at average levels ~95db and noone was complaining. When I busted out the meter to prove that we were at 95db, some were shocked saying, "it doesn't sound that loud."

Jon Marsh gets all the props here. :T

Thanks for the kind words- that's the hallmark of a clean design, though- they don't call attention to themselves, and they don't sound like they're playing all that loud. ThomasW and I just about went deaf after listening to my X1 SLAMM prototypes the first time because they just don't sound "loud" in a conventional sense, but we were well over 100 dB. The Modula's would be a good upper end module for that kind of configuration, though I don't really think I'm going there any time soon again.

Happy listening...

[RandyMidd]

What's your opinion on the DAC's you heard? I'm looking for one with good value...I'd prefer not to spend $975 for a DAC1...but am considering it.

[JoshK]

Randy,

The list of the DACs we had at the party was a culmination of some of the best value DACs from multiple such parties. Pretty much all these DACs were quite good, some doing this or that slightly better than others. It was hard for me, the host, to have the time to really critical listen, so most of what I got in my listening was the 'gist' of their sonic perspective.

I think it needs to be said that I was really impressed by the level of performance one could obtain from any of these DACs. I have heard many of the big dogs and also high price DACs and players, so I have a feel for what the SOTA is. I have also heard some higher priced stuff that I feel couldn't compete with these.

I think Buddy's little DAC which is a $40 kit was a shocker. It wasn't the end all be all, but was so enjoyable as it was that I think if you want to try the NOS route this is where I'd start.

My Lite DAC60 faired OK, but I think was bested by the Paradisea in the same price group and offered similar presentation. {I bought the dac60 because it is the easiest to mod, if you don't wish to mod, buy the Paradisea}. Think smooth (not really tubey, even though they both have tubes) open and detailed but mid hall presentation as opposed to front row seat.

The City Pulse is more of the front row seat. Lacks any noticeable color but also didn't have the usual bite that many SS Dacs have. The April Music $700 Dac (forgot the name) had a similar taste but audio memory being what it is and me jumping up and down to host I can't remember more specifically the differences between these two, I just remember personally liking the April when I heard it.

I think most people who commented liked the Citypulse, April or Paradisea best overall depending on their taste and many were baffled how good the Buddy Dac was.

I think I personally liked the Paradisea DAC best, but I'd need more time in a better environment to say definitively.

I can say it was easy to hear the differences on this setup, which is to say the Modula's are really transparent.

[JoshK]

Oh...and if you would like any suggestions...any comments on your taste in sound, music you listen to, etc would help.

[rumatt]

I think most people who commented liked the Citypulse, April or Paradisea best

This is pretty funny, since I currently own two of these, and have been patiently waiting to find the 3rd show up used somewhere to snag it (the paradisea). :P The $700 Stello is the DA100, btw.

I'm having a hard time deciding which of the Citypulse and Stello I want to keep. I did a long, rambling writeup here which basically says that I initially I preferred the Stello, but when doing blind testing, I couldn't reliably tell them apart. My mood was a larger factor in what I was hearing than which dac was playing.

Then again, without knowing whether my ears work well, it's not fair to conclude that the dacs are actually indistinguishable. :P

[JoshK]

well that is consistent with me thinking the Stello and the Citypulse sounded similar. Again, my comparison of these two was pretty sketchy as I had jumped up went out back to grab the cat, then was doing something else and came back in. I had a pretty good buzz too by that time. :T

[cobbpa]

Hey Josh, any link to the $40 model? Sounds like it could be a nice way to get my toes in, see how the sound changes & such...never had a DAC before.

[JoshK]

Well here is a thread about Buddy's project... http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/i...?topic=32778.0

It seems it comes from hifidiy.net also available on ebay.

[rumatt]

Well here is a thread about Buddy's project... http://www.audiocircle.com/circles/i...?topic=32778.0

It seems it comes from hifidiy.net also available on ebay.

The Scott Nixon Chibi NOS dac is also based off of the TDA1543. The Chibi sounds pretty impressive for such a small, relatively cheap device.

This DIY version is probably a similar result, for $50 instead of $250.

[oxcartdriver]

How long did it take you to break in your Modula MTM's?

[rumatt]

BTW, this thread (and the one at audio circle) has inspired me to get back to my quest of building my first set of speakers. I was thinking of the Dayton TMWW 3-ways and matching center. I assume they should be in the same league as the Modula MTM's. If not, please feel free to convince me otherwise!

[oxcartdriver]

I have the Dayton TMWW (ported) and the matching center, with approx 150hours on the towers. My modula's only have about 6-8 hours on them at this point. I'm driving with a Anthem CD-1, Rotel pre-amp, and moscode 300 poweramp. I have no stands for the modulas yet, but expect the parts express 24in stands this friday.

I prefer the sound of female voices through the modula's. The bass is better through the TMWW's and the sound stage is better with the TMWW's. To early to make a true comparison at this point. The TMWW's took a bit (40-50hours) to improve in sound quality.

I followed the Modula x-over plans pretty closely, and upgraded most x-over components in the TMWW's.

My present ranking: (1)TMWW, (2)Modulas though better at some things just need more time, and a distant (3) the TMWW center channel.

At this point I'm only sorry I didn't build several pairs of Modula's at the same time while I had the tools out. The modulas are very good even with limited time on the clock.

Oh well, I'm going to take a crack at the Modula MT or another Modula MTM pair next, but after reading this thread I may attempt one of the hifiDIY.net DAC kits.

[rumatt]

Thanks for the comparison.

Are you unhappy with the TMWW center? When you build a beast of a center like that, it should still do OK with music reproduction. Is it simply because you're listening in mono from the center?

[oxcartdriver]

The center definitely is hindered by my two channel setup.

When I run the center mono it is quite bland/uninvolving.
when I run the center in place of one of the TMWW towers so the Right is a TMWW tower and Left is the center channel things improve significantly.

Honestly I haven't done enough critical listening with center channel to investigate the problem further. I suspect two possible issues, (1) issue with RS225 to the RS150 transistion (2) potentially a bit bright on the RS28. I haven't played the center in over 6 weeks so I should fire it up again and take some quanitative data.

I've spent most of my recent time trying to integrate the sono-sub/velodyne SMS with the very bottom of the TMWW's. Also I've been comparing my Magneplanars vs TMWW's and Crown K2 vs Moscode hybrid amp. Now I have the Modula MTM's in the mix as well.

The modula's are improving with a few more hours. I just finished listenting to them again.

I'm using the Dennis Murphy center channel x-over. I may try the Jon Marsh, CJD, tweek the Dennis Murphy version a bit, or just confirm something isn't anomalous with the RS225/RS150 x-over implementation. The center channel was my first x-over assembly in 15 years so pilot error during implementation is always a possibility.