GordonW
10-09-2003, 08:08 PM
... it amazes me HOW ENTERTAINING listening to a pair of L100's can be!!
A few words of explanation/disclaimer: Technically, these aren't totally stock L100s. A while back, we couldn't get 123A kits, so we decided to recone the woofers with an aftermarket "menagerie" of parts. Correct type voice coil, but with a 122A style cone (straight-sided), BUT with a Flex-Aire pleated fabric surround back-glued on it, like the original 123A used. Also, the mids have non-stock dustcaps... for whatever reason, the guy I work with, decided to use some 1.5" fabric weave dustcaps on the LE5s, when he reconed them (Image kits, I think they neglected to send a dustcap, most likely, and he used what he had). So, think of it as a lower-distortion-bass L100, with a less-peaky LE5...
So, that given... I finally got hold of an working pair of LE25s, and returned at least that part of the system to stock. I decided to see how well I could calibrate the sound, using the level controls... and after 20-30 minutes or so, I started going "hey- this doesn't sound bad at ALL!".
Up to this point, I had the speakers sitting on the floor... I got inspired, and grabbed a set of 12" stands, and set them up on them. WHOA.
At this point, things started to really come together. If you've never heard an L100 on a 12" stand TRY IT. Some speakers seem to be more sensitive to placement than others... I'm becoming more and more convinced, that the L100 is one that IS affected- a LOT. Really smooths out the bass response- the 50 Hz "boom" is mostly gone, and the low bass is more "noticable" as a result.
During this setup, I was using the "Fourplay" album ("smooth jazz", argh, damning with faint praise? :biting: ) as test material, and when it got to track 5... all h*** broke loose- in a GOOD way! This track begins with some VERY sharp tympani-esque drum hits- and on the modified L100, these were nearly DEADLY. It's simply AMAZING what this speaker can do- it nearly caved my skull in, on nothing more than an old Sansui 50 watt receiver as power!! Big grins on EVERYONE'S faces!!
Really, yeah, I'll give you the crossover is primitive. Yeah, I'll readily agree that the cabinet is too small. But MAN... there's lots of $10000 and even $100000 speakers, that have NOWHERE NEAR that kind of transient linearity- that kind of faithfulness to the leading edge of a sharp midbass transient, that kind of freedom from compression. Something to be said, for a big woofer, built right, not having to work terribly hard, made by people who obviously DID know what they're doing...
Regards,
Gordon.
A few words of explanation/disclaimer: Technically, these aren't totally stock L100s. A while back, we couldn't get 123A kits, so we decided to recone the woofers with an aftermarket "menagerie" of parts. Correct type voice coil, but with a 122A style cone (straight-sided), BUT with a Flex-Aire pleated fabric surround back-glued on it, like the original 123A used. Also, the mids have non-stock dustcaps... for whatever reason, the guy I work with, decided to use some 1.5" fabric weave dustcaps on the LE5s, when he reconed them (Image kits, I think they neglected to send a dustcap, most likely, and he used what he had). So, think of it as a lower-distortion-bass L100, with a less-peaky LE5...
So, that given... I finally got hold of an working pair of LE25s, and returned at least that part of the system to stock. I decided to see how well I could calibrate the sound, using the level controls... and after 20-30 minutes or so, I started going "hey- this doesn't sound bad at ALL!".
Up to this point, I had the speakers sitting on the floor... I got inspired, and grabbed a set of 12" stands, and set them up on them. WHOA.
At this point, things started to really come together. If you've never heard an L100 on a 12" stand TRY IT. Some speakers seem to be more sensitive to placement than others... I'm becoming more and more convinced, that the L100 is one that IS affected- a LOT. Really smooths out the bass response- the 50 Hz "boom" is mostly gone, and the low bass is more "noticable" as a result.
During this setup, I was using the "Fourplay" album ("smooth jazz", argh, damning with faint praise? :biting: ) as test material, and when it got to track 5... all h*** broke loose- in a GOOD way! This track begins with some VERY sharp tympani-esque drum hits- and on the modified L100, these were nearly DEADLY. It's simply AMAZING what this speaker can do- it nearly caved my skull in, on nothing more than an old Sansui 50 watt receiver as power!! Big grins on EVERYONE'S faces!!
Really, yeah, I'll give you the crossover is primitive. Yeah, I'll readily agree that the cabinet is too small. But MAN... there's lots of $10000 and even $100000 speakers, that have NOWHERE NEAR that kind of transient linearity- that kind of faithfulness to the leading edge of a sharp midbass transient, that kind of freedom from compression. Something to be said, for a big woofer, built right, not having to work terribly hard, made by people who obviously DID know what they're doing...
Regards,
Gordon.