Posted by Bill Epstein [ 75.138.126.182 ] on September 14, 2008 at 14:54:42:
In Reply to: Re: Review: 4Pi Pros, or... Walnut Pi posted by Norris Wilson on September 12, 2008 at 18:30:52:
In Reply to: Re: 1 on the ramp, 1 in the hanger posted by Norris Wilson on September 10, 2008 at 16:50:32:
I mentioned in the text that the soundstage is much improved (see the comment about piano position) and the bass is very good but I can expand on that a bit.
One of my worries was that the smaller cabinet wouldn't yield the bass impact of the larger and it doesn't, quite. The bass is somehat softer, most noticeable with the 70 watt solid state Classe, less so with the 1.8 watt parafeed 45 tube amp. Parafeed is really something! The quality of the bass, tho', is improved. Bass notes are better delineated; it's easier to follow the bass line whether acoustic upright or electric and the pedal tones of the organ, at least above 40 Hz (I guess) seem somehow louder.
I'm not a fan of sub-woofers, I've alsways found them to muddy the mid-range, but I have a pair of 15" Daytons, a pair of 250 watt plate amps, and the BatSpeaker boxes so I'm going to see what subs do for the bass. I can easily live without reinforcement, but I'll give it a try in the coming months.
The impression of players on a stage is really important to me, number 2 in importance after accurate tone. I recall my Theatre 4 Pis having little depth to the stage; the BatSpeakers had good width and depth and the players or singers were more or less well-positioned. The Pros, however, are in a different constellation.
The Union Station CD, Live is a great reference because I also have the DVD and know where the players are. What's amazing to me, and something I've never heard before, is that the hall ambience stretches from wall-to-wall but the music doesn't. Just as you can see in the DVD, Jerry Douglas is positioned well away from stage right but, as seen from the audience, on the left side of the group. That's exactly what you hear on the CD through the 4Pi Pros: there is an ambience, a sense of air extending to the left wall of my room but the sound of his Dobro, instead of being all the to the left wall, is coming from a spot a few feet closer to the center. Moving to the right you hear Alison, then Dan and finally Ron Block, with a similar gap to the right wall. Once again, however, there is a sense of the stage extending all the way to the right wall. That's incredibly unique! Both amplifiers, BTW, convey the same impression.
So how do the pros compare to the BatSpeakers? Well, with the horn damped and the room sorted out, if the boxes don't work out as subs, they'll wind up in that graveyard of speaker cabinets, Spkrmans garage.
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