| 2Pi Towers First Listen [message #75593] |
Thu, 21 February 2013 22:46  |
Bill Epstein
Messages: 1088
Registered: May 2009
Location: Smoky Mts. USA
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Illuminati (2nd Degree) |
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Living Room is looking a lot like Stonehenge!
After a 4 hour wiring session this morning I shlepped these monsters downstairs and hooked'm up to my 6 watt 6550 single-ended.
I've wanted to build a pair ever since discovering the SB Acoustics SB-29 tweeter a few years ago. I had made Towers with the Vifa Tweeter for Speakerman and used that tweeter in a pair of sealed "bookshelf" speakers and had never warmed to it. I hoped the SB-29, which I used previously in another project, would improve the clarity of the 2Pi mids and treble.
My reasoning behind the modest expense of the upgrade is simple: Wayne's cabinet and crossover makes the humble Alpha 10 sound at least as good in the three octaves of bass as the $1200 apiece GPA?Altec 604.
I've only played 6 album sides but all the drivers had been previously used, albeit not for some time, so break-in shouldn't be an issue, and they sounded damn fine. Sophisticated, even. And really nearfield because of the forest of speakers in my little room.
As you can see in the pic, they back right up to my 4Pis so there has to be some passive woofing going on but when Bonnie Raitts bassist, on Takin' My Time, rolls (is that a glissando?) up to the next note on the string, you can hear the finger move on the neck like never before.
The Chesky re-issue of Scheherazade let's the imaging come through with distinct first and second violins as well as pinpoint position of the brass deep into the rear of the stage and definitely above the strings and woodwinds on their lower risers.
I think these are the perfect Condo-Dwellers speakers. The bass is "apparently" deeper than the 4Pis which eliminates the need for sub-woofers and Nightsticks knocking on the door. They're also nearly as sensitive, moreso than the driver specs would indicate. My volume control is maybe one click higher than with the 4s.
After a month into the project and a back-breaking morning, you'll forgive me for setting them up and writing about them prior to building the grills which are the reason for the recessed, flat black baffles you see here:
One word describes the veneer: MEH! I could tell it wasn't going to be museum quality early on, far from it, so I kinda backed off from the full treatment I had planned. Still, classic varnish wet-rubbed with 400, and then 600 Wet N Dry and completed with 0000 steel wool done soapy wet came out well ahead of your typical speakers oiled or Goopethane finish.
Now that I know how well they perform, I'll take out the subwoofers and move the 4Pis to the sides and let the Towers have their own space. Then we'll really see what they can do.
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