The PMC project, will build it anyway as long as its a back pack!

Nice!

I can't adequately express how excited I am to get these back and give them a listen.

I've had a blast throughout the build process! I loved looking at the countless progress photos and watching them gradually come together. Trey has been extremely professional to work with, as well as patient. I must have easily asked him 70+ questions about every facet of the build, and he always answered patiently and thoroughly.

I really appreciated this, because I find crossovers and the idea of upgrading them fascinating. Trey made sure I learned along the way due to his insightful answers - never just saying "because this is the way it is" or dismissing my inquires.

He even went the extra mile by re-wiring the drivers, which involved using the stock wiring to snake the new Supra wiring through the intricate transmission line inside the cabinet. Then he direct soldered the wire to the drivers instead of using the stock quick-disconnect spades. This allowed for greater surface area and a better electrical contact. I really admire his attention to detail, and how he addressed every little nuance of the build as he progressed in order to make it as flawless as possible.

Thanks again, Trey! They turned out beautifully!


Also, he set up the stock crossovers so that they could be easily swapped in for comparison purposes. He texted me a quick low quality cell phone video of the same song playing on the new crossovers and then on the stock crossovers. Even when listening through my iPhone's crappy built-in speakers, the changes were obvious! Wow!

Beautiful.

Amazing work! Looking forward to the review.

Beautiful, artful work!

To be honest I haven't had a real good opportunity to sit down for a critical listen yet. I've just been breaking them in still at background levels while tending to & tweaking my other systems. They probably have about 250 hours on them now.

However I'm getting really close now to hooking up some different/better gear to them and sitting down for a close listen.

While I do want to reserve ultimate judgement for after I've spent some more time with them, I will say that I'm more than satisfied with the sound quality and I believe the upgrade was worth every penny.

Hey Drew.

Have you had much time listening to them yet?

What is the opposite of buyer’s remorse? Because that is how I feel about my VR3 Mods Mai Chi Series crossover upgrades. Complete and total satisfaction, strong pride of ownership, and a true wow moment when I heard the results.

From the physical build itself to the resulting audible improvements, everything exceeded my expectations. Price to performance ratio is high, especially when considering the labor that went into this project. The transmission line cabinet certainly didn’t make anything easier, especially with the tight internal clearances. Yet regardless, everything was done to an exacting standard.

It’s nerve-wracking when you send in a gorgeous pair of speakers that you love for them to go “under the knife”, but literally every step of the process was well-thought out and executed above my expectations. I would message Trey and say, “What about this, what about that, etc.” and he was always one step ahead and seemed like he had already thought of everything I was asking about. A real mind-reader, and his confidence with making custom modifications is admirable. From the type of wood and stain used for the substrate, along with its layout and placement, to the robust threaded insert mounts.

Every element of the build was carefully considered. There was attention to nearly every detail such as internal wiring choice and soldering it to the drivers instead of using quick connects, careful heat shrinking and routing of wires, overall parts selection, and more. It feels incredible to know that I have a custom one-of-a-kind pair of crossovers. I firmly believe they could not have been executed or built better by anyone else on the planet, at least not without spending a small fortune.

When I put the PMCs back into my system after mounting the new crossovers, I was using my Marantz PM-14S1 integrated and a DIY pair of speaker cables I made using Furutech Alpha S14 wire ($45/m) and matching Furutech hardware. Nothing overly extravagant or my best gear, but still respectable and well-regarded. Upon first listen, I was surprised by what I heard. Quite simply I had never heard such good sound out of the Marantz, especially with these “modest” speaker cables connected. My first impressions were mostly focused on the impeccable timing of the treble and how intricate and detailed it was. There was such a high degree of coherence in the high frequency reproduction, that I could clearly hear every single staccato high hat or subtle cymbal. None of the sounds ran into each other or overlapped, and the clarity was astounding. It was like I was now actually hearing what the tweeter was truly capable of.

There were some elements of the presentation which reminded me that break-in is necessary and real. Namely, the mids, lows, and highs seemed to be their own separate elements instead of blending and creating a musical presentation. The sound was also somewhat localized to the speakers themselves. It was still enjoyable, but I knew it would get better. I proceeded to play the speakers with an internet radio stream for the next several hundred hours, mostly at low (50-60db) background levels all day, but occasionally sitting down and listening at louder levels.

As the break-in process progressed, the frequencies became less disjointed and more cohesive. Treble quality also became even more enjoyable and perfect, for lack of a better term. Around the 300-to-500-hour mark something changed remarkably with the presentation. The three dimensionality and imaging noticeably improved. I could now repeatedly experience the wonderful sensations of sounds whipping past my head or feeling like I was “inside” the music. The speakers started pulling off a more realistic disappearing act and were washing the sound over me, versus simply projecting the sound into the room. And this was still all with the Marantz integrated and the Furutech speaker cables! I also spun some vinyl using the Marantz’s built-in phono stage and I was thoroughly impressed at what I heard. The soundstaging, placement, and overall presentation was stunning. I had never heard vinyl sound this good through the Marantz previously. It’s as if the upgraded crossovers were allowing the other elements of my system to now perform up to their full potential.

Since the caps were likely fully broken in at this point, I decided to hook up some different equipment, so I switched to the Norma Audio IPA-140 integrated amplifier. I kept the same Furutech speaker cable at first to not change too many things at once. Straight away, I was reminded that yes, the Norma amp is better than the Marantz, as it should be for the price difference. This newfound neutrality and clarity ended up being the recurring theme as I listened more with different sources, and then with different speaker cables connected to the Norma (5-way speaker cable shootout post coming soon).

It was obvious that the speaker’s crossovers were no longer a bottleneck. The upgraded crossovers were now allowing me to effortlessly hear changes made to upstream components. I started wondering why crossover upgrades weren’t more popular than they are. Surely with the amount of money people spend on speaker cables, they would also want to make sure their crossovers aren’t using inferior quality components, but sadly that doesn’t seem to be the case. I’m now certainly a believer of the importance of a speaker’s crossover and the components used.

After completing my 5-way speaker cable audition, I unhooked the Norma and connected the Pass Labs INT-25 that just arrived for review. Again, it was clear as day to hear the audible impact and changes that this different amplifier design had on the overall presentation and sound quality.

In summary, the VR3 Mods Mai Chi Series crossovers have allowed my PMCs to be an open window to the rest of my stereo system. It has elevated them to a new level of performance that I would have never thought possible. I thought they sounded amazing in stock form and I said to myself, “how could they get any better?” Well, I wouldn’t have believed it until I heard it, but they certainly did get better! A lot better!

It’s given me a greater appreciation for just how good some of my amplifiers and sources can sound, now that they are no longer being handcuffed by an inferior stock crossover.

Hey Drew.

GREAT description of the joy a person can experience when listening to music with high quality speakers and gear. Sonic Nirvana.

I've had that thought of 'how can it sound better than this?" quite a few times in my journey and hobby.
Then I hear better. But it's usually because I stepped up on the price of electronics or speakers ladder. I still have to do the interconnect upgrades so...there's more in store for me to experience when I do that.

I've learned a lot from members here and there's one common statement, If you don't think it can get better...buy some higher quality "what-ever" over what we have now.

With stereo stuff, I've found we get what we pay for.

I wish I could come over and hear those speakers. I wish I could hear that Pass Labs amp powering those speakers too!

I'm glad the cross-over upgrade proved to be a giant upgrade that you and Trey imagined AND predicted it would be.

I also love that feeling of hearing music floating all around me. Coming from the wall instead of the speakers. Sounds from the left and right where there are no speakers is one of my favorite "trips".

Congrats to you both on your collaboration success!

And of course a shout out to VR3 mods for an excellent job! Wow!