The weather couldn’t make up its mind tonight--dark and nasty to almost clear to dark and nasty--but no electrical activity. So I finally said screw it & got back there & put 3.5 plus on ’em. I did what I told myself I wasn’t going to do (for a while) which is to say after I warmed the system up with one of my two "warm up" jazz CDs while I was cooking/eating/cleaning up I then started picking out CDs with one or two or three songs I really really really like a lot and playing those one or two or three songs. I(I had intended to stick to test CDs and the reference music that is included on them, until I got some more hours on them.
Anyway, here is what was surprising: as much as I was surprised on Sunday by how much better they sounded than my old B&Ws, tonight I was a bit surprised by how I wasn’t blown away again. In other words, I was expecting more than I got tonight. Which is not to say that they didn’t sound good, because they did. The way my mind & ears work together is funny. But yes, I do know that I am still shy of ten hours on these and they do have a ways to go before they hit their theoretical stride. I was just surprised the way they DIDN’T strike me tonight. But I am seriously not taking anything away from that. And another PART of that could have been some of the source material quality.
A few things I did notice: with the lights off & my eyes closed I was always impressed with the way the B&W’s sound stage could extend beyond the walls, and not only do the room boundaries disappear, so do the B&Ws. The Revels also manage to do that. (This is contingent upon good digital source material, usually MOST noticeable with SACDs. I still haven’t played anything but red book with the Revels). Something else (again contingent upon the source, and USUALLY with SACDs) that I liked that the B&Ws did was provided a lot of "height" to the sound. Early on tonight, I noted that was lacking to an extent with the Revels. As the evening wore on (I have cut way way back and tonight, including with dinner and while listening, I only had 2 and a half glasses of wine) I began to notice the "height" increasing. Again, this could have been due to the quality of the red books I was selecting. I am sure I am not telling anyone anything they do not know, but they are not all created equal. One thing I think that I definitely did pick up on tonight, was at the later stages of my session I felt that I was starting to hear more of the ’front to back’ in the soundstage. This has never been a particularly strong point for my B&Ws and I attributed it to the room. With the B&Ws there is a front to back balloon, but it lacks detail that define those dimensions, and tonight, near the end, I started to pick up on a bit more front to back detail. So I could chalk that up to a) the wine (but it really wasn’t that much) b) I WANT to hear improvement so I am whether it is there or not or c) the Revels, even at this early stage, are just better than the B&Ws and they are making more, in certain aspects,.with decent source material.
Although I am not rolling on the floor in orgasmic aural ecstasy, I am not unhappy with the way it went tonight.
@grislybutter , I did a google on your Celestions, but what I got was mainly gguitar speakers. Which did you get? As a a new owner of new speakers, I am happy and excited for you. I find it too bad you can not bring yourself to listen to Ms. Ronstadt anymore. She has such a beautiful and expressive voice. Sometimes I hear her and I think of that expression, "She has pipes." I didn’t listen to her tonight, but I have some CDs earmarked. I know what you mean by music bringing back sad memories. In (I think it was) ’74 when I was in HS, my oldest sister (like 6 years older than me) got in a bad car wreck in a town far away and came away with a severe traumatic brain injury that left her nonfunctional until she died in a nursing home about 4 years later. Weeks to months after the accident happened I still believed we were The Waltions and nothing that bad would happen to our unit and I still believed in miracles for The Waltons and I still believed she would get better, and every morning when I was getting dressed and ready to go to school I would listen to my Elton John Don’t Shoot Me [. . .] cassette and when Daniel came on I would insert my sister’s name for Daniel’s. I can listen to that today, but Daniel always makes me think of her and those days and it makes me sad. Tonight i listened to a track off of Loyd Cole CD (LOve Story) and the track is one that blows me away, Like Lovers Do . . . the lyrics paint such vivid wistful pictures for me . . . and to top it off, it reminds me of when I bought that CD . . . it was in the ’90s and I had a great job and life was worry free and I listened to a public radio station at work and they played a lot of stuff none of the mainline stations played and that’s how I picked CDs I would buy and that’s how I discovered Lloyd Cole Love Story . . . and that wistful song always reminds me of those great carefree fat & happy days when I was about 30 years younger and I still felt physically great and maybe mentally better too . . . and for those reasons, plus the wistful nature of that song . . . it makes me sad when I listen to it. But I do anyway, despite the sadness, I love the imagery it evokes for me. So TMI and long story to say I understand about your relationship with Ms. Ronstadt . . . and I find it sad that you can no longer bring yourself to experience her wonderful beautiful voice.
@ghdprentice , I reread your reply. I am taking your advice regarding giving myself plenty of time before I get into the placement link @james633 sent me and experimenting, but I am going to break them in the "old fashioned"(?) way, because with all the unsettled weather we have been having around here lately, I have been afraid to have stuff even plugged in a lot of the time. Not to mention how paranoid all those unattended tubes make me on a good day. As I get older I get more and more neurotic and as far as "good days" . . . they are further in between.
Alright . . . Ramble On . . . I am hoping for an electrical free atmosphere tomorrow, and Ill get some more hours in. I am excited about it.