Good question Al,
I am still kinda' waiting for Jack and his opinion on the "B" crossover. Both Dennis and I like the new one better, but the upgrade is of questionable value. IMO, it is worth $50, maybe more. I don't think it is worth $150. Somewhere between these values the "B" crossover might be a smart purchase.
Jack had some wiring problems and expressed dislike for the "B" crossover initially. I haven't followed up on this with Jack. I believe it was due to the wiring problems. I haven't accomplished anything audio-related in the last 2 months. After I get settled in my new home I will address this. My wife and I are still living in boxes.
Tentatively I'll sell a parts kit for the new crossover for those who wish to upgrade.
Dave
Dave/Al,
Sorry for the delay. I have been traveling extensively with my new job and have not had the opportunity to post my thoughts on the new crossovers. Let me get my initial impressions out of the way. At first, I was disappointed, not because the new crossovers weren't well designed, but because I totally installed them wrong. In addition, I inadvertantly disconnected the small wire from the tiny inductor used in the new design. After everything was correctly installed (with Dave's very helpful advice) I gave the new crossovers 40 hours or so before performing any critical listening. The bottom line, in a hobby in which people spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for "upgrades" of questionable value, I'd easily pay $150 for an upgrade of this magnitude.
The new 1801b design allows me to place the speakers well into the room while maintaining great (for a small monitor) bass response. The new design, is a marked improvement over the original (which I did not think possible). The midrange magic of the original 1801 is perfectly maintained, however vocals do not seem to be as "forward". The 1801b's completely disappear, perhaps more than any other speaker I have tested. The new design has improved bass response and silky-smooth highs that most people would never associate with a dome tweeter. The biggest improvement is perhaps the ability to reproduce male vocals (ie. the new Johnny Cash CD) and female vocals also seem to benefit from the improvement in smoothness and slight warmth (I say "slight" because these are not warm sounding speakers). The soundstage is very wide (like the original 1801) and has a level of depth and realism that I really like. Also, Rock music and lesser recordings sound better with the new crossover design.
I'm very happy with the improvements and, unlike Dave, feel $150 is a
very reasonable price to pay for the level of improvement the new crossovers provide. Don't get me wrong, they are very similar to the old design, but I'd say the difference (or the improvement in performance) is greater than any improvement I have experienced with things like power cords, expensive IC's or even expensive CD players or DAC's. Also, installation is very easy and assembly is much easier than the older crossovers because the new design has less component parts. Just take your time and don't make the stupid mistakes ala yours truly. After living with the new crossovers for a couple months, I can't say the older design was better in any area.
I'm doing a comparison of the new 1801B and some expensive MBL monitors (~$3,500) as well as some Onix Ref 1's tomorrow. Not a scientific test, just a listening session in which we will conduct some A/B comparisons.
Thanks, and sorry for the delay!
Jack
