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Shameful Confessions - Speaker Style

ScooterMcTav

ScooterMcTav

I know less than I think
Confessions with Scooter.....

Every three years, I seem to get an itch for CVs. I then use them for a few years in a secondary "rock my nuts off" system, but invariably end up selling them to fund some other gear purchase.

My first set was a surprisingly good set of A-123 with walnut cabs. Unfortunately, I let them go to help fund an upgrade to my main system receiver.

About 3 years later, I acquired a set of D-5 in trade, and used them to blast 80s metal in my basement hooked to a Pioneer SX-950. A very fun set of speakers, but sold to help fund a proper move into hi fi gear.

So here I am 3 years later, with a beautiful, accurate, and detailed system, better than anything I'd have ever have thought I'd own. And now I'm thinking I need to spice it up with the tactile bass you can only get from a 12" woofer?

What is wrong with me? My system sounds great. But maybe, some days, I'd just like it to be a bit more fun.

I guess this is the penalty you pay when you grow up in the 80's.

Anyone else have a shameful confession?
 
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Freddymac2 said:
If you are missing the Smak of the CV's, just buy a quality powered sub. Soliloquy is listed as having a 35hz bottom, and I doubt it is flat at 35hz. Nothing better than a dedicated sub to go below 30 with real punch.
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I love the "Dream HS setup" and totally identify with it and agree with FreddyMac on this too...
My living space has limited me to small apartments or a room in a housemated house so bookshelf size speakers have been the norm for me lately.
I had a pr of D-8's found at a 2nd hand store a few years ago, had the same urge, and clogged up the small loft apt with them for @ a year.
Refoamed them, tuned them up and plugged them into the rotation.
Certainly rocked and was loud but the bass was kind of "loose" and "ill defined" and the top end left me lacking for great vocals and more crisp highs without being overbearing at normal everyday listening volumes.
They are not a "subtle" speaker imo, despite their awesome imposing cabinets you can stack other things on.
But it WAS glorious for loud stuff though, true, if it did Overdrive the room acoustics.
They had replaced some Pioneer CS-700G's that had really great mids and treble but did not have the THUMP of the CV's.
Sold both and starting over small with a Velodyne Mini Vee sub that I have had for years and had worked out great before in a setup.
It sill puts out clean tight bass that rumbles the house even more than the CV's reliably could and never gets even warm.
Great thing is to be able to turn up or down the volume and XO to the sub at the head unit for changes in source material. A BIG plus with smaller old speakers.
I decided 70's and 80's pairs of speakers might still sound awesome to my aging ears and started over 2 years ago stacking and rotating kit to this day.
I found several smaller speakers, adjusted right, had a more manageable footprint and matchup possibilities.
Even with a small sub, it works well with all of the bookshelf speakers which (to me anyway) are all kept because they do have their qualities already with the often-hard-to-get top end.
It's like kids, cartridges and pets: It's impossible to actually pick a "favorite". They all grow on you eventually.
I don;t know if it's shameful but it has been a fun hobby and yes unnecessarily guilty
front stack.jpg back stack.jpg
And if they should ever catastrophically fail at once or a hurricane happens we keep the batt operated boobox around for emergencies.
boombox.jpg
 
Freddymac2 said:
If you are missing the Smak of the CV's, just buy a quality powered sub. Soliloquy is listed as having a 35hz bottom, and I doubt it is flat at 35hz. Nothing better than a dedicated sub to go below 30 with real punch.
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Freddy, admittedly I haven't owned a proper music sub. I have tried my Polk PS-505 (a pretty good high-excursion HT sub), a Monitor Audio 10" sub, and a random JBL 8" I have lying around. I have not found satisfaction with any of them, mainly due to the inconsistency of LF information in music.

On one song, you need more LF gain, so you turn it up, then on the next song need to turn it back down. This is so different than using a full range 3-way speaker where the music can have more or less bass, but it does not become a distraction like it does using the sub.

Plus the sub has impact, but is is different than the "whump" you get in the chest from a properly excursing 12" passive woofer.

But no, this thread is more about my inner CV fanboy, who knows CVs are not necessarily accurate of refined, but has an occasional urge to just blast music without picking every little nuance of the sound apart.
 
I am far from a CV fanboy. But, i have heard XLS-215's in an audio buddy's family room system several times and have come away impressed every time. I was truly surprised boy how smooth and balanced they are. They can get up and bump with the best of CV's. But, they can also throw an image and detail that many of us do not expect from the red rings of thunder.

cvxls215bk_2-1280x1280.jpg
 
It is interesting that you have the 505. How old is it? I have the PSW 404b which is only a 10" long throw that has a 200 watt Bash amp in it, and weighs 45#. It balances out my Dahlquist DQ 10's beautifully, but I wondered if I should get the 505. I did pick up a mint Klipsch KSW 200 with a 12" woofer. I thought wow this is really going to sound GREAT.
It is a real piece of crap, and it is 4" on a side bigger, but doesn't have the punch of the Polk. I have to tear it down to be sure the amp is working right. I have not had any trouble with changing levels on the sub. Do not forget that I have been listening to DQ 10's for 30 years, and they didn't make it down to 45 flat. I want a clean tight well defined bass, but I do like to feel it on well recorded stuff. Most pop stuff is not recorded well in my experience. It is over done or has so much distortion in it, i can't listen. My primary source is vinyl and I have a killer cartridge.

Thanks for the chat

Joseph Merriam
 
bowtie427ss said:
I am far from a CV fanboy. But, i have heard XLS-215's in an audio buddy's family room system several times and have come away impressed every time. I was truly surprised boy how smooth and balanced they are. They can get up and bump with the best of CV's. But, they can also throw an image and detail that many of us do not expect from the red rings of thunder.

cvxls215bk_2-1280x1280.jpg
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I remember when the CLS-215 came out in the early 2000's and were reviewed by SoundStage. After making a bunch of disparaging remarks in advance of the test, the reviewer ended up quite impressed, and suggested their efficiency and bass response should make them a good buy for tube amp owners.

Alas, the budget suggests I will be shopping in the models starting with AT or D,

Freddymac2 said:
It is interesting that you have the 505. How old is it? I have the PSW 404b which is only a 10" long throw that has a 200 watt Bash amp in it, and weighs 45#. It balances out my Dahlquist DQ 10's beautifully, but I wondered if I should get the 505.
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Joe, if you're happy with the 404, then stick with it.

I bought the 505 based on demoing at a friend's place, and we watched a movie where lots of stuff blew up.

Unfortunately, that's all it seems to be good for - lots of great low end rumble, but missing the tonality needed for music.
 
I was afraid of that, the newer stuff is just junk for HT. With the PSW 404 I can count the hairs on the bow of a well stroked bass, and detail that is fine as I have ever heard. A drum thwack is clean tight and controlled! Thanks for your response.
 
teal'c said:
If a "proper" move to hifi means giving up my CV's, I'm happy right where I am.
No shame about it either. More of a ecstatic exclamation. Not that you can hear it over the music.
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See, now that's the kind of fun I seem to be missing with my "proper" hi-fi system.

Edit: Like the kind of fun I'd have when my wife sees me getting a dolly to bring two XLS-215 into the house.
 
Well,took an ad out on a local classified site today for a set of CVs, and a "nice" local guy offered me his set of HED U-123.

He sent me a couple of pics - cabs were nice, grilles were good, woofer foam was rotted, and he said all they needed was some new foams on the surrounds. I made him a fair offer of $120 (with good surrounds, these would sell for $200-250 in the local market). He had them waiting in the garage and I loaded them into the car.

So I get home, take off the grilles, and lo and behold, one of the woofers was not original (NA brand?) - I contacted the seller to ask if he had the original woofer around, to which he replied "Oh, I forgot - we changed that 20 years ago - the original was long gone"

I suggested that he should allow me to return them. He said, "I feel bad for you, but they were sold as is". What a jerk.

So not only did I overpay for the speakers, I now have to go out and score a 12" CV HED vintage woofer somewhere now.

To say I am disappointed is an understatement - it's not the money, it's having someone misrepresent what they are selling, and now the hassles I'll have to get them functional.

I guess the problem is I'm an honest guy and would never misrepresent something then tell the guy "your tough luck". In fact, every piece of gear I sell, I tell the buyer "You have any issues, give me a call". And if I'm selling local, I usually say "If you're not happy with the piece with your gear in your space, let me know in a week and you can have your money back"

See, I actually like this hobby and want others to as well. I've given away gear (or sold pieces like a Rotel receiver for $20) to people just because they are a budding audio enthusiast, but can't afford it for a variety of reasons.

Well, looks like my CV fun will be on hold until I can source a &$@?!"@& woofer.

Here's them hiding their shameful woofer:

2D324EAD-142C-45D3-80CC-931A50638457_zpsqusunzkt.jpg
 
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i will confess , every 4 or 5 years i get the itch to run one of my commercial power amps into a pair of 901s with the eq, so i buy and refoam a cheap set, and feed them power until they just make a big smile on my face for a while, then sell them, never really keep them, i just am surprised how loud and clean they keep getting with power that would fold up any other speakers.
 
I confess, I'm a speaker junky! But, I've calmed down. Only 10 pairs of speakers in the house. I'm pretty picky,and satisfied right now. Do I scan CL, fleabay, BT, go to my local SA & GW's regularly, of course I do, but if I buy something, it is for an upgrade, a city dump save, or something unique or rare. With my current lineup, there's no shortage of bass.
Yeah, I'm having fun, with a big grin!
 
SoCal Sam said:
CV have some of the nicest woofers in the business. Wonder why they got everything else so wrong.
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No kidding. I mean, who wants sharp, crisp, yet not shrill highs. Or mids that are solid and clean and can hold their own against some of the best bass known to humanity.
Not me:crazy:.
ScooterMcTav said:
I suggested that he should allow me to return them. He said, "I feel bad for you, but they were sold as is". What a jerk.
So not only did I overpay for the speakers, I now have to go out and score a 12" CV HED vintage woofer somewhere now.
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That's a bummer. Go back to the classified site (or somewhere else) and post his name, address, and number warning everyone away.
Whenever I do a purchase like that I google their number before I go to see if anyone has posted complaints. I don't get a lot of results, but I've avoided two scammers like that.
 
teal'c said:
That's a bummer. Go back to the classified site (or somewhere else) and post his name, address, and number warning everyone away.
Whenever I do a purchase like that I google their number before I go to see if anyone has posted complaints. I don't get a lot of results, but I've avoided two scammers like that.
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Yah, ratted him out to the mods. Sad enough, the guy probably thought he'd get $50, then when someone offered him more based on a misrepresentation, well, he took the money and ran.

Always instructive to see how low someone prices their integrity at. But I guess it's the world we live in today. At least I was able to source a new woofer pretty quickly, though $205 (total) seems like a bit of a steep price for a set of U-123s that still need their woofer refoamed.

Oh well, within a week, I should be indulging in my fun. Though now I'm thinking.....would a coat of krylon on the vinyl wrap be a good way to make them look less, well, 70's. Anyone done that?
 
ScooterMcTav said:
Yah, ratted him out to the mods. Sad enough, the guy probably thought he'd get $50, then when someone offered him more based on a misrepresentation, well, he took the money and ran.

Always instructive to see how low someone prices their integrity at. But I guess it's the world we live in today. At least I was able to source a new woofer pretty quickly, though $205 (total) seems like a bit of a steep price for a set of U-123s that still need their woofer refoamed.

Oh well, within a week, I should be indulging in my fun. Though now I'm thinking.....would a coat of krylon on the vinyl wrap be a good way to make them look less, well, 70's. Anyone done that?
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Sucks you had to go through that, but you'll have some kick-ass speakers when you're done!
Are you thinking paint or clear Krylon? Clear on vinyl will eventually start to flake & peel. Color I'm not sure. I suggest sanding the surfaces so the paint has something to bite on.
 
Just a random thought I had as the original wood grain reminds me of mac-tac shelf paper from the 70s.

I can keep them "vintage cool" though, but yes, was thinking some solid Krylon Fusion color - like Satin Pewter Grey, or Gloss Espresso might look nice. The Fusion actually does not require sanding, though I would likely wipe the cabinets down well with some sort of degreaser first.
 
Nothing wrong with having party speakers and refined speakers.

It's like collecting cars - why can't you have a Rolls and a Mustang both? Drive whatever you feel like. :thumbsup:
 
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