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Cardersound Nina's underwhelming...

I read a handful of reviews, and took note of the specs, before purchasing a pair of Cardersound Nina's.

The specs are as follows:

- EnABLE'd Fostex 126en drivers
- 93dB sensitivity
- 40Hz-25kHz (from Cardersound; 45Hz from the seller)

My rig is as follows:

- MacBook Pro / Amarra / ALAC
- Oyaide neo d+ Firewire
- Weiss DAC2
- Blue Jeans Cable LC-1
- Red Wine Audio Signature 15 (JJ 6922)
- Canare StarQuad

I don't know if the "EnABLE" process has fouled the drivers (it's obviously *supposed* to make them better) or if, as in the case of some Moth Audio Cicada's I had, there was a resister (or something) in the path to keep them calm as they broke in, meant to be removed after X number of hours, but these are some seriously underwhelming speakers. There are no dynamics to speak of, next to no bass response, and the highs seem muted. I'm baffled at the positive reviews they've received.

I will say that solo guitar, lute, piano and vocals sounds pretty damn good; the midrange sounds quite nice...but that's where it ends.

Now, trust me, I understand that a single 4.5" driver is not going to be able to compete - all things considered - with the Tekton Lores (real 30Hz-30kHz @ 98dB) I had before them, but again, given the specs, I would expect far more than what I'm hearing.

Can anyone out there possibly shed some light on what might be going on here?

Thanks a ton for your time, in advance.
- Mark
ballywho
ballywho OP
134 posts
 
You'll have to pardon my initial rant, and a hasty one it was... My expectations were (are), indeed, exactly as you describe. After listening extensively throughout the day today and into the evening, though, I'm appreciating them more and more. And after listening to them side by side with my not-yet-shipped-off-after-sale Lores, said expectations have been met. Why I felt the need to type up my initial experience without giving them a *truly* thorough listen, I don't know. Again, pardon me. I'll leave it at that.
johnk's avatar
johnk
1,975 posts
 
It is only a fe126e a very small driver. Plus the enable process is a very questionable tweak. I feel you would be better off buying a larger driver than enabling a smaller one.
ballywho OP
134 posts
 
Well, sure. I suppose I thought the loading of the driver would render more bass than what I'm hearing (which is, again, very little). The EnABLe-ing process had been applied to the drivers already. Part of me wonders if replacing the drivers with stock 126en's might alter the sound for the better, but then again it might not do a darn thing. Again, though, these speakers sound pretty darn "just right" with acoustic music. Rock and roll, large orchestra and electronic music, though, just doesn't work well with them at all... And maybe they're just not supposed to.
ballywho OP
134 posts
 
"And maybe *it's* just not supposed to," that is.
ballywho OP
134 posts
 
This should (and will) be my last post to this thread, that I now wish I could remove in it's entirety...

I titled it "Turn it up, man!" for a reason. You see, I've been listening to these things at low to medium volumes (more, than less, of my listening is not at very high volumes). Well, it seems that these little horns do just fine (all things considered) with more volume [than I had been listening to them at]. I'm playing some of The Detroit Escalator Co.'s "Black Buildings" album while on lunch break, at about 11:00 on my Sig15's volume knob, and what do you know? Bass: it's actually there. I've dubbed this album (and others by them) driver killers because of the low frequencies and electronic drum attacks scattered throughout their tracks. On true full frequency speakers it's some pretty neat stuff to hear. And on these, it's really just isn't bad at all. Again, the bass that I thought was *almost completely* absent is absolutely there.

My apologies to Mr. Carder and anyone else I may have offended with such a hasty thread.
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