Story Four - A Summary

The next story is the genesis. This involved settling on one three different mid high frequency arrays way back in the late 1990’s - early 2000’s.

audax mid cone+ 2420+ bi radial 2344
audax mid cone+ 2420+2397 horn+077 slot (with a converter- not ideal but it did worked)
audax mid cone +2420+2307/2308+077 slot

*The 2420 was fitted with a new JBL titanium diaphragm and tested.

I used both L+ R loudspeakers with a jig for each array. After weeks of comparisons l was vexed about which was the best? They were divergent in some respects. Not even a glass of red wine helped. Dang it.

Edit: The listening room in my rental was counter intuitive for the 2397 and the bi radial horn which lite the large flat walls up to much. Big 1st reflections made the sound stage seem bigger than it should have been. Hindsight can be a wonderful thing….Lol.

So l left it for a bit and went to some of my preferred shows. Jazz clubs, live venues and a few concerts. I quickly determined what l enjoyed the most. The catalyst for this was the seats l chose. Near the front. I also picked up recordings of these artists at the venues.

I like to feel immersed in the presentation. I need to hear and feel the impact of sounds.

Simply put l want to listen to my music that way. Sound that makes make you stop and look. I like the experience to get bigger as it gets louder. It sounds a bit old school like a Klipschorn demo doesn’t it…Lol. Very how’s the father in law?

I think developing your own criteria of what’s important to you early on is really important. My list of likes above allowed me to critically listen and determine which alternative translated the most of what l needed to enjoy my music. The specs don’t tell you how it will translate in your situation. The translation is what matters.

The room and how the system is set up can influence the accuracy of the translation. So can the signal path.

This also relevant buying a SH system, a new system or selecting what clone to build. The big advantage of building a system is you get to make your own hopefully informed choices.

In the end the audax mid cone +2420+2307/2308+077 slot was the preferred alternative. That combo delivered what was important to me in my circumstances. I found the 2397 wouldn’t integrate properly. The bi radial was too diffuse in my room.

This was the genesis for building a clone of the 4345. Technical information from Greg Timber’s was the 5th element which made it work correctly.

You could say l went full circle. I like circles.