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SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers (Read 7542 times)
thethanimal
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Posts: 52
SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
08/09/20 at 22:31:52
 
I just received my SE84UFO with 25th Anniversary mods last Wednesday, and what a huge improvement over using my Integra receiver (Class D) to drive my 10” Audio Nirvana speakers. The speakers are in the 2.8 Mk II cabinet design supplied with the drivers from www.commonsenseaudio.com; these are full-range drivers with a claimed 99 dB/W/m efficiency, and considering the volume I get with the amp turned only halfway up I believe that rating. The Integra driving my KEF Q100 speakers sounded good, but stepping up to the Decware/Audio Nirvana setup took the experience from listening to good recordings to listening to musicians in my room. Actually the same quantum leap I experienced when I moved up from Logitech computer speakers to the Integra/KEF combo.

Rest of the system:
AudioQuest PowerQuest 2 power filtration
Decware DHC-1 sending power to the amp
Bluesound Node 2i streaming DAC
SVS SB-12 NSD 12” subwoofer using Node sub out
AudioQuest Evergreen interconnect and Black Lab subwoofer cable
AudioQuest Slip 16/2 16 ga in-wall speaker cable

https://ibb.co/pd4Bwnr
https://ibb.co/NTWMYLZ
https://ibb.co/VQxb0Ph
https://ibb.co/nLyX3Ly
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Geno
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Without music, life
would be a mistake.

Posts: 1988
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #1 - 08/10/20 at 02:51:07
 
Thanimal, not long after I got my SE84 a few years back, I took a long, hard look at these speakers. I had read good things about them. At the last minute, I went another direction. They are very nice, and I know you are enjoying them!
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(2)SE84UFO(Balanced Monoblocs) OR Sansui AU-222
Crown sub amp
Cambridge Audio CXN(ModWright) • ZBIT
SL-1210MK5(KAB Mods) Soundsmith Aida MKll cart • Darlington Labs MP-7
Otari MX5050-Bll2 R2R
ZLC Power Cond.
Lii Audio PT-10/W-15 in open baffles
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piezoman
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Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #2 - 08/11/20 at 13:57:52
 
Looks really nice, I'll bet the sound is lovely and pristine!
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beowulf
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Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #3 - 08/12/20 at 07:57:42
 
Really beautiful setup and speaker cabinets in particular.
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thethanimal
Senior Member
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Posts: 52
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #4 - 08/12/20 at 13:44:05
 
Thank you. Those cabinets were my first build, but I got a lot of help from my father-in-law who has a really nice shop set up. My wife says they look better than any of the options I showed her when I was speaker shopping, before I decided to go all in for the build. (I never showed her the Devore Orangutan speakers since they were far too expensive, but those definitely influenced my build.)

My next upgrade might be to a REL sub in white for aesthetics and performance. It’d work better with the system too, using the high level inputs off the amp instead of line out from the Node.
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Tommy Freefall
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Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #5 - 08/12/20 at 23:55:46
 
Looks great - nice and clean!
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Torii MkIV w/ 25th ann mods
Rachael SE34I.5
Benchmark AHB2
ERRx
ZStage, ZRock2
Tascam CD-240
Border Patrol DAC
Benchmark DAC3 HGC
Bluesound Node
Zu Audio Mission speaker cables
Decware I/Cs
PI Audio MiniBUSS
Zenhead, Grado 325e
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Erdmanb
Verified Member
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Posts: 1
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #6 - 09/10/21 at 08:41:24
 
Built an open back cabinet with 12 inch AN super drivers. Added a helper 12 bass driver with a simple low pass filter. I’m a big fan of Audio Nirvana drivers after listening and owning almost every speaker type out there over my 40+ year audio journey. You get the sound of a dipole like Maggie’s and Martin Logan’s but you also get the coherency of a single driver setup. Also very high efficiency. Dynamics of a horn without the horny coloration.
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thethanimal
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Posts: 52
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #7 - 09/10/21 at 17:08:07
 
Is love to see pictures of that build. I feel like I’m getting some colorations or distortion in the midrange, on female vocals and piano, and I wonder if it’s from my cabinet construction or damping (or speaker cables).
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Tony
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"Life without
..music is
inconceivable"
A.Einsteln

Posts: 608
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #8 - 09/10/21 at 22:46:21
 
What a beautiful set up and room.  If the sound matches (and I'm sure it does) the good looks of your room, it must be a perfect setting for listening to music.  Nice work.
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SE84UFO25 | Ic0n4 Passive Preamp | ZBIT | Cambr. CXNv2 | Denafrips Pontus II | Denafrips Gaia | Media Converter | Decware I/Cs | Decware Pwr Cbls | ZWIRE Speaker Cbls | Omega SAHOM & KEF KC62 | Furman Cond l GIK Room Trmt
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Eldergod
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Posts: 49
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #9 - 09/16/21 at 14:00:16
 
In for build pics as well.  Been looking at these drivers for a while.  Did you go with a rear port I assume?
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SE84UFO2 w/25th mods, TEAC AI-2000, Pass ACA, Pro-Ject Carbon Black DC, Schiit Mani, Pioneer Elite PD-65, Gallo Reference 3.1, X-LS Encores, DIY Caintuck Betsy’s, Audio-Pro B2-40, PE SUB-800, Drop HiFiman HE4XX, Drop Senn. HD6XX, Bottlehead Crack
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__Jon__
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Posts: 30
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #10 - 11/03/21 at 17:31:21
 
Looks very nice.

Regarding using high level inputs for a sub, I recently learned that one needs to double check that the amp has a true ground.  I know some of Steve’s amps will work (such as the ZMA) but others won’t.  I’m not sure about your particular amp, but thought I would give you a heads up.  

Best,

Jon
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thethanimal
Senior Member
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Posts: 52
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #11 - 11/03/21 at 18:01:14
 
With the Zen amp’s floating ground Steve suggested on these forums so where to bridge the negative speaker terminals with a jumper. That’s what I did and my REL T/5x (upgraded from the SVS in the picture) works wonderfully.

I did find an interesting tube rolling result. When the stock rectifier tube died I got a 1955 RCA 5U4G following the American NOS advice from Steve, and a ~1960s JAN 5U4WG 5931 following the advice of another forum member. I found the RCA to be just a bit better, but since it’s older I decided to leave the JAN tube in most of the time and run the RCA for special listening sessions. Then I got the REL, and the other day I got around to moving it to the left sidewall to investigate alternate positions for a second subwoofer. I had never felt the REL really had the “oomph” I wanted and was questioning my purchase, and the move to the sidewall only entrenched that view. Then a couple weeks ago I swapped in the RCA for some reason and I swear the bass came alive — from the subwoofer! Nothing else had changed. I haven’t had a chance to swap the JAN back in for further comparisons, but I guess that means my JAN tube is drifting out of spec and not providing the proper steady voltage to the power supply.
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thethanimal
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Posts: 52
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #12 - 02/05/22 at 03:04:16
 
My original soldering job on cheap terminal cups wasn’t very good, and after worrying I wasn’t getting the best sound I drilled a hole through the plastic cups and ran the AudioQuest Slip 16/2 wire straight to the drivers. I read a lot about Steve’s ZSTYX cables but couldn’t jump on the price, and thoughts of DIY were stalled by doubting my wire stripper could handle the military grade sheath and my soldering abilities.

After reading other thoughts on speaker cable for low powered amps and high sensitivity speakers, I ordered some Belden 9497 (tinned copper, 16 gauge). I replaced the terminal cups with a plate and binding posts that seem to be the same ones on my SE84UFO and put some more patience into soldering the Belden to the posts; the other end is bare wire into screw terminals on the driver. Then I connected the speakers to the amps with bare wire connections.

What an upgrade. Previous grain or harshness with female vocals (on the wonderful “Bloom” by Areni Agbabian) are gone. Soundstage definition and low level resolution increased. Tonal weight and bass heft increased. Wish I had done this long ago!

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thethanimal
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Posts: 52
Re: SE84UFO with Audio Nirvana 10” Speakers
Reply #13 - 02/05/22 at 03:11:31
 
The completed rear of the speakers.
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