Posted by Tim Barnes [ 158.140.1.25 ] on August 16, 2007 at 16:47:08:
In Reply to: Hey Tim. posted by j.luis on August 16, 2007 at 12:11:03:
Some information in my previous post (referenced below).
The increased efficiency is the first and most obvious difference. The second is the increased sense of ease and detail in the mid-range. I am hearing a lot of new information. The difference between CDs and LPs is even greater than before - with LPs clearly preferable.
The corner positioning and perhaps the use of horns seems to lead to a couple of changes - more air movement and sense of being involved in the sound which is a good thing. The precise imaging I was used to is not really present any more. I feel there's a bit of a hole in the soundstage towards the center. But there's a benefit too - the sweet spot is much bigger. I can sit in many places in the room and still enjoy a balanced sound.
There seems to be a shortage of low bass with the Pi Sevens, but very good and clear and unfussy mid-bass. The Thiels use a passive bass radiator which gave quite a lot of bass - especially if the speakers are anywhere near a corner.
The Thiel cabinets are much more rigid than the Pi Seven bass cab - double or triple thickness baffle, lots of internal bracing, smaller panels. I never felt any vibration of the Thiel cabinet, but I can detect vibration on the front of the Pi. I plan to take the drivers out and beef up the internal bracing.
The treble is clearly less than with the Thiels, but it's clean and sweet. I might investigate a super-tweeter, but we'll see. The integration between the treble and mid-range seems to be perfectly seamless from anything more than a couple of feet away.
One reason the Pis work well for me is that my amp is a Music Reference RM9 tube amp that is not really at its best into very low impedances. The Thiels go below 2 ohms at certain frequencies, which in addition to their low efficiency makes them tough to drive. A transistorized amp was better at the bass, but worse at the mid-range. With the Pis I can get a good overall performance with my tube amp.
Let me know if you have any more specific questions - I'm still learning about the speakers and I'm sure my views will continue to evolve.
My net conclusion is that they were well worth the trouble to build, and a very satisfactory improvement on the Thiels. I wish they were smaller.
Regards,
tim
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