Danley SH-50/SH-60 for dedicated Home Theater - Page 7

hey ferenc_k,

I like the idea of using pro speaker stands. Which brand are those? I think I will pick up a few when I move into my next place this summer.




Forin

So a Danley, Seaton, Genelec, JC round-up ?

Hi Jason,

The source is a Bryston BDP-1 Linux USB player, DAC/DSP/amp is the French Devialet D-Premier (240W, ADH =Analog/Digital Hybrid, a 3W Class A amp drives four Class D modules in per L/R channel, plus few other patented, clever tricks). The sub is driven through the loop speaker output of the SM60, the sub amp is XTZ DSP sub amp and its speaker level input. Xover frequency is 63 Hz, 24 dB/octave, no delay, no EQ. The Devialet DAC/DSP/amp can be used as a crossover as well, it has a programmable DSP, but I did not have the cables at home, so it was the easiest way to setup, soon I will try this way as well.

It sounds absolutely amazing even after using SH50/60, SH100B and all sorts of other Danley speakers since 2007 at home and for PA as well. For rooms less than 40 sqm, it is probably the best Danley solution for 2.1 high-end audio setup. Th SM60 seems a bit smoother and extended in the treble range, than the SH50/SH60, coherency and dynamism is very similar, plus you can sit much closer to it, I think even 2 - 2,5m is fine.

The TH Mini is very suprising, it does not go too deep, but gives a real stable and breathing, controlled foundation to the music. If you value energy, honesty, life and rhythm in your music reproduction, you can get plenty of it.

I tried the SM60/TH Mini with a 20W Class A triode tube amp (Ear-Yoshino V20) and with a car battery driven 10W Altmann amp as well, with very good result too, using the same XTZ DSP sub amp. Very, very enjoyable, punching way above its price, mainly with the completely car battery and computer based setup.
The Bryston BDP-1/Devialet/SM60/TH Mini it could be compared to any system for practically any price - at least with my taste and preferences

All in all, I am very satisfied with the SM60 and the TH Mini.

Hi Forin,

it is Konig and Meyer, I do not know the exact order number, I just took one from our PA stock. I will try a nice locally made heavy duty stand as well, its chrome finish will go nicely with the chrome Devialet.



All the Danley speakers I tried at home preferred higher than usual position.

I will do my best to inform

Not easy, as they were used in different systems.

One thing is sure: I have no experience with SM-60M. The SM-60F is a fantastic box, as you could see above. I found its presentation balanced, even without a sub. Very coherent and honest with all the amps mentioned plus I forgot to mention Parasound JC1/JC2 and the small but surprising zAmp/zPre.

The SH100B is certainly goes deeper and little bit warmer sounding. Because of the 100 conical dispersion I found it a bit less room friendly. It is more room dependent than the SH50/SH60 and the SM60F and requires more space to breathe, but when it has enough space it is really good. One of my other favorite is the SH-LPM, turned on its short side and used in corner. Can sound very good in the corner of the room and can make even an evil room quite friendly because of its boundary friendliness and arrayability.

The SM60F has a very high resolution and provides a kind of "3D" space, if the recording is natural and simple enough, not game playing with reverbs, shows all sorts of details spacewise, timewise and tonally in the recording, it is a real master of let you follow the minute changes in dynamics and rhythm. One of my mastering engineer friend was very much surprised to hear how many new things he can realize in his just finished latest recording through the SM60F. But the SM60F shows the details not on a kind of "audiophile" way, as it does not force you to follow the details, but let you focus on the whole, the musical event itself, where the "details" just make the presentation more real - sometimes made you forget about the close mike nature of the recording. Probably the phase coherence has something to do with it. On a very similar way how the SH50 works.

All the Danley speakers are very good to show the "body" of the instruments and musicians (even the SH 100), I mean they are shown in a good recording sometime as real believable humans and instruments, but they do it not because of the strong upper bass, but as a part of a kind of virtual reality. The SM60F with the TH Mini shows the best drum sound in my home for sure I have ever had here. We have quite a few drum recordings in 96 kHz/24 bits, we used them to test high-end A/D converters and Royer ribbon microphones for one of the recording studios.

One of the very best way to drive DSL speakers to use the English MC2 Audio amps, mainly the big MC1250 and the Swiss Gotham or the American Evidence Audio pro speaker cables. These are peanuts, cost almost nothing compared to the high-end audio amps and cables, but provides the same honesty, practicality generally as the DSL speakers.

I am interested to know more about the height of the speaker. What is the actual height for the base of the speaker? How far from the speaker is your listening position?

My Unity Horn is at 80cm and I am looking to move it to 90cm (changing bass driver). I listen just over 3m away. Anyone who has experience in this I would welcome your input, thanks!

Mine is about 120cm and listening from roughly 4m.

Thanks Ferenc. That's quite high but the coverage is excellent with 60 x 60 so I just need to do some trigonometry to verify it will work as well with my height and distance options.

Ferenc, would you say the SM60F with the TH mini levels the playing field vs the SH50 in terms of midbass?

Ivan would 14 AWG Speaker Wire be good enough for the LCR? The reason I ask is because I already have it but would have to order 12 AWG If it would help.

My order ships this week.

That's great Mark, I'm really excited for you!

Larry

I read over at a different forum that the TH 221 could possibly be ordered as a half cut version without losing extension with output being the tradeoff.

If one order a half cut version and at a later date order the "other half", coupled together, would that essentially be a complete Th221

My name is not Ivan, but I'll give it a try It depends on cable length and speaker impedance. For further you might want to visit this link

The wire gauge depends on the length. Longer runs require larger gauge.

I would really look at 12 ga for the subs-that is where it is going to make the biggests difference in sound quality.

Ok Ive got 12 gauge for all 3 subs and 12 gauge for the SH 50 SH 50 AND SH69. Im going to use 14 gauge for the 4 sh 100 since it is already in the ceiling and wall and no way to get into the tight attic above my theater.

You would be fine then. Where the size of the wire matters the most in sound quality )not talking about loss of level over distance) is in the cabinets that have a lot of bass content.

The size of the wire greatly affects the damping factor of the system-in most cases more than anthing else-including the amplifer ratings.

So for the surrounds (which don't have a lot of bass) you will be just fine-and better than what most people have.

Ivan did you say the TH221 is running off one channel of the Danley 6.5K? If thats the case I just found one more pro to swapping out 3 DTS 10'S for one of these. I only need one amp verses 2! Oh and I just got word back that the TH221 can be split into and reassembled.

Forgot to ask this Ivan. On the Crest 9200/Danley 6.5K amp Im going to use one channel for the 3rd DTS 10 and the other channel for the SH69 Center Channel Speaker. So I run the signal from the pre pro sub out to channel A on the amp, The the signal for the center coming from the pre pro to channel B on the amp. Do I leave the switch to parellel or what do I change it to?

Sounds like an opportunity for a TH121 is near.

They are certainly very different. If you use the SH50 without sub, the coherence and body of the presentation will be very surprising after the Avantgarde Trio. Tonally the mid is a bit more forwarding from the SH50 but usually it does not mean a problem (for me). The integration of the sub in case of the Trio was very difficult for me, took a lot if time and finally it was not perfect, however I could live with it for some 8 years .).

Th SH50 is much more independent of the room problems, the Trio seems to excite all the room, and it makes a singer or a solo piano unproportionally big, room filling un a bad way, it was difficult to get rid of it somehow. However getting the right stand for the SH50 was involving quite a few experiments until I found the right one, which is not cheap.

The SH50 has a kind of raw energy, dynamism focused on the listening spot because of the dispersion control, which is very much unusual from any high-end audio speaker I have heard, including the Trio.The Trio was a good investment in its time, I really liked it.

I do not know, probably because I do not think it is important.

The SM60F is very balanced on its own right, even if does not go as low as the SH50. I could happily live the rest of my life with it, without any sub. Its balance and smoothness is really inviting above the well known other benefits of Tom's designs.

Thanks, I have a scenario where my speakers are placed on 36" tall platform in order to clear a pony wall. How high up yours and how far apart?

My Danley gear will be here Monday Morning. Ill post pics of the set up.

Roughly 120 cm high and bit less than 4m far. Works very well this way.

This is extremely high praise indeed from someone who owned one of the ultra hi-end audiophile speakers which cost 30-40 times that of the SM60Fs! No wonder every time when I sit down to listen to my "baby Danleys", I still can not believe that such incredibly realistic sound is from my very own system, not sitting at some fancy showroom listening to some hi end system which I could never afford; in fact as I related previously the Danleys sound superior to many of those hi end systems!!!