hi gang, i'm done. i'm cancelling all my hi-end subscriptions, no more exploring to do. it can be done, a great speaker system, no i should say phenomenal speaker system for less money than the speaker wire these rags tell you to use. yes, i finally completed my premium stage 4 pi's last night. it's funny, after all the work i was scared to hook them up, i didn't want to be disappointed, but alas i'm happier than the dancing poles used in our toronto strip joints.
first some background, i've been in audio retail for 15 years and have been exposed to every new so called speaker breakthrough. i hate conventional low efficiency tower speakers- seems to be about 80% of the product sold- they lack what i consider the 3 most important things:
1- dynamic range
2- low level information
3- large soundstage (big airy effortless sound)
factors i do not care about are:
1- imaging (who wants to sit between speakers with their head in a vise?)
2- flat frequency response (who lives in an anechoic chamber?)
my 4 pi's have incredible dynamic range, are capable of revealing low level information (you will hear stuff you never heard before) and have a big giant wall of sound that extends far beyond the speakers. they do not have a horn sound, in fact the hi frequencies are the smoothest and fastest i have yet to here. bass is tight and fast and has very good impact. you will enjoy all your music on these speakers, even poorly recorded material.
these are keepers and are really a steal (i've got about $750.00 us into them).
i currently have the tweeter sitting on top of the cabinet in freespace, i'll be experimenting by adjusting the height, but it's great the way it is. also speaker placement does not seem critical, i tried various spots last night and did not notice any real difference. it's great to have a speaker that doesn't have to be pulled 3 feet from the wall to sound good.
my 4 pi's were constructed out of 1" 15 ply russian birch (solid as a rock- quality you'll never find in the majority of speakers out there). i've used regular 12 awg wire but will experiment with solid core and silver wire- but i don't expect much improvement- they just sound that good now.
my system:
kr enterprise 18bsi 300b 18 watt per channel single ended tube amp.
onkyo cd with msb dacIII 132khz upsampler.
stealth siver digital audio cable
powervar line conditioner
regular run-of-the-mill wire everywhere else.
i'll be tweaking and will post results as they happen, also will upload photo's as soon as my digital camera arrives.hats off to wayne, you've given me a perma grin everytime i turn my stereo on.
till next time,
george
Follow Ups: