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Re: Triangle Titus
Sounds like you've got some good lads in your nest...that's a blessing (and a sign of a good dad!). I guess if they are exposed to fine equipment and shown how to take care of it they'll respect it. To be fair...my daughter is an angel...best behaved child I've ever seen (touch wood)....it's the friends who haven't been exposed to delicate devices that concern me. Monsters!
There's more to my quest than money time and space.....I'm trying to find a sound I heard about 15 years ago. It was a simple tube integrated (not sure what but about $2000) mated to a B&W 801 matrix. It was amazing! Warm, huge sound field, deep luscious bass, liquid highs.
I remember melting into a chair completely immersed in music. Today's system sounds hard, lean and bright. I had a Unison Unico with Lv 2 underwood mods on the Gallos before the MF A5.5 and it was a little warmer up top but didn't fill out the bottom end. Before that I was running the Benchmark DAC1 into a set of Paradigm Active 40's via balanced XLR...that was amazingly clean and full range but a 'just the facts jack' presentation and again 'bright'. Thought about tube pre in the mix but...went the other way...sold the Paradigms bought the Gallos and brushed the dust off of the Unico.
I figured the 250watt MF should grab the bass by the balls but....it's not really the answer. I thought of running the Gallos off of a tube amp and if necessary adding a power amp to the bass driver. I know Pierre from Maple Shade did that and loved it although he runs a set of monitors (gallo stratas) and sub now.
One factor that has been a constant here is the Benchmark Dac. Is it hard sounding? Is that the problem? I think your right on the speaker preference....I would miss the Gallos if I replaced them with the Titus. Maybe wishful thinking.
Just thought an efficient speaker feed with tubes and a sub to fill in might bring me closer AND put some $$$ back in the kitty. I'll fiddle around...maybe try a tube amp and use the MF as a sub amp.....I'll send you an update...tell you how it goes. Feel free to make recs if they jump out at you. I trust your ear (and motives).
Thanks for the feedback! Regards,
Neil - E-mail: neilwrob (at) yahoo.ca

AK
Hello Neil,
yes, that reminds me - some of my kids friends did do some damage. But there was an incidence where a kid flipped open the lid on my 'table, and my younger son quickly ushered some sense into him.
If you are not slanted towards brighter sounding presentations, then I would definitely stay away from metal tweeters and the triangles in particular. Dynaudio does make very nice soft dome tweeters, the only caveat being they typically need a good amount of current to really come to life - but I have found that an amp biased in full class-a really helps too.
I recently had a brief encounter with speakers featuring Heil tweeters, pending a deeper study they were very impressive. Let me know what you find and how things turn out.
Happy listening,
Arvind Kohli

Re: Triangle Titus
Thanks Arvind...sage advise.
My concern is that I have $7000 worth of stereo equipment in my living room that spends as much time playing 'Teddy Bears Picnic' as it does my music.
It's not set up to take full advantage of the system...speakers tucked in close to the cabinet and backed against the wall (aesthetic reasons as well as safety for running kids to avoid) and when I do sit down to relax and listen I almost always end up with a child on my lap a wife who wants to talk and/or a complaint about the volume (this system needs some power to sing).
When the little ones are in bed and I have time to myself....it's quiet listening only! Most of the music on the system is played throughout the day as we go about our daily living and I thought "maybe I need to buy an inexpensive 'good enough' set-up and put the $$ somewhere it will either collect interest or get used. I can grab a set of Titus ex for $250 a Musical fidelity A-1 2008 for $600 (or a refurbed old Scott tube amp for $600) and put $2000+ in the bank. That was the thought anyways. You're the second person who said stay where you are (a good friend and fellow audiophile agrees with you).
I think the set-up I have could sound amazing and it's hard to let it go but it feels impractical to keep it. (I'm starting to sound like my father). On a different note...the Dulcets certainly peeked my interest. Did you ever trade in your 1.3 for those? Have you ever heard the 1.3se? It's supposed to be a big step up from the 1.3Mk2...pretty freakin' expensive though!
Thanks again for your feedback. Please don't feel obligated to continue this thread...you must get hammered with emails like mine... Regards,
Neil - E-mail: neilwrob (at) yahoo.ca

AK
Hello Neil,
Maybe carve out a bit of cash, and buy some used stuff to play around with. If it doesnt work out you can get most of your money back.
Also, this way you will be able to compare the new gear to your older, pricier stuff directly. My prediction, you'll find the biggest difference in the speakers.
I do fondly remember when I was in similar shoes. I did not fret too much about hiding my gear and my sons did very well not damaging anything. And then, they started to sit in my lap and listen along, then came setting up and lp on the 'table, and now at 8 and 10 they sometimes clean records with me and often discuss what is playing. They now operate the main rig, and do turn it all off when done. Nothing makes me happier than to share my hobby with them - it is now better than I could have ever imagined.
The Dulcets were awesome, except for the chuffing at the port, but only if you push it too much.
Arvind Kohli

Triangle Titus
Arvind,
Thanks for all the great reviews in the 'budget' category...
I'm moving down to a simpler less expensive system and was intrigued by your review of the Triangle Titus. Wondered about pairing it with an inexpensive tube amp (maybe an old Scott Integrated) or a smooth natural SS like the Musical Fidelity A3.2. I currently have an A5.5 with Gallo 3.1 and just don't find the time or space to set it up properly and play it loud enough to really appreciate it (kids, wife, life!).
Got any 'magic combinations' you could recommend?
Regards,
Neil - E-mail: neilwrob (at) yahoo.ca

AK
Hello Neil,
I am glad you found the article useful. I still have my Triangles and do use them a lot. There are 2 drawbacks; the tweeter can be a bit bright at high volumes and the bass response is limited. But I really still love them. Attached are reviews of some other units I have reviewed that you may want to consider. But, I am not sure if selling off your current gear and buying something else will spare you a whole lot of space anyways - personally, I'd keep and enjoy what you have.
www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_10_2/gr-research-av1-speakers-5-2003.html
www.tnt-audio.com/casse/ref3a_dulcet_e.html
www.hometheaterhifi.com/volume_8_2/dynaudio-contour-1-point-1-speakers-6-2001.html
Happy Listening,
Arvind Kohli

New DAC
Hi Lucio, I hope you are well. I bought a Music Fidelity V-link recently only to discover that it is incompatible with my Trends UD-10 :-( So I'm in the market for a new DAC, and because it will plug into the V-link, it does not have to be USB.
There seem to be some good and not too expensive DAC's on offer and I wonder if anyone at TNT has heard any of them? Researching the web I've got a short-list of three (well 5 as one is rebadged twice!) - the are the XiangSheng DAC-01A/Grant Fidelity DAC-09/Maverick D1, the Emotiva XDA-1, and the one that I'm favouring most, the Audio-GD NFB-3.
I recently got a pair of Polk S4's as my FocalJMLabs 705s were a bit bass shy, but they had better ambience - probably due to their metal inverse dome tweeter. Ideally I'd like to get some of that resolution back! Do you have any suggestions?
The current system is:
Foobar/ASIO4ALL > LocusPolstar > TrendsUD10 > Virtue1 > Focal JMLabs 705s and the new one will be: Foobar/ASIO4ALL > LocusAxis > V-link > ??? > Virtue1 > PolkS4
Cheers,
Geoff - E-mail: geoffrey_binder (at) bigfoot.com

LC
Dear Geoff,
unfortunately I'm not familiar with the DACs you mention but try to audition those, if possible. Otherwise don't forget that good (extremely good) DACs of the past are still good sounding even by today's standards. I'm referring to top gear from Wadia (X32 and X64), Linn (Numerik) and various Meridians. These components can be bought almost for peanuts (at least, compared to their price when new) and they still sound extremely good, even better than similarly priced "new" DACs. Have a look at the S/H market and audition as many DACs as possible.
Hope this helped somehow,
Lucio Cadeddu

Dayton feedback
Greetings Lucio!
Thanks for your information on Dayton Audio DTA-100a. Listening to Supertramp through VRDS-10 + ArtDio and B200 with dual subs, TNT cables...
Great music and very nice for the price!
Good luck in the future.
Regards,
Tony - E-mail: cmhabich (at) bigpond.com

LC
Dear Tony,
thanks a lot for your feedback on the Dayton Audio DTA-100a. It's a small gem, indeed, at an unbelievably low price. I hope it will remain this low in the future. Novices do need amps this good.
Thanks for the feedback!
Lucio Cadeddu