Sr-71 Vs 340 Se

[mi bill]

hello everyone. i have some accend 340 se mains. i sent for a sr-71 kit back in oct. or nov 07. I waited a few. months becuse they were out. now i see the price has gone up.not sure why now i have finished them. they sound very good to me. so I put them next to my 340 se speakers and swiched back and forth a/b I expected the sr-71 kit to sound better. I cant say they do. I will keep playing them and see if they improve. if I do make a second pair I will try 15 liters instead of 16. maybe that will be better. mi bill ps I have pic but I dont know if I can get them from my camera to this forum.

[augerpro]

I'd be curious to hear exactly what you think the difference is. The Ascends are known to be bit bright, which would probably make them clearer in a comparison with the SR71.

[mi bill]

hello augerpro. yes the 340 sounds more clear and a little louder. maybe in the tweeter. are you thinking of building sr 71?. mi bill

[mi bill]

I was sort of expecting about a 40% improvement. because I read in the accend forum that the seierras were 40% better than the 340. I was sceptical about that however. mi bill

[augerpro]

You really must level match the speakers to get an accurate comparison. The louder speaker will sound better, and there is no way to mentally compensate for that fact. It will always sound clearer, and "bigger" even though it really may not be. After you level match them start comparing. Which one has more detail throughout the spectrum? Which one is more natural or musical? Which one has a better soundstage or imaging? It will take some time to really get to know both these speakers.

[mi bill]

do i need a sound meter or can i do that on my yamaha htr 5990 or 5890. I had it on direct sound and two chanel stereo. they both have good imaging and ss. they are the best speakers I have ever had so far. I cant really compaire them to anything except each other. they sound real good when all 4 are playing. maybe i can glue the sr71 on top of the 340 se. now that i hear how good these are Im wondering what else is out there. my last speakers for about ten years were mtx dual 12s. now I use those for speaker stands. mi bill

[jdybnis]

You need a sound level meter.

Personally, I've never been that great at A/B comparisons. I usually listen to one pair for 3-4 days to get acclimated to the sound. Then switch to the other pair. When I switch to less transparent / higher distortion speakers the difference is like night and day. I don't know why, but going the other way, switching from higher distortion speakers to lower distortion doesn't stick out very much.

[mi bill]

maybe that is the case Josh. i will get a meter. is it an spl meter? I will listen for a while. but I am anxious to make more speakers. the sr71s are for my wifes dinning room and kitchin. they will replace her under the cabnit sony radio. I will need another pair for my upstiars listining room. Im hooked for sure. bill

[---k---]

That is surprising to me. When I had my 340SE, CJD and I got together and listened to them versus his RS150MTM, and his was clearly better.

But, I must say, it depending on the music and volume levels. Some simple peices I had a hard time telling the difference. Other more complex music, it was fairly obvious.

What are you listening to to judge? What format is the source matieral in (CDs or MP3)? And, how seriously are you listening for subtle details?

[mi bill]

hey there Ryan. I think I remember a post that siad someone brought over madulas or something like that and after they compaired them to 340s he said he was going to sell his 340s that is why I was expecting large improvement. I listend to pandora radio hooked to my computer. jazz. eric clapton diana krell. and some cds on a sony 300 disc player. and tried to focus on voices and insterments. im going to try to put some pics of the consruction on here. bill

[mi bill]

p.s. I like your sub. while I was waiting for my sr71 kit I sent for a rlp 18 Im going to put it in a cabnit over the tv in the living room. I have a klipsh rw 12 that plays with my speakers in the music room. I got it before I started reading about diy. so now I would like to build a sub for music to. bill

[mi bill]

sr 71

trying to add pics

[---k---]

Well, JonW brought his ModulaMT's over and we listened side by side, but he didn't have any Ascends to sell.

You're NOT going to hear the difference using Pandora. The quality just isn't there. With most of the music you note there, the differences may not smack you in the face. I'm not sure, I've never heard the SR71.

I'll have to look back over what I was listening to at the time that the differences showed up. I know even after I built the Khans, I made the comment that the differences between them and the Ascends weren't obvious on some music.

Also, try turning up the volume. The differences between CJD's and the Ascends became more obvious as I turned up the volume.

The biggest thing is just time and becoming familiar enough with the music. The more I listen, the more I can tell the differences.

[mi bill]

yes I think you are rhight because that is starting to happen. I put on some frank sinatra today. bill

[mi bill]

sr71

[peter_m]

sr71

hu??????

[Carl V]

Level match with a spl. meter.
Don't worry about rebuilding to a 'slightly' different volume.

Use very good & familiar source material
...the simpler the better i.e., solo guitar or voice or duos.

I have no experience with either of these speakers.

Good luck & have fun.

[mi bill]

hey Carl v thanks that sounds like good advise. i have them hanging from the cieling on 20" pipe threaded into the top of the speaker to a built in froor flange. on the post that just says sr71 above i was trying to include some pictures. it didnt work my computor said it was to large. i will keep trying. i got frustrated and stoped for awhile but i wont give up.

[jeff_free69]

I have the Sr-71, but am not familiar with the others(340 se). if you think the SR-71 aren't as good , it may be because they are pretty flat, response wise. There are several tweaks proposed in the article you may want to consider.

I've been playing with the crossover a lot for a couple of months. I'm fairly settled on this now - simple tweeter level adjustment: lower R0 slightly from 4.0 ohms. Mine actually measured originally at 4.1, and i have it now at about 3.7. This gives it slightly more presence.

I also tried the baffle step tweaks by reducing the woofer L7 to 2.5 mH, but that proved way too "forward" for my purposes (close in listening) so this may not be a cost effective experiment.

If you're looking for a big "hi-fi" sound don't overlook top octave response shaping (remove C4 R5 completely). Its easy to throw in a switch for this. I like this on older material and when i want the SR71 to sound sparkly like my other hifi speakers
( i have no EQ in my chain)

[mi bill]

hey there Mr Jeff. first off the SE is acsend acoustics mtm 6.5 areo gel with a seas 1 in. soft dome. I think the sr71 is as good or better. just not markedly better. I was hoping for a large improvement. however the more i listen the better I like. as for the crossover the reason I built a kit was because I dint know crossovers. this is my fist build. I'm still trying to put pictures on here. please do you have any suggestions. how do you do it.

[ttan98]

mi bill,

Don't be discouraged a possibility is that both speakers are equally good because are designed by competent designers. That is why you did not hear that much difference between them.

If you build and OB speakers or ribbon or horn, etc, you will hear a difference straight away.

[augerpro]

Mr. Bill have you looked at Zaph's build page for the SR71? http://zaphaudio.com/SR71.html

There are numerous options for tweaking. I can tell you that most of the sound is the crossover first, drivers second. Try some of the tweaks, you may find a big change that suits your taste better.

BTW did you ever level match them when comparing? Trust me the mind will trick you if the levels are not the same. Let me ask, do you find the 340SE's to be a little louder than the SR71's?

[---k---]

Mr. Bill. I understand where you're coming from. I've been there. My wife had a hard time telling the difference between the SVS SB-1 and the Paradigm Studio 40s. It takes a while and serious listening.

I'm still not sure what you're listening to. A couple CDs that I was listening to last night:

http://www.amazon.com/W%C3%A1tina-Andy-Palacio-Garifuna-Collective/dp/B000LP4OPQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210081460&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Missing-You-Yeewnii-Baaba-Maal/dp/B00005A7PH/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1210081019&sr=8-2

Not sure if you're into African music, I know I wasn't until recently, but these albums are absolutely stunning. A real musical treat to listen to. Pick one or both of them up from Amazon, and let me know what you think.

[jeff_free69]

mi bill-
- I never posted photos here, but I've been meaning to; my SR-71s are looking pretty cool in glossy black in my studio..

- I bought the prebuilt crossover too, on the premise that i didn't want to mess with a good design. But the 3rd critical factor, aside from crossover and speakers is the room / placement. I listen close up, in a very well treated studio, so there were some things I had to address. Most of tweaks I tied are very subtle, and you don't even notice them till you sit down and focus, using some known source material. (thats why it took many weeks of going back forth).

Most of my specific tweaks apply ONLY to my specific situation. But the moral of the story is that placement and the room could be masking the differences too.

But as I mentioned previously , if you want to impress someone with a guilty pleasure, simply try unsoldering one of the legs of C4/R5 to add some sweetness to the top octave. (I have mine on a switch).

RYAN:
Thanks for the Baaba Maal link , he 's one of my favorite African performers and puts on amazing shows. World music is generally great to listen to because its not cluttered and overly dense like typical rock. This brings up an interesting dilemma - what the hack do you listen to to evaulate subtle speaker tweaks? How do you really know what something should sound like?? Maybe they intended for something to sound very forward...etc .. I think I'l start a new thread

[mi bill]

Say hey special ---k--- Yes those songs were a rhythmic delight. I had a little trouble understanding the lyrics. I also liked baaba maal,s (koni). Reminds me of sun splash at Jamaica in 86. I have read Zaphs pages. but I don't know jack about cross overs. I'm going to build another pair of Sr,s. this time maybe I wont glue the box closed. Fist though I have to build in a LP 18 above my TV. Still trying to upload pics. maybe its my Linksys wireless router down stairs. don't know yet.

[cjd]

FWIW, the differences to me between those SVS and the Paradigms were painfully (in the case of the Paradigms) obvious.

Remember also that differences may not exist on simple vocal stuff - rock'n'roll is bloody simple to make sound good. Female jazz vocalists too (the Ascends tend to bring out any edginess though... one of their faults is a harsh 1-3kHz, as well as lack of body). Throw deeply layered orchestral stuff and sound may mush together, where a better system will let you hear each instrument (or family of instruments).

Listen for a while to the SR71's, then go back. See what you miss.

C

[mi bill]

exactly. right on MR C

[mi bill]

speaker

[jeff_free69]

paint's taking a long time to dry, eh?

(looks like the same photo - any new ones ?)

[mi bill]

Sr-71

yes.

[mi bill]

sr-71

more.

[mi bill]

Sr-71

speakers

[mi bill]

sr-71

speakers

[mi bill]

sr-71

good