A21SE is a different type of amp from early Sugdens. Leaner sound and to my ears more like lots of Class A/B amps.
Not heard the new 50 though so will give it a spin against the Masterclass Monos. Not comparing like for like but house sound.
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ah i would be most interested in your thoughts on the anv 50 . i am curious why its lighter though than the a21se ?
Not so much a shiny new thing, but I’ve swapped the room around today. Instead of being the best part of 35’ away from the drivers, I’m now pretty much on top of them. Surprisingly it sounds quite well integrated and It definitely images better. I plonked the subs down in between the other horns and set the amps up on top of them, not the best idea isolation wise but less ugly this way- they’d (the subs) have had to be on their sides outside the horns otherwise. All in all it could be a lot worse. 
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Is that a Viva Solista?
No, I have a pair of one-off Viva 300b monos with amorphous core output transformers. They would have shit bass if used full range but they have the most beautiful sparkly mid-range when just driving the upper mids in a five-way. One day I’ll get some posh valves for them.
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Very, very nice.
Superb work Ritchie.
Near-field ain’t so bad
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They’re heavy, I imagine, but you could still imagine a separate stand for them spanning the subs but not touching them. The alternative would be a flat plate supported off the subs but with a (damped) sprung suspension whose resonant frequency was low enough - classic ‘mass on a spring’ problem.
VB
Tools on the floor for the cartridge set up look a bit ott
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I’m listening to it with fresh ears tonight Mike. For some time I’ve been a bit jaded with music and hifi and because of its complex nature and a lack of money, I’ve not been able to keep it moving forward. However, I’m sitting here now really enjoying it. It’s effortless and amazingly detailed.
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I’m also currently limited by space mate, but going on my (admittedly limited compared to some here’s) experience, I have always found near-field to be better / less compromised.
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When they were down the other end if the room they were set up for distance, so sounded better (I thought, @Jim would disagree) from further away. Today however, I spent some time moving the shelves around on the stands in an effort to get the array as tight as possible and it seems to have paid off. I’m not so aware of the individual drivers. I think I can tweak it further tomorrow too.
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Great stuff Ritchie.
I’m convinced you’ll end up not even missing the larger listening space.
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I may be able to get my hi fi stand to straddle them but pretty sure it’ll look ridiculous. The legs won’t touch the floor! I’ll have to stand it on bricks or something. Not sure how isolated anything would be then either. They are pretty solid actually, you cant feel much if you put your hand on them whilst they are playing. I dont think I’d want a turntable on them though!
The space hasn’t changed, he has just shoved everything up one end of it, there is absolutely no risks of reflections because the sofa is too close to the rear wall 
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Yes, definitely getting less reflections because the bloody things are right on top of me! 
it does really remind me of Pete’s YL system in his listening room…
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No arguing over the sweet spot as there was only space for one person in the room 
Near-field ftw 
No that is wrong actually, it is now with a 16A that there only room for one person!
The YL system was tiny in comparison
One seat or not, I’ve loved all Pete’s systems in that room. The last time I heard the 16a it blew me away. The bass is just fantastic. Is, is perhaps the wrong word, was would be more correct because I have his crossover at the moment! 
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