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I've recently moved back into the territory of SET. I'm driving Cornwalls with a 2A3-like 6B4G amp, and I am pleased, but not floored. For as realistic as everything sounds, the presentation is still sooo dark (as you say). I was suddenly accosted today with a sale pitch to switch over to Audio Nirvana drivers (www.commonsenseaudio.com) by designer of said drivers (I was shopping for tubes). Anyhow, he got me thinking. I tried doing some searches on this forum for audio AND nirvana, but these words are pretty common (nice that so many here have achieved some nirvana, but also annoying).What I really want to know is, if I try out his suggestion what should I expect to hear? I'm hesitant to do this without some more neutral opinions because unless my wife is impressed she will raise heck. I think she would like me to have a smaller foot print speaker, but it had better sound better too.
I'm thinking of some Super 12 drivers in a 2.5 Mk II enclosure, to keep with equal efficiency and bass extension as the Cornwalls. Are these a good option from this line? Are there better speakers for the money? These look like a good buy.
Feel free to back channel me if you want to be discreet.
Follow Ups:
hi steven,you should really try the DCA 5.5, i managed to get a pair of these driver and play them in the hedlund horn and the pawo Side vent horn, they are really fantastic. the pawo side vent horn has a small foot print
LOL, before doing anything I recommend you do the crites swap or at least refresh the caps (NO PIO) in the crossover before making any drastic decisions regarding changing speakers. If after hearing an upgraded crossover you still are not getting the wsound you like then you might consider those other speaker alternatives. how do the cornwalss sound with our other amps? dark as well? best regards, Tony
Jean-Francois Lessard 2A3 PP amp
Marantz 7T Preamp
Klipschorns w/ALK xovers
Sony CX350&CX-230 cd changers
MSB link DACIII w24/96k
MSB digital director
Luxman PD-272 TT
Technics M85 Cassette
I'd look at the amp first. You said it is a 2A3-like, so does that mean it is not a 2A3 amp? You might want to get the 30 dollar Sonic Impact digital amp just to see if your speakers are dark with that. If they are, then I would look at the drivers, you might have blown tweeters. Cheers.
Oh, yuck. I've tried the cheap digital amp fad: the SI and that 3 ch TEAC that was $100, and just a little better. Dry as bones and had no life. They also lacked detail, IMO. They're a window into what good amps can do, but don't take you there. I like my current SET better than the class A SS (Forte 1a) I was using before, which makes all those digital amps (and some more respectable amps)sound cheap.On a different topic, I kind of want to make use of the Forte 1a to power the woofer and use the SET on the horns.
Hi Steve, you might have missunderstood my point. If you try a cheap-O amp and they are bright, albeit crappy sounding because of the amp, then your speakers are fine and you should look at your amp as the possible problem. Does that make sense? Cheers.
I have Klipsch Lascala's and heresy's. I am selling the La Scalas due to the negative WAF of their large size. I bought a pair of commonsense audio's super 8's and built the MKII big port cabinet. Compared to the heresy's, the AN super 8's give a more realistic "you are there" sound. In fact, they have a similar sound to the LaScala's but are not quite as dynamic. I was very impressed with the treble and midrange of the AN 8's which sounded as good as Mr. Dick's claimed. Not so impressed with the bass which sounded thin and lean. An 8' cone with ± 1mm Xmax does not move much air. This, along with a Qts of 0.215 suggested horn loading, so I built a prototype spiral horn. The dynamics and detail increased, and I now have solid bass to about 55 Hz. Even my wife commented that my home built horn sounded better than anything that she had ever heard. In pursuit of the "ultimate" speaker, I adjusted the MK II cabinet to give a fairly flat response down to 70 HZ and use a subwoofer ( heretical to the fullrange driver world )to fill in below. Now I am truly satisfied with the sound. Deep clean bass, gorgeous midrange, and clear crisp treble. Enough of my rambling, the Audio Nirvana drivers seem to be well constructed and worth every penny to me. Although the 12" will give more bass than the 8", I don't think that you will be satisfied with the bass in the provided plans. I would look at optimizing the cabinet plans with a software package, or using a subwoofer to fill in the low end bass.
nt
all the best,
mrh
best used in push pull, rather than single ended mode
The indirectly heated cathode equivalent of the 6B4 - 6A3 is the 6A5G
nt
all the best,
mrh
hmmm... that doesn't sound right to me. They're pretty lively :-)
What vintage are yours? P'haps new XO capacitors are in order? Are all the compression drivers working?What are you using for sources?
Correction, I have 1976 Cornwalls (I just learned). I'm planning on buying Bob Crites drop in replacements for the tweeters and crossover (mine is the standard Type B), then I might tinker around with the old ones to see what can be done.I listen to vinyl on a Thorens 160/SME3009mk2/Shure V15 mkV amplified by the phono section of an MFA Magus outfitted with TungSol 5751s. The tuner puts out a much fuller sound than the phono... it would be nice for both to be on more equal footing. I would describe the phono as thin and lean. By comparison, an all vintage set up using a upgraded Scott 222a integrated produced a huge sound stage with great depth and calrity, but would get muddled up in more complex passages and didn't sound as tonally accurate across the board as the current set up. It would be nice to recapture the sound stage of the Scott to some extent... the music does sound quite nice right now.
I would like to tube roll in the phono, but I can't see that making a huge difference.
I've got one of those AT 440 carts on order to improve the sound stage without giving up too much tracking and tonality, but I'm not giving up on the Shure cart either, it's a benchmark after all.
"Caulking the squwaker"... great turn of phrase!I'd opine that damping that big, ringy MR horn couldn't hurt; as you see I did mine... the Klipscheads noted that I went overboard, though, FWIW.
As to your lean phono... I cannot comment on your preamp, since I've not heard it. "Thin and lean" suggests to me that you might like a Grado better than the Shure... or an MC.
Mine are original Cornwalls, I think from an 80s vintage, but I'm not sure. CD-BR (decorator birch vaneer) and all I've got are the seriel number to reference their age: 8P926 & 8P927.Dark, but clear as a bell. I don't think they sound "bad" at all.
What's are the recommended replacements for the capacitors? Better yet, what about rebuilt cross-overs, like those by Dean G?
Bob Crites replaced the diaphragm in one of my tweeters, which came to me blown. Maybe the tweeters dont' match each other any more? I'm not sure how big an impact that could be making in the imaging department, but I guess it's important.
Also, I haven't caulked the squawker yet. Recommended?
They need to be replaced even if they are newer.
...and still sounds dark (or closed in): one might experiment by changing taps on the K-55v's choke ala Heresy mod, using jumpers.
Used to attenuate some Heresy "screetch" for some, one may tailor to taste the mid's edge/presence.
Much can be done with a crossover.
Personally I'd rather see you upgrade the drivers and horns in the cornwall. Klipsch didn't use the best by a long shot. But this wouldn't be cheap and you would need to get the crossover right too. But still, a 15" woofer in a box with good horns running from around 300 hertz on up is a very hard speaker to beat on all fronts.Given what you could sell the cornwalls for that might be the ticket. See if you can find someone with some altecs and give a listen and see what you think.
Forget about smaller footprint. Trust me, if you comply she will just find something else to hassle you about.
> > > Personally I'd rather see you upgrade the drivers and horns in the cornwall.I agree. If you already have them setup don't step down to smaller speakers that may or may not sound better. Upgrade what you have so you know your investment will give you better results. The AN is a gamble.
If you must buy the AN or Fostex just to try them out do it in a second system setup in another room.
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