I'm reporting on impact of adding a jantzen-audio-100-ohm-10-watt-audio-grade-superes-resistor--255-944 to each of the positive speaker terms on the Vinnie Rossi L2iSE. This lowered the damping factor driving the Nenuphars from 800 to 80 and was suggested by Mr. Rossi as an experiment.
Immediate impression was the overall sound just got cleaner and more relaxed. After extended listening it was obvious those impressions came from a clearer/cleaner mid range and mid bass. The lower bass also sounded slightly better, not deeper, but as if the deepest notes weren't hitting a dead end. The other clear benefit was how much better the L2iSE sounded at low volumes. Everything remained in balance at a lower spls (before the mid bass on down sounded weak). Of course I was unaware the sound could have been improved in any of these ways--except in the loss of bass playing at lower volumes (and I'm talking pretty low here, with the L2iSE volume setting at 14 or 15 instead of the 24-27 where I normally listen).
It looks a little weird to have these green resistors the size of lady finger firecrackers back there and to think of this huge sound coming through their little wires wrapped around the WBT speaker terminals and the banana plugs. But there you have it, my newly hot rodded L2iSE swinging even freer than before.
What if I added another resister on each side and brought the damping factor down to 8 (which is what my SIT-1s batted at)? We'll see what Vinnie says about that.
(BTW I am far from qualified to be recommending that you try adding these resistors to your own amp or integrated. My gear's designer was kind enough to entertain this experiment, guiding me to make sure that nothing was shorted when I connected the resistors. If you're considering such a mod, I would first run it by your amp's manufacturer/designer.)
Immediate impression was the overall sound just got cleaner and more relaxed. After extended listening it was obvious those impressions came from a clearer/cleaner mid range and mid bass. The lower bass also sounded slightly better, not deeper, but as if the deepest notes weren't hitting a dead end. The other clear benefit was how much better the L2iSE sounded at low volumes. Everything remained in balance at a lower spls (before the mid bass on down sounded weak). Of course I was unaware the sound could have been improved in any of these ways--except in the loss of bass playing at lower volumes (and I'm talking pretty low here, with the L2iSE volume setting at 14 or 15 instead of the 24-27 where I normally listen).
It looks a little weird to have these green resistors the size of lady finger firecrackers back there and to think of this huge sound coming through their little wires wrapped around the WBT speaker terminals and the banana plugs. But there you have it, my newly hot rodded L2iSE swinging even freer than before.
What if I added another resister on each side and brought the damping factor down to 8 (which is what my SIT-1s batted at)? We'll see what Vinnie says about that.
(BTW I am far from qualified to be recommending that you try adding these resistors to your own amp or integrated. My gear's designer was kind enough to entertain this experiment, guiding me to make sure that nothing was shorted when I connected the resistors. If you're considering such a mod, I would first run it by your amp's manufacturer/designer.)