room acoustics and treatment

[Daniel Quinn]

Seems to me that advising someone to get a better house sort of negates the purpose of the forum. There is also the forum disease of buy what I've got sneaking in to this thread.

Flatty replaced epos es11 which have no crossover on the bass unitunit with Sara's. He likes what he likes. My only advise would be to get a better moving coil.

[Flatpopely]

I had ES14s, not ES11s.

As to the SARAs the only bit of KEF is the bass driver. Tweeter is different, cabinet is different.....etc.

If you take a look at them the engineering work in them is quite something. They may not be to everyone's taste but to dismiss them as 'thrown together' shows a lack of knowledge.

The ASAKA is from the Supex age of Linn carts and I rather like the sound. I find modern MCs very bleached by comparison, but that's my taste and I know many disagree.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

I stand *exactly* by what I said, read it again. *Original design*. The fact that they later made their own crossover PCBs and changed the tweeter is not relevant to the original design. They just tweaked it in production.

[Flatpopely]

The tweeter was never the same as that in the KEFs.

[Andrew]

My experience of Saras has been good in smaller rooms but really disappointing in larger ones. So much so, it caused me to question my past experiences.

As for refinements ove time, the earliest ones were clearly better to my ears, so it not sure what was added gave anything worthwhile. One pair was so early they looked like a DIY job but they sounded so much more solid and made the best sense out of the music. The steady deterioration in sound was escalated when they made the Sara 9. Easier to drive but it just lost everything that was good about the original.

Saras and Isobariks do make room placement easier IME and don't seem to have issues with bass boom. They also don't produce soundstage depth, so nothing to gain or lose from placement. Isobariks, don't like high ceilings though and Saras don't seem to like extended listening distances. Whilst I have enjoyed both, I feel they give a limited version of the music, removing a lot of spatial information. If that doesn't bother anyone and they enjoy what they do well, then I'm happy for them. You only have to please yourself when it comes to your own system.

As for your own room: Ive found that it can (and usually does) play a big role. Every time I've moved, the system that I brought with me has failed to hit the spot. I'd readily try acoustic treatments if the people selling them didn't completely take the piss with their pricing. Moving furniture, furnishings, cushions etc suggests the placement of objects can make substantial changes to what I hear, but I wouldnt live in a room that looks like an anechoic chamber and I won't be ripped off by a sheister hawking bits of foam at several hundred pounds a pop.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

The tweeter was never the same as that in the KEFs.

yes it was, have you seen the prototypes, because I have (well pictures of). They were built from KEF kits. The previous generation from these ones http://www.kef.com/uploads/files/en/mus ... tata_r.pdf

[Flatpopely]

No SARA had the T27 tweeter, not even the prototypes.

Plus it's got two bass drivers so just buying the KEF kit would not have worked.

The SARA is a Linn design, show me a KEF isobaric design the SARA was based on and I'll eat my hat.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

FFS don't you have the intelligence to read or retain information. I SAID IN BACK POSTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the Sara is TWO KEF speakers in one box, and the prototypes were built using KEF Kits from the early to mid 70's. I used to sell KEF kits back in the late 60's early 70's when in retail. All drive units and crossovers in a box with cabinet making instructions. In the case of the Sara one T27 was replaced by a glued on resistor on one of the two crossover board. So just to ensure it has finally sunk into your brain, to build two Saras required kits for four speakers.

The Isobarik was based on two KEF Concerto in one cabinet, believe it or not it is common knowledge from those in the know, obviously you are not one of those people.

[Dr Bunsen Honeydew]

The Isabarik system was just how the two bass drivers were coupled, nothing else, and it was invented or discovered in the 1950s attributed to Harry Olsen a prominent engineer at RCA Victor. So that was a copy as well. There were no KEF speakers using the Isobarik (Linn word) coupling, once again you are incapable of reading my back posts. The Sara and the Isobarik prototypes were *based* on and built from purchased KEF kits.

[jayman67]

i think he's winding you up now