This a review of my speaker's I did for the person who did the mods.The speaker's are Modified NEAR M15's which unfortunately are no longer in production.Be aware it is long and detailed.
===============================
Geez Bill:
With these new Driver's I bet these speaker's walk all over the B&W's!One of the major issues I have read concerning B&W's are they lack Bass.
The most obvious or best words I can discribe what I hear with the new drivers is Articulation & Balance!All the Bass notes are clearly heard and are layerd accross the soundstage.Pinpoint accuratcy also.Everything is clearly defined.No congesttion.The Bass goes deeper,more taut,pitch Definition Excellent.
I ran the Stereophile Test Tones and the Bass almost matches the NHT all the way down to 20Hz.
I had a friend over and the first thing he asked,"you have the sub on right!",It wasn't on.
Another thing is I remember the M50's giving me the same impression concerning the soundstage.It's almost errie thinking back on it now,because I remember my reaction of being able to locate instrauments being heard in different area's.The only quam I might have had with the M50's was a somewhat undefined Bass if you will.Something I could happily live with because I was never a Bass freak,but would like to hear it's there!The main thing that struck me about the M50's was the Clearity and Articulation of Instrauments in the Soundstage.The New Driver's give you it in the M15's box,but more so on Bass definition than even the M50's Bass driver's as far as I remember!I will have to see what kind of accuratcy the M50's have in Defining Bass notes compared to these drivers.
I read one reviewer say you'd expect this kind of sound using the a 3-way speaker,reguarding the M15's.Well it is even more so with the new Driver's.
--------------------------------------------------
All notes were taken using CD Recordings.
Sub was turned off for 90% of listening.
Listening notes were taken with the Speaker's being driven with the Vol. Control between 11-1 o'clock position on most meterial and was able to turn the Vol. up to the 3 o'clock position using some meterial where as I could only go to the 1 o'clock position before the Port Breakup would would occur using the Stock driver's.
--Imaging--
Voices and Instraments are localized correctly.No drift and voices are natural.The only grain I heard was on one recording which I think the Bass and VOl. push, gave a slight grain over voice info on a cut from Chris Whitley.
--Soundstaging--
Marked improvement all around compared to the Stock Driver's in my opinion.The thing that was more apparent was pinpoint accuracy of Instrauments within the soundstage.Even with Treble info.Another thing was the ability to form Triangles and Layering.I did not notice the Stock Drivers being able to develop these and I had tried to mention this to you when I had meet with you!These were the things that really impressed me with the M50's was the Layering and forming of Triangles within the Soundstage beside the fact of the speaker's being able to disappear within it.Air around instrauments was more noticable on some music using the stock driver's.Steve Ray Vaughn-Little WIng, is the most marked example of this.Still not certain as to weather this might have been an illusion created by a Hump or Suckout in the midrange on that particular track.
I like to use Classical Works to see what is happening and see how close I can get to being there if it were a Full Orchestra.One of the recordings I use because of the overall diversity of instrauments is Bartok"Concerto for Orch."Montreal-cndtr.Ch.Duoit.I could distinguish between sections and individual Instraments with no problems.No congestion!The Width and Depth is better than the stock driver's.Mass Strings are not muddled up.That is hard for speaker's to get correct I think.On that particular Bartok CD the speakers do dissapear in the soundstage.
Treble Info in the Soundstage seems to be dispersed around or within the soundstage.Something I had not particularly noticed in detail with the Stock tweeter's.As an Example there are Chimes and Cymbals used on Jeff Becks Guitarshop that seem to swirl above the speakers or Floyds The Narrow Path that moves Accross and up in front of the soundstage.
For Rock music I like to use 10CC's "Feel The Benefit"which has about as many instraments used as a full orchestra.The mics used and the mastering of the recording give a good idea of how localised the instraments can be for a rock recording.Supertramp's "Crime of the Century" is also a good recording that I use because of the fact I have seen them live in the Orpheum Theater in Boston which allows me to have a good perspective of how things should sound like in a real performance.
Both were literarately about what I would suspect.The Supertramp Track is more Bass dependant and the new Driver's serve to reinforce that opinion.Both Live and in recorded form the Bass line comes through excellent.Impact is essentially the same as being there.When Adding the SUb the Impact gives slightly more presence of being there because of the feeling of the higher Decible Level I think.
--Bass--
This is where the newer Woofer\Mid driver really departs from the stock driver I think.There is much more info and Dispersion than the other driver.Pinpoint accuratcy in the soundstage of Bass instrauments.Musical and Bass can be Musical I believe(J.Entwhistle proved that to me).There was no problem in the 42Hz. area and the Bass went almost as far as the NHT Subonei I have.The only recording that showed me that the Sub might be worth having around is a cut from Pink Floyds "Umma Gumma-Studio Album".Track7-9 "The Narrow Way" I could hear what sounds like a Heartbeat at the beginning.It was not apparent with only the speaker's and I am still not certain weather it is just an added factor made in the remastering of the Album or not.What is certain is that it's there and I could only bring it out through the use of the Sub.The only other reason for having the sub is a touch more of impact that only Bass freaks could love!
There were or should I say are recordings that are really hard to get a good intergration of Bass with that I have found.
U2-You Can't take it with you,Track 10 NY
Stan Ridgeway-"Black Diamond"A real intresting writer-Has a Huffy Bass line present.
Concrete Blond-Bloodletting-Deep Bass that is on the edge of annoying!
Roger Water's-Amused to Death Track#12 Genie Talking!Huffy
--
Jeff Beck Guitarshop
Steve Winwood-Roll with it Track#3 "Morningside"
Pipe Organ Recordings in a Church-Just bought to use for testing.
All of these CD's are really hard on Bass driver's.They even drive the Sub nuts,so there is nothing unusual to comment about.The limit to recordings where the Depth of Bass is the lowest it can handle is Concrete Blondes"Bloodletting".On regular good recordings such as Jeff Becks Guitarshop the speaker's are phenominal!I would not have believed a 6.5in. Driver could do things that good! One thing I heard was that this driver handled the Huffiness of the Genie's voice overlay on the Roger Water's Track I use.Usually the bass Driver's cannot handle it.Not even the sub!It rumbles so much that I think the Woofer overplays it or there is overhang that just moves to much air.I am sure of it now thinking about it because the movement of air that comes out of the Port!With the newer driver I think it's rigid design does not flex as far as the other which cuts down on air movement.That is the reason the Port does not breakup as soon like the stock Driver.
--The Midrange--
Male Voices are excellent ,Imaging is Excellent!Voices did not drift and were Lifelike.
Music used:
Stan Ridgeway(formerly Wall Of Voodoo)
Stevie Winwood-Roll With It
Lou Reed-NY
The Clash-Joe Strummer
I like Instraumentals and the Clash,who I had seen in San Diego,have a number of Tracks that bring out alot in the way of Percussions,Cymbals and Vocals.On one track there is an Instramental with alot of Percussion for "Rock the Casbah".I thought Joe Strummer was right in between the speaker yelling at me "The sheik he drove his Cadallac".Really upfront!Was ready to get my gun ready incase it was Osama coming up the driveway!Funny!
Mids are full,rich and transparent.I think the newer Driver's are a little on the neutral side than the stock driver's.
"Time Is Tight" is a great remake of an old Booker T. & the MG's tune I like that the Clash do."I Fought the Law" is another older tune the Clash do that I like.
-------------------------------------------
Treble
Recordings used
Roger Waters-Amused to Death(Track#8)Slaybells & boards slapped together
Tchaikovsky-1812 Overture
Jeff Beck-Guitarshop
Clash
---
Female Vocals-Do not have a selection of true test recordings to go by ,but what I do listen to should do!Could use Stereophiles Lesley test I guess!
Sheryl Crow
Concrete Blonde
Tracey Chapman
In the 11-12th min. of 1812 Overture there are Cymbals and Bells that are hard to seperate from all the other things that are going on in the recording.They were distinguisable from each other which is saying alot.
Jeff Becks Guitarshop & The Clash there are tunes that have distinctive points of Brushed Cymbal's and Chimes Info that is really hard to get correct so it is distinctively seperate from other instrauments.I had no problems with the speaker's detailing of them.
Female Voices come through as they should.I wish I had a recording of the Carpenter's as I remember seeing them when my Ears were awhole lot better and her's was the most accurate female vocals I have heard with Joan Armatrading second.A nice recording of Billie Holiday would suffice also.
--Inner Detail--
I had a real problem nailing this down so I had to take the Maggies out to see what I might not be hearing,which turned out to be nothing!Some of the CD's that I use made me wonder if there was something that was not being presented or emphasised enough in the recording.It turned out that it was the latter.The only way to fix this would be by upgrading my associated equiptment.Mainly the DAC and Pre-Amp.I think this might bring the instauments that are not upfront to be more significantly noticable.
--Dynamics--
Tchaikovsky-1812 Overture
Bartok
Chris Whitley
Chris Whitley plays a Steel Guitar that screams!It is really a fantastic intraument that not many Guitarist use or can make it work right.One of his tunes there is a sharp cutoff after a intense Climax.It is really like now you hear it,now you don't!There is no overhang and the Bass notes take over subtely afterwards.All other recording showed no problems.
I think the most important thing I could detect was there is a noticable increase of Decible levels working with the newer driver's and the Port Breakup was more noticable with the Stock Driver's.Weather this is due to the more rigid design of the Woofer\Mid Driver you would only know.Less air being moved because of this I think would be a factor.If the Cone has less movement or is able to Flex back to it's resting state after a signal is applied means less air is created ,so the Port would not breakup as readily as the other drivers from my thinking.
I wish I had Beethovens 5th & 9th Symphony's to test Dynamics with.Have a list of Music I will get after I get the M50's.
--Low Listening Levels--
It is intresting to see what info can be heard when listening with Vol. at Low Levels because in the majority of times that is what normal people use.I was listening to Chris Whitley at low levs and was struck by the local of the instrauments.On one track the vocals are centerd ,but the guitar work is off to the side.Something I had not noticed before and which brings me bacl to the precise location of individual instraments.I do not think the B&W's do this as good.It is usually closer to center or in a straight line accross the soundstage,never deviating to far or seperated to be as noticable.
All artifacts are still clearly distinguishable in the playback.Bass still has it's presence along with clarity through the Frequency Range.
Remasterd CD's like The Who's "Who's Next" and Dire Straits "Bros. In Arms" still make me realise that I need to do something to bring the Inner Detail to the forefront of the music.Has nothing to do with the speaker's,but the need to upgrade my DAC and Pre-Amp.Cymbals and Chimes are the most apparent.Dire Straits Trumpet on Bros In Arms seems to be underneath the music ,just nearly noticable or the Cymbals that Keith Moon hits on Tracks are not brought out enough for my taste.
---------------------------------------------------
Crits!
Very limited though there are tradeoff's!
Steve Ray Vaughns-Little Wing
When listening through the original Driver's the Guitar Solo seemed just slightly more liquid or Involving!This might be noticed as Suckout or the Midrange Hump also,but it was not unmusical.I thought a long time about this and I will give an example!I did notice there was like a deadspot on the rightside of the room using the old drivers sometimes.This was not so with the new drivers.I thought it might be from the accoustics from the room.Herb Albert gives the same impression for Brass instraments.Noit that the sound is recessed or un-natural,but rather more neutral.
There are a few performances I have seen that are memmorable for High's and Low's.David Gilmore's Solo on "Comfortably Numb" and John Entwhistle's Bass on "Boris the Spider".Both heard Live and both went right thru me.While the first set of Driver's had a slightly more involving portrayal of Lead guitar work the Second set leans toward Bass work!Not that either I could not live with.It might be that I need another set of Speaker Cables or a Tube Pre-Amp to find the right balance!
Alvin Lee is probably the best Guitarist I had ever seen,beside Gilmore!John Entwhistle was definately the best Bassist Performance I had ever seen and heard!
The point is which would be more pleasurable to live with or which tradeoff is more musical.The answer goes back to weather I prefer slightly more liquid presentation on guitar or the more neutral presentation along with the added Bass,Dispersion,soundstaging and neutral charcteristics given by the newer driver's.In my opinion the latter is more suited for my taste with Rock recordings,but I do miss the slightly more liquid Treble Info also.
Balance & Articulation
When having to choose which I want to leave in my system I come to the conclusion!The second set of driver's are more suitable for having work as my Rear's in a HT setup with the M50's upfront!Besides that the other advantages of having them upfront in my system right now is the fact that they are more accurate while not losing the musical aspect.As I started by saying Articulation!All the Bass notes are clearly heard and are layerd accross the soundstage.Pinpoint accuratcy .Everything is clearly defined.No congesttion.The Bass goes deeper,more taut,pitch Definition Excellent and more Disperssion.Add to that there is nothing left out from the original Tweeter info and I would probably go with the Updated driver's if they were being sold in a showroom!They definately have it over the B&W CDM 1 NT's which I heard through the following components.
Rotel Reciever($1600)
Rotel CD Player(?)
Transparent Cables($2800)
B&W CDM 1 NT's
--------------------------------
My System
B&K Modified ST-202 AQ Indigo Blue Speaker Cable
Rotel RC-960 Pre-Amp
Phillips CD-80 Monster Ref.2 Cable
NEAR M15's Modified
What I heard in the showroom was very revealing as to how good I had done setting up my system in the late 80's-90's and the capabilities of the NEAR M15's.The Treble,Bass,Midrange and Voice Info was hindered by the capabilities of the Reciever and there was nothing that a $2800 set of Cables were going to do about it.
A thing that Sam Tellig and others use to mention was something called MOSFET MIST,Solid State Glare or Veiled Presentation of Voices.Well after having my B&K Modified those things are not present.There is not a Veiling either.The only time SS Glare occurs is if the Amp is overdriven(The Vol. up to high).The Roger Waters test I do is reveling for the slapping of the 2 boards.If that does not sound right then there must be something wrong in the Mids.The Slaybells gives me what I need to know for dispersion and life like info of Treble there is.Female voices are either natural or sound like they are glossed over or have grain.
The Rotel/B&W setup did not go as low as the NEAR's and the voice info was veiled,the Board Slapping sounded like plastic,but they did get the Slaybell info right!In comparsion the Freq Range is throughly accounted for and the other deficentcies are not present in my playback system.One other thing is the accuratcy of Instrauments in the soundstage is better through the NEARs.More Precise,distinct and spread apart from one another!
--------------------------------
Thingz!
Have found a few manf. that use an Inverted Dome.Wilsons being the most notable which used the Focal T-120 I think.JMlabs had a version also.
As far as the newer Woofer\Mid Driver I have seen a few manf. that use a similar type of design.
-------------------------------
I was considering getting a Forte' Class A amp ,but it is only 50w/ch. and I was not sure if that would produce enough db's when using the M50's.The Mod. B&K is suppose to be on the level of a Krell so I can live with it.I do want to keep my 2 channel playback away from the Home Theater.After getting the M50's I will look into getting an ARC Pre-Amp and a DAC in order to get the Inner Detail which lurks in the background of some recordings or to put it another way,to have it come out more in the soundstage.After that I will wait for a Mark Levinson to get on the used market!
-------------------------------
To sum up my impressions-Articulate,Balanced,Neutral and most of all Musical!
================================
Well that's as detailed as I can get.Forgive the typo's as I do not write as much as I use to.Have something to give you when I come by for the speaker's!
Later,Larry!
