Frugal follies Or what I did today :_)

[Bare]

Bought a thrift store pair of Sony speakers (3$) Needing a cheap /quick/easy break in home for my new CHP70.2 (3?) drivers... 6"x 6" x10" BR boxes of chipboard.
Lined the boxes with 1" f'glass, fitted the drivers and started to enjoy the sound.
Pretty darned good was the immediate impression: good bass, nice voices.
Then cleverly decided to A/B them in my "He Man" rig
A mistake.. Bass while size impressive is Nothing like that produced by a pair Of 15" tannoys in Horn enclosures, where one 'feels' the kick drum in one's diaphragm.
Hey! 15" vs 4" Dohh! No surprises there.
BUT the real surprise is that the wee driver's top end is.. in direct comparison.. coarse and lacking much of it's details.
This in the area where the box has little to No effect... very weird.
Naively I had assumed teeny drivers did good with the upper regions. Well...clearly Not 'good enough' .. applies to mine.

Sooo Is this simply down to no break in time or.. misplaced expectations ?
Or as I'm suspecting, simply too extreme an A/B comparison.
I'm happy with the current sounds for the purchased purpose: Kitchen or Garage uses.

[planet10]

The CHP70.2 has been purposely shelved down about 5 dB above 5kHz.

dave

[chris661]

You seem to be expecting the CHPs to do the same thing as your Tannoys - plenty of extension at each end, and big dynamics.

Put some smaller-scale music on, allow the drivers to break-in, and listen again.

Asking a FR to do what a multi-way does is folly - each has their own magic.

[Scottmoose]

What Dave & Chris said.

You also need to follow the break in proceedure as detailed in the data sheet. This is not a joke but what is required to bring the drivers into their designed operating window.

As noted, the CHP-70.2 was designed with a shelved down top end, with the object of providing what the manufacturer classifies a 'vintage' sound. This is also stated in the data sheet, and shown in the FR plot. If you want HF output, I'm afraid you've got the wrong driver; the CHR-70.3 is the unit for that. If you want something for background listening, maybe radio plays, audio books etc. though, that's where the CHP-70.2 does well.

[Bare]

As stated, these things ARE under break in.
Or is one supposed to do the Richard Vandersteen break in?? ie; Hook up a room full of drivers in series and feed them wall plug power 24/7 for a week ??
Did replace the initially installed spade connectors with Soldered ones.
High end improved some... my fault, in part.
Been listening all morning :-) while working. Decent sounds certainly listenable.. dunno for how many hours though
Again voices are nice, highs are still a bit lacking, no biggy, as I did buy the etr 26 units against this eventuality.
After 8~9 hours of operation, impressions are: these sound small, being noticeably thin and frequency constrained. Also volume limited as turning it up to 12 o' clock and they start making unhappy noises.
Clearly for small room uses.
Beyond that they are seemingly worth every pfenning of their $30 (i forget) price... no complaints at all.
Just now did my ahem 'Acid test' ..PJ Harvey :-)
Sadly these, at least currently and in their teeny boxes are simply not up to 'Her'. In fairness she's a genuinely difficult Gig. Many (most?) Speakers present her badly.
My wee MA's are Not Fast enough to keep up.. period.
Her voice sounds like my cat when I step on her tail.. Ugly shrieking.
Yet Polly Jean's voice is actually pretty darned good (mostly :-) when drivers are up to it.
Early days yet..my Boxes are junk (literally) and In use time is in single digits.

What Data sheet?
None came with mine.
Is one expected to find and download the thing.. somewhere

[planet10]

Markaudio

dave

[Bare]

Excellent Thank You!
Wasn't aware of that

Unfortunately.. it imparts little to no information
IE: For the first 100 hours, operate them at very low volumes.
Gee.. now that's a break in procedure
Interesting to see that the 'data sheet' drivers had a red splotch indicating Positive.
Mine don't have such luxury... that and the supplied socket head screws that don't Fit
Clearly the World Famous Chinee Quality Control manifesting.
Still running 'em :-) Bit tiring in truth.. so I've closed up the room.
Ran through 3! (Yes! a foolish buy) Loreena Mckinnett albums.
Pesky recordings are virtually identical except for their names and variant nuances. Clearly one idea to a lifetime in there... But I digress :-)
MA's do a decent reproduction of her work.. like being in a grove of trees, clear distinct images in panorama.. Very nice, one could easily live with it.
However a push of a button to the main setup is like instantly being in the centre of a rainforest.
Sounds /nuances 'everywhere'...above/ below/surrounding.. astounding auditory difference doesn't begin to do it justice.
A stark contrast indeed, albeit expotential price/cost differences involved as well.
Never actually seen a Free lunch though.. So no news there.
Yes.. fully aware that it's an unfair and extreme comparison...
BUT .. what would be the suggested comparison/reference then ??
Nearest available dross? perhaps some crap HT setup from the "Brick"??
The pair of earbuds that came with the Ipod ?
Just asking here.