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Silverline Sonatina II - MODs?

I love my Silverline Sonatina II's. Have compared them in my home to various (wonderful) Spendors, Proacs, Ref 3a, Thiels, Usher, LSA, probably others I forget. II's win.

The II's don't always win in every respect: e.g. small two-ways do a slightly better disappearing act. The II's are a bit polite which is awesome for some music, less so for others. Some other floor-standers go deeper than the II's, so I got a sweet REL sub (another long and happy RELationship ;-)

On balance the II's win chiefly because they do an amazing job of sounding musical and present while offering a lot of detail and NOT sounding harsh, and sound very lively with a 40 watt triode amp. They are almost like the tube-amp of speakers

Natural, musical, presence, coherent, detailed.

But hey you know the audiophile rules. I've had these for several years. Times up. I have to either replace them or mod them, right? Rules are rules. :-o

Ok so I occasionally hear that folks have had Silverine designer Alan Yun put in a more modern esotar tweeter, or update a crossover, etc. I'd like to hear your war stories. How did it work out? What got better? worse? same? What do you recommend given your experiences? Perhaps others have tried modding the II's besides Alan Yun?

Sometimes we "tube roll" an amp, to see what different tubes sound like. Should I "cap-roll" the Silverline crossovers?

Fun. (If I can find the time, sigh.)
artmaltman

Showing 1 response by jimmm18

jimmm18
13 posts
 
I had a pair of Sonatina II's I purchased with bad midrange drivers. I live near silverline and brought them to Alan to replace the mids. While I was there he modified the crossover which gave them a more transparent sound, more like the newer silverlines. This was when the III's were just released. The difference between the II's and III's was very noticeable in the short audition I heard. You may just want to sell yours and pick up a used pair of III's.

Anyway Alan is a tinkerer and is always modding his own stuff. I think I remember reading a post by someone who was disatisfy with the sound of his II and Alan replace the tweeters with higher quality ones. It maybe that no 2 sonatina's are exactly alike. Guess you could contact him and see what he suggests.
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