A Bright Pair of Watt Puppys

Hey Dan,

They sounded different, yet also seemed bright. Thus my assumption for the room acoustics. I've not treated it yet, save for a few honeycomb blinds over the windows and an oriental rug.

As far as room treatments go, I'd always thought that too much boomy bass was the issue that they targeted, not too little. I'd heard that these speaks were a bit bright, but loved the resolution and imaging so much that I thought I'd solve for the less than stellar bass response on my own. Just love it when I hear deep church-organ bass. Raises the hair on your neck.

/Lee

Thanks all for your thoughts. My guess is that room treatment (and placement) are my first step as I do have a few bare walls that are likely the culprit for first order reflections. Ceiling is entirely bare and is 10' high and left wall could use some treatment as well. Will also try dampening vibes under amp and component cabinet using stillpoints/vibrapods.

I do have a digital EQ and can alter sound as needed. But I prefer using my cd's tube output, which is now wired straight to pre, not EQ'd. My pre is also tube.

Thanks again for your suggestions.
/Lee

Arthur,

The speaks are toed in accord to Wilson's instructions and sit about 1.5 feet in front of back wall, about 4.5' from side walls. One of the corners is actually not a corner at all but a passageway to stairwell.

I will play with placement more and, as Dan suggests, attempt to get some decent measurements.

Alas Roy, selling the speakers, as much of a gem of advice this one is, would be my very last thought. However, as soon as a pair of used Sarastros comes on the market, I may give in. ;-)
/Lee

Wilson suggests that you sit 1.2x away from the speakers, where x=distance between the speakers. Seems like a golden triangle or something. Anyway, the speakers are about 6.5' apart Colopilot. Will have to try rearranging things and moving the speaks closer to the side wall, ie. about 8-9' apart.

Probably would have done all this already, if I had the time. However Colonel Patten (wife) and a 10 month old who can't sleep both keep me busy. Any suggestions on how to get a hyper baby to sleep? Oops, wrong forum...
/Lee

Hey, maybe it's the loud speakers! Problem solved.

Wow. What a response. I love this forum!

First off, I was referring to the baby sleeping. That was a joke.

Yes, these speakers do tend torward the bright side. But that's ok. They reveal everything and sometimes this is because they are brighter. Maybe I'm wrong but my guess is the human ear is far more sensitive to higher pitches than low (remember, I have a baby) and that may well be the reason why these speaks sound more detailed and crystal clear. Perhaps the tweeter is dialed up a bit relative to the other drivers to achieve this "analytical" detail and just perhaps a warmer pair of speakers lacks this detail in the tradeoff. It's subjective.

The upshot is simply that your Vivaldi Lute Concerto sounds like it's happening in your living room. The downside seems to be that when friends come over and crank up Sneaker Pimps (ie. dance music), the speakers sound louder than does their bass and many may actually run from the dance floor.

Per the kind instructions above I have been playing a bit today. The speakers now sit within a foot of the back wall and about 2' from the sides. Bass response seems to have improved. To be be sure, they're toed in to the sitting position. Man these things image great. Gota love that. However, to feed my bass addiction I am seriously considering adding a REL B1 sub in the corner. From what I've read these speakers could really use it and Rel seems to be the company that make fast, tight and integrated bass. If this doesn't help me, then perhaps I'll invest in some old JBL's from Audiogon, you know the one's with the 10" white low freq driver. Just kidding. But I think I'm making progress.

Back to the baby. Thanks for all your help evryone.
/Lee

Thanks Cytocycle. That's pretty much my synopsis of Wilson as well. Especially the changes from 6 to 7 to 8. And garbage in garbage out adage. So true. All good advice.

Daryl at Wilson has me switching out a few resistors that drive the tweeter and mid, ultimately to increase resistance to these two drivers, lowering hi-bandoutput a bit. The Caddock film resistors are pretty easy to get on the internet. Will try this as well as several room treatments. And My Bat amp is almost always on. (Stock tip for ya: PG&E). Takes at least 1.5 hours to reach crit temp. But this makes a huge difference.

Funny thing about the Wilsons. They soud louder and I think this is because of a 4ohm load. Compared to my Hales speakers (at 8ohm) these things crank at relatively low volume, which is ofcourse what drains the amp. I find myself listening louder (and my wife bitching louder as well.)

Ironically, I met the owner of Genesis at CES a few days ago and he told me my amp is in fact too small to control the bass in these speakers. I was amazed.

I was really impressed with Verity Audio Parsifal Ovations and wish I had known about the Sarastros over at the Mirage (someone said).

By the by, do you employ digital xover for the watchdog? Rel allows this and also has a high current cable that comes directly from your power amp, same as to the Wilson's. It recommends this format in fact.

/Lee

Hey Khrys,

Perhaps we should talk about a trade? ;-)

The Cardas Golden Ref help tame the high end a bit? Interconnects or Speaker Cables? Probably both.

Thanks all.
/Lee

Thanks Mcrheist!

Shopping for stuff! My wife will love hearing this! Might even make her want me to buy more audio?

Naaa...

This makes good sense though. Fill the room up strategically with items that will absorb and scatter sound.

/Lee