Initial Impressions

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Posted by FredT [ 68.201.203.238 ] on May 28, 2006 at 18:12:36:

In Reply to: Re: GPAF Treasure posted by Jim Griffin on May 26, 2006 at 15:23:37:

Jim, I haven't responded to your request for comments about the sound of these speakers because I took them apart for veneering. The enclosures are now veneered and I plan to spray them tomorrow.

I did play them for about 12 hours before disassembly, and my initial impression afer the 12 hours is this: The bass is amazingly good for a speaker with two 4.5" drivers as long as you don't over drive them. The midrange is about what I would expect from a 4.5" driver that costs $70. It's as good as the $100+ Vifa XT's in my line arrays. The treble is the only shortcoming I can hear at this point. According to the manufacturer's freq resp graph it should be flat to about 10khz, then drop to about -5dB at 15khz, then return to flat at about 20khz. I definitely hear a drop above 10khz, and it sound to me line it begins somwhere below 10khz. I miss the crispness of cymbals, etc. that I'm accustomed to hearing from speakers with a good quality tweeters. (Yes, I did verify I had installed the FR drivers in front and the WR drivers in back, and not vice-versa).

I'm the ultimate cable agnostic, but I'll admit some speaker cables and internal hookup wires are brighter than others. The brightest I have heard was made from silver plated teflon coated stranded copper wire. I have some in the parts bin, and I've assembled some new harnesses to replace the stock copper internal wire than came with the kit. We'll have to see if this has any effect on the treble.

The soundstage isn't quite as focused as my non-bipole speakers, but it's actually more realistic - more like the soundstage I'm accustomed to hearing at live events. I was at a blues club Friday nite and listened carefully to the live event soundstage. I couldn't identify exactly where each performer was like I can with the overhyped soundstage of the typical pair of minimonitors. The greater ambience these speakers offer is especially nice with recordings of live popular/jazz events or classical music recorded in the typical reverberant concert hall.


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