Boy this is sure a revelation. With deference to the fact the Mundorfs M-Cap's in the 10B's still have 150+ hours of training to settle them down, I am finding out that for most of the music, orchestral, I listen too I prefer the W35's. It has been more the 25 years since I last used these W35's on a regular basis and they were never driven with the proper power, 20 watts minimum, and now with a fresh set of Mundorf NPE's in their crossovers, wonderful.
They have the Acoustic Research sound I loved so much. I have already alluded to the fact the W35 replaced a pair of AR-7’s. Thinking of the reason. The W35 is a 3-way speaker, and it has potentiometer level controls for the midrange and the tweeter. The AR-7 is a 2-way and only has a 2 positon toggle switch for it’s tweeters. The W35 was much clearer sounding. Frankly the AR-7 is not an attractive speaker to look at.
I have described the sound of the W35's as the meat in the sandwich speakers. Imagine a sandwich, the bottom slice of bread is the lower voiced part of the orchestra, the back benchers if you will. The upper slice the string section. These W35's are a clear sonic window into the part of an musical ensemble I used to play in, the brass, and woodwinds. The W35's have a light airy sound.
The Monitor 10B’s have a very voluptuous sound. Right now they are a little muddy sounding I am told this will clear up after the M-Cap’s burn in. Using the sandwich analogy the 10B’s are a full sandwich speaker you have to bite into the sandwich to taste the sonic meat.
The E-Caps on the W-35’s sounded great right from the beginning. I can’t help but wonder how the E-Cap would perform on the 10B’s. I have the other set of crossovers and it would cost about $30 dollars in E-Caps and Vishay Mills resistors to find out.
They have the Acoustic Research sound I loved so much. I have already alluded to the fact the W35 replaced a pair of AR-7’s. Thinking of the reason. The W35 is a 3-way speaker, and it has potentiometer level controls for the midrange and the tweeter. The AR-7 is a 2-way and only has a 2 positon toggle switch for it’s tweeters. The W35 was much clearer sounding. Frankly the AR-7 is not an attractive speaker to look at.
I have described the sound of the W35's as the meat in the sandwich speakers. Imagine a sandwich, the bottom slice of bread is the lower voiced part of the orchestra, the back benchers if you will. The upper slice the string section. These W35's are a clear sonic window into the part of an musical ensemble I used to play in, the brass, and woodwinds. The W35's have a light airy sound.
The Monitor 10B’s have a very voluptuous sound. Right now they are a little muddy sounding I am told this will clear up after the M-Cap’s burn in. Using the sandwich analogy the 10B’s are a full sandwich speaker you have to bite into the sandwich to taste the sonic meat.
The E-Caps on the W-35’s sounded great right from the beginning. I can’t help but wonder how the E-Cap would perform on the 10B’s. I have the other set of crossovers and it would cost about $30 dollars in E-Caps and Vishay Mills resistors to find out.