I have finally recieved the HIFI mod for my rb-300, and I have to say that evan though I had ideas of how it would sound, I am stunned.
First off, it is important for me to state that my system is lower in resolution than what I have been used to, and I have to state that it is more than likely lower in resolution than most of the systems that poeple would likely have that wanted to add these sidewieghts. I point the finger solely at the vanderstten 2ci's, while the are sweet sounding, and convey the music, and make the room sound quite good, they lack accuracy. I am not driving them with the best amp for them currently as well.
The reason this is important to say is because to get the 2ci's to stage, to pinpoint, (one of the inherent strenghts of vinal) and to play clean at the same time is more of an accomplishment to be able to hear with these speakers.
The other arm that I am using is an older model immedia. Comparisms are nessesary because frankly right now the immedia is a better arm. It conveys more detail and information. There is roughly twice the cymbal info, separates the midrange instruments better, offers an easier to define bass line.
But compared to the rb-300, the rb does something the immedia can't seem to get. It boogies. The bass is subjectively more involving, more of a tune. The voices of instruments seem to come out with more emotion. While a simple a-b between the two would reveal that to almost anyone, the immedia would be more accurate, and better, what the rb does is impossible to ignore. For me, the obvious goal is to make the rb as good as the immedia. At first, I would understand this to be to somehow make the rb convey the low-level detail of the immedia, stage as pinpoint, and be overall more accurate. Direct comparisms between the two would lead me to believe that most of this would happen in the upper frequencies. So a modification that would seem to take the arm in another direction might seem backwards.
At first, it did. upper midrange information seemed to be attenuated. The air that surrounds cymbals, and the vibrations that pop out and accompany certain voices and horns and lead instruments were the first casualties. But while some of this energy that I would initially seek went away, right at that same place was more depth. I was playing ELVIN!, a record in which Elvin jones is miked up front, with Art Davis on bass to the side and toward the back. This is a great recording for finding detail, as part of what makes it so exciting is Elvin's speed and energy on the kit, and the way it was recorded, there is an abundance of different sounds coming from the drums.
While some of the snap from Elvin quickly wacking the cymbals and rims was not as apparent, And Art didn't pop out onto the room quite the same as I have come to expect, Elvin's kit was also wider, and deeper. Art's bass also had what seemed to me another octave down. I couldn't decide which was better, and I knew I was in for more work in listening. this was going to be harder than I had expected, and it was time to pull out the records that I know like the back of my hand, dirty or not, and wear them evan more.
Next was Van's THE HEALING GAME. There is a track that has a lead bass and another playing the low. And on this record, there is a distinct decay that can be heard of the room when Van sings loud. This would surely tell me something. As I expected, There was more separation between the two basses, But what I actually didn't expect, is the definite lower octave of the second bass, that made comparisms betwwen the two moot. Van also, took up more width betwwen the speakers that before. this is curious. He is undoubtably miked in the center no matter which system it is played on, and to hear a voice take more width, that can easily be disterned is baffuling. At the same time, The back up vocalist, who repeats Van, was farther to the right and back, and more of a pinpoint, and smaller. On to another track, with an opening of an organ. The bass pedal of the organ was deeper. This is the stuff that makes me want to listen to the rb more than the immedia, but I still had questions about the detail and accuracy.
For me, this means getting out Cannonball PLUS, the origional issue. This is my most accurate recording. It starts out with Cannonball's horn which is followed by a natural echo that you can follow as the soundwaves travel acrass the room and SLAM into something and scatter. The bass is recorded up front, and the bass player actually speeds up in his exitement, and the drummer struggles at first to keep up. He seems to be hitting the cymbals harder to keep the pace, so there is cymbal sounds scattering all around.
What I heard here was definite. The bass was definitely deeper, there was another octave down that I have never heard before, except on occasion with my Theta. The air that seemed to be missing from the high frequency energy was shown as a resonence that when missing, revealed the cymbal playing, (which is quite loud and up-front on this record) to be the best I have heard on this record so far. Instead of splashing all around the upper left side, there was a cymbal being tossed side to side, that was definite and discernable as a cymbal being tossed as it is being wacked.
I played more records, but I'll sum up here for now. I was able to decrease the tracking force to 1.65 grams and regain some of the lost midband energy, with no buzzing or other audible mistracking. I was able to visualy dicern the slightest cantilever movement, both with the HIFI and without, but not enough to see at this time whether there was a difference, but it was both less than I have observed with other arms at times and within the accuracy that I usually set up the zenith. All records, in an a/b with and without the tweak had a change in staging, which was wider and more behind the speakers, and that is something that the vandy 2ci's have trouble with. The 2ci's don't pinpoint well, but the differences were audibly "visible" as far as distances before and after.
As for the lost energy in some of the frequencies in the upper and mids, I'm right now of the opinion that it could be replaced somewhere else, that would in the end be more accurate and detialed. I can't be sure whether the energy that is lost is from the start inaccurate in the first place, or whether it is revealing another fault in the arm that was not present before, or whether it is actually a side effect of the tweak. I am sure that it adds positve, more accurate effects, in the bass and in the staging qualities. It moves the overall performance farther away from the immedia, in the tonal presentation and the presentation in the mids, but closer in the pinpointing and staging, (something the damping effects in the immedia, hmmm), but the bass the immedia just can't do.
In the effort to get better sound, more accurate in some or all areas, rather than add to the qualities that are good it is more accurate to subtract those that are bad, evan as it initially seems to go in the opposite direction. In the end this is where transparencey and exitement is.
In my case, the HIFI stays.
And this is just the sound, what it is actually doing I am still with my origional guesses, that are posted above, but I have less doubt that the cantilever is moving in relation to the coils. It is not an issue anymore, as far as damage or evan having a negative effect on the sound, but what is still a guess for me is what it is really doing. The difference in horizontal mass and vertical mass, is still something I think may be something to pay more attention to.
I wonder if this is measuruble, definable and proveable, and I actually wonder what arm may possibly be as accurate in the bass as this. It has taken me a while to write this, and I have actually never heard a vinal playback system have such an accurate, full bass. It would take a direct comparism to know, with more than my humble system.
Its time to step up to the newest of grahams and immedias, the wheatons and such. It is past the older immedia and the rega's.
