Dan Testimonial

I cranked the music for a little while. All I found out was that they can go louder than my ears can handle!
The bass response of the Acorns is still surprising me;
even at ear splitting volume the bass is clear, fast and solid.

Hi Rob,

The Acorns are up and running in temporary cabinets.  They worked flawlessly first time and sound magnificent even after only an hour of run-in.

I'll give you better feedback once they've got more hours on them, but already I can tell that they kick the ESL-III's arse in many respects; the bass is astonishing, the highs seem smoother (though this may be due to the configuration of my ESL-III panels), the imaging is sharper and a the sweet spot is a bit larger.

The sharper image does not surprise me as my ESL-III's give a similar image when they are completely flat.  The more forgiving sweet spot, however, was quite a surprise.

Overall the timbre of the Acorn and ESL-III's are indeed similar, making them a great match for the intended surround setup.  I'll get the surround speakers set up tomorrow - can't wait!
Anyway, I'm running them full range, unlike the ESL-IIIs which I crossed over at 120Hz or so to dynamic drivers, and don't feel the need to reinforce the bass.  I hope this remains the case once I try some movie tracks rather than music...

Cheers,

Dan

The next day!!

Hi Rob,

I had the opportunity to play with the resistors in series with the mid panel.  You were right, they were a bit dull at 100K.  However, they were a little too bright with no resistors, especially at higher listening levels where the treble became uncomfortable to listen to. I settled on 50K; sounding quite good over a range different material at
different SPLs for my intended listening position.  Or so I thought...

I tried running my NAD 2100 rather then the NAD C320BEE.  The 2100 is also a 50 w/ch @ 8ohm amp but has 6dB dynamic headroom, so I though it might push the bass out a bit better, which it did, but it also is smoother in the top end at high SPL than the C320BEE. So, I intend to repeat all my tests with this amp and may indeed remove the resistors to the mid panels all together.

I cranked the music for a little while.  All I found out was that they can go louder than my ears can handle!  The bass response of the Acorns is still surprising me; even at ear splitting volume the bass is clear, fast and solid.  Very impressive.  You once told me that, "the ELS-III’s aren't party speakers".  I can tell you that the Acorns are!

Now to the next problem...  The speaker grill cloth that I used last time comes in 1.5m x 1m packs.  I need around 1.9m lengths.  I see on your website that you have grill cloth advertised - what size do you have available?  Or, can you point me at a supplier of cloth that you think is pretty good.


Cheers,
Dan