K2 M9500 purchase

[dennis j leisz]

Greetings, I am very pleased to report that I have purchased a pair of K2 M9500 speakers from a person in Norway . The speakers are in transit and should be arriving on the 3rd of Dec. I will be more than happy to provide any info the forum members desire, especially for the May project. Pics will be posted as soon as they are set up. I live in the Minneapolis area so if anyone is passing thru you are welcome to stop by and listen. I was giving some thought to loading them up and bringing them up to Dons in Winnepeg but the snowmobile and horse trails are currently closed due to bad weather. The trailer on the back of my snowmobile is too small for the load anyway. I will keep everyone posted as details emerge. Dennis

[lfh]

Congratulations!!



We'll keep our fingers crossed that they'll arrive safely, and the condition is as expected (as is the sound, of course - but there's little doubt about that). If I were in your clothes, I'd be so excited that I'd have a hard time getting to sleep. We're (I'm sure I speak for everybody!) looking forward to see the pictures and read about your listening impressions!



Fredrik

[4313B]

Excellent!

This is very exciting news indeed!

[Guido]

Congratulations!

Cool

I just skipped my DIY M9500 project for another even more crazy one.

We'll see what your comments are.

[Steve Gonzales]

yeah most of us are probably drownding in DROOL. What did you pay for them?

[Earl K]

Nice acquisition Dennis

Hopefully, you'll soon be hearing your M9500(s) .

- regarding your initial post offering this system for R&D purposes ( okay! my interpretation ) ;

- I can think of a few "projects" for you to execute if you feel up to it . They should have Project May spinoffs.

- This is mostly predicated on you still having at least a pair of le14h woofers .
- I'd like to hear your observations on a few things - all with the purpose of adding to Forums members "personal experiences" when using "MTM" structures .

Some Thoughts:

(a) Replace the 1400nd woofers in the bottom ( 4.1 cu' ) cabinets with your le14h(s). I'd be interested in all your observations about any and all changes you may notice to the sonic landscape. One note ; both woofer models are operating in "underdamped system" - when used in this size of box. Also of interest, this volume is purported to be virtually the same as the effective volume in the 250ti .
- There should be positve spinoffs ( for MTM advocates ) if traditional woofers are found to give over ( say ) 80% of the resolution benefit when mated with a K2 style woofer operating in the upper enclosure .
- I'd like to hear if you think that imaging/resolution suffers ( and/or by how much )

(b) Replace the 1400nd woofers in the top ( 2.8 cu' ) cabinets with your le14h(s) and then run these smaller boxes as a pair on one chnnel. Retuning to a lower Fb might be nice - but not mandatory for this subjective test.
- I'd be real interested in how their bass performance stacks up against the 1400nd woofs operating in the larger boxes.

(c) I'd like to hear about your observations on "Imaging" when substituting in a pair of 500hz Edgar tractrix horns - instead of the stock JBL BiRadial .
This "wish" is obviously a bit off the wall and harder to immediately accomplish - but I think you can see the tangible benefits. Who knows - Dr. Bruce Edgar might be up for a temporary "loaner" if he feels he is going to see some sales for MTM projects . Obviously some crossover reworking would be necessary - but nothing here is impossible to the motivated .

(d) Some of this might be easier to execute with electronic crossovers since the M9500 passive crossover has likely had to deal with a rising midband response in the 1400nd that isn't present in the le14h - though this doesn't negate test (a) . It would effect test (b) more so .

(e) It would be nice to see some 1/3 octave pink noise studies of the above - if you can manage it .

What do you think ?

regards <. Earl K

[dennis j leisz]

Earl, Thanks for your ideas. The good news is that the speakers arrive tommorow, Friday, and my wife is out of town for the weekend; Heaven. Don't get me wrong but there are priorities. Once I set the speakers up and balance them in my listening room I will offer up my home site for experimentation. There are limits however. Taking apart a work of art such as the M9500 does seem a bit odd. But anything in the pursuit of science. I have a pair of McIntosh MC1201 mono blocks at the ready to push large quantities of air. We'll see. I will keep the forum posted as to the progress. Any and all are welcome to visit the Leisz household in Minneapolis. Our guest quarters are quite nice. My wife has removed more than one set of car keys from my nerd friends after a good nite of listening. Regards, Dennis

[Earl K]

I will keep the forum posted as to the progress.

Okay,

Thanks Dennis ! <. Earl K

[Robh3606]

WOW

Can't wait to hear how they are!

Rob

[Niklas Nord]

great, I wonder how they are compared with my s9500

[korgroenewoud]

Hi,



I have a pair of McIntosh MC1201 mono blocks at the ready to push large quantities of air. We'll see. I will keep the forum posted as to the progress. (Qoute)

With one of the finest power- amps in the wordld, your sound must be tremendous. Do you use the preamp C200?


Kor

[dennis j leisz]

What a glorius day. The K2 M9500 arrived Monday afternoon . This was a few days later than planned. They spent the weekend in customs. It took three of us to unpack the two pallets and carry the speaker parts to my audio/video room for setup. It was very unfortunate that my wife was now home from her California trip. With each load we received an ever increasing amount of the Yukon stare. You know what I mean; cold as ice. Any way we assembled the three modules, put new batteries in the crossovers , connected the wires from the external crossovers and loaded up the soundtrack from Wag the Dog, Pushed start. It was and is the finest sounding JBL manufactured system I have ever heard in a home. As crystal clear and precise as I have experienced. Dynamic as well. They are very evenly balanced from top to bottom. Greg Timbers should be very proud. A fabulous piece of engineering. The low end extension is perfect to my ear. After an hour or so of listening I noticed that some of our art had been rearranged. The Yukon stares deepened. Sonically they exceeded my expectations. The only negatives are the very soft finish is easily scratched. I wonder if anyone knows how to secure a pint or so of this finish so I can restore them to like new condition. A back corner is showing slight damage during shipping.I will post photos shortly. Regards, Audioden

[Earl K]

They are very evenly balanced from top to bottom.
Greg Timbers should be very proud.
A fabulous piece of engineering.
The low end extension is perfect to my ear.

[korgroenewoud]

Hello Dennis,

I wish you (and your wife) a very nice listening period.

Can you place some pictures of the M9500?


Kor

[John]

Hi Dennis Congratulations on your purchase. When everything is tweaked and up to snuff i would enjoy a taste test. I am in the twin cities a couple times a month so it would be a breeze to stop in. I also might talk to Don about doing a road trip maybe next year when the arctic conditions subside.