EV S15-3's, Parasound 2100, and Crown XLS1502......thoughts?

[82smithtown]

I think I was under the (maybe skewed) notion that to get what you should out of speakers, and to preserve their individual sound character, you should use minimal to no equalization. I understand that this shouldn't apply to non-home speakers, but since the drivers in mine were used in EV's hifi home and studio models I assumed I needed to force adaptation upon myself because "obviously someone liked them". I'm still lost on this dilemma...are Interface D's this mid-heavy?

Because of this, rather than thinking "eq" I thought source and tweeter problems were at play, making me plan to get heavier duty equipment and replacement drivers to make things keep up with the midrange.


When the problem was the midrange.


As you can see from photos, my JVC RS33 has a 5 band graphic equalizer stepped in db increments. Today I used this to even things out to where I think sounds best, and go figure, my eq curve looked like a mirror image of EV's fr graph. Wow.

To further this improvement I matched eq to db gains/losses on EV's graph and have gotten some of the best sound out of them I have in a while.

After three hours of some of my favorite tracks, I can say I'm very content. Heard a few new sounds out of the Stones, Billy Joel, Elton John, and the Eagles.

NOW, I seem to hemorage money, so would the original Parasound/Crown combo, now paired with a graphic eq I'd have to look into improve upon this? Will the the excess wattage help make the sound broader and more dynamic, as I've read in the past, or will it be a waste of my money?

THANK YOU ALL!

Happy Holidays!

 

[gdmoore28]

NOW, I seem to hemorage money, so would the original Parasound/Crown combo, now paired with a graphic eq I'd have to look into improve upon this? Will the the excess wattage help make the sound broader and more dynamic, as I've read in the past, or will it be a waste of my money?

THANK YOU ALL!

Happy Holidays!

This has been a very interesting and informative thread. And to hear about your successful use of the eq to cut (not boost) your way to the FR curve that works best for you is very gratifying. Good work.

When it comes to changing your pre/power amp combo, I'll leave that issue to those with more experience with those particular components. In general, though, if you are content with the volume level/sound quality that you are getting with your current gear, there seems to be little reason to change.

However (there is always a "however," isn't there?), having plentiful excess power ("headroom") to easily handle transients is always a good thing, isn't it? Will you hear a difference? Probably not - if your current components are already doing the job. And any real (not imagined!) improvement in the audio chain (media, player, pre, power, etc.) will offer at least some measure of . . . change. (I initially wrote "some measure of improvement," but there are always those pesky "howevers" to consider. )

Regardless of which direction you go with the amp question, let's consider this: the greatest improvement you have made thus far has been in signal processing - ie, the bare bones eq currently in use. It just seems to me that the first addition to your system should allow you more flexibility in that arena. And the choices are many: a dual 31 band graphic eq; a mini dsp; a speaker management device (such as the ever-popular Behringer Ultracurve Pro DEQ2496 - add the measurement mic and it will do it all for you. Step back and watch the magic!).

You're obviously well above the curve when it comes to audio system knowledge and you've seen what just a basic eq can do in achieving your goals. Since you are "hemorrhaging" audio funds already, why not take the least expensive (and most effective and fun!) route first by adding something like the DEQ2496, then proceed to spend the big bucks - if necessary?

Keep us updated.

GeeDeeEmm