Bybee Internal Speaker Bullets - user feedback?


I added a couple of Bybee Small Slipstream Purifiers on the RCA inputs in my amp and like the effect quite a bit.

Exchanging with Jack Bybee, he said the internal speaker bullets are, in his view, the best bang for buck of his products. That would be an expensive move for me as I would need 2 sets (they retail at about $800 per set).

Searching around A'gon, I was surprised to see little talk about these. Found a thread from 2008 discussing the Bybee Golden Goddess that apparently had just come out at the time. I believe the Internal Speaker Bullets are a DIY version of the Golden Goddess, that retails at $4200 (!!).

Would love to hear from those who tried them. In what kind of speakers? Was it worth it to you?

My speakers are B&W 804S. They were $4k when new...not anymore. I have to wonder if best bang for buck is to spend $1.6k on these Bybees or upgrade the speakers. The Bybees I can keep with me in future speaker upgrades, though.

Thank you!
lewinskih01
I have used various types of Bybees over the years in electronics and speakers. I still use some in electronics, but I've found that in speakers they do improve the soundstage, but seem to reduce the top end a bit as well. Net, I like them with some speakers, not with others. The price/benefit ratio has gotten out of whack, though, IMO.
I use the Golden Goddess speaker bullets in my system with mixed results. They do tighten up the bass response and improve the clarity of the sound, but at the expense of the sound seeming less "beautiful" -- the overall sound is drier and less saturated in harmonics. We tried the bullets in a friend's system with much better results. The sound was unequivocally better. Like any tuning product, this is something that may work to improve the sound or it may not. But, there is no doubt that it actually changes the sound of the system.

07-17-14: Jmbatkh
Net, I like them with some speakers, not with others.

Thanks Jm. Which speakers did you like them with, and with which speakers didn't you like them?

07-18-14: Larryi
We tried the bullets in a friend's system with much better results. The sound was unequivocally better.

Hey Larryi. Thank you as well. Do you recall what were your friend's speakers?
Lewinski,

My friend's speakers are horn-based--it is a 1970's Electrovoice system with a rear horn-loaded bass driver and a dome tweeter with a waveguide. The midrange is from another system altogether--I believe it is a JBL compression driver feeding a large multicellular horn.

My system is also something cobbled together. The "modern" part of it has two 12" bass drivers in a Jensen-Onken bass reflex cabinet and a Fostex bullet-type tweeter. The vintage part is a 1939 Western Electric 713b midrange compression driver and a Western Electric multicellular horn.
Thanks Larryi. I did look at your system before replying so that's why I had not asked about yours - intriguing set of speakers!
I was hoping to draw some correlation between those experiences and estimate an outcome for mine, but the two data points are from speakers too different from mine to draw any conclusions.

I'm now leaning towards trying only an SE AC bullet instead of a whole internal speaker bullet set, to keep the cost down and see how they impact the sound in my case. I would be using 2 bullets per speaker: one on the positive between bass XO and binding posts, and one before the midrange/treble XO. If I like it, the upgrade path would be adding a regular purifier on the negative side of each, and eventually doing the same but for every driver.

My conclusion from this thread is people who have tried them all agree they make an impact on sound. Most liked what Bybees in their speakers did for sound, although not on every system they heard. This is not bad for a tweak.

Then there is the discussion about whether the improvement is worth the price. Again, like every tweak except those super-cheap ones. This is such a relative aspect (expensive means different things to different people). Not that I don't care! On the contrary. I keep coming back to my speakers costing $4k when new 6-7 years ago. I haven't taken the decision yet just because it is not an meaningless amount for me should it not work.

Thanks to all who contributed here!