Snell E/III vs. Snell Type D loudspeakers

A Snell shoot out...

I have C/Vs and EIIs. I've listened to the others - the various generations and variations of Js, Ks, Es, Ds, B Minors, etc. I think they were all very good speakers. It's interesting, I think, to see the way the design approach changed from Peter Snell to Kevin Voecks. I have a pair of Snell Cis still hanging around, and I have the final C-family C/V. Entirely different approach, entirely different character. Those old Cis are still a pretty nice speaker (I'm selling them if anyone's interested...). Looking at the C models in between the original C and the C/V you can watch the approach shift.

I'm having a difficult time right now with the C/Vs. I just moved and they are not liking the new room I've got them set up in. This has happened before. Without resorting to lots of room treatments, I've been VERY pleased with the results by setting up the C/Vs in a space that is far away from corners, has high ceilings, and essentially no or very little wall behind the listener.

This is space that would probably work for many other speakers, too, which I've also found, but the C/Vs seem to be a little harder for me to set up. The C/V is an exciting speaker dynamically, but it's also very finesseful, all good things in my book, so I'm going to keep trying to make them work. Could just be me...

The D, C, and B are all very nice speakers. The C/Vs and Bs have that great low end. Lots of very good quality oomph. The Js and Es have nice LF impact and texture, but aren't as extended. But of all these speakers, I may actually say I like the Ds best. I say this simply because in my experience they come close the the overall impact of the C/Vs but they do the best disappearing act for me of any of these speakers. Plus, they're a little less imposing and less costly.

- SJ

I have recently aquired a mint pair of CV. They obviously were rarely if ever played. At first the bass was incredibly boomy and ill defined. Now the bass is somewhat shy in my room after 'breakin'. I have done the following. The tweeter level control and fuse have been bi-passed. To bring up the bass level. The rear port has been reduced in diameter and the empty space at the bottom filled with poly/fiberglass wool. I also removed that stick on foam from the front. Have treated the mid/tweet with my own method of tuning with weather strip foam. The CV is exremely low in coloration, plays loud/dynamic and clear, has a very open soudstage. The midbass and lower mids i do find to be a bit recessed. I am using ss amp-tube pre combo. All my tweaks are completely reversible to preserve resale value. I think you could spend 8k retail today and have no better a speaker than the CV.

Interesting mods you have done to your CV. Bypassing the fuse makes sense, but did you put an ohm meter on the L-pad to determine the proper attenuation and make up the difference with resistors? Proper zobel configured? Curious as to how it increased bass response. Reducing the port will give a bit more mid bass definition, interesting that you have added stuffing in the box. I have not opened up my CV's yet, curious to take a look now. I am in the process of rebuilding a pair of D's with a friend. We have built new cabinets and the front has a nice 3/4 inch roundover to take care of the edge defraction.(felt on front) Upgrading some of the xo caps and all resistors. Good to see others not affraid to experiment with their speakers. All I can say is that I will never trade my CV. Many speakers have come and gone in my living rm, the CV just do too many things right to my ears, even though they are big ass boxes. Mark

Both the fuse and level control were bypassed. Not satisfied with this MUCH more natural and transparent sound. I played around with the power resistor pad glued to the back of the crossover plate. They use a 4ohm followed by a 2ohm at the x-over input. I settled on replacing the 4ohm with around 3.5ohm. Kicks up the tweeter about 1/2 db or so. Also the input wires terminate at 1 set of binding posts now. I absolutely hate the MUDDY sound of bi-wired speakers. This way no jumper is needed. I also have the speaker up off the floor about 2 1/2 inches. Right now I actually removed the added stuffing . Instead, I added a small foam strip to the woofer dust cover cone centers. This makes the cone play a bit lower and more defined. May add back some fill if needed. Also, they use fiberglass in the midrange enclosures. Polyfill gives a more open detailed sound, so that was changed too. If I had a 20,000 speaker in my room, it would be subject to the same tweaking. The hobby is all about getting the speaker to work for you.

Both the fuse and level control were bypassed. Not satisfied with this MUCH more natural and transparent sound. I played around with the power resistor pad glued to the back of the crossover plate. They use a 4ohm followed by a 2ohm at the x-over input. I settled on replacing the 4ohm with around 3.5ohm. Kicks up the tweeter about 1/2 db or so. Also the input wires terminate at 1 set of binding posts now. I absolutely hate the MUDDY sound of bi-wired speakers. This way no jumper is needed. I also have the speaker up off the floor about 2 1/2 inches. Right now I actually removed the added stuffing . Instead, I added a small foam strip to the woofer dust cover cone centers. This makes the cone play a bit lower and more defined. May add back some fill if needed. Also, they use fiberglass in the midrange enclosures. Polyfill gives a more open detailed sound, so that was changed too. If I had a 20,000 speaker in my room, it would be subject to the same tweaking. The hobby is all about getting the speaker to work for you.