15 in full range drivers

@perkadin   It is a bit hard to respond to your question. This has nothing to do with decibels.  It has everything to do with the virtues of different approaches in reproducing the music we love. It has everything to do with component matching.  I never told the OP to "grin and bear it."  I questioned his choice of components and how well matched they are.  You clearly have your preference and I have no interest in trying to lure you away from what you prefer.  But for others out there who are more open minded, we should not write off different approaches to music reproduction.  There is no one perfect answer.  Most everything in life has a pro and con.

czarivey

5,489 posts

01-06-2024 at 06:17pm 

Not really @ozzy62 

I hate increased upper mids and all 300b or 2A3 amps are notorious for that. In fact all they amplify is 1000 Hz. The rest is not so much.
 

Ridiculous…..

Seems to me that a single 15” driver would have a hard time reproducing the upper treble range. 
 

And I agree with others that SET amps are quite capable of beautiful full range music reproduction with the right speakers. Devore as one example. 

@corelli as James alluded to in the first post, I suspect the fatigue OP is experiencing is from cone breakup.  His 15in full range driver is literally bending as it tries to vibrate at higher frequencies in the middle and lower frequencies at the outer edges creating phase issues and distortion.  The distortion becomes much more noticeable as you turn up the volume leading to a harsh sound.  The driver is probably made out of paper to keep weight low to improve efficiency, but that comes at the expense of rigidity.  This isn't solvable with component matching, he's already using a low power amp, it's about song or music matching.  Pick stuff lacking in complexity, like slower tempo vocals with maybe a single instrument backing so it's mostly midrange and you get an excellent result.  When stuff gets complex it will fall apart, especially at higher volumes. 

Seems to be spot on will all the posts.  Thankyou.  When things get complex at higher volumes it is a mess. They are 15 in anilco's from Common Sense AKA Audio Nirvana. Unbelievable with solo's and slower tempo vocals and a great speaker, Old Aretha Franklin sounds great.  But I do like my 70's rock too Pink Floydcan be harsh. I am sure the upper midrange is the problem and why I think a simple EQ will help - which I will probably do just because.  I'll let you know how it goes.  But most likely just a step before I switch the speaker out...