Official Wavecor Ardent Reference Thread - How we realized the Dream

[Renron]

Doc,
With your Delorean / NSX time machine I thought you would have had all the time you needed.
Ron (thought about it)

[wkhanna]

...... he'd rather not have waited ........ think about it. :W

yeah, the more i do think about it, the more jealous i get............:B:M

.....i mean, crap, i probably would have paid the freight, insurance, AND signed a healthy lea$e agreement to have those in my home.........


alright.....enough is enough........time to grow up & just be happy for the lucky fool, err..... ehmm...... i mean..... lucky fella. :W

[TEK]

That's a pretty high caliber speaker to be "just getting started" with lol.

+1 on that thought...

[JonMarsh]

They're partially finished, that's a follow up to do. he'd rather not have waited for me to find time to finish assembling the grilles... think about it. :W

[Renron]

& i thought i was the only audio snob around here:rofl:

the poor guy is just gettng started down the path to the Dark Side & we are already taking him out to the shed for a flogging with a Light Sabre :roflmao:

Funny!!! Morning coffee out the nose. it's called tough love. Huggie up!
Why are the speakers Naked??? For God's sake, put on some grills!
Ron

[Steve Manning]

That's a pretty high caliber speaker to be "just getting started" with lol.

Your right about that ..... I've been playing with this stuff for decades and I'm still not there. 8O

[CraigJ]

Lucky new owner and will figure things out in time.

[Hdale85]

That's a pretty high caliber speaker to be "just getting started" with lol.

[wkhanna]

& i thought i was the only audio snob around here:rofl:

the poor guy is just gettng started down the path to the Dark Side & we are already taking him out to the shed for a flogging with a Light Sabre :roflmao:

[Steve Manning]

I'm sure they are appreciated by their new owner. But.............., they are being mistreated with stuff on top of them and squished into the corners.
OK, mine are mistreated by a turd of a DAC. Pot calling the kettle black I suppose.
That room needs a large rug in front of the speakers and some wall treatments / curtains.
Doc, you gotta help straighten him out. At least get them out of the corners. Threaten to take them back, that should do it.

Seriously, we ALL make compromises in our listening rooms. I hope he appreciates how fantastic these speakers truly are.

I'm trying to tune my room with my 90 lbs Dog, a little to the left, sit, OK now lay down, maybe a little more to the right. Perfect, stop snoring...........
Ron

Our new pup leaves the room when I turn the music on ...... should see her when we watch a movie in the other room in surround sound, she is not at all happy.

But your right, there needs to be an intervention on the Ardent's new home.

[Renron]

I'm sure they are appreciated by their new owner. But.............., they are being mistreated with stuff on top of them and squished into the corners.
OK, mine are mistreated by a turd of a DAC. Pot calling the kettle black I suppose.
That room needs a large rug in front of the speakers and some wall treatments / curtains.
Doc, you gotta help straighten him out. At least get them out of the corners. Threaten to take them back, that should do it.

Seriously, we ALL make compromises in our listening rooms. I hope he appreciates how fantastic these speakers truly are.

I'm trying to tune my room with my 90 lbs Dog, a little to the left, sit, OK now lay down, maybe a little more to the right. Perfect, stop snoring...........
Ron

[dar47]

No! I thought those were permanent for the music room :roll:

Well I'm sure he is excited, but next time your there just slip a little elbow to the little earth:huh: and lamp they are way to nice for that, haha.

[JonMarsh]

Well, I've urged him to use a Cardas layout the long length of the room; originally he had these firing across the width of the room. I've urged him to try pulling them out from the corners; hopefully he'll try that some time.

[wkhanna]

is the corner placement one of room tuning & performance optimization or driven by WAF?

one thing is for sure, it pays to always be nice to your co-workers...:W:B

i am not sure i could be so generous.....or tolerant....

i put the top surface of my 65 litre Natalie Portman's at 20 degree slope to ensure no one ever places anything on top of my 'Twins'.....:nono:

[JonMarsh]

My Ardent's have a new home and a very happy new owner....




Latest word is that he completely re-arranged his living room to follow some suggestions, and like others, has had some late night listening sessions because he just couldn't stop....

[Renron]

I've never been embarrassed to have others think I'm slow.....

[JonMarsh]

Me neither. That makes it a quorum, right? :W

[Steve Manning]

Flamethrower,
I'm kind of a dolt and not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I'm under the impression that "TS" (in this thread) means Table Saw construction in lieu of CNC cuts.
Could you please explain your post? I didn't understand what you meant.
Ron

Glad I wasn't the only one.

[Renron]

Dar, even with the high quality pics, you really cant tell if they are TS or not TS.
Maybe its all in the way they sound, my guess is its not.
Kind of surprised that other people did not ask, I guess it is only one or two people that think it matters.

Flamethrower,
I'm kind of a dolt and not the sharpest knife in the drawer.
I'm under the impression that "TS" (in this thread) means Table Saw construction in lieu of CNC cuts.
Could you please explain your post? I didn't understand what you meant.
Ron

[meb46]

Ben - awesome work, you must be thrilled with the finish!

[flamethrower1]

Dar, even with the high quality pics, you really cant tell if they are TS or not TS.
Maybe its all in the way they sound, my guess is its not.
Kind of surprised that other people did not ask, I guess it is only one or two people that think it matters.

[JonMarsh]

Hope the financial approvals go faster at your end than they do at my work.... from everything I've heard, I think you'll like the Yggy. What I've heard about the sound of it reminds me of my TotalDAC D1 Dual. Both are R2R ladder DACs.

[BobEllis]

I doubt you'll send it back. Mine is just moving to my secondary system when the Yggy funding gets approved.

[Renron]

Tanks and DACs can live together in harmony. Who woulda thunk it???
After reading too many friggin' reviews of DACs in the <$500 I think I'll save up for the MBMODI, great reviews and it's $250. I can test drive it for 2 weeks to compare to my El Cheapo DAC. Thanks for the allowed thread drift.
Back to Ardent Heaven!
Ron

[JonMarsh]

I don't have enough contemporary experience in that price range any more to have an educated or worthwhile opinion...

In that general range I would take a close look at the Schitt Bifrost MultiBit, particularly because of the filter, but also the chip used.

In more of a mass market vein, I've been very impressed with the overall performance on the bench and sonically of the Cambridge Audio 851D, especially since it has a high grade precision analog volume control built in, and includes AES/EBU inputs and balanced outputs. For what I paid, about $1K, I thought it was a steal.

I'm a bit of a diva these days and don't use anything that doesn't support balanced connections, and AES/EBU. we all have our personal issues... :B

[wkhanna]

....... Gugnir MB if you can't get authorization for a Yggy. .......

i still love my modified Gungnir after more than two years...

[BobEllis]

I'd suggest Modi MB or Gugnir MB if you can't get authorization for a Yggy. Bifrost MB seems to be the same DAC as Modi MB, with a bit of reclocking thrown in front of it.

Of course, I'd like to hear your impressions of MB vs Delta-Sigma at the Modi level. I don't have much to compare it to, although it handily beat the M-Audio FW410.

[wkhanna]

one of the V best values i have heard in a while is the Chord Mojo.

my V good friend just picked one up at Capital Audiofest back in July.
a direct comparison to the Hugo (which belongs to another V good friend) via headphones & room speakers showed the Mojo to be nearly all the $2k Hugo with a slightly 'smoother' & 'rounder' sound.
it almost came down to personal preference combined with equipment type & music genre.

the differences were subtle & which one was better would mostly depend on the previous list.

in the under $500 catagory, it is a heavy hitter, imho.

& besides, who would not want a DAC you can run over with a tank?

[Renron]

You flatter me, Sir.
Living with the orange peel and loving the sound. It just keeps getting better and better.
A little off topic, but maybe not..........What is the next recommended Dac up the $ food chain from the Schiit Modi 2 Uber? Doesn't have to be a Schitty Dac.

[JonMarsh]

The problem with finishing...

Thanks, Jon

Ya the kick off to the season and soon for all of you guys too. Glad to see you gave him a poke on positioning but he does have them for a long time and hopefully the next place will afford a little more room. Like him mine are soon coming upstairs to the living room and it should be fun playing with placement but it will be hard to beat the current place mine are in now. Ben had a extra sand and 5 coats over mine and it sure payed off so maybe I will go back at mine after see them in the light of day.

The problem with finishing is that it can seem like it's never finished- there's always some additional work or buffing one can do to make them just a bit nicer... But I wouldn't dissuade you from taking them a little further! Now if only I had at least 10% of the knowledge of Ron in that department...

Enjoy your T-Day on Monday! I'll be in the middle of a Road trip to Seattle...

[benthe8track]

Those are looking great and fantastic job on the TV stand - great use of IKEA cabinets!

Are you hosting Ardent listening parties yet?

Thanks, and hey if you want to build a set feel free to come by and have a listen.

Someday, just for fun, try pulling these out away from the wall and use a Cardas style setup (math described in a note on their web site).

Good call, I still need to get a carpet so they will probably end out a little further out when it shows up. I'm not 100% I can actually position them exactly in a golden fashion, the room is pretty shallow. I'll see what I can do.

gorgeous
details on the TT & phono-pre, please.....

Nothing crazy, a Bryston BP-26 with the built in MM phono and a Rega RP6 with the Exact 2. I love the simplicity of it.

Yes...gorgeous. They don't look like DIY speakers, they look like hi-end production. Your photography is top notch too. Definitely Stereophile worthy....

Thanks, they were a lot of fun to build.

Haha Thanks Jon. It's almost time for turkey.

The Hypex in that little ghent case puts out a TON of heat. I ordered some active cooling to install in the back of the cabinet. There is about .75" clearance between the wall and the back of the IKEA cabinet so it will be a tight fit.

[dar47]

Thanks, Jon

Ya the kick off to the season and soon for all of you guys too. Glad to see you gave him a poke on positioning but he does have them for a long time and hopefully the next place will afford a little more room. Like him mine are soon coming upstairs to the living room and it should be fun playing with placement but it will be hard to beat the current place mine are in now. Ben had a extra sand and 5 coats over mine and it sure payed off so maybe I will go back at mine after see them in the light of day.

[scottvalentin]

Thanks Jon!

[JonMarsh]

Ben and Darrel will be enjoying a Holiday next Monday...

Don't forget, Canada gets the end of the year Holidays started a little earlier than those of us south of the border....


http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/05/di...&nlid=55273049

I'll be on the road then, but figured I should pass on the well wishes in advance for a Happy Thanksgiving!


Jon

[sdl2112]

Yes...gorgeous. They don't look like DIY speakers, they look like hi-end production. Your photography is top notch too. Definitely Stereophile worthy....

[wkhanna]

gorgeous
absolutely gorgeous!

details on the TT & phono-pre, please.....

[JonMarsh]

I'm a little late (two or so years?) to show off the final pictures but we just moved into our new place and have a lot more light.

The new media stand is based off this unit. I used Ikea kitchen cabinets and had 12mm back painted glass cut. Saved quite a bit going the DIY route.

Anyways the pictures!

Someday, just for fun, try pulling these out away from the wall and use a Cardas style setup (math described in a note on their web site).

[flamethrower1]

Those are some very nice looking cabinets, great job

[Renron]

Ben that is a fantastic looking setup you have, Walnut looks perfect too.
Great idea with modifying the IKEA cabinets. May have to steal that idea..uhhum borrow that idea.

Horio, we want construction pictures! Lets see the sawdust dude.
Ron
Still breakin' mine in.....

[scottvalentin]

Those are looking great and fantastic job on the TV stand - great use of IKEA cabinets!

Are you hosting Ardent listening parties yet?

[benthe8track]

Holy shit Ben! I had forgot how butiful you had got that veneer.
You used paper backed veneer? How did you get the edges that good? Seems to me as if you have got those edges just as good as with raw veneer. I have always got some of the paper edges showing trough a little bit when using paper backed veneer. And what finish did you apply?

Oh yeah, very nice bench as well!

PS: missing a picture capturing the whole setup at once :-)

Thanks Tek! You bet it's paper/PSA backed veneer. The incident angle (for a lack of a better term) of the front surfaces kind of naturally hides the paper/glue lines. The finish is industrial conversion varnish that were sprayed at a cabinet shop. They guy who sprayed them also used one of those brown touch up markers (crayons?) under the coating. It worked really well. The only place you can see paper/PSA is on the back. I think that's also a function of the raw veneer on the back being thinner than the PSA veneer. I don't have a wide enough lens to get it all in one shot, hence all the angled pics!

[TEK]

Holy shit Ben! I had forgot how butiful you had got that veneer.
You used paper backed veneer? How did you get the edges that good? Seems to me as if you have got those edges just as good as with raw veneer. I have always got some of the paper edges showing trough a little bit when using paper backed veneer. And what finish did you apply?

Oh yeah, very nice bench as well!

PS: missing a picture capturing the whole setup at once :-)

[benthe8track]

Very nice Ben ...... is it floating like in the link you attached?

Thanks Steve. You bet, these are top cabinets technically and they hang from a single rail mounted to the wall. The only thing I may add is a computer fan in the centre compartment. I put my hypex guts inside a ghent case (my stainless case wouldn't fit) and it gets really hot in there.

Thanks Jon! I'm pretty happy with how it all eventually turned out.

[JonMarsh]

Looks very classy, Ben! Clean and elegant! :T

[Steve Manning]

Very nice Ben ...... is it floating like in the link you attached?