Castle Howard S2

jct

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Thank you all for good advices on how to install the spacers.

But at last I need some advice on suitable amplification?

Alchemist has been mentioned. Tubes have been mentioned.

Should the Howard be paired with amps of their own age? Say from the 80 or 90 tie’s?

For the fun I will get my hands on a Sugden a28 mk2.

Thanks!
 

Phil48

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Thank you all for good advices on how to install the spacers.

But at last I need some advice on suitable amplification?

Alchemist has been mentioned. Tubes have been mentioned.

Should the Howard be paired with amps of their own age? Say from the 80 or 90 tie’s?

For the fun I will get my hands on a Sugden a28 mk2.

Thanks!
Over the years I powered my howards with a kraken, then a forseti,both worked well and sounded lovely, giving a detailed high and midrange, and excellent sound staging,lovely bass response, when positioned correctly in your room, after trying numerous pairs of speaker cables over the years that QED GENESIS and quality jumper cables brought out the best in them, then a couple of years ago I bought un upgraded YAQUIN valve amp and that really worked well with them, only sold them couple of weeks ago as recently tetired and downsizing
 

Jules_S

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My dad runs his Howard S2 with Alchemist as well - the Freya pre and Genesis monoblocks. Sounds excellent - very unfatiguing, even-handed and doesn't draw attention to itself. I think he's using Straight Wire cabling from memory - I've not looked for ages so can't recall if he changed them or not.
 
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jct

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Great thank you both.

I will try to look for a Alchemist amp.

First I will have a go with a Sugden a28 which I assume will be a good musical match.

I will keep you posted.
 
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Phil48

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Great thank you both.

I will try to look for a Alchemist amp.

First I will have a go with a Sugden a28 which I assume will be a good musical match.

I will keep you posted.
look forward to see how you get on ,I think I may still have a post on you tube Castle Howard 2 speakers, powered with the Yaquin amp, if you do get an alchemist, I have a pack of brochures detailing the range and spec of the Alchemist range, you can have
 

jct

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That’s very kind of you.

I will start out trying a Alchemist axiom to see if I like it.

Kind regards
jct
 
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jct

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So I just got my hands on a Axiom for 350 euro.

I am excited to hear it on the Howard.

Does anyone knows the correct size for the spacers so I can order some?
 

Phil48

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So I just got my hands on a Axiom for 350 euro.

I am excited to hear it on the Howard.

Does anyone knows the correct size for the spacers so I can order some?
Hi cannot remember the diameter, but if you remove the plinth off the bottom of the speaker, when you remove the 4 cross thread screws and the spacers are between the speaker and plinth, the screws go through the middle of them, they are made of black plastic,you can then measure the diameter and order new I ordered an assortment of thicknesses off e bay to adjust the gap on the plinth, I had mine set at about 2mm that suited my room, yours may be different, I had a large assorted bag of plastic washers for under£5
 

jct

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Jules_s:

In a previous Thread about the S3 with Nad silver line you wrote this:
If I had a criticism it would be that the upper frequencies, although not particularly harsh or sharp, have a bit of a "shiny glaze" that's not as natural sounding as they probably should be. Careful pairing will probably sort that out. TBH at the price I would snatch his hand off for that system.

Does this also apply for the S2? I am not sure that it does but just wanted to be sure.
 

Lawrence001

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Jules_s:

In a previous Thread about the S3 with Nad silver line you wrote this:
If I had a criticism it would be that the upper frequencies, although not particularly harsh or sharp, have a bit of a "shiny glaze" that's not as natural sounding as they probably should be. Careful pairing will probably sort that out. TBH at the price I would snatch his hand off for that system.

Does this also apply for the S2? I am not sure that it does but just wanted to be sure.
That's more likely to be the Nad than the Castle's I'd have thought.
 

Jules_S

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Gosh, I've slept since then so can't honestly remember! 😁 I have a brain like a sieve...

S3 have a different driver compliment to S1 & 2 so probably not a universally-applicable statement. Synergy is all, and it's one of those things you can have a "hunch" about but won't ever know for certain until you try.
 
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jct

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Haha no problem.

I will soon try the S2 with the Axiom and Sugden a28 and see if the synergy exists.

I hope so.

I will let you know 😀.
 
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jct

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Some news.

I received my Axiom and got it hooked up.

First thought it truly sounds nice. Very enjoyable and very natural.

Got some power too when hitting some trance.

A little like my Sugden a28.

It could be fun to try out some of the bigger Alchemist amps perhaps the Forseti which I guess has the same tone as Axiom with more grunt.
 
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