Wens' blog

About a month ago I tried out Roon on the fastest NUC I had, a 6th generation i5. Not exactly a recent machine. It had 32GB memory and a 256GB M.2 hard drive.

I downloaded Roon ROCK, the Roon distribution specifically made for the NUC and burnt it to a USB stick. In less than 15 minutes Roon was up and running. Quite a small and quick install indeed. It immediately noticed the Bluesound Node2i and Naim Mu So QB Gen 2 on the network.

After reformatting a two drive Synology I put all my music on there and configured it as a source in Roon.

Then I ran downstairs to check out the sound. The audio systems I have aren’t anything special, so I mostly enjoyed the ease of use of the Roon app on my iPad.

Just when my trial was up I came to the conclusion I couldn’t miss that little old NUC as a server, so I ended the trial.

Then followed two weeks of missing the convenience of Roon. I had gotten used to sitting on my couch in the evening with a good glass of wine, going back in time and listening to a lot of music I loved, but had forgotten.

So I ordered an eighth generation NUC with an i7, 32GB of memory and the fastest 500GB M.2 drive I could find. It’s overkill, the 500GB and 32GB, but better safe than sorry. ROCK must do caching, right? It’s running on Linux after all.

When the parts arrived I put them together and immediately ordered a year’s subscription to Roon.

I can’t say it’s all running flawlessly. The iOS apps are the biggest problem. The iPhone app crashes quite often and it lacks a lot of features the iPad app has. The macOS app is brilliant though.

One day when I was listening the music just stopped and the Roon Core seemed to be unreachable. I could reach its web server and restart it, but that hasn’t happened again. Ever since the latest update it’s been clear sailing. Not for all though. There are a lot of articles on the Roon community site about Roon breaking its connection with Qobuz and Tidal.

The other day I was finally able to listen to the Spendor D7.2s on the Naim Supernait 3.

I walked into a store, talked to a guy working there and another customer interjected us. He told me he was going to listen to everything on my list and asked if I would join him. Talk about being lucky.

The other customer first wanted to listen to the Audiovector R3 Signatures. I had heard them before and I found them a bit fierce in the highs. A lot of control and detail though. I was a bit shocked at the low bass loudness, but this turned out to be the overproduced pop we were listening to. When I played Steely Dan on them there was good balance in the sound.

Then the Audiovector R3 Avantgardes were hooked up. Quite an improvement over the Signatures. More control and tighter in the highs. There is something about the Audiovectors I do not like though. Maybe it is just the looks that put me off. I just think the metallic rim around the drives looks a bit cheap.

Then we listened to the Focal Kanta 2s. There was a lovely warmth and fulness to the sound, but the bass was woolly and not very well controlled. Which to me is quite a turn off. I dislike muddy bass in a speaker.

After the Kantas the Spendors sounded very detailed and in control, but a bit on the light side. They do not have the warmth of the Kantas. The detail though, the clarity… It is a lovely speaker and I think I could be very happy living with them. Still, they make me wonder if there is something better out there. I guess that is the typical pitfall for the audiophile…

We then had the PMC Twenty5.24 set up and they just did not have the control of the Spendors. The lows just weren’t as clear and defined. Not a bad speaker though. They just did not do much for me.

We then had the B&W 804 D3s hooked up to the Nait. I quite liked them. Warm, detailed, but not as much control as the Spendors. I might listen to the B&Ws on the Hegel H390. Maybe that is a better match.

We listened to all these speakers at quite high volumes for hours. It was good to see the Supernait did not have any trouble driving them. Or did it? Did the 804s need a bigger amplifier? And with that bigger amplifier, would they sound better than the Spendors?

I should give them a try on that Hegel, but something tells me it will not be better than the combination of the Supernait 3 and the Spendor D7.2s…

I listened to the Stirling Broadcast and Spendor speakers on this amplifier. The Moonriver Audio Model 404. Moonriver is a Swedish company and this is their first and so far only product. it’s got a really high end feel. It looks expensive, classy and retro. It’s modular, so you can add a DAC or phono stage.

About the sound, I only heard this one amplifier connected to the speakers, so it’s hard to say a lot about its character, but the speakers sounded lively and it was able to bring out the clarity of the Stirlings.

Spendor was a brand that I had had in the back of my mind for some time. It became a renowned name in audio with its thin walled BBC style speakers. I though, was more interested in their modern speakers. I had the opportunity to have a listen to the A7.

The A7 is an almost 94cm tall, but just 18cm wide tower. It’s just 30cm deep, so it can be easily placed in smaller living rooms. It looks gorgeous in this dark walnut finish.

Its sensitivity is 88db with an impedance of 8 ohm. So it shouldn’t be too hard to drive. I think I have read somewhere Spendor makes an effort to make their speakers easy to drive.

This speaker sounded smooth. The highs weren’t piercing and the mids clear and precise. The bass didn’t extend too deep down. At least that’s what I could perceive. To be honest I think I was sitting a bit far away to get a precise feel for it. Still, it was enjoyable and engaging. I think this speaker is great for long sessions.

After listening to the Spendor I mentioned the thin walled BBC style speakers behind it. I made some remark about this ‘old fashioned’ things to the guy working in the shop and he insisted I have a listen. So he set up the Stirling LS3/6 speakers. It was quite an experience. Voices and strings were so lifelike. So gorgeous. I was not too sure about the bass though. It wasn’t very firm or deep. Somehow though I feel I should get them, but not as my main speakers.

Speaker sound demos… wait for it… on YouTube. I am just not getting it. A lot of people actually seem to like these, but they are completely useless!!

It really is the one of the dumbest things I have seen on YouTube.

What are these people thinking? Do the viewers or makers of such videos really think they can get/give a good impression of what a speaker sounds like?

Apparently so, as I see a lot of requests for this kind of video.

Harbeth has a cult status in the audio world. Some love them, some just shrug. Somehow the link with the BBC gives them something extra for some people. To me they just look old fashioned, but somehow stylish.

I listened to them for a while. I think the first music I heard played on them was Diana Krall… The ultimate speaker audition cliché. They sounded ok, but a bit dull. Later I would learn that probably had a lot to do with the Hegel amplifier.

Before I ever got to listen to Hegel amplifiers I thought they were the best a modern amplifier could offer. After all I had read so many positive reviews about them and I love their minimalist design.

Then one day I was listening to some speakers. Dynaudios and KEFs on a Marantz amplifier. It sounded ok, but I thought these speakers had more to offer. So I asked if they could hook up a Hegel.

The shop had a very convenient system where they could not just switch speakers electronically, but also amplifiers. As soon as the Hegel was hooked up all life in the music was gone… Not musical, not very dynamic.

It shocked me. That day I learned reviews and other people’s opinions don’t mean anything. It’s only about what you think that matters.

The guy helping me then hooked up a Rega Elex-R. This amplifier was by far the best amplifier I heard that day.

After I listened to the Elacs I had a chance to listen to this speaker, half of the Kii THREE BTX system. At over 30.000 euros, not exactly attainable for everybody.

The owner of the shop wanted to impress and played some loud pop music with a lot of bass. I have never heard such a loud and tight bass. The floor was shaking.

I could hardly give a serious impression of this speaker as I just heard it for a short while, but it sounded quite detailed and in control despite the high volume. But at a little over 30K it should be exceptional, shouldn’t it?

When you are looking for active speakers online, you quite quickly run into the Elac Navis ARB-51. I like the ideas behind it. You can use them wirelessly with the Discovery Connect module, but you can also turn off all the wireless bits in the speaker and feed them with an analog cabled source.

The speaker is very well executed. It looks gorgeous and is well built. I particularly like the ones in the Emara finish.

I had the chance to listen to a pair of these, but cannot say I was very enthusiastic. They were displaying a lack of control. I do not know why this was, as this speaker generally gets quite favourable reviews. Maybe it was not run in yet or maybe it was the Discovery Connect’s power supply. Hans Beekhuyzen talks about it in his video about this speaker.