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What is the Bottleneck in my System?

Isaac C. said:
My friend has a ton of other box speakers, he is going to let me borrow his Advent OLAs to compare with my current ones. We'll see for sure if it's the speakers or something else. He said they sound "bigger" than the Dynacos and have a little more bass. I've got some Magnepan MG1s he gave me that need a complete rebuild, so if I "upgrade" it will be to rebuild those if I get a chance.
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I would go with rebuilt MG-1's and a subwoofer (2 is better). But then, I bought a pair of MG-1's in 1976. Since then I've exclusively used planars of one type or another.
 
But seriously, the speakers are a good starting point.
That's what I did. It was accidental, but I lucked into a great old set of speakers for almost nothing, then spent a grand refurbing them. After that, it was just a matter of buying the best amplification I could afford.
Best of luck.

Dave
 
I tend to agree.
I had A25s rebuilt, crossovers.
Without putting words in other people's mouth. The people I've shared my opinions of the A25 tend to agree.
That is, they don't do anything really wrong.
They have a mellow non fatiguing presentation.
While they sound good (perhaps very good) they also don't wow you in any way.
I hope I phrased that right and nobody who loves their A25s took offense.
 
nj pheonix said:
I tend to agree.
I had A25s rebuilt, crossovers.
Without putting words in other people's mouth. The people I've shared my opinions of the A25 tend to agree.
That is, they don't do anything really wrong.
They have a mellow non fatiguing presentation.
While they sound good (perhaps very good) they also don't wow you in any way.
I hope I phrased that right and nobody who loves their A25s took offense.
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No I completely agree, they are nice in that they sound great with about any genre and aren't fatiguing, but the lack a solid center image and side imaging (in my experience at least). But for the most part, the people I've talked to said I won't be able to get anything better unless a shell out half a grand. For that reason I'm sticking with them at the moment. The floor standing speakers I'm interested in are hard to come by for a reasonable price.

I tried some OLAs a few months ago, I couldn't listen to them for more than about 15mins because the treble was so tinny, edgy, and unnatural sounding.

I really like the A25 presentation because I have very sensitive ears and I can listen to them for hours, but I do think I can get something with better imaging/soundstage, separation, and spaciousness.

I recapped them and it helped with high frequency response for sure.
 
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Isaac C. said:
... but the lack a solid center image and side imaging (in my experience at least). But for the most part, the people I've talked to said I won't be able to get anything better unless a shell out half a grand.
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I have JBL 305P MKII 5" Powered Studio Monitor speakers. Really impressive imaging. Pinpoint imaging. Love them!

I've got them for $89/ea on Black Friday sale. Currently they go for $149/ea free shipping. Still a really good deal.
 
I don't think that system has a bottleneck or a weak link. I imagine it presents itself nicely. It's a drawback from any fetish hobby that you look for solutions to problems that don't exist.

Maybe instead of poking holes in it just enhance what's working.

I'd add another set of Dynacos.
 
If you want to try to eek a little bit more sparkle out of the A25s you can try running them without the cloth covers and removing the metal grill from the tweeter. It might help things the slightest hair... or it could be all in my head / ears.
 
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Here is the JBL 305P MKII frequency response graph. - flat to 20kHz.

Its waveguide is the reason for the really good imaging abilities.
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Pros
The JBL 305P MKII's strong point is its sound quality, which many consider as incredible when considering its price point. Many users specifically mention its highs and midrange to be very life-like, and they report that it helped them hear nuances that they were not able to with their old monitors. The speaker's build quality also gets a lot of thumbs up.

Cons
Some users complain that the low-end is lacking, but given its small 5" woofer, this is to be expected. There are also a few who note that it distorts when pushed hard, but this is more of a physical limitation than a problem.

Overall
If you're looking for a great value studio monitor that performs well even in untreated rooms, the 305p MKII is a great choice. Low end may be lacking but in rooms with less than stellar acoustics, a conservative low frequency output prevents unrealistic low frequency projection.
 
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