I took my 626Rs in to the factory to get the lambs wool upgrade last week. This involved a crossover adjustment along with the wooly stuffing being put into the tweeter and mid-range driver compartments.
I had been listening to Ella Fitzgerald "Rodgers & Hart Songbook" just before taking the speakers over to Brian's. I felt the vocals on this CD were on the sharp side, possibly due to the age of the recording. It was not a keeper at this point. When I got the speakers back a couple of days later I played the CD again. Ella's vocal had smoothed out, and the detail on the instruments and the ambience of the recording environment immediately stood out. What had been a marginal liking of the album became a solid enjoyment. I've listened to over 20 CDs with the upgraded 626Rs and my impressions of the tweak, if you want to call it that, is that it has had significant positive effects on the midrange and transparency of the speakers. Tonal character is richer, giving the instruments and vocals a more lifelike presence. Upper frequencies are more balanced, in that before they tended to slightly overshadow all else with an almost hyper extension. Now they blend in more, still with a sparkling shimmer, but not overdone. My only caveat to a full endorsement of this tweak is for some reason, maybe it's just break-in time needed on the crossover adjustment, is the bass. It seems more subdued, not that it couldn't use a little subduing as it was almost overpowering before on some low bass material, but it is taking some getting used to. And that could all be about the listener getting used to a more balanced sound after having grown accoustomed to some pretty intense low bass from these speakers. I may also need to play around with the tuning pots. In all though, this is a very positive upgrade, with the advantages far outweighing any previous leanings towards the non-lamby sound
