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Salectric,

How do the PathAudio resistors sonics differ from the Duelund?

I find the Duelunds a bit bright on hasher recording, but sound sublime on well recorded.

I don't have external crossovers, so swapping is a bit of a PITA to try.

Specifically are they more neutral? (just worried they might sound detailed but too laid back or distant sounding.

Any more specifics on how is the mid bass and low bass, is it as reported above more solid and body in comparison.

I'm rather very happy with Duelunds now, except for the few recording which sound a tad sharper, could well be the silver end leads of the Duelund, but like the very lively and exceptionally clear sound.

Thanks

Justubes2, I am happy to provide more details regarding the Duelund CAST vs. PathAudio resistors. First let me provide some context. All of my testing has been with my DIY speakers (described on my system page) in the high-pass portion of a 1200 Hz crossover which has 4 resistors. I have tried five types of resistors: Mills 12w black body (the old Mills), Mills 12w brown body (new style), regular Duelund (brown body), Duelund CAST (black body), and PathAudio. By the way, some of my comments below relate to bass and one might question how anything in the high-pass crossover could affect the bass. All I can say is it does!

Tonal balance. The CAST resistors are slightly bright and more than slightly lean. To my ears, they are lacking in weight and foundation which gives them overall a "lightweight" sound. I think the mids may be slightly forward as well. In contrast, the PathAudio resistors are pretty much neutral as far as I'm concerned. They may be slightly dark and slightly warm. They certainly had these colorations in the first few days and even weeks, but they gradually disappeared. There may still be some trace of these colorations but if so it is quite minor.

Detail. Both the CAST and the PathAudio have excellent inner detail. I wouldn't choose one over the other in this respect.

Dynamics. Both have excellent dynamics although here I would give the nod to the PathAudio since the CAST is a bit restrained in the bass due to its lightweight tonal balance.

Transient speed. The PathAudio is faster on leading edges than the CAST which has a slight softening on sudden transients.

Overall, I would describe the CAST as having great detail and dynamics but a rather lightweight sound and wispy highs. By "wispy" I mean that the treble is airy and atmospheric, a "big" sound, but the treble is hard to pin down. It is as if the sound is in a fog floating around. I don't know if that description helps much, but it's something that I have heard consistently with the CAST resistors from day one. In contrast, the PathAudio has a solid, direct, clear sound, excellent detail and dynamics, a neutral total balance, and a neutral soundstage perspective. I have no doubt the PathAudio has faults since nothing is perfect, but I haven't identified any failings in my tests.

It might also help to provide some comments on the Mills 12w blackbody resistors, which I used routinely prior to the Duelunds. The Mills are not as detailed and not as dynamic as either the CAST or PathAudio, and they have a lean midbass and slightly crisp high frequencies with a slight edge. However, the Mills do have a solid, direct, clear sound, with none of the wispy quality of the CAST resistors. In some ways, the PathAudio has the positive qualities of the Mills resistors but with a more neutral total balance, more detail, more dynamics and no edge. (The newer Mills brown body resistors do not sound as good in my opinion.)

Of course, the above comments are simply my opinions based on my speakers and my listening priorities. There is nothing absolute here.

Salectric, Thanks for the detailed impressions, i did just come across your other posting on the path's.

I have only tried the duelunds, both cast and non cast. Your impressions do mirror mine, although no comparing with other resistors. Having swapped the standard resistors, the detail and clarity was an overwhelming improvement.

As the lightness in the midbass, i too feel the duelunds was slightly glossed over and oversmooth, while nice, loss some weight and heft.

The high's, your definition of wispyness. I would describe a Qsound kins of effect, allowing a wide stage and sound floating midway between the speaker and listener. Its forward tendencies means the sound are not at the speaker or behind it, lessening the impression of any depth. Its like a 3d fanfare between the speaker and listener, quite pleasing i might add.

Sadly, yes the slight brightness add to the dynamics of the whole frequency range, including the bass. It this an artificial artifact of dynamics, sometime i feel its can become slightly bright and piercing.

The duelunds for sure never sound dark, alway accentuating the clarity and detail.

I will try the paths for the mids.

I do like the clarity in the highs using the duelunds, do the paths neutrality make things less exciting or more distant, i.e say cymbal stay at the plane of the tweeter and not project further out like the duelunds giving a front row seats impression. Is it more midhall presentation for the paths? Something like the presentation of a mundorf supreme cap (neutral and more distant) vs the silver oil cap(more direct and upfront with added brightness of the silver)?

Still on the fence to try the paths on the tweeters. Just too much work!

To my ears, the neutrality of the PathAudio does not make it any less exciting than the Duelund CAST. When I listen with the PathAudio, words like "direct, clear, solid" come to mind. With the CAST, I am thinking "airy, bright, thin." Individual priorities come into play here, but for me the sound with the PathAudio resistors is more satisfying and less distracting than with the CAST.

I do appreciate the work involved in replacing parts when they are inside the speaker cabinet. I moved my crossover outboard for just that reason.

Great,

looks like i should just ditch the duelunds.

I have always had the problem as you described thin airy and bright (adds details).

I never got a tighter solid center vocal imaging, it always sounds larger than life with the cast resistors, goes with the airy wider soundstage.

i was just thinking of changing the resistor to the midrange as i felt is has a upper midrange brightness that was a bit painful on brighter recordings.

I do however, like the overall presentation so far, guess from you description, it is worth a try (just hope its not too much of a direction change to the sound). FWIW, i am using a cast cap for the tweeter as well.

It's just quite startling just 1 resistor can contribute to the sound.