Need Advice - setting up O/93
 

Well after a long struggle I caved in and bought the first pair of O/93 (#1 and #2) produced, not counting prototypes etc (I think). My room is 13.5"X27" or so.

NOT a dedicated listening room and have a pair of Altec Flamenco which will stay for now beyond the apes. I am sitting about 8-9" from the speakers now but the O/93 will need to be closer. Toe in I believe just a smidge? Will try to keep them of side walls (will be a bit hard).
Any suggestions are welcome!

Will be running them with Montille/Aurieges/Hommage/VPI Prime and Almarro 318b or Trafomatic Premise (EL84) integrated

8-9 inches is pretty close, but at that distance headphones might be more comfortable. :)

Pretty much my thinking. I listen in the near-field, but more like 5-6'.

sorry LOL
I meant feet not inches.

Kinda figured. That room was looking a little small too:)

The Sumiko Master process is a method many of us have used successfully to position speakers with excellent results. It's time consuming, especially if you don't have a helper, but well worth the effort. I'm sure it's available in other threads, but here it is as posted by Michael aka Yamaki:
http://www.audioaficionado.org/showp...83&postcount=6

Good luck with your Dévorés. I was also watching those O/93s. If they don't work for you, let me know. Be happy to pick them up.

Thanks for the help guys. Yeah theer were 3 sets - i opted for the cheapest and oldest. The seller is a great audio guy. They are in nice shape and sound wonderful. will need to spend some time setting them up, but first want to just listen and enjoy!

Well good that i actually measured things today. The seating position is actually 11 ft away from the speakers. I was able to pull the speakers apart so that the distance between the sides is a bit over 6ft and the distance between the moddle of teh woofers is a bot over 7ft. Unfortunately I cant move the listening couch closer (other furniture blocks it) od moving the speakers closer (furniture again).
I will play with the positining a bit and the toe in but most likely not more than a few inches here or there. BTW they are a bit over 2" from the side walls and 5-6ft from the back wall - however the Altecs are behind them by about 1.5-2 FT.
I know far from ideal...
They sound really great with my Trafomatic Premise, Micro Seiki/Tavish phono combo - I dare to say great synergy and perhaps best this gear ever sounded. I used cheap WE 16 gauge speaker wire.
Now trying with Shindo and A23 speaker wire.

Another quick question - what is teh best way to clean the speakers from smudges/fingerprints? The manual mentions some vague language around "mild diluted soad detergent"? I was wondering if anyone tried any specifc cleaner or perhaps piano cleaner/wax? I trie dteh latetr on some other speakers (Yamaha NS-1000 ebony and WLM Lyra) with pretty good results - would that work?

Gerlitz Smudge-Off and Dunlop No. 65 guitar polish are both popular options amongst AA'ers. If you search for either you'll find posts from others. I use Gerlitz myself.

thanks much appreciated!

Hey Sancho! I recall a while back you were contemplating the Altecs vs the DeVores...and now you ended up getting them both! I'd love to hear your impressions. Good luck with the DeVores, they are amazing sounding speakers indeed.

You have good taste in speakers. yb-2 in my name refers to the Yamaha B-2 VFET amps I used to drive my pairs of NS-1000 & NS-1000Ms with. Don't blow a mid-range or tweeter. Spares disappeared some years ago.

LOL yeah I have a condition/addiction alright...
This is my 52nd pair of speakers in the last 8-9 years.
I have only about 9-10 pairs left. Curiosity led me to many historic speakers (AR3, KLH5, Advent, Dahlquist DQ10, Quad ESL63, etc) and internet chatter (ADS, Merlin, Audio Physic, etc) and finally low posered tube amps to WLM, Altec and DeVore. Love them all for diffrent reasons and with different reason.

I got the Gerltz and it works very nicely. Thanks again!

BTW my O/93 rest on a pair of Acoustic Revival platforms (part of the deal). Not usre if they make a big difference or not (highly regarded on the net..) but I would say that they do beat the Altec Flamenco. Not hands down, but overall I think they are more balanced, have tighter and still plentyful bass and just overall very musical/coherent speakers.

To be fair my Altecs are not recapped, but on stands with brass footers, both pairs of speakers have the tweeters at the same height, hooked up with the same WE 16ga wire to a switch box by Adcom and WE 14 ga wire hooked form teh amp to the box.
Hope to get new XO soon, rewire, etc the Altecs and then see truly what they are capable of.
Enjoy the music!

Aren't you following the footsteps of Art Dudley of Stereophile? Believe he has both the 0/93 and Flemenco speakers. Recall his writing an article/column about each.

LOL not really. I think Art has O/96 and now Flamenco after selling his Valencias...
I am really not an expert or anything just love music and trying new gear - especially tube based (and many many speakers of course)

Thanks for your impressions Sancho! My impressions were a little different when I had both the O96 and Flamenco. I thought the O96 played lower and tighter, but the Flamenco bass was more musical and bigger -- filled the room in a different way. The O96 was better at what Art called "decidedly modern hifi" things like imaging and detail, no doubt. When I compared the two, I had the Flamencos on the floor and bone stock.

I've since sold the O96 and am running the Flamencos, but now with a Shindo Cortese. I have the Werner XOs and Belden cable at my house just not hooked up yet, now I just need to build some more permanent stands (I have books underneath them for now). With the Cortese and Flamencos, I am a pretty happy guy. I had the house to myself today, so I listened quite a bit and without any fatigue. Really emotionally involved in the music, especially great vinyl recordings.

As you said, enjoy the music!

Well i will likely follow your footsteps despiet liking the O/93 a lot.
For me and my budget it is not 3 times the speaker vs the Flamenco...

I went the opposite direction - I am owning the O/96 for over 4 years now and tried a pair of Valencia with my Shindo setup for over a year. I sold the Shindo and the Valencia as well.


I just love the flow, natural tonality and richer texture and detail of the 0/96. I never felt the Shindo did quite the best with the O/96 (safe for the Haut Brion which was better than the Cortese for the O/96.

Simplified and went with an Accuphase E600 integrated and enjoying a lot more music per day without the hassles of tubes (after 8years Shindo).

Best wishes,

Rene

well i finally did bite the bullet and got a pair of O/96 two weeks ago. Need to set them up better and fine tune for sure but initial impressions are good. I suspect my Shindo gear si not the best (Montille/Aurieges) fit...

Might be interested in your 0/93s if you are going to move them...............

Oh sorry, should have been more specific. I sold the O/93 shortly after my above post, thinking that the Altecs are better value...
Have to say that I may have not been correct...

Old thread, but Art Dudley of Stereophile just picked up a pair of 0/93s for his personal use.