XPL200s

[4313B]

0.01 uF RelCap Polystyrene and Foil - excellent depth
0.01 uF AudioCap Polypropylene and Foil - excellent attack and decay
24 uF SoniCap
stock 32 uF NPE as used in a "typical" JBL network

SoniCaps don't require bypass capacitors or biasing and they are very expensive.

The stock NPE and Mylar (Polyester) JBL capacitors benefit from both bypassing and biasing.

[rgrjit8]

I'd like to add a couple comments.

First, while I wouldn't consider the XPL 200s to be lacking in bass, I do feel that they are enhanced considerably when augmented with a subwoofer. I do like bass heavy music so this could be attributed to taste rather than to a deficiency of the speakers. I do believe the bass rolls off substantially below 55 hz however.

The upper midrange. Yes, it can make your ears bleed down onto your teeth. I was never quite sure if this was due to the speakers' clarity revealing the "steeliness" of my solid state amps or whether it was a sonic characteristic of the speakers. Apparently it's the latter.

The grills. They are made of pretty flimsy stuff and are subject to dry rot. I learned the hard way not to brace my hand against the grill/speaker top as I leaned down to twiddle something. Bite-shaped pieces snapped right off. For their original asking price I think they should have been made a little better. At least something with some give to it.

The neoprene rubber/plastic stuff on the baffles and around the bases are very hard to clean. Dust becomes embedded and doesn't like to come out. Actually, I think some of this "dust" is mildew. So far I've held off taking a bleach soaked rag to it, but I'm going to have to do something if I hope to put them in the living room.

I have no intention of ever parting with mine.

[Don C]

Thanks for adding your comments. My grille frames are still perfect, but now that I have seen your comment I will be very careful with them. I did notice that they were plastic.
I found myself pushing the speakers back and closer to the walls than I do with other speakers, looking for more low bass. I have one of them 2 inches from the back wall now. It helps.
I think that active Bi Amping will add bass. Its because there is some loss through the woofers low pass filter when it is switched in. Switching to Bi-Amp mode should add about 1db of bass relative to the mid-bass level. The speakers may have been designed so that the frequency balance is optimum when Bi-Amped.

[Robh3606]

Hello Don

I biamp my clones and you can get a bit more by dropping the upper speakers level a bit but not much or they become unballanced. You are not getting good LF extension?? My clones are not optimum for the 2214 as I originally made the with 122A's. Smaller volume then the reel things. Only 2.2 Cu ft tunned low to 29Hz. Seems to work well though with room loading but you don't get the same feel as say from Le14's or 2235's which can be down right scarry. Still sounds good and that 2214 has great articulation you can hear every note!!

Rob