@porscheracer @charles1dad Trust me. I know how out of touch this must sound. Even my wife who has helped me A/B speakers, music streams and DACS much preferred the ML’s. The ML’s are just so musical on the 508 and warm up crappy recordings and give me all the low end I could ask for on classic rock which is where I felt the DI’s weren’t working for me.
I tried the DI’s as far as 3 Ft away from the front walls (as far as I’d visibly want them). I ran them from 6-12ft apart and zero to full toe in and everything in between. I even tightened up the front spikes all the way in and the rear spikes all the way up to try to achieve my desired soundstage/bass quality. I also checked the tightness on the drivers first things first. No dice.
Now to further make myself sound like I’m sniffing glue... The DI’s have a tighter, slightly sharper center image but this is where it gets crazy. The ML’s center image in my set up created more depth/3d sound. Very holographic. Now this could be due to the bipolar nature of the panels and having untreated walls. Maybe reflections are slightly smearing the soundstage and giving me more the holographic effect. Either way the center image is still tight for my tastes.
The DI’s dynamics blow the ML’s out of the water but...the ML’s are more enveloping to me.
I realize I’m trading all out accuracy and resolution for the more euphoric effects of the panels in my room but that’s where my ears are taking me. My hopes with the Ethos or higher series is I will get even more of this same goodness with the added benefit of adjustable subs built in.
One more clarification, on good recordings, the DI's will easily blow the ML's out of the water for all out bass quality, depth and feel. It's not a question of all out bass but more a desire for everything to sound good at all times, maybe even at the expense of all out resolution/clarity.
And I do realize the contradiction of running a SET amp on panels but the 508 has a lot of grunt and plays the low end quite well.
So that’s my crazy adventure thus far...
I tried the DI’s as far as 3 Ft away from the front walls (as far as I’d visibly want them). I ran them from 6-12ft apart and zero to full toe in and everything in between. I even tightened up the front spikes all the way in and the rear spikes all the way up to try to achieve my desired soundstage/bass quality. I also checked the tightness on the drivers first things first. No dice.
Now to further make myself sound like I’m sniffing glue... The DI’s have a tighter, slightly sharper center image but this is where it gets crazy. The ML’s center image in my set up created more depth/3d sound. Very holographic. Now this could be due to the bipolar nature of the panels and having untreated walls. Maybe reflections are slightly smearing the soundstage and giving me more the holographic effect. Either way the center image is still tight for my tastes.
The DI’s dynamics blow the ML’s out of the water but...the ML’s are more enveloping to me.
I realize I’m trading all out accuracy and resolution for the more euphoric effects of the panels in my room but that’s where my ears are taking me. My hopes with the Ethos or higher series is I will get even more of this same goodness with the added benefit of adjustable subs built in.
One more clarification, on good recordings, the DI's will easily blow the ML's out of the water for all out bass quality, depth and feel. It's not a question of all out bass but more a desire for everything to sound good at all times, maybe even at the expense of all out resolution/clarity.
And I do realize the contradiction of running a SET amp on panels but the 508 has a lot of grunt and plays the low end quite well.
So that’s my crazy adventure thus far...