The pictures do not do the mirror like finish justice....
A glass-like finish is very hard to photograph. Like a mirror, it reflects everything. So we used blankets to cut down on reflections. But, of course, that also makes it impossible to see how reflective the surface is.
On the side view of the front baffle, there is a reflection in the chamfered edge. It is impossible to tell what it is (or perhaps even tell it is a reflection), but just so you know, it was a reflection of Rob when I was taking the picture.
Some have asked how the upgrades effect the sound of the speakers. What are your thoughts on the upgrades Jim?
Rob, you added so many upgrades it is impossible to know which changes are responsible for what. But I can say without a doubt that these are the highest performing speakers I have built to date. And I have no idea what I would even consider doing to top them. In the short time I had to listen, I could not find a single, subtle nuance that could use improvement. They were so utterly tansparent, all I could hear is the music.
That said, the most significant improvements were probably made by the base Sonicap upgrade. I had heard this about a week ago in a previous pair and the additional transparency was subtle, but audible.
With these speakers, I heard the same thing.
I only wish I had both pairs to do an A/B comparison. But even then, if I were able to hear a difference, I could not really say what was responsible.
The teflon bypass caps would certainly top things off in the cap area. And my guess is that much of the transparency difference was due to the cap change.
But I had heard your RSA speaker cables previously and thought I noticed a performance improvement at that time. If I was correct back then, certainly the RSA internal wiring and binding posts made a contribution. (Just for the record, Rob brought his RSA speaker cables when he came to pick up the speakers. So it was RSA from the amp to the crossovers and from the crossovers to the drivers - RSA all the way.)
The Blackhole, of course, had no effect on the mids or highs since the top portion of the cabinet is sealed and filled. And although we did not specifically concentrate on the bass performance, I assume it would be slightly tighter as well since the already low cabinet resonances should have been even more slightly reduced.
In the end, are the upgrades cost justifiable? Well, I guess it depends on a person's budget and desires. As of this moment, I certainly can't build anything that sounds any better.
I will finish a pair in the next two weeks that will not have the RSA wiring or the Cardas "Patented" binding posts. I will have at least some idea of the differences associated with the internal wiring. All else will be the same. But, again, I will not have your speakers to do an A/B comparison.
I guess, in the end, it is like insurance. I don't know specifically what each upgrade contributed (except the base Sonicap upgrade which I had an opportunity to A/B with the stock crossovers in my personal pair). But if my goal was to build the ultimate speaker in terms of performance, I don't know that I would leave out anything. I may be putting in more than is required, but I certainly don't have to worry about getting anything less than the best in terms of performance.
That's my $.02 worth. Your milege may vary.
- Jim
