[Bassphil]

Maybe "glare" isn't the best word to describe what I'm hearing. I had a friend over the other day to check them out, and he described the midrange as "less warm than the Spendors", which are notorious for having a super warm midrange.

Soo, that has left me thinking about possibly switching to a 300b tube amp to warm up the mids. It's possible that my SS amp, though it's a really great amp, is just too analytical for the Hyperions.

I was able to move the left speaker out from the wall a little more, and I pulled both out from the back wall more, which seemed to help the soundstage a lot.

Oh, to answer your question, when I put my ear up to the speaker, it's only the midrange driver that has the characteristic that sticks out to me. Actually, maybe I should try connecting the speaker cables to the bass box first and jumping up to the mids and tweeter. If the bass was a touch louder, it may warm the mids up. I wonder if connecting to the bass first would have that affect...

My final experiment is going to be to lug my heavy integrated tube amp from downstairs and wire it up to the Hyperions! I'm curious to see how much that changes the tone.

Of course, I'm still trying to work out a deal on a pair of 968's, so maybe these will be going back out the door to make room

Anyway, I'll post with the results!

[Bassphil]

Okay, I've been doing a little experimenting, and I've concluded that the problem is DEFINITELY a result of the room- not the speakers.

I drug the Spendor's back upstairs and dropped them into the same exact position as the 938's for a direct comparison. The midrange was different- warmer at the expense of clarity. In terms of the "glare" I was hearing, I could still hear that wonky midrange characteristic, though it was reduced. The glare is there no matter what it seems, and since the 938s seem to resolve the midrange better, it's easier to hear the wonky midrange node in the room I guess.

What I liked most about the experiment was how much the 938's kicked the Spendor's butts in my upstairs system! The music was sooo much more clear, especially in the bass to lower-mid regions. Granted, the Spendors are only rated to 40hz or thereabouts, but the overall presentation was much better with the 938s. NOW I can hear what all the fuss is about!

I put the Hyperions back in place and draped a blanket on the left wall, which helped tame the mids a bit. I just ordered a few bass traps and a bunch of panels today from a place called Acoustimac. I'll report back next week with the results. They might just be the best tweak yet for these speakers

-Phil

[RCduck7]

Very nice, keep us posted!

Before you work out a deal for the 968 speakers i recommend a side by side audition with the 938. With the 938 you have a bit more sparkle from the tweeter, the little horn the tweeter is in contributes to this a big deal. The 968 should sound becausse of it's "normal" tweeter design a bit darker. That was my experience with other Hyperion speakers that doesn't us the horn loaded tweeter so i guess with the 968 it would be the same. But hey, if you like to tame this area a bit then the 968 could be for you. But do listen to the 968 before deciding, it would be a shame to get rid of the 938, only to find out you liked it more then the 968.

[Dracule1]

IMO, many audiophiles spend thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on speakers, amps, preamps, source, and cables and fail to address the most critical part of their system...their ROOM.  I have built a dedicated room from ground up and invested about $3k on room treatments (combination of absorption and diffusion)...by far the best investment I have made in my system.  The second most important IME is placement of your speakers in the room. 

Bassphil, you are going in the right direction .  As you can see and hear, simple experiments you have conducted with placement of your speakers shows the dramatic improvement you can make in the sound of your system.  Some regard Hyperion midrange to be on the warm side.  I disagree.  It really depends on the amplification and source.  I think you will find changing your SS amp to tube amp will change the sound for the better.  This has been my experience many times over.  However, you might find the bass to be on loose side with 300B amp, but again the bass may be significantly improved with room placement and bass traps.

Are you using the stock brass jumpers between the midrange and tweeter?  If you are, get rid them!!  It really degrades the sound.  You can either buy jumpers made of the same wire as your speaker cables or biwire. The 938s were designed to be biwired or triwired, if you want to go balls out.  Biwring will probably improve bass response, imaging/staging, tonality, and dynamics. Some people don't believe in biwiring, but you should try with relatively inexpensive speaker wire (Signal Cable is an affordable choice), if you can't afford to double up on your current wire.

Another option is biamping since you have both tube and SS amp.  The tube should go to the midrange/tweeter and SS to the bass.  Biamping is more tricky because you have to be able to get the gain of the amps to be the same.  If you get lucky, you may get the best of tubes and solid state.  OTOH, synergy may be an issue with this approach, and the sound may lack coherency.

Thanks for trying out the suggestions on this thread and reporting back.  It's always nice to hear audiophile experience what the 938s can do.