It was time for me to hear Peter's system again today, after a long time; and this time, the MySonic Labs cartridge was on center stage. That, along all those tweaks, have elevated the system to much higher levels than what I heard last time. Very nice high frequency extension, partly missing before, no congestion on large orchestral (though naturally not realistic scale either), and all in all, a completely transformed system. Just great on violin, cello, guitar, and For Duke was just sensational - all with great rhythm.
It was time for me to hear Peter's system again today, after a long time; and this time, the MySonic Labs cartridge was on center stage. That, along all those tweaks, have elevated the system to much higher levels than what I heard last time. Very nice high frequency extension, partly missing before, no congestion on large orchestral (though naturally not realistic scale either), and all in all, a completely transformed system. Just great on violin, cello, guitar, and For Duke was just sensational - all with great rhythm.
One suggestion Peter: put those speaker spikes back on and protect the floor with Lovan discs or similar. You may just end up with higher dynamics.
We played the music pretty loud. I did notice a slight break up during complex passages when playing at such loud volumes. I never listen that loudly normally. Occasionally I crank it for rock and that Sheffield Drum Record, but the other day we were pushing the speakers much harder than usual. The small drivers just can't handle those excursions and volume with complex music without some slight distortion. Multiple and larger drivers like those in the M3 or S5 would certainly help. I've been conflicted about upgrading speakers for quite a while. I have been meaning to get a digital SPL meter as Al has suggested. I should have brought down my old analog Radio Shack SPL to verify the dBs.
Peter, I am already listening quite loudly, and I have heard you often, yet not always, play your system as loud as I do, but usually not louder. At the volumes you play your system, it sounds clean and undistorted. For your room, I don't think the ability to play louder should factor in a decision to go for multi-driver speakers or not; after all, you like me and everyone else need to preserve our ears, especially in this hobby. I am commonly listening at the upper edge of NIOSH recommendations (often checking with SPL meter); louder than that might be problematic.
There are other considerations that might favor multi-driver speakers (even though these often come with some drawbacks too), but the ability to play loud is in my view not an issue here. In large rooms, yes, but not in yours.
M3! M3! M3!
Wish that I could Ron. They are just too expensive.
Glad to hear it Peter! You may also want to entertain my approach of resting the speakers on a slab of granite, with that blue EAR Isodamp material I am using between the spikes and itself. I wish I could easily demonstrate the huge difference in the bass, so I'll just say, trust Magico for using that Isodamp in their MPods as well. I think *proper* speaker-to-floor coupling with appropriate absorption is paramount for any speaker, and just spikes are just too old fashioned, as is rubber feet.
Ack, do you put a granite slab underneath your sub?
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