Got my 5B's out of storage.......
Forgot how good these can sound. Mine have had the full refurb (except the gluing of the magnets and basket dynamat)
An older refurb with Solens on the low end and Clarity caps on the high end, RD0 tweets. Larrys rings and Mortite
Vocals really soar on these. Bass is a bit shy until you get some volume. They seem just a bit more sensitive than the R200's.
Running a 10wpc Pass DIY ACA amp and Pass DIY Korg Nutube B1 pre. Listening to some vintage Christmas music.
It's early, but I think the vocals are a bit better on the 5B's. But they could just be calling more attention because of the lack of lower mid bass and bass at my level of listening.
Why have these been in storage so long? Vocal presence and clarity is superb.
Current trio of office rig speakers
Merry Christmas Eve
H9
An older refurb with Solens on the low end and Clarity caps on the high end, RD0 tweets. Larrys rings and Mortite
Vocals really soar on these. Bass is a bit shy until you get some volume. They seem just a bit more sensitive than the R200's.
Running a 10wpc Pass DIY ACA amp and Pass DIY Korg Nutube B1 pre. Listening to some vintage Christmas music.
It's early, but I think the vocals are a bit better on the 5B's. But they could just be calling more attention because of the lack of lower mid bass and bass at my level of listening.
Why have these been in storage so long? Vocal presence and clarity is superb.
Current trio of office rig speakers
Merry Christmas Eve
H9
"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul!
Comments
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Now that you hauled them out, you have to do the Dynamat and magnet gluing. When I did the Dynamat I definitely heard more natural conga drums, for example.George / NJ
Polk 7B main speakers, std. mods+ (1979, orig owner)
Martin Logan Dynamo sub w/6ft 14awg Power Cord
Onkyo A-8017 integrated
Logitech Squeezebox Touch Streamer w/EDO applet
iFi nano iDSD DAC
iPurifier3
iDefender w/ iPower PS
Custom Steve Wilson 1m UPOCC Interconnect
iFi Mercury 0.5m OFHC continuous cast copper USB cable
Custom Ribbon Speaker Cables, 5ft long, 4N Copper, 14awg, ultra low inductance
Custom Vibration Isolation Speaker Stands and Sub Platform -
Perhaps.
I switched back to the R200's and while the 5B's had great vocal presence. So did the R200's and everything else the R200's was better in spades. The 5B's are kind of shouty compared to the R200's. There is no contest between the Vifa tweet and RD0. The Vifa is worlds smoother, more open and more natural sounding and less strident.
Everytime I re-listen to the 5B's I come back to one conclusion. They have no bass or rather don't have the bass punch I remember from owning my 1st pair in the 90's. I should take them apart and see if there is an issue.
Merry Christmas
H9"Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Puritan Audio PSM136 Pwr Condtioner & Classic PC's | Legend L600 | Roon Nucleus 1 w/LPS - Tubes add soul! -
You have a few unmitigated issues with those 5B's. If those are 194 RDO's then the plastic bezel is a detriment. Dynamat is a must for the baskets and the foam frame mod rids the "shouty-ness".
The bass extension is pretty good for their size cabinets and they are great in smaller rooms, but the 7's fixed that issue with their bass extension and output compared to 5Bs.
Merry Christmas everyone.Don't take experimental gene therapies from known eugenicists.
