Well my M60's arrived yesterday afternoon. They arrived about 4 hours ahead of the estimated time.. That's pretty good considering I didn't place the order till after dinner on Tuesday evening. Of course when they arrived my grandson was in for his nap. His room is right above the room where I was setting them up. Once I got them out of the boxes and roughly in place I was ready to hear some music. He was still sleeping so I started with the volume very low. I played Lucinda Williams "Car Wheels" CD. It sounded pretty good at low levels. I say pretty good because it's hard to play L.W. and not turn up the volume so there was a bit of frustration. I took her off before the CD was over to opt for some soft jazz. I listened to Bill Evans "Live at the Village Vanguard" and some Cassandra Wilson "Blue light 'til Dawn. I like that the speakers deliver a full spectrum even a very low db's.
After my grandson awoke things started to get interesting. I raised the volume a good bit. It was still conversational level but enough for the speakers to bloom a little and attract a little attention. I played Madelyn Peroux, Bonnie Raitt, and
Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band. The speakers were clear and detailed. The voices sound amazingly clear and even Jerry sounded good. Later everyone had things to do and they left me alone. This was my chance. I dug out my re-mastered HDCD copy of King Crimson’s “In the court of the Crimson King”. I turned the volume up to about 50%. Holy canoli! when the band kicked in with 21st Century Schizoid Man I couldn’t believe how loud and clear the speakers were. Or so I thought.
It was during this CD that I started hearing a buzzing sound on certain low freq. notes. I mean the speakers seemed to be doing everything right but certain notes seemed to cause this buzzing sound. I decided I better take the grill covers off and check the drivers. While I was removing the grill covers my head was between the speaker and the armoire that holds my system and CD’s and the note hit and the buzzing it turns out was coming from the side panel of the armoire. I turned the speakers down to a more reasonable listening level and the cabinet still resonates on certain low notes. It’s not entirely based on volume although it is worse at loud volumes. It seems to be more about the resonant frequency of the cabinet panel. This kind of sucks but at least it is not coming directly from the speakers. I have experimented with moving the speaker further away to no avail. The speakers were in a room 12 x 14, on the short wall. Centered on that wall is the armoire with a speaker to each side. I decided to put the speakers on the long wall which would enable a little greater distance from the armoire. Same thing happens in this configuration. So I am going to have to devise some way to deaden that cabinet. It is not a loose panel in the frame. It’s tight but it is light weight so the whole panel vibrates. When I put my hand on it of course it stops. This is an antique piece so I have to take care in my approach.
Saturday morning I moved the speakers into the HT set up. This is an HK AVR310 rated at 50 watts X 5. Bigger room, sturdier cabinet and of course a sub. The receiver did a respectable job but I think in a room this size I could use a little more power. This is the 2 story 15 X 20 room opened on 2 sides. I listened to Annie Lennox live in Central Park. This is a very decent concert DVD for anyone that likes her sound. The speakers definitely benefit from a sub woofer. As most of you know I hopping to go to strictly a stereo set up no sub. Many advised to get the 80’s for that, which is still a possibility. I didn’t watch any films because that is not what I got these speakers for. I’ll probably do that today though just for grins since they are in the HT set up. After that I think I will bring the HK 665 into the mix in the larger room and see what the speakers sound like in a large room more power to them. I’ll keep you posted.
Other listening…
Pink Floyd “Dark Side of the Moon”
Richard Thompson “Rumor and Sigh”
Beethoven’s Symphony # 9
All I can say about these is WOW (just like the recent review of the 80’s)
Thanks for reading!
oz
