Time, Wear, and Technological Evolution

@soix ​​​​@yoyoyaya I did more experimentation with placement today, like dramatically pulling them away from the back wall, and still no dice. Then on a whim, I also tried something new. The Electra 926 are designed for biwire, with the lower posts driving the woofers and the upper posts driving the tweeters and mids. I tried removing the in-line, high-pass filters between the speakers and the amp, and then the jumpers at the back of the speakers, and only driving the upper posts, then disabling the low-pass filter entirely on the subwoofer to fill the gap left by the unpowered woofers in the main loudspeakers. I managed to get response flat through the crossover band, but the quality of the upper bass in the 200Hz range coming out of my sub is complete poo compared to the woofers in the Electras (yeah, no surprise, right?), so I've once against reverted it back. I felt an improvement in soundstage without those high-pass filters in place, so either the filters are creating a bit of a veil, and/or the amp only driving the mids and tweeters gives it less work, enhancing quality there, but the completely muddy upper bass in that configuration just kind of killed the entire vibe.

The experiment continues...

-Ed

If you're happy stay put. I got into the higher end of audio 24+ years ago. I went through so many speakers until I came across Dynaudio Audience (back then it was their entry line but even that was stretching my budget). Soon as I heard them I was done. Once I had them I was as content as I have ever been even to this day so many years later. I had to sell off my Danes after my divorce. Ony within the last few years have I gotten back to a point where I could afford to get back in the game. I started right where I left off - Dynaudio, Emit entry level. stepped up to Excite, then Evoke. Now while the Evokes were closest to what I remember from Audience, I have yet to hear any speaker than makes me feel like those Audience 82's did. I am currently running Revel Be (and they are magnificent), but they aren't "magical" like those Audience speakers were 24 years ago...nothing I've auditioned is....

Point is newer technology and updates, etc does not mean better...Just my opinion...

@OP - good experiment but the results are what you would expect.

Do try blocking the ports and moving the speakers closer to the wall and let us know how you get on with that.

@yoyoyaya i was able to source a pair of LS50 Metas just an hour North of my home, picking them up Tuesday night. Let’s see how it goes! Sort of a birthday gift to myself (turning 42 tomorrow). Ordered a pair of 26” stands as well, arriving Tuesday via Amazon.

-Ed

@OP Ed. Excellent. I would start with them 2ft from the wall and gradually move them out until you find the best balance of soundstaging and bass response. Let us know how it goes. And happy birthday!