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Half-Razoring my Old MMGs - Trip Report

Months ago, when Dawnrazor first reported on the, now called, Half-Razored (aka HR) and Full-Razored (aka FR) tweaks for Maggies, I was not interested. I do value his advice very much. Not this time, I felt. No instance where I had ever put synthetic rubber in significant contact with my MMGs had been good. Yet, in recent weeks, inmates are reporting good results with D's latest contraption. So, I figured I should, at least,  try the HR stage on my P-framed MMGs.

With the Memorial Day weekend coming up, I also thought I had the time. So, I ordered the Cascade material mentioned by Dawnrazor (link). Then, I spent the rest of the week in preparation for a set of tests.  I thought  that a holiday weekend would be enough to do the job. As it turned out, there were complications.

The first was that I added a test set for Plain/MDF (aka Plain) configuration. I had originally planned a comparison of P-frames (alone) to HR (alone) and to a combination of both. However, I was being selfish by leaving out a key comparison useful to many people: Plain vs HR.  So, I added it.  That was a good thing to do. The better attributes of HR vs Plain were clear from day one. They won my respect as an Outstanding Bang for the Buck & Effort  tweak.

Second, surprisingly, when I added HR to the P-frames, one key performance benefit of P-frames, bass extension,  was negatively affected, at first. Later, it came back, and better. Therefore,  the delay itself was also a good thing. I should have thought so earlier; there is a break-in period involved with the application of this CLD material (duh!). 

My (MMGs + Cascade material) as placed the first time, racked in over 157 hours. It was mostly music (me) plus TV programming (my wife) and movies (the subwoofer was totally taken off-line a week previous to this test).  This includes 23 hours on a continuous loop of pink/white noise and music at around 80db while we had to leave on an emergency trip. Some hours were with the P-frames(PF+HR) on , others just HR on Plain. Not all were "listening time". Somewhere just past around 120 hours of playback, I did not detect any more changes.

Then, on Sunday, June 13, I yanked the original Cascade off. I needed to go back to "Plain" and make sure I was not "hearing things"  or being unfair to stock MMGs (ask in discussion).  I was not.  Later in the day, when I put new Cascade back on, I got the same impressions that I had the first time around, minus the surprise.


Where the rubber meets the roa...ehrr...MMGs: 
(Evaluation Summary of this Razoring stage. At the end, I have a link to more information than you may care for here)

  1. The Half-Razoring stage (HR) brings impressive things to the plate when added to Plain MDF MMGs. Had the HR tweak "hurt" anything vs Plain, I would have had no qualms with stopping right there. Bummer!!! Believe me, I was expecting damage (just being cheeky). However, it never did this. As far as dynamic impact, imaging, tonal/timbre and texture elements, this material damaged nothing that I could hear in relation to Plain MDF MMGs.  It either improved these things or left them alone. The bulk of the improvements were in the midrange area. This included better textures, more detail, somewhat better imaging and, after about 100 hours, improved bass extension and slightly smoother extreme highs. A must "try",  I'd say to owners of these stock MMGs.
     
  2. HR also provided solid enhancements when added to my P-frames (PF+HR). Initially,  there were negative effects on sound. These went away after about 100 hours. After break-in, PF+HR either improved or left things the same, along the lines of what HR did to Plain from the get go. Again, the midrange section was main recepient of the benefits. However, in doing so, it appeared that HR also provided a better match for what happened up and down the audio range. The improvements were relatively less dramatic than with HR added to Plain. Still, PF+HR provided sound that was far better than what HR can achieve with Plain MMGs. Even if the P-Frames (alone) already did this, HR brought further refinements. This may be a very promising tweak for MMGs that have stand-bracing.
     
  3. HR alone does not equal P-frames and, thus, probably much less, the real frames. This was not surprising. HR grabs the inner frame only. Unless dealt with, the outer frame will simply keep doing its typical song & dance. It will keep on coloring and muddling many things (albeit less so with HR).  P-frames and stand-bracing grab the MDF itself, not the inner frame. Frames, OTH, integrate the whole nine-yards. They replace the MDF and grab/couple the inner Mylar frame. The thought did cross my mind that the combo of HR + P-Frames (or HR + stand-bracing) could turn out to be a rough equivalent to framing. Pure speculation, at this point. In any event, even if I had true Frames, I'd give this thing a spin.
     
  4. I would have to try Full-Razoring (FR) later, which could impact things much more substantially. For the reasons above, however, I do not expect that even FR (alone) will be a "frames substitute" by itself. OTH, I am being proven wrong at every turn by this new incubus of D... So, who knows, it could be that we find room for a RazorMax adaptation, one that really gets us there. (It could save my marriage, because "The Boss" does not want the frames).
     
  5. If you don't like it, you can remove it. However, it is not as easy as I thought, and for good cause. This thing really grabs. After 2 weeks, I took it off just to make sure that I was being fair to "Plain" MMGs. My fingers had a hard time doing it. Like Dawnrazor recommends, just remember to avoid using the material on the bottom horizontal length of the Mylar frame, if you try it. Another precaution is to stay on that inner frame, do not let stick to the Mylar itself.
     
  6. HR is back on and stays on my P-Framed MMGs for my enjoyment while I decide on the next step...or my wife throws me out.

     

I can't believe how much time and attention I have devoted to this set of tests. I was driven by my finding that here, we truly have a very promising tweak for Maggies. This is something to be shared. This is not an ambiguous thing. It is real and I'd really want to make sure that other people don't  make the mistake that I almost made. Dawnrazor has made one hell of a solid contribution. Try it!

Lastly, and conversely, Dawnrazor has yet to find out how great his baby, even at this stage, can sound as part of a framed or braced system. As he gets there, there may be more great ideas coming from him. Eccentric? Like always. Worth trying?  Gee, I think we'll never stop being skeptics...we love to be, it seems!

For my expanded impressions & opinions (MAJOR RANT) see this. For mention of my ClunkerWare as used for the evaluation, please see my this or ask for more details) 



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Topic - Half-Razoring my Old MMGs - Trip Report - JBen 01:43:03 06/24/10 (31)

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