CHT-10 and Kef Eggs, First impression

I’d like to start by saying a big thank you to Uncle Eric for his Power Buy’s.

I own what I think is a standard middle of the road setup which comprises of the following.

Pioneer 747a
Denon 3802
Kef Eggs +PSW2000
QED Silver anniversary speaker cables
Cambridge Audio Pacific as Subwoofer cable.

I had been pretty happy with this setup. The eggs produce a nice soundstage in my L-shaped room (about 17’ x 14’ x 8’). For movies I was satisfied with the sound but for music the sub had a very lumpy untuneful quality which I didn’t like. So I felt that a change was in order and after reading the comments on the CHT-10 in these forums and on other websites I decided to go with Uncle Eric’s powerbuy.

The CHT-10 is somewhat bigger than the PSW2000 but still fitted in neatly against the front wall. Couldn’t wait to here it so I set the volume on the sub to 12 o’clock and set the sub to bypass the x-over. Put in a copy of Saving Private Ryan DTS. This was a completely different sound than using the PSW2000. It was as if the sound had been muddied before. The eggs seemed to have more life. But something was wrong. The room seemed “alive”, then I realised what it was, there was a lot of pressure. Whipped out the SPL meter, put on the test tone, this sub was going off the scale with the SPL on the highest setting. After tinkering, it turns out that the volume setting ahd to be set at just past 9 o’clock, this thing was hardly on.

Put Saving Private Ryan back on and was treated to an amazing performance. Suddenly the rear speaker seemed to deliver a more balanced sound.
I then put on the beginning of Atlantis. This starts with a huge explosion at the start. My wife was watching too. I couldn’t believe the sound generated from this sub. At this point the missus quips, and I quote ‘The other one would play just as loud if you turned it up more’. I think she missed the point (besides I think she has been immunised against upgraditis). From that point on I couldn’t stop grinning. One other test was the end credits of Bram Stokers Dracula which has the pulsing heartbeat in Annie Lennox song which the PSW2000 couldn’t reproduce properly (no matter how loud it was). Fantastic is all I can say.
The sound was much cleaner than before which meant I could crank the volume on the amp up to –10 and beyond whereas before I didn’t like to go beound –15.

With music too everything is more open and satisfying.

The difference between the 2 subs is startling given that they cost about the same (CHT-10 powerbuy price). The CHT-10 only makes itself known when it has to, unlike the PSW2000 which seems to always be present.

I’m not saying owners of the eggs + PSW2000 should upgrade but I don’t think you’ll regret it if you do.

I wonder what a servo controled sub like the CHT-15 woul sound like. Hmmmmm now there’s a thought for the future.

 

Thanks for that Ryan, I'm deciding at the moment between a set of B&Ws or some eggs to match my CHT-10. Going for a demo some time next week. Looking forward to putting Gladiator on at full blast once I've got my full system.

 

Hi Ryan,
You are very welcome. Maybe I'm biased but I fully agree with your comments. If I didn't, I'd be selling something else instead of Velodynes. From their budget range right through to Godzilla himself, they offer fantastic value throughout.
Talking about value, I for one cannot understand, having heard one for the 3rd time in Manchester a few weeks ago, why anyone would want to pay £100 pounds plus more for a mid-woofer like the Rel quake. Weird

 

Wait 'till it's run in Ryan - the thing just gets better and better.
I have Eggs as my Back 3 and Q3s Q9c as my Fronts. The sub is totally convincing with movies and pretty damn close with music.

 

It gets better ?

I can't wait