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Nice Turntable. What arm & cartridge are you running?
Nice setup. I've heard very good things about the Hana.
The S2EXs arrived yesterday and have been playing pretty much constantly when I'm not working or sleeping.
The positive: out of the box they sound amazing. Like, really really amazing. Love that they finally have magnetic grills. Those grill holes drove me nuts on the S1 and the Towers I owned in the past.
The negative: I wish they had a furniture grade appearance. I do not like seeing/feeling the grain. While not as bothersome as the grill holes on the standard cabinet it is indeed bothersome.
Glad you are liking the sound, but don't really follow you on the look/feel of the grain. A lot of furniture has grain that you can see and feel. I don't think it's indicative of quality. Some speakers/furniture have a glossy coating on top which tends to smooth things out. Which finish did you get?
Very happy to hear that you are enjoying the speakers!
Regarding the finish, first off - it is very important to understand that these are fully hardwood cabinets. These are not veneered cabinets, whereby a thin (often 2-4mm thick) layer of hardwood is glued / adhered to MDF or plywood.
With real hardwood furniture, there are 2 types of finishing. Filled grain and unfilled grain. With filled grain, the texture of the wood grain is "filled" with layers of clear coat. This often takes many layers of clear. With unfilled grain, there is still clear coat layers, but it is not applied as heavily so that the actual texture of the grain remains. Both types of finishing methods are considered furniture grade, in fact - with actual hardwood furniture, unfilled grain is more common as consumers generally want that unique quality (every piece is different). Our domestic cabinets are an unfilled grain finish, while our standard cabinets are a filled grain.
If you prefer a more consistent finish whereby there is no actual grain texture, you will need to go with a standard cabinet. As I understand it, you are already working with Dina regarding this.
It is simply not possible to have any type of consistency with regard to real wood grain, mother nature is not consistent and the grain itself runs through the entire cut of wood (bamboo) rather than the much lesser expensive option of simply using a veneer.
I hope this makes sense...
RRT-NPS,
Great to Hear you are amazed with their sound...they will steadily improve (especially the bass depth, tightness and speed) as they break in playing music these next few days!
I looked at the stock photos and see what you are talking about...those grain lines appear to be the natural bamboo surface structures that are highlighted in the domestic black finish. I had the piano black S2's (with grill holes) in the house and IMO, would actually have preferred what you have for their bamboo natural beauty! Hope the finish mellows out in your view, just as their sound becomes really additive!!
Ted
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Sierra RAAL V2 Towers, Axiom EP 500 Sub, Morrow SP7 Grand Reference Speaker Cables, Phillips CD880 XLR Balanced Variable Line Output to Orchard Audio Strakrimson 375w/per ch Stereo Ultra GaNFET Amp..... (Dedicated 2.1 Acoustical Music Listening Room)!