Food or beryllium tweeters for my DeCapo's

Hi Grinnell,

Sorry that I missed you in my last post.
If you do not have the beryllium tweets already, please get them. Yes, they are revealing as well, but much more tolerant with regards to harshness. In fact, they are smooth as silk. IMHO, those with DeCapos with any kind of wood veneer cabinets are the rare and lucky owners of one of the best speakers around, for both looks and sound quality, providing that the tweeter is changed. I am not fond of the Nextel cabinet. Some people think different. I have to bend and say that Tash is a bit of a hero for standing up for his beliefs. Last of an audio breed. I am certain that the Nextel is better with regard to wave refraction, but just try to take the gorgeous Cherry away from my wife.... Not a chance.
On the matter of the dispersion cones, yes.. I would like them too, but the thought of sending the drivers all the way back to Canada is just too much. Still I just hate the thought of "Rebbi's" speakers being better than mine... LoL.

Cheers,
Tubeears

Moron the BE change up.

Well, I have had them playing constantly for two days. That is still not near enough time according everyone else in the world. However, it has been enough time to detect some small but obvious differences. It is all for the good. The (what I refer to as) "spit-ilance" is going away. That is the irritating "snakes on a frying pan" sound that comes as almost every new or rarely used piece of equipment is just put into play. More than just annoying, it just makes ones skin crawl. On some poor quality gear, it just never leaves... Or if it does, it is in the form of an A'gon ad. Funny that some sellers never mention it, but just look for the ads that just talk about how good the bass is... It's a clue. I have been listening primarily to streaming radio stations thru my Apple TV unit that is Toslinked (via: AudioQuest Cinnamon) to a new Jolida Glass tube dac (12ax7 x 2). Initially I used the wonderful Tung-sol tubes, but switched early this morning to Mullard re-make. Both are great tubes, with neither holding a big edge over the other... Just a slightly different characters. What I wanted to hear came through. This proved the BE tweeters to be true and display subtle changes in equipment. Even with the "break in" snake hiss, they sounded good enough to tell differences in tubes. Switching to analog I used my Mcintosh MR78 tuner dialed into WUGA (PBS) just a few miles away. The antenna is a Magnum DynaLabs ST-2A .. A very good unit, making for near perfect reception. Lucky, Lucky me !! Even with the tubes in the line up, by removing all of the digital nasties the analog tuner proved far superior and let the new tweeters reach upwards to grab more air. Euphoric or not, the tubes could not replace the trueness of the PBS analog signal. It is simply wonderful to hear. These new tweeters just open up a soundfield that seems almost endless in my room.

Ok, I'm going to stop now. All of this is getting to be redundant, pathetic and with no logical end, save one. Moron that next episode later. Without turning this into a complete review of the new DeCapo, we, me or someone has to take this speaker to the line that is lurking in the back of all of our minds. Just how good ARE these things ? Right now, this is NOT the same speaker that I brought into my house some time ago. It is completely different. I can't just tell anyone how good these "tweeters" are because everything has changed. I feel that this speaker has changed in such a way that a comparison should be made with some other contenders. I am also afraid that these comparisons may result in a lack of sleep for the well heeled 'Phile's in the big boy's club. If the low lives in the audio food chain have had a hankerin' for a piece of the Ferrari pie, it is now the time for you to get out your plates and fork. The DeCapo (BE) is now the real deal. You can now cruise thru the pictures of those upper crust systems and know that you too can have a piece of that action. No more wiping the sticky drool off of your keyboard. On the other side of the coin, those of you thinking of selling your older DCaps just to move up, should re-think that motion and rekindle the fire in the little gems.
I feel that with the new beryllium tweeter that these speakers have just DeCapo-tated some pretty big players in the speaker world.

Nuf said for now (IMHO)
Tubeears

Tubeeears, thanks for the update and keep them coming. I won't be able to discern the changes you've realized as I'm auditioning the latest including the Nextel coating BUT I have great expectations as my all tube system is really geared for a higher efficiency speaker with a benign impedance. Yeah, a piece of the Ferrari pie is what I heard in a reasonable but, relative to mine, moderate system. It WILL prove interesting to me how the DeCapo will fare and compare with my current reference in a system built around them. I have been surprised before having one expection and getting an unexpected result.

Tubegroover......

I hope that all of my rabid belching doesn't lead people to believe that I feel that the DeCapos are the best there is. That would be drawing the wrong conclusion. I'm sure that you well understand my meaning with all of this. These speakers are now so good that to ask for more, touches on pure decadence with regards to maximum returns for the minimum expenditure.
I feel like I want to let people that a piece of the Ferrari pie is there waiting for them... If used and original, easily modified. If new, a bargain at the selling price.
Tubegroover, I am now using JPS original Superconductor for speaker cables. I feel with good results. I also have some Monster Cable Retro Gold Sigma (Lietz). Also great cable, but I have not tried them with the DeCapos yet. I will perhaps later this week. What are you using ? I also have another piece of candy coming in tomorrow FedEx. It is a Nakamichi MR-1 pro cassette deck.... Mint !! It is all balanced in and out and I have a nice set of JPS Superconductor balanced cables to run to my Audio Analogue balanced in section. This I can hardly wait for. I have got some gorgeous cassettes... One of which is a Yo Yo Ma (1984) playing at the University of Kansas recorded with a portable Nagra. Just an amazing performance with great sound. Another is Alvin and the Chipmunks at the San Diego Zoo. Alvin belts out his stunning rendition of "Just Fur You" from their album "I'm all nuts for your love". This cassette really brings the animal out in me..... Look out Shirley ! ;-)

Tubeears

Hi Tubeears I'm currently using all 600 sei Stereovox cabling and speaker cables with various power cords. This has been a constant for about 6 years after going through many rounds with different cables, these were the best until recently. A friend insisted adamantly I had to hear a set of cables he recently purchased to see if it might realize the same result in my system as his. He has watched mine evolve over the years so is quite familiar with it. In any case there was a notable improvement to a point I never would have believed but ONLY when used as a system including the power cords and a power strip with noise suppression.

Believe me Tony, I'm not just influenced by what you are saying but what I HEARD with these speakers, I really connected and hear much potential. In that way, regardless of their price, I feel them special, worth spending some time with to see. I will be getting the speakers at the end of the week and I think my audio bud is almost as excited as I am. He's going with me to pick them up. My big concern is whether they have enough foundation in the lower registers compared to my 12 year Merlin VSM-M which with a custom David Berning tube BAM is fast, articulate and deep, amazing what a 6.5" driver is capable of with that unit and the amp, where's the sub indeed! Will the DeCapos have enough weight or is it important enough? The issue will come down to whether to ship my speakers back for the latest upgrades which I'm not excited about, shipping cost you know, keep on looking or if the DeCapos are the ticket. I'm very calculating about audio expenditures these days. I'll have 3 weeks to decide but should know well before that. You're right, these speakers are better than they ought to be for the price and well beyond in my experience. I'm not looking for the best since it just doesn't exist as you seem to realize. Long term musical engagement without boredom or distraction is and always has been the end game. It's in the details.

I thought you were joking about Alvin and the Chipmunks, you ARE full of suprises! I think my Mother tossed my old "Alvin and the Chipmunk" albums when I left for school and were among the ones I left behind, I'll have to revisit them :)

Cheers