Joe, here's something everyone can do (I have): plug a pair of condenser mics into a good reel-to-reel recorder (I used a Revox A77), and record live music yourself. You won't believe how good it sounds! Way, way better than most commercial recordings, almost as good as a Direct-To-Disk LP (still the best source I've ever heard).
NAME SOME RARE AUDIO ITEMS THAT DID NOT TAKE OFF BUT SHOULD HAVE & WHY.HERE'S MY LIST
I thought that this would be a good one to post, since I am a new member and hopefully it will be interesting and give some background.
First off let me say that I first became fascinated with audio as a pre-teen.A relative of mine called me over.His brother was in the service overseas and he was able to get both he and my relative a great deal on some brand new stereo equipment at favorable country of origin prices..He turned it on and I didn't even know what it was.I had heard a few stereo rigs before.The ones where the speakers fold out on hinges and revealed the record player and the amp inside the box.But this was something completely different.Each piece was separate.It sounded like the floor was moving.Voices sounded like they were in the room.I didn't know what to make of it.Very impressed and intrigued.My first job was only a temporary summer job but I did make enough money to make my first major purchase; a component stereo.A Sherwood receiver,a turntable and a pair of (2 tone grill) Jensen Speakers.Had a nice few months listening and eventually traded it in for a Yamaha guitar.I wanted to become involved with the music,not just listening.To this day I have musical instruments around the house; it helps me in my modding stereo equipment.It helps to know exactly what sounds a guitar,banjo,sax really make and just as importantly what sounds they don't make.My first true high end speaker was the Goetz Systems GMS 1.They were a beautiful floorstanding speaker which looked similar to the KLH Scxa.Perhaps KLH's most exotic offering ever along with the model 9 panel speakers.The Goetz were not well known.A beautiful 3 way made in Georgia with beautiful imaging & a beautiful crossover which made them sound effortless on conveying transient detail.They did some shows,took out some display ads in the old Audio magazine,but never quite made it in the market.One of their dealers put in some line ads for them,proclaiming them "Speakers made by Hillbillies".That might be what did it.I heard a Koetsu cartridge for the first time through the Goetz,and I Don't think I will ever forget that wonderful experience.Many people liked them better than the Thiel,Celestion,Spica models of that era (early 1980's).Goetz later came out with pre and power amps which through the grapevine might have easily been the best sounding SS amps on the market,but the market was not there for them.These are among the rarer items out there.I have never seen Goetz on ebay or Craigslist.
Another item from around the same era (a few years earlier)that was really interesting were Watson Labs speakers.The model 7 through 10 had separate cabinets for the woofers & the cabinets were filled with lighter than air hexaflouride gas.Their bass speed,authority and definition surpassed even transmission line speakers like IMF,and from my still vivid memory they would still be a marvel in that way today.They were designed by Dayton Wright,(actually same company)and they might have been the first speaker with dynamic drivers and an open baffle dipole arrangement that reminded you of the clarity of good electrostatics.The local dealer for a long time demo-ed them alongside Dahlquist DQ10's,and they sounded better in every way to the DQ10,which were a really good speaker themselves.Mike Wright the owner,stopped production and the company after a few years when Audax stopped making the tweeter they used.I have never seen Watson Labs for sale used on ebay or Craigslist.Don't know if deterioration factors would make them worth seeking out,but their sound was something I had never experienced before and will always remember. It would be interesting to know if their bass modules still retained the hexaflouride lighter than air gas after all these years.
Mod Squad phono cartridge tiptoes.Circa early 1980's.This was a flat black thin piece and on the top it had 3 sunk in b b size balls,made of what looked like ping pong ball material which made contact on the three points against your headshell with the cartridge underneath it.This amazing gizmo actually made my dismally tracking moving coil track like a champ.The sound was incredibly faster,cleaner,clearer and more open.Wish someone still made it.Tiptoes for your cartridge.I used too much torque on the cartridge screws one day and one of the b b size ping pong balls caved in giving it an uneven tilt and made it unuseable.
Finyl CD spray.Really liked the stuff .Unplayable scratched cds would start playing again with improved sonics.
Eon pod LP disc clamp.A light as a feather plastic clamp that exerted downward pressure on the record label by gripping the spindle and lunar module type feet putting pressure on the record label.Impressively better transients and detail.Was made in Canada.
What's on your list?
First off let me say that I first became fascinated with audio as a pre-teen.A relative of mine called me over.His brother was in the service overseas and he was able to get both he and my relative a great deal on some brand new stereo equipment at favorable country of origin prices..He turned it on and I didn't even know what it was.I had heard a few stereo rigs before.The ones where the speakers fold out on hinges and revealed the record player and the amp inside the box.But this was something completely different.Each piece was separate.It sounded like the floor was moving.Voices sounded like they were in the room.I didn't know what to make of it.Very impressed and intrigued.My first job was only a temporary summer job but I did make enough money to make my first major purchase; a component stereo.A Sherwood receiver,a turntable and a pair of (2 tone grill) Jensen Speakers.Had a nice few months listening and eventually traded it in for a Yamaha guitar.I wanted to become involved with the music,not just listening.To this day I have musical instruments around the house; it helps me in my modding stereo equipment.It helps to know exactly what sounds a guitar,banjo,sax really make and just as importantly what sounds they don't make.My first true high end speaker was the Goetz Systems GMS 1.They were a beautiful floorstanding speaker which looked similar to the KLH Scxa.Perhaps KLH's most exotic offering ever along with the model 9 panel speakers.The Goetz were not well known.A beautiful 3 way made in Georgia with beautiful imaging & a beautiful crossover which made them sound effortless on conveying transient detail.They did some shows,took out some display ads in the old Audio magazine,but never quite made it in the market.One of their dealers put in some line ads for them,proclaiming them "Speakers made by Hillbillies".That might be what did it.I heard a Koetsu cartridge for the first time through the Goetz,and I Don't think I will ever forget that wonderful experience.Many people liked them better than the Thiel,Celestion,Spica models of that era (early 1980's).Goetz later came out with pre and power amps which through the grapevine might have easily been the best sounding SS amps on the market,but the market was not there for them.These are among the rarer items out there.I have never seen Goetz on ebay or Craigslist.
Another item from around the same era (a few years earlier)that was really interesting were Watson Labs speakers.The model 7 through 10 had separate cabinets for the woofers & the cabinets were filled with lighter than air hexaflouride gas.Their bass speed,authority and definition surpassed even transmission line speakers like IMF,and from my still vivid memory they would still be a marvel in that way today.They were designed by Dayton Wright,(actually same company)and they might have been the first speaker with dynamic drivers and an open baffle dipole arrangement that reminded you of the clarity of good electrostatics.The local dealer for a long time demo-ed them alongside Dahlquist DQ10's,and they sounded better in every way to the DQ10,which were a really good speaker themselves.Mike Wright the owner,stopped production and the company after a few years when Audax stopped making the tweeter they used.I have never seen Watson Labs for sale used on ebay or Craigslist.Don't know if deterioration factors would make them worth seeking out,but their sound was something I had never experienced before and will always remember. It would be interesting to know if their bass modules still retained the hexaflouride lighter than air gas after all these years.
Mod Squad phono cartridge tiptoes.Circa early 1980's.This was a flat black thin piece and on the top it had 3 sunk in b b size balls,made of what looked like ping pong ball material which made contact on the three points against your headshell with the cartridge underneath it.This amazing gizmo actually made my dismally tracking moving coil track like a champ.The sound was incredibly faster,cleaner,clearer and more open.Wish someone still made it.Tiptoes for your cartridge.I used too much torque on the cartridge screws one day and one of the b b size ping pong balls caved in giving it an uneven tilt and made it unuseable.
Finyl CD spray.Really liked the stuff .Unplayable scratched cds would start playing again with improved sonics.
Eon pod LP disc clamp.A light as a feather plastic clamp that exerted downward pressure on the record label by gripping the spindle and lunar module type feet putting pressure on the record label.Impressively better transients and detail.Was made in Canada.
What's on your list?
51 responses Add your response
For invictus005 : I have heard something rare and great . It was a first-generation copy at 15 ips directly from a master tape . And yes, those are beyond expensive and terribly limited . I cannot describe the sound, but it brings to mind the old TV commercial catch phrase " Is it live or is it Memorex ? " . I was lucky enough to have a friend with access to one and got to hear it . Sets a new standard of possibility for me and I wish everyone could hear it just once . Joe |
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The inert gas (heavier or lighter than air would seem to me to be irrelevant) permits the use of higher bias voltages on the panels and closer spacing between mylar and stators with less danger of arc-ing, but these gains, in my opinion, did not overcome what was lost by putting it all in a bag. This is based on my having heard the speakers many times over in a familiar setting, back in their day. |
@servocharge I used to own a pair of Acoustat X as well. Too bad Acoustat is no longer with us. Great speakers when your head was perfectly positioned, but move a few inches and it changed significantly. I have also heard the Dayton Wrights. A quick internet search search of sulfur hexafluoride shows it is heavier than air gas. It was used because it is non conductive and allowed the Dayton Wright speaker to produce higher volume levels without arcing. |
Servocharge, Your moniker suggests you are a big fan of Acoustat direct-drive speakers, since the Direct Drive amplifiers were referred to as "Servocharge" amplifiers. Thank you for "amplifying" on my post. I did not know that the model X was succeeded by the Monitor 3 and 4, both also with direct-drive capability. Interestingly, when I did a search on the Monitor 3, I found that there are an apparently mint pair of Monitor 3s available for sale right now in Germany. The asking price of around 4500 Euros suggests that the owner prizes them highly. |
Thank you sir for fine tooth combing over my listing and correcting (if you're not mistaken). I Am sure it is really of utmost importance for people on here to know which gas is heavier than another...I think I'll go fan myself....If you look up Watson Labs speakers on the internet it mentions it uses hexaflouride gas.That's what I went by and seems to me, nobody would use heavier than air gas unless there is some unknown advantage to that. Mike Wright was a universally acclaimed genius.How about you? Are you friends with Geoffkait? Not many people anywhere, that have so many actual media posts about them over others being outraged over what he does and claims, to extract money from peoples wallets. |
supertweak OP I have no desire to market my tweaks like you do.If you make lots of money on yours I would be surprised. I know an IRS agent on here and he knows someone from law enforcement on here.I would not be so uncouth to reveal what your "reported" earnings are. Throughout the years I have dealt with collectors in at least twelve different fields ( Audio & audio related are the worst IMO), and have very seldom had trouble with anyone.My reputation is great in all those mostly non audio related fields.I am a longtime eBayer and my feedback has never been under 100% for even a second...You, on the other hand actually have many media write ups about yourself and your outrageous claims on the internet, prompted by people who are outraged at what you do ( type in Geoff Kait audio ).Seems like you have nothing better to do than add to your nearly ten thousand posts on here by provoking and other childish behavior.I am done with this if you are.Good luck. File under Who Cares? |
Quote from the OP: " Another item from around the same era (a few years earlier)that was really interesting were Watson Labs speakers.The model 7 through 10 had separate cabinets for the woofers & the cabinets were filled with lighter than air hexaflouride gas." (Sulfur) Hexaflouride gas is much Heavier than Air. About 5 times as much. FWIW. |
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Thanks all for adding to my post..I very probably will not be doing anything further on Audiogon.Maybe I just can't stand jerks, and in just over a week there have been so many already.Being contradicted by flawed logic and then feeling compelled to explain and explain just isn't fun and its time consuming.Some of these creeps on here they could easily get rid of, who try to make Audiogon a "not fun experience" right from the start for new people, knowing that,once someone senses they don't like something they are not going to continue on with it.They probably get a giggle out of it and say something to themselves like,"well I doubt if they'll be on Audiogon very long, which will be who knows how many thousands of bucks down the drain and not going to Audiogon over time.Some of them may be closet Audiogon haters.I don't hate it,I just disagree with how they handle some things.Geoff Kaitt was constantly jagging me and trying to contradict me.Maybe he was worried that as a tweaker I'd go commercial and be competing with him.I have enough money;.90% of my ideas I would have kept to myself,because I like knowing that nobody does this or that like me.I've forgotten more things than he knows about tweaking.Let the old geezer have his way.I just got a look at him,there are pics on the net.Oh my. Anyway Thanks. |
lewm is partly correct regarding the Acoustat early ESLs. The original was the X, a 3 panel speaker with the tube OTL amps built into the speaker bases. The successors were 3 and 4 panel ESLs labeled the Monitor 3 and 4, a bit taller and wider with more rigid frames and tilt adjustment. The 4's made plenty of bass, typically very clean and quick. These early designs also had all panels driven full range with no crossover and thus no distortion in parts of the frequency range. Probably a major reason further development of these systems was not undertaken was the desire of many audiophiles to use different amps (esp solid state), and Acoustat accomodated them by creating the MK interface electronics for use with the ESL panels. No further work that reached retail sales was done on the original amps by Acoustat but Joe Curcio developed tube based mods that greatly improved the sound and lowered the noise floor of the amps dramatically. We have heard that Dan Fanny also had mods that placed these systems in the highest echelons of sonic accuracy and rhythmicity. The ESL panels have held up well over 40 years in my pair but we have no idea how many may still be around. Jim Strickland and his associates were onto something with these designs, and the torch could be picked up by modern designers. |
I thought this thread was about great vintage products that never quite made it in the marketplace. In that vein, I would add the acoustat10 electrostatic speaker that was direct drive. I heard it once in an audio store. It probably failed as a product due to unreliability but it sounded spectacular for its day. The plasma tweeter idea comes and goes over time. |
I might add the Rapaport amplifier. when paired with its matching pre-amp, and hooked to its intended speaker of choice (Snell type A) it was heaven. As an added bonus, due to its class A design, you could almost roast marshmallows with it. Beautiful, large, heavy, made the lights dim to power on .. real audiophile testosterone. Incredibly poor reliability. Came across something called Coconut Audio RCA input terminators. Filled with this crystalline goo the maker claimed improved RF rejection and internal circuit quieting. I cant verify the technology, but they do seem to do something more than traditional RCA caps. My favorite is the Bedini disc clarifier. I am just amazed the pre & post detail discovered in untreated discs. Unfortunately John Bedini is no longer around to bring more technology to audio. |
Hey Supertweak .. gotta agree w/your initial post. A buddy and I were introduced to Tom Goetz back in the 80's. We were privy to auditioning many pair and new designs he came up with. They were characterized by a wide sound stage, great detail, very musical for the price, easy to drive and fun speakers. Over the years I have accumulated 2 pair of the larger speaks (3's & 4's), 1 pair of the newer short tower design and 1 amp that has recently undergone some recapping and upgrade inputs/posts by Musical Design. Unfortunately the foam surrounds need to be updated .. or I would invite you over to reminisce! |
Tape could have some harmonic distortion,but its the soft type,even order/odd order I forget which. I Don't think I ever heard a harsh reel tape.Harshness and reel tape are like antonyms,unless the machine is not warmed up.They usually take about 25 minutes,which is not bad.I Don't think my CD player or preamp reach near max sweetness till maybe 2nd side of the 2nd LP I am playing. I have heard dull tapes.If they are not stored right.Keeping unboxed tapes on the floor for a long time where there is a static field,can decrease the mids and highs,almost erasing them while leaving the bass virtually unaffected.People have blown thier speakers on these tapes by turning up the volume until the midrange and highs sound loud enough and in the meantime the unaffected bass is out of proportionally loud and its too much for thier speakers to take.There is a less number of weird things that happen with LP's.The 2 things that reel tape machines always are in my experience is warmth and image size.Some people record a record or CD onto reel tape to get a "bigger" size instrument sound.Cassettes always sound smaller even the best machines and Don't have full dynamic range. |
@ap1 There are a number of companies getting into the virtual surround through headphones game. Creative Labs, Dirac, JVC, Ossic, etc. I tried the JVC Exofield demo at Axpona, and though it's still in the very early stages of product development, the effect was amazing, and it's something I could really see catching on. The biggest challenge right now is that to get the best effect you need to do an individual measurement of the HRTF for each user, a process that involved carefully placing microphones in your ears and playing test signals. It's a bit of a cumbersome process, though it pays huge dividends in how these systems perform. |
I like tape also.AJ Van den hul in an interview said then he considered reel tape as a viable alternative to the LP and he invented a major stylus shape and modified thousands of cartridges.People would send him thier cartridges (to Europe).He would modify them and relate what he thought it needed.The one cartridge he wouldn't' touch was Denon 103's at the time.He thought it was a good basic design and didn't' think it needed any help.I still have an old magazine where he says that and was reading it the other day.The high end stores around here have all closed down long ago.The latest and purportedly greatest cartridges I have not heard,but somehow I think if someone still has a nicely functioning Madrigal Carnegie One cartridge from the late 1980's,they would still be doing alright and might like the warmth.It was the first cartridge that the Absolute Sound gave their highest maximum number of stars. When I listen to reel tape, especially on my newly acquired Viking, or high quality cassette, I realize that it probably doesn't' have 100% as much detail as some other things.But overall it still might be my favorite sound.There is just such a sheer warmth and lushness about the sound. One of the reviewers from S'phile or AB Sound mentions how tape has such a "continuity" Thats unmatchable.I agree.I think overall its the most perfect sound or the closest to perfect often,even though tape is not as good a storage medium as LP because of occasional stretching,squealing and breaking of a tape.TAS did a comparison not many years ago of a Tape Project tape vs.an LP played on an over 100 grand Walker turntable and for sound quality the tape won hands down.When factory prerecorded reel tapes were being manufactured no one knows if they used tapes closer in generation to the masters than when they pressed LP's of the same title.It probably differed ,(just what somebody would grab off the rack that day). |
I would expect Smyth Realiser (http://www.smyth-research.com) to get more attention with all recent headphone craze. The idea of synthesizing 3D sound field using regular stereo headphones was excellent. Too bad that none of mobile phone makers pick it up. Having the ability to provide surround sound and imitate room response using regular headphones could be a hit. I feel that marketing of their products was not strong enough to catch buying public's attention. |
Recordings on reel-to-reel . If all your gear and room are actually perfect , then what you are listening to is the limitations of the source . No digital, no vinyl,no turntable at any price renders a truer representation of the sound of music as a good tape deck and recording .I've heard nothing even come close . Joe B. |
Re:Tekna Sonic.If you have lots of these to experiment with, try them on anything you think makes a vibration,even if you cannot feel the vibration with your hand.Any designer can tell you micro vibration in componentry affects the sound.Transformers vibrate,capacitors vibrate,mechanical housings vibrate.I actually DONT use these inside speakers,(their main intended use),since I temper vibration within speaker cabinets with something else.N.E.A.R speakers used Tekna's in some of their models and a few others.If you're not as good at hearing subtle differences as myself (from experience), then put about 6 of them all over: on transformers,capacitors that are huge enough to balance them, under equipment,under shelving.If you cannot hear a difference doing this with about 6 of them all at once,then I DONT what to tell you.But DONT make light of someone else's experience with a different set of components whose resolution may be well beyond what you are dealing with (even if you doubt it),and Don't let biases or your theories dissuade you either.Do Don't stew.Try before deny.If you cannot hear a difference with just one,as I say try many at a time and then try to determine where they are making the biggest difference.Unwanted vibration degrades sound like nobody's business.Some of the early CD players were not made of special heavy compounds for nothing.They realized the effects of even small amounts of vibration.It wasn't fun manufacturing them (or lifting them). |
@lewm thank you for relaying your experience with the IMFs. I smiled when reading you reacquired your incredible homegrown pair. Bud (Irving M.) Fried was one of the true pioneers in audio, and a lion of this industry. Doubtless you know, but after WWII, he brought over the Lowthers, then the Quads, the Decca cartridges, introduced companies like Dynaudio, KEF, etc. to North America. They certainly don’t make them like Bud anymore. I actually became close with Bud, and am blessed that he gave me his own personal loudspeakers a few months before he passed away in 2005. They are a Valhalla System ** plus ** with standard C satellites with true TL midrange and not the D (8"), but the O (10") subwoofers, and obviously more than a couple of other upgrades. Bud felt more than happy when I talked about TL midrange being much more important than the lows, as many forget he coined the phrase that 85% of the music lies in the midrange. Anyway, not to understate true TL bass... Other than perhaps the single pair of correctly implemented Ohm A loudspeakers with their 18" full-range drive, the O subwoofers produce some of the most impressive bass I’ve come across, though they sound VERY different. I’ve personally watched more than a few bass freaks come as close as it gets to jumping out of their skins playing the beginning of a Fiona Apple track. Needless to say, that’s a heck of an introduction to TL, and certainly fuels the conversation from there |
supertweak OP As far as Tekna Sonic goes, I actually use them on all kinds of things; on top of large capacitors,transformers of amps,and the top plate where you can see the little round thing spinning your CD below it.Even on the structure that holds VHS hi-fi tapes in place while playing.It's obvious that I play my components with the covers off.Also under components and under component shelving, even one's that are already good at handling vibration like ones made of thick carbon fiber.I am always looking for more Tekna Sonic. >>>>A comedian is born. |
trelja, In the early 1970s, I was beginning my quest for sonic Nirvana as a penniless medical student living in NYC. On weekend days, I often wandered down to Lyric Hi-Fi on Lexington Ave, to hear what they had to show off, including the IMF Monitor and Studio speakers. (As many know, IMF = Irving M Fried, a Philadelphian who appreciated British audio products.) Mike Kay, the owner of Lyric, was a very nice guy, a true gentleman who encouraged my interest even though he knew I was unable to afford most of his wares. Eventually, I scraped together enough money to purchase a pair of IMF Studios from Mike, but I really lusted for the Monitor, which sported a KEF B139 in a full-blown TL cabinet, a la the seminal article by Bailey in Wireless World. Once I became an intern, I had a patient who offered me the use of his table saw for building my own speaker. So I followed Bailey's article and built the TL line for the B139 out of 1.25 inch thick HDF, all while also doing my internship. I also bought a pair of KEF midrange speakers identical to those used in the Monitor, and I used ESL tweeters purchased from a West Coast source, to make a full range speaker. Results were excellent, if I do say so myself. Long story short, over a period of 25-30 years during which the full range speakers belonged to someone else for quite a while, I eventually reacquired them, separated the midrange and tweeter sections from the TL woofer cabinets and kept only the latter, in storage for more than 25 years in my basement, not knowing that I would some day own the Bev 2SWs. It's a match made in heaven. (I happened to have been keeping an NOS pair of B139s, still in the factory boxes, as well.) I quite agree that the TL is more about speed and coherency and only a little bit about extreme bass extension. The KEF/TL woofers keep up with the Bevs at the crossover point such that listeners unanimously agree the transition is "seamless". |
As far as Tekna Sonic goes, I actually use them on all kinds of things; on top of large capacitors,transformers of amps,and the top plate where you can see the little round thing spinning your CD below it.Even on the structure that holds VHS hi-fi tapes in place while playing.It's obvious that I play my components with the covers off.Also under components and under component shelving, even one's that are already good at handling vibration like ones made of thick carbon fiber.I am always looking for more Tekna Sonic. |
Yeah I have some Tekna Sonic.I even have some with the stickers not removed.Transparent !! Hey, I gotta go now,some guy that just died that I never heard of from on here must have left me his stereo equipment.Saying that "I have no real family, but I think I found someone who is really appreciative of good sound".Did you ever hear of Eico,Viking or Bozak? |
Transmission line loading actually has far more impact on midrange than bass. But traditionally, folks have concentrated on low frequency performance, considering it the sexiest part of loudspeaker design. The very many posts on amplifier distortion in these threads come across as splitting hairs when compared with loudspeaker distortion. Listen to any ported loudspeaker back to back with a true transmission line, and addition to absence of quality musical reproduction, the amount of hash and trash heard will leave an impact not soon forgotten. Series crossovers also fall into technology that did not take off, but should have. For whatever reason, folks cannot get their heads around them. Initially, they seem exactly backwards, until you think about how the circuit actually works. The obviously more seamless integration of drivers jumps out as most apparent, as you no longer have a loudspeaker made up of drivers speaking on their own. I find so many loudspeakers poorly integrate midrange drivers and tweeters (classic example: midrange to ribbon tweeter or cone woofer to a horn driver) due to such inherent variation between the two, which parallel crossovers of almost every loudspeaker ignores. Other factors such as the ease of generating slower or faster roll off into first order crossovers to soften or sharpen the sound parallel networks strictly tethered to 6 dB / octave (or whatever their slope) simply cannot also makes a compelling argument |
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roberjerman, The direct-drive Beveridge speaker to which you refer in your first few sentences is the 2SW. About 5-6 years ago, I bought a pair, including the DD amplifiers that are built into the base of the speaker, on a lark and because I had always heard stories of their wonderfulness. I parked them in our finished basement as something to play around with; I have a "main system" in our living room. After a bit of parts upgrading, tweaking, and rebuilding to the amplifiers, which are very finicky until you get them right, I can say that the word of mouth is not exaggerated. These really are wonderful speakers. As you say, the imaging is at times uncanny, and the sense of depth is unparalelled. The 2SW is so named because the panels themselves are not full range; they require woofer supplementation below about 80 to 100Hz. I've never even seen the original Bev woofers that were sold with the 2SW package. Instead, I use a pair of KEF B139 woofers built into a full size transmission line cabinet by me, many decades ago. The TL woofers are driven by a Threshold amplifier I purchased on Audiogon for a pittance, along with a Dahlquist DLQP1 crossover, used only for low pass filtering. For the active hi-pass filter, I use the electronic crossover built into the Bev electronics. Right now, I am driving the whole shebang from a Manley Steelhead. I started out with a vintage Quicksilver preamplifier, in keeping with the vintage theme of the system. The Q is superb (I keep it as back-up) but I wanted a phono/preamp that could take the input of more than one tonearm. The first commercial product from Beveridge was the Model 2, which was full range but lacked dynamics and sound pressure. The 2SW was the solution to that problem. By limiting the bass extension, more sound pressure can be generated. As you say, subsequent speakers (Model 3 and up) operated more like conventional ESLs, where an external amplifier working through a transformer was required. I doubt that much more than 200 to 300 pairs of Model 2s and 2SWs were ever built. (Oddly, these days they have an avid following among European hobbyists.) For the early 1980s, maybe they were too big. Maybe they were too expensive for the times. And maybe reliability was an issue. I was already an audiophile at that time, yet I don't recall hearing or reading much about them. So maybe they were not adequately promoted. Also, they were essentially hand made by Harold Beveridge and a very few trusted employees, one panel at a time. My experience with the Bevs convinces me that all ESLs ought to be direct-driven, with no transformer at all between amplifier and speaker panel. |
