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Ryan, well done. That is a fantastic upgrade path to offer customers. After loving the sound of the Joule Black at RMAF, and now seeing this option, I am seriously considering a pair of Cirrus Blacks as my next speaker, followed by this upgrade when funds might allow it.
I call them Joule 1.5s between the joule 1.0 and the big Joule or 2.0
I'll come out of my den of silence, I have heard the joule, and wanted to upgrade. I figure to get as close to the stock Joule I'd get the best caps I could afford, so with the Dueland RS caps installed it should be good. Though it's not the Raal 140-15D, don't sell it short, here is a direct quote from RAAL website (70-20XR), "the exact process of making it, will remain a well kept secret. Being different than anything else, including other RAAL models, 140-15D and 70-10, it is available only to manufacturers, only under previously signed Non Disclosure Agreement". So RAAL takes special pride in its design.Klaus at Odyssey has my Kismet integrated and he is upgrading it to a dual mono version which will have two of his very special Kismet amps and an outboard power supply. Until it's ready I'll have the very special Nuforce IDA 16 doing light duty, PS Audio PWT and DSD and hook up wire will be Mike Powell's Verastarr Grand Illusion silver cable (same cable Ryan uses at shows). I'm working on my computer audio right now using a 2011 IMac with powered USB into the DSD. We'll see once the speakers arrive. I call them Joule 1.5s between the joule 1.0 and the big Joule or 2.0
Congratulations on a fantastic upgrade! I can't wait to hear your impressions. I know I'm enjoying my Joule Blacks more and more every day. As soon as Iget home from work I get those tunes fired up. I've even been watching football without the audio and have been playing music instead. I have never done that before.Happy Listening!Don
Actually they're more like a Joule 1.95 They're really very close. The top end is a hair less easy, natural, flowing, effortless ... and the midrange is a bit fuller and thicker, but I wouldn't call it any less enjoyable, just different. End result is these have the same effect as a full-on Joule, they put people in the room with you. They take you deep into the recording and deliver it with all the power and emotion you want, and they have that ahhh feeling like a warm blanket being pulled over you. Thank you again Mike for giving us the opportunity to put these together for you.
Watching sports with your own music (and thus killing the incessant babble of the commenters) is an incredible experience. It becomes almost zen, as you really become aware of the natural rhythm of the game, without all that chatter to distract you.
I've been thinking of going back to a bookshelf type of speaker. After hearing Phil's red Joules is there a chance that you might just make the tweeter and mid unit in a full range configuration. I mean as full as you can. The Joules are a very special speaker. Phil's are the accuton version. I have not heard voices reproduced in quite that kind of detail. It was a brand new day! or stating it another way "How about a nice Cirrus Black with the larger RAAL." I don't know if my budget would warrant the Duelands but the equity in my home should be paying dividends by the springtime. The big RAAL tweeter is just so graceful and easy to listen to as it shimmers with detail.
A Cirrus on steroids - Super Cirrus + How much bigger is the larger RAAL? Would it necessitate a larger cabinet or any other changes? Xover?
Thanks for the impressions, it sounds like you get it! That articulation you noticed is a culmination of many things, drivers used are of course a large part of it, but also the lengths we go with cabinet design and construction. Yes, we can build a Cirrus with Joule upgrade in mind. In fact I have been planning to redesign the Cirrus to be just that - with the 140-15D tweeter standard, and a LR motor version of the AudioTechnology 7" woofer. To get bass out of the woofer, it wouldn't be the exact same version as used in the Joule midrange, but it would be close. The differences are it would be a bit less sensitive, have a longer voice coil with more throw, and a thicker cone. All of those things are necessary to get meaningful bass. But that's why working with AudioTechnology has been such a great relationship, customizing drivers to specific needs is no problem. Since I have been planning to do that to the Cirrus, if somebody wants to be the first, contact me for special pricing! Regarding Duelunds, with the new RS out, you can get CAST performance for about 1/2 the cost. They're a great option.
