Morgan,
First off, I don't think I had the Def 3's here long enough for a good
comparison evaluation. Sounds like Phil actually has more hours logged on
the Def 3 than I had in the short period they were here. And, I certainly cant
touch his expertise in describing the two.
In any event, my initial complaint to Sean with the 3's was a somewhat
bright top end-mostly with CD's. I had no complaints playing vinyl though.
Sean had me try rolling tubes and toeing out the speakers. Rolling tubes
didn't do much for the brightness, but toeing out helped a bit. In all fairness, I
have a lot of ceiling (drywall) here, and nothing can be done about it. As for
WAF that is.
The Radian 850 tweeter was a big improvement over the 3s for my ears.
None of that harshness I had with the 3s. And I can report that I am listening
to more digital than ever since my re entry into vinyl a few years ago. I will say
though that my 4s are toed out just enough so they cross somewhere just
behind my listening spot to sound best to me.
As for my amp change, I was finding that at times I was maximizing the
volume of the PX25. 6 watts of SET power should be fine for most, but I do
like to rock sometimes and my room is on the large side. I wanted more
reserve power on hand so I picked up an 845 based Art Audio Carissa at 16
watts per channel. Sean mentioned to me that for my musical tastes and room
size that 10 watts should be minimum. I have plenty of reserve power on
hand with the Carissa.
I still say that I think the Def 3 is a bargain of a lifetime! You get a lot of
the Def 4 for about 1/2 the cost.
