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Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?

70.132.1.81
Posted on October 31, 2009 at 15:12:02
Neuro
Audiophile

Posts: 626
Location: Bay area, California
Joined: June 29, 2001
 I'd like to hear any reviews or feedback about them. In a very old post, PG said he'd let the few owners report on their modified speakers, but I haven't been able to find anything.

thanks!
-- Nils

RE: Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?, posted on October 31, 2009 at 21:20:41
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 391
Joined: November 21, 2008
 hey neuro,

sorry to be a bit suspicious to your query.....are you not happy with your rather enviable sophisticated active setup ?

we all know that gunned maggies are superior to stock, but are you flirting with a return to passive XO ??

just scratching my head.....

RE: Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?, posted on November 1, 2009 at 16:12:06
Neuro
Audiophile

Posts: 626
Location: Bay area, California
Joined: June 29, 2001
 You are right to be suspicious! I'm not necessarily unhappy -- just wanted to take the system a few more steps up. Here are some of my ideas:

* PG frames (not necessarily the series crossover, but it would be interesting to have both to compare/contrast the two!)

* Replace 4 x Quicksilver V4 amps with 2 x Cary CAD 200 SS amps (2ch, 350watts into 4 ohms). I've been listening to live music a lot, and I miss the top-end extension and control that (it seems) tube amps simply can't provide, especially against a 3 ohm purely resistive load.

* Upgrade preamp

* Upgrade crossover to use 24-step attenuators

-- Nils

RE: Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?, posted on November 1, 2009 at 18:29:18
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 391
Joined: November 21, 2008
 hey nils,

still scratching my head.....!

Iīm not quite certain of where you want to go. your setup is in many ways exemplary. the only "weak" point in your setup is the marantz CD player. -and maybe the pre-amp and the XO.

the quicksilver amps are not the bottleneck.

-and going back to passive XO is not the way forward !

I have a feeling that the program source and the XO tuning is the real issue.
-if you do not put in "great audio", youīll not get out, "great audio"


-if you can manage to build new hardwood frames for your maggies, thatīs a REAL upgrade !
-getting (even) better program hardware is achievable.
-obtaining an optimal XO system, is really a challenge !!

-I believe in digital XO.! -and even as an experiment, itīs damned effective to teach you what matters.

going from active to passive, is to say that vintage cars are superior to contemporary cars road handling.....matter of perspective !

keep calm before you sell the quicksilvers and the XO.....
RE: Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?, posted on November 2, 2009 at 14:42:38
Neuro
Audiophile

Posts: 626
Location: Bay area, California
Joined: June 29, 2001
 I think a next step will be sending in my stock pair of Quicksilver V4s to Response Audio for the same treatment as the pair driving the midrange. The upgrades are quite worthwhile, and I firmly believe in matching the amps as closely as possible for the midrange and ribbon.

The DEQX is just too much money right now. $6000 is tough to stomach, even when the sale of an active crossover + preamp would slightly offset the price. Stupid expensive hobby! That said, it would seem to make sense to not upgrade the preamp or crossover in favor of eventually picking up a DEQX to replace it!

-- Nils

RE: Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?, posted on November 1, 2009 at 20:29:53
Neuro
Audiophile

Posts: 626
Location: Bay area, California
Joined: June 29, 2001
 play-mate,

Thank you for your input. I'm definitely trying to not be too impulsive with any massive changes to my system. I've just been wondering about tubes vs. SS for the drivers -- the ribbon is really a non-ideal load for any tube-based amplifier, even one with 4 ohm taps.

You've hit the nail on the head when it comes to crossover tuning. It's really a challenge, especially when you've got the flexibility of implementing most slopes at arbitrary points. I'm probably going to order a few more filters from Phil [Marchand] before I do anything drastic i.e. expensive.

Do you use a DEQX digital crossover? I think that might really be the next step -- it would supplant my preamp and active crossover.

As for the program material -- have no fears, I know which of my recordings are good and which are bad... and I have plenty of reference-worthy stuff. :)

Thanks again for the tips.
-- Nils

RE: Any 'Gunned 3.6 owners out there?, posted on November 2, 2009 at 03:13:33
play-mate
Audiophile

Posts: 391
Joined: November 21, 2008
 nils !

if you do have the spare petty cash for a DEQX, .....THATS the ultimate !

I was too poor to get one, so went all digital with an optimized music harddisk server with crossover software (by dawnrazorīs recommendation)

check it out. itīs amazing !

http://cplay.sourceforge.net/

kind regards

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