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Driver matching vs break in period

I installed a new mid range driver for my B&W 803 SII and noticed that the image shifted to the speaker with the older driver. I got out my radio shack SLP meter and found that the new mid range driver was about 2-3 DB lower than the old driver in the other speaker. I ended up reinstalling the old driver and putting the new one back in the box. The question is: Is this a matter of matching drivers, or is a matter of allowing the new driver to break in, or is a bad driver? Any thoughts?
koryodell

Showing 1 response by shadorne

shadorne's avatar
shadorne
7,477 posts
 
That is odd. Normally a 2 or 3 db shift should not move the image. Are you sure it is exactly the same driver - something else may be wrong.

The image is based on the time arrival of the primary sound at the ears - it takes a LOT of volume level difference to overcome this - probably as much as 10 db would be necessary to begin to shift the image. (Haas effect)
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