I wanted to build a tube system around the highly sensitive Focus HD's, which present a very stable 4 ohm load. With the NEO250's optimized for a 5 ohm load, I thought it would be a good match. The HD's havent hit the 300 hour mark yet, so the transformation hasnt started yet. The amps currently have less than 50 hours on them as well. However they are starting to mesh well. Thinking about upgrading into the new Fosgate Signature tube phono stage, which is dual mono. Some tweeks here and there left, such as room treatments, that should keep me busy for awhile.Oh, and chasing those ground loops...
Each powered by dedicated PS Audio Premier.These sound better everyday
PS Audio Power Plant Premier
powers NEO250's, one each channel
PS Audio P-500
powers all sources
Signal Cable Silver Resolution
good budget cables
Legacy Audio Focus HD
Focus HD's. The long road to break in.
Signal Cable Ultra
biwired
PS Audio Soloist
Wall outlets
PS Audio Juice Bars
Model 1 & 2
May-Tec Aluminum
Custom fabrication, Formica wrapped MDF shelves, Timbernation Maple TT platform
Ground Zero Star Grounding System
Helped somewhat, I think, however could never get rid of the ground loop hum between the NEO's and the Premiers, had to lift grounding plugs on PS audio AC cords.
Walker Audio Precision Motor Controller
Decided on this over the VPI SDS-never looked back.
Richard Gray 600S
Parallel inductors, paralleled with each wall outlet duplex on each channel. Next step RGPC 4000W Substation Pro.
No room treatments yet. I'm waiting to get some 2 X 4 foot foam backed boards from a club I belong to- they purchased them for the hall treatment to bring down the harshness of the crowd, but they didnt like the way they looked so they are giving them to me for free. So this will be a little DIY project to maybe cover them with some fabric. If they dont help, I have my eye on RealTraps products, as they are made one town over from me and I can pick them up direct. I'm really not suffering from any resonances but could surely tone things down a bit.
Jay, I love the look of that room. The Neos add a sort of retro look to it. Fantastic. Have you tried room room treatments? With that hard floor and mixed bag of wood and what looks like plaster board or dry wall, you might have some serious resonance issues. Try anything that you could recommend to those of us with similar room issues?
The Manleys will drive pretty much anything. I run Thiel CS2.4 speakers which are 4 Ohms and significantly less sensitive than the Focus HD. The Thiels NEED a good amount of power to come alive and that they do with the 250wpc Manleys - or 100wpc in Triode mode.
I recently retubed mine with the more robust 6CA7 tubes. 10 6CA7 per monoblock. Ouch!
Thanks for the comments! It took a lot of sweat to build this. I believe Legacy products to be some of the most underated speakers on the planet. And they are fairly priced. Oh, and made in the USA!
Wow! Nice looking and I know great sounding system. I"m a great fan of Legacy Speakers too. I think you've put together an incredible system. Rest assured you can't buy a better speaker for the money. I like the custom racks too. Great job.
Thanks. I guess it's more of an issue with SET amps than tubes of the tetrode or pentode variety, as well as being a stable 4 ohm load. Some of the bigger floorstanders can have variable impedence, and it seems to make some tube amps really lose it.
By the way- how does a non-triode tube run in "triode" mode? The EL34 in the Neo is a pentode. I see this in a number of amps. How does it work?
Keep in mind the highly sensitive Focus HD's, although they are rated at 4 ohms, this is a very stable 4 ohms across the bandwidth. I forgot the lowest dip/frequency Legacy had quoted when I bought these, but these stay pretty consistent and therefore provide adequate amplifier "control". But lets face it, although at almost 95 db/Watt, you still have to move the massive 12 inch drivers, which can handle about 1 inch of excursion. I originally was driving these with the Snappers, and although for most listening it was adequate, I wanted more head room and the NEO's provide plenty (also have a 20 X 40 room so there's a lot of volume to fill).
Regarding the Shrimp vs Jumbo, I'm not sure I can make a claim about the difference in sonics, I never really used the Shrimp enough to tell. I traded up into the Jumbo rather quickly, before the Shrimp was even broken in (and driving Snappers). I pretty much upgraded to the Jumbo for the remote. Getting lazy.
I had 2020s with Snappers, that was a really nice combo, but yours must be totally over the top. NICE system, Jay!!
Hey, is the Jumbo Shrimp more extended and open sounding on the top end than the original Shrimp? Manley wouldn't give me a straight answer and my dealer won't stock it. Thx Rich
Another thought, Afc, yes I had tried lower powered amps with the Focus HD, and you are right, it is not ideal; better to have an 8 Ohm speaker with that kind of sensitivity. However, the little amps did drive the speaker fine as long as the level was kept sensible. If I recall correctly I was using Melody tube amps for review, and the sound was ultra clean but thin.
The Focus HD is 4 Ohm but 95.4dB sensitivity. The Manley in triode is 100wpc into 5 Ohms and in Tetrode 250wpc into 5 Ohms. These speakers would present no problem to those amps. I'll bet the speakers sound powerful and robust with those amps.
Hi Zephyr, the HD's are starting to really come alive (most of the points you covered)! I think I'm close to the 300 hr mark. Amps are also finally settling down. What did Legacy give you for trade in?
Sorry, no high res shots of the racks. However, the material is aluminum shape extrusion made by a company by the name of MayTec. There is also a company called 80-20 which makes a similar product. You can Google these for more info. This material is generally used in the automation industry, it's the high tech erector set that forms the basis for frames used to house any type of assembly equipment, used to fabricate benches, test stands, etc. I'm in the manufacturing industry and have access to some of the smaller automation houses. A small company in MA cut the pieces to my specs, and I had a local cabinet maker fabricate the 3/4 MDF shelves wrapped in Formica. I used rope caulk for dampening between the racks and shelves and cork/rubber mat between the TT shelf. The TT shelf is made out of 2 inch laminated maple and was made by a guy down in PA. I assembled it. One of these days I'm going to add more damping to it, however as it sits today its pretty inert. It was a fun project but pricey.
Jay: I just noticed I never responded to your question on 02-15 for which I apologize though by this time I'm sure you already know the answer in that everything tightens up and gets better....bass gets super-tight, fast and more accurate both tonally and w.r.t. attack, etc...the mids become sweet (but not overly so), more accurate, the imaging and high frequency click into place. How are the HDs playing for you these days?
BTW...I recently traded my HDs to Legacy for a set of SEs in Black Pearl. The SEs are fantastic and remind me of just how good the HDs were already but with many noticeable improvements.
Jay, yes, I have conducted more than one review of WireWorld cables, and I continue to use them to build excellent systems. I strongly recommend securing both Silver Electra and Electra power cords (the former is silver OFC and the latter is OFC). By moving them about the rig one can "tune" the sound with a high degree of precision.
Before reviewing I put about $4-5K into sets of used cables from different manufacturers, which I rotated in comparison to each other. This was before working with WireWorld. I learned a lot from experience about the critical nature of using cables to complement components. I formed some very clear principles regarding cables and which ones work best to my ear. I am writing an article about that which will be published eventually.
Hey, M., I do remember you! You seemed like a proud papa when I saw you boxing up the SEs at the show. I told you at the time you were getting a great speaker, and I'm glad you are enjoying them! The marquis is a formidable center channel; you did well to make the L,C,R of your HT so powerful and consistent. Good job!
Congrats on putting together a great system, Jay! I own the Focus SE's, which I picked up from Ayon last October at the RMAF. Doug, you may recall we briefly met as the show was coming to an end. Since then, I've been upgrading my electronics around them and have been rewarded continually. I've ended up with the Wyred 4 Sound STP SE preamp and a 6x250W Wyred amp that I use to bi-amp my SE's and the Marquis HD center channel. If you're into home theater at all, the Marquis HD is the way to go. It embarrasses the sound at the best movie theaters I've been to. I seriously believe I have found my gear for the long haul.
