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Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:16 pm
by terrybooth
Well they're now a good foot further back, the sibilance is tamed and the sound hasn't got cloudy. I could maybe move them further back but the speaker wires are nearly against the wall. I need to work on the toe-In now.

So the sound impressions so far. As much as I like the ES22s, they have a slightly hard top end and can be a little too forward and shouty. I have a copy of Marianne Faithfull's '20th Century Blues'. Through the ES22s, this has been disappointing, Marianne's vocals are quite tiring to listen to. Through the Cubix, her tone and expression and the live performance come over much better.

Generally, the sound is more opened out. There's more of an impression of musicians being in the room. And there's more useful bass. Kick drums and bass have more body and tone.

But, I think I've still got some way to go before I've got them set up to work at their best.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:06 pm
by Dr Bunsen Honeydew
That's more like it, you are starting to understand them. They are a unique design, there is nothing like them, they interact with the acoustic far more than other speaker designs because of the upward facing drivers. They can go from crap to astonishing within a few inches, and along with the fact that they are made of acrylic, which means the forum arseholes can call them plastic :x means I/they have received a bad press from some idiots on forums, but I never worry about idiots apart from to show them up for what they are, as long as I know what I am doing and like them then soon people with ears will start to understand. It has been far slower with the speaker designs than with cables or amps, but it will come.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2012 9:20 pm
by terrybooth
Given up fiddling for a bit. Just listening to Folk, Blues and Beyond by Davy Graham. I think I may have the toe-in nearly right because the sound is more 3d. Maybe I'll be able to make some musical sense of Broken Biscuits (his last album) with these.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 8:51 pm
by terrybooth
Now they're just about as far back as I can get them and toed in so far they look boss-eyed. Might have taken it a bit far. I'm finding it a little soggy. However, I want to see what happens with particularly sibilant recordings. And I want to try higher volumes, so that's where they're staying for this evening's session.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:05 pm
by Anesthetise
Does that mean you have to have your listening seat bolted to the floor and keep your head in one place to get a nice sound? Or it's just about speakers position, not the listeners? That would make me some trouble as my listening seat is very portable - hi-fi is in medium sized bedroom with not much space to find a better placement for it.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 10:26 pm
by terrybooth
I'm listening off centre at the moment. I would say no. The instruments stay in the same place in the room pretty much as they would if there was a real band in the room. In fact you can almost walk all the way around and things stay fairly well in space.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2012 11:23 pm
by Dr Bunsen Honeydew
Sounds like they are too far back now and over rotated.

How far from the corners of the room.

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 10:58 am
by terrybooth
Conclusion from last night's listening was that the mid-range was muddied.The speakers are about two metres apart, two metres from one corner (because the door to the room is there) but only 60cm away from a bookshelf at the other side. Room is around 5 metres square. As you can see from the picture below, they are up against a wooden screen which forms the wall at that end of the room.
My Hi Fi Setup
My Hi Fi Setup
HiFiSetUP.JPG (285.71 KiB) Viewed 23112 times
The black lump you can see to the right is a 'barik. The Eposes are out of shot on the left. (Too many speakers in the room?)

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:19 am
by Anesthetise
2m vs 60cm? Damn, do you hear a finely balanced scene, even with mono knobs? :S

Re: NVA Cubix

Posted: Sun Sep 02, 2012 11:43 am
by terrybooth
Still working on it, but the Cubixes don't seem overly upset by the asymmetric arrangement. Nor did the Eposes but they were further forward and a little closer together (look closely and you can probably see the dust marks :P )