[cyounkman]

Saw that review...

The TAS site (avguide.com) only has a review for the SD RTS-3.

[mcrespo71]

Hmm, that's odd.  I don't have the original review, but I have numerous capsule reviews from TAS.  Anyway, they were definitley HP's baby.  He could not stop writing about them.

[mcrespo71]

OK, I listened in tetrode and the bass has more weight, but at a large loss of resolution.  I never realized how large a difference there is between triode and tetrode until listening to the MM De Capo I.

[brucegel]

I think the only reson to use tetrode is for rap music.I don't even define the bass as having more weight just punch and no resolve.

[mcrespo71]

I'm posting this Private message between Chris and I for public consumption:


 mcrespo71 wrote:
BTW, I measured my DE Capo I's in room subjective bass response and they were not flat at all!!!! They were down at the 100 and 80 hz tones and flat or slightly up on the 60, 50, 40 hz tones- had audible bass output at the 30 hz tone and I could still hear the 20 hz tone, but I'd bet they were down 15-20db's here.  


I was shocked when that guy said his DC's had measure really flat in his room. He must have some great room. My measured performance is more similar to yours, I'm afraid. Chalk it up to room acoustics. Getting flat frequency response in a non-treated (and I mean REALLY treated) space without digital eq is just impossible. The higher 50-60 is probably a room node. I just remember that mine started rollong off a lot sooner in the bass than I'd have wanted -- around 100 hz things were already down. I have a reasonable size room, so maybe the DC don't 'energize' it or whatever the same way a speaker with a larger cabniet or multiple bass drivers would.

mcrespo71 wrote:
Unfortunately, I can't move the speakers around much to try and make them flat in my room. I've found a spot that sounds the best and allows me to sit 8 1/2 to 10 feet from the speakers while allowing for adequate soundstaging. How is one supposed to measure the distance from the speaker to the back wall? From the rear of the speaker it is 2 feet 7 inches to the back wall and from the front/top baffle it is 3 feet 4 inches. I don't know which one is correct to quote?  


I think it's correct to quote the former: from the back of the speaker. This gets tricky with toe-in. "The center of the back of the speaker was 55" off the wall, toed-in 10 degrees," would be the reviewer prose, I guess.

In your room, your best bet is probably just to listen nearfield and get rid of the room. (Unfortunatley it's very awkward for me to do this.)

Another thing you can play around with re: FR is the height of the speaker. The distance from the floor and ceiling boundaries will affect the bass room interaction. If you can vary your seating height to accomodate the difference with re: the tweeter height, you can re-balance your speakeres that way. Actually I found that I preferred listening closer to the main driver axis anyway when I raised mine.

mcrespo71 wrote:
I love this forum and thanks for starting it up. This speaker blows me away!


Me too! I'm always listening to dealer demos or other systems and wondering where the dynamic life is. You really can't go back...

Oh shit. We should put this in the circle somewhere for public consumption...

- chris
[/quote]

[mcrespo71]

In your room, your best bet is probably just to listen nearfield and get rid of the room. (Unfortunatley it's very awkward for me to do this.)

Nearfield listening freaks me out.  Too much cognitive dissonance- (i.e., I'm too close to the speakers;  I'm not hearing the soundstage develop properly because the singer's image is 5 feet from my ears, etc.)  I guess I could try it, but I have to sleep, do work, watch TV, and listen to music in this room- an 16X13 space.  Bringing the speakers out anymore may literally cause me to bump into them and knock them over when I get out of my futon to take a piss when I'm sleeping.  My GF already thinks I'm crazy for having as far out as they are anyway.

[mcrespo71]

Ok, here is the subjective room response of the bass of the De Capo I's in my room with my gear.  My room is 15 feet wide, 13 feet deep, and has 12 foot ceilings.  I have the MM De Capo I's 6 feet 6 inches apart and sit approximately 10 feet from the speakers.  The speaker is 2 feet 7 inches out from the long back wall (the 15 foot wall).  

I used the Stereophile Test CD 2 and my Radio Shack DB meter to conduct this subjective measurement in my room.  I will list the tones and the amount of DB's the speaker was up or down from the warble tone.

200hz=   -2db
160hz=   -3db
125hz=   -3db
100hz=   -8db
80hz=     -2db
63hz=     -1db
50hz=     +3db
40hz=     +3db
31.5 hz=  -5db
25hz=      -10db
20hz=      -15db

I am at a loss.  I can't take the speakers out much more than I have them out, but these measurements kind of freak me out.  Why would it be down so much at 100hz?

[brucegel]

mcrespo...thats one tough mother of a room you have to get the decaps singing.Almost a square!.My gut says you will get better bass response short-walling the speakers.And sitting as far back as you can which literally means with your head about one to two inches from the back wall will allow the bass to develop.Let me know if this helps at all.

[mcrespo71]

Unfortunately, I can't reposition the speakers in this room.  I live in a NYC studio apartment and this is my room/living area.  If I could repostion, I would try to on the short wall, but my desk is there