Electrovoice Duchess IV in California

lewm,

I'm sorry I have besmirched you.

I never really intended to purchase, just passing the awareness of them along, kind of fit the other L-Pad discussion.

I would like to hear them for sure. A pair of 18" alnico monsters, I wanted to buy them for my son, I would have had new enclosures made for him, but he said no.

I had no idea you are a Vintage Nut! OMG, I take risks, but you getting/keeping all those items is way beyond what I would contemplate. Vintage Kudos to you.

Dedication way beyond my typical inheritance/luck, and I am limited to fundamental repairs i.e. new cones, a burnt resistor, or pay someone else. I have successfully repaired nearly a dozen Teac R2R, but all cleaning, new belts, mechanical alignments, speed adjustments, nothing electrical.

Yes, thanks for helping me understand the difference between Pots and L-Pads. I successfully returned the pots (they were beautifully made), and got 16 ohm L-Pads. I searched, found some by others, however they looked like they were using/reselling the Parts Express ones, so I ordered direct from Parts Express. If lousy, simply return them. Happily they are very nice large diameter ceramic bodies, smooth and firm movement/contact inside.

Cheap plastic face plate and knob, and short shaft, too short for my 3/4" thick back panels. I had my existing recessed bronze cups which just solved the problem.

The original bronze press on knobs, and the supplied plastic ones were too large a diameter to fit when pressed deeper into the tapered recessed cup. So off to Greenbrook Electronic's disorganized wall of vintage knobs. Finally chose some small diameter ones, with too small a hole for the shaft. Drilled larger diameter hole all the way thru, now I can see the slot in the end of the shaft to verify the knob is on straight, I like that.

These speakers, all electro-voice with electro-voice 3-way crossover, like most vintage Electro-voice speaker models, were designed to have L-Pads in center attenuation position as normal (which is why they sounded so awful without them). Progressively more or less attenuation for live or dead rooms.

That Model Six had fixed resistors like you prefer to L-Pads, extending the resistor method to 5 selectable settings and 5 specific frequency graphs for each setting. That would make it easy to precisely match L to R. My Progressive L-Pads require a long and careful period of adjustment/listening/repeat to get them right. The McIntosh Mode Switch is indispensable for that process.

I'm confused, but if you're happy, I'm happy.

I'm bewildered why you are confused, happily we are both happy.

Because I asked how it worked out when you inserted your new Lpad where there was previously no Lpad but instead a complex 5-way circuit ( based on my memory of the schematic) to affect treble balance. I certainly don’t “prefer” one or the other, and it’s not simply a matter of semantics. I merely pointed out what’s in the schematic you posted. On p3 of your brochure. You didn’t address my question, which is fine, but that leaves me still wondering how it sounds with your new Lpad vs the original circuit. So maybe “curious” is a better word than “confused”.

You have lost track, my fault because I have mixed up three discussions:

1. L-Pads for my existing 3-way speakers, all electro-voice drivers, 1958.

They, like most vintage Electro-voice speakers  originally had L-Pads. 16 ohm drivers used AT37 L-Pads. 3-way systems had two: Brilliance for the Tweeter; Presence for the Mids. Woofers no adjustments.

Middle attenuation position was 'normal', less attenuation for dull rooms, more attenuation for live rooms. Adjust for taste. 

In the L-Pad discussion, not knowing that these were instrumental to the speaker systems, many, typically signal purists, said remove the L-Pads, they are a terrible idea.

You suggested I measure ___, and replace the L-Pad with a specific resistor, 'better' than L-Pads. That would be specific, no variation over time as my ability to hear highs diminishes, or for different spaces.

I never did that. I removed the L-Pads, they were awful screechy, I bought POTS, you helped me understand L-Pads maintaining resistance shown to the crossover. I returned the POTS, got and installed (replaced) new 16 ohm L-Pads. Sound: back to Nirvana. 


2. This discussion, Electro-voice Duchess IV.

They popped up on an an eBay search. I just posted it for others and fun, it is also a 3-way, it also has a pair of AT37 L-Pads, Brilliance and Presence. If near me, I would run over to hear them. Others near enough could listen, perhaps purchase. It did lead me to do research and find that nearly all Vintage Electro-voice speakers had AT-37 L-pads.

3. Electro-Voice E-V SIX. (4 way)

https://products.electrovoice.com/binary/E-V%20Six%20EDS.pdf

This popped up when researching the EV designs, most using L-Pads 

The 4-way SIX has a unique 5 step resistor network, the only EV system I came across with resistors. That was interesting, and related to your preference to resistors. Because it was 5 selectable settings, they published 5 frequency graphs, also very unique.

And 18" woofers, 1/2" thick foam!

And Near Me!

Those tempted me quite a bit, I would build new custom enclosures. But when I cooled down, not for me. Then I realized, they would fit perfectly in my son's room, as is, then move the drivers to new enclosures I would have built for him. He said no.

Go hear them anyway?  Chain me to the wall.

It's all perfectly clear to me, now.