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frankmarsi

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4-14-11

Well to all you folks who ever doubted the mighty Phase Linear 400 and Phase Linear 700 amps; please read the May-June T.A.S. magazine and you’ll see that ‘out-of-the-blue’, the magazine gave the long over due acclaim and praise for a lofty ‘second-place’ of these two individual amplifiers as being; “The Most Significant Amplifiers of All Time”!

First place awards went to the ‘big-brother’ of the first taste I ever had, which was a Dyna ST-35 in my system, the ‘most’, yes… the “Dyna ST-70” and she took the first place award of all time. Out of the numerous points that can be discussed here is one:

All these long and lonely years of possessing a ‘dirty face’, because of the amps that I loved all these decades, so I went with-out shame. And to think, AR speakers have always been aligned with “Dynaco” and “Phase Linear”. And also have I, even to this very same moment all I listen to and have always used is the ‘over-achieving’ duo of AR and PL components.

Think of it, T.A.S. out of nowhere drops the name of these two most worthy amplifiers as being the ‘most-significant-of all-time’, WOW! Hey, don’t doubt this, and pull your hand out of your pocket, just read the too short and précise article. You’ll see!

So….., now, where do all of ‘us’ AR, Phase Linear and Dynaco amp users gonna sit tonite with our thoughts about what we may choose as our pleasure? Other’s? No, just yours.

For me, my position has never changed, nor wavered, true to my convictions now as I was then more than 40 years ago, and still holding tight and very strong.

All of you other peeps who may use your free choice of amp, are welcome to maybe re-think about what you may have heard from all of those nay-sayers which may have caused you to doubt and be with-out.

The article didn’t say these were the ‘best-if-all-time’ amplifiers, but nonetheless the article was such an open admission from such an elitist publication that maintains such a more than ‘highest-in-the-high’ position of stereo component opinion, it is almost overwhelming! This mag is usually delving and only accrediting to mostly mega-buck and modern day stereo components. This wording is not only long over-do but, welcome and certainly deserved!

I guess all of you users of Dyna and PL amps can sleep comfortably tonite knowing as I do, that I’ve always been ‘spot-on’ with my choice of speakers and amps.

So, tonite as usual, I will turn-on my two PL-700’s and four LST’s, along with my other choices, a mint SL-1200mk1 T.T./S.M.E. 3009 with a AT-150MLX and sit back, all full-well knowing that I’m not far off from ‘significant’ nirvana.

I’m too happy.

FM

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The List:

10 Audio Research Reference 600/610T

9 NAD 3020 Integrated

8 Threshold 400A/800A

7 Krell KSA-50/KSA-100

6 Marantz 8B/9

5 Mark Levinson ML-2

4 McIntosh MC275

3 Audio Research D150

2 Phase Linear 400/700

1 Dynaco ST-70

While I've seen many AR systems driven by Dyna, Mac, Marantz, and Phase Linear, I don't believe I've ever seen one matched with an Audio Research, Krell, or Levinson amplifier.

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4-14-11

I guess all of you users of Dyna and PL amps can sleep comfortably tonite knowing as I do, that I’ve always been ‘spot-on’ with my choice of speakers and amps.

So, tonite as usual, I will turn-on my two PL-700’s and four LST’s, along with my other choices, a mint SL-1200mk1 T.T. with a AT-150MLX and sit back, all full-well knowing that I’m not far off from ‘significant’ nirvana.

I’m too happy.

FM

Hi Frank

I posted here a few weeks ago if anyone had knowledge of your whereabouts, no replies.

I've been away for a long time, I missed your witty write-ups.

Happy to see you have still got your sense of humour.

I guess your wearing those AR woofer baskets as a hat didn't affect you. LOL

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Hi Frank

I posted here a few weeks ago if anyone had knowledge of your whereabouts, no replies.

I've been away for a long time, I missed your witty write-ups.

Happy to see you have still got your sense of humour.

I guess your wearing those AR woofer baskets as a hat didn't affect you. LOL

4-16-11, 5PM EST

Hey Vern, how's your system doing? And how about you?

I forgot to mention, if you have the publication in front of you; TAS mentions further, about only a few of their deep dark secret feelings about the "Phase", vaguely uncovering very little, and how it seems to me, they almost feel it to be still a mystical amp. Those experiences, times, and knowledge to most of those 50 som-tins who run that magazine, were not even there at the dawning of high-power amps’ rage for the most part. Let’s not even talk about the history of the streets of NYC. And to think I was there all of my life. And every day I walked those streets, I deeply thought and felt and searched my soul as deep as I could to realize and appreciate all of the people's (who came before me) lives and feelings that they all felt as deeply as I could possibly imagine! Just alone, those big and old buildings which were more than overwhelming to me and I'm sure all of of those other humans before me! How could any human being ever live and survive a natural human life here?

I was there and I was so scared and at the same time somewhat confident that my decision to buy this new companies product was correct. Well, especially after I hooked my first PL-400 to my Dyna PAS-3X pre-amp (twice) that I built from a kit, the sound was as my memory still serves me correctly in a word; 'Great'! In fact I never heard such a system before like mine! You can use that stupid misused current expression, 'awesome' that is so common these days, especially from peeps who probably can't even spell it much less actually know what it means. Finally my AR-3as were singing at their best!

When I first started 'cruising' NYC hi-end shops and guitar shops (after my first times in '58 to '62 with my father), SAE, Phase Linear, and a small bunch of other names were the prevalent names on most shelves. I actually with a friend bought a “Vox” speaker column for our band, as "Vox" was just coming to America cause the “Beatles” made those speakers for PA use popular. “Marshalls’, “Fenders” “Ampegs”, “Acoustic” and others in the guitar shops were popular too.

Of course the AR speakers were quietly tucked away in some back area, sitting ugly with no doubt blown tweeters as usual. Most shops pushed JBL, Altec, Wharfdale, etc. etc. Even ‘Mac’ and ‘Dyna’ took a back seat, cause they were ‘tubes’ and ‘solid-state’ was making its big entrance to the consumer world. "E.V" Patricians were far and few between and actually absent in mostly every store. Shops here on 6th Ave. and also on 44th,45th Street, 2nd. Ave, and 8th St. and even ‘Bleeker’ St. carried the big profit margin names of course. Shure’s Type II was the ‘man’, but even at that point the Shure Type III was taking over.

I remember taking my PL400 to "Analoque" on 17th St. and 6th. when she first blew because I was over-driving my AR-3as. In their shop were many. many shelves holding burnt PL-Dual 500s, PL-700s and certainly PL-400s. I became fearful and doubtful about my choice of amp I first bought in 1974, the PL-400. I later learned that most people much like myself pushed high-power amps like they never knew they could.

Oh, sure they fixed it but with mismatched trannies like NEC D255s along with PL-901 some'tins, the wrong way to go, but who knew?

‘Baby-Boomers’ were still innocent after the WWII years, as was I.

Now my main system amps are using out-dated Motorola’s 24s' and 25s, with a higher 'SOA' and higher capacitor ratings for, about twice the original value. M11099’s or so are the correct way to go now if you wanna know.

I sit while I listen to my LSTs with full confidence that my amps will not fail, however as with any other amp when driving low impedances there's always a doubt.

But then I think of you Vern, that's why I just bought 20 more FNM-2 fuses, (at $2.24 per fuse) cause two nites ago I blew two in the right channel at the same time. No, I will never learn how to listen to Porcupine-Tree or Sound-Garden at low levels, but hey!

Here’s to the bottom of all that we’ve had to this point!

America is being taken for a fool!

Tomorrow will be a different story, or how do they say: “those who don’t know history are condemned to re-live it!” For better or for worse.

FM

P.S. T.A.S. even made mention or seemingly and or implied: that the hotter the PL amps get, the better they sound.

Damn, they're right! I've felt that to be true from my first 400 in '74. To this day my PL-700s, 'rebuilds' mind you do sound better after pushing them hard most of the time, they'll take it too. It all goes to show you.

fm.

FM here, I ask you all to listen to the CD of the "Day The THe Earth Stood Still" on your ARs. Loudly that is.

Get back to me.

fm

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4-16-11, 5PM EST

Hey Vern, how's your system doing? And how about you?

But then I think of you Vern, that's why I just bought 20 more FNM-2 fuses, (at $2.24 per fuse) cause two nites ago I blew two in the right channel at the same time. No, I will never learn how to listen to Porcupine-Tree or Sound-Garden at low levels, but hey!

Here’s to the bottom of all that we’ve had to this point!

America is being taken for a fool!

Tomorrow will be a different story, or how do they say: “those who don’t know history are condemned to re-live it!” For better or for worse.

FM

P.S. T.A.S. even made mention or seemingly and or implied: that the hotter the PL amps get, the better they sound.

Damn, they're right! I've felt that to be true from my first 400 in '74. To this day my PL-700s, 'rebuilds' mind you do sound better after pushing them hard most of the time, they'll take it too. It all goes to show you.

fm.

FM here, I ask you all to listen to the CD of the "Day The THe Earth Stood Still" on your ARs. Loudly that is.

Get back to me.

fm

Hi Frank

Frank please email me at the email address directly below my name, please.

Great price on those FNM-2 fuses, Frank.

Thank you for the heads up on the movie CD.

Are you still running Microstatic Tweeter Arrays above your LST's?

I uploaded a few photos and literature a while back on the Microstatics.

A very kind CSP member allowed me to buy one of his spare pairs.

Check out the Dynaco Dynamax setup in the Dynaco section.

Dynacophil posted this rare speaker docuement and it is close to the most recent write-ups.

I can't remember if you have just a stacked pair or stacked pair front and rear of AR-LST's.

I have more Microstatic literature to post in the future.

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Hi Frank

Frank please email me at the email address directly below my name, please.

Great price on those FNM-2 fuses, Frank.

Thank you for the heads up on the movie CD.

Are you still running Microstatic Tweeter Arrays above your LST's?

I uploaded a few photos and literature a while back on the Microstatics.

A very kind CSP member allowed me to buy one of his spare pairs.

Check out the Dynaco Dynamax setup in the Dynaco section.

Dynacophil posted this rare speaker docuement and it is close to the most recent write-ups.

I can't remember if you have just a stacked pair or stacked pair front and rear of AR-LST's.

I have more Microstatic literature to post in the future.

4-17-11

I know this may sound strange, oh gee, especially coming from me but, I haven’t seen a pair of ‘Micro-Static’ tweeters for sale on eBay in a long time. In fact since I bought the last pair I saw about a year or more ago, there hasn’t been any at all.

My first pair I bought in late ‘73, or maybe it was ’74, when AR owners had no real recourse. When I first installed them I was so happy, too happy that I didn’t have to deal with sending my 3as back to AR, which was always good of them to supply boxes, etc. but it always meant not being able to listen to music for a few weeks.

For me, ‘Micro-Statics’ are a ‘God’-send. Yes I do have tweeters ‘almost’ ready to install, but having those little LST-ish tweeter boxes has made me lazy. I know that AR’s tweeters do sound more realistic and certainly better, but ‘Micro-Statics’ don’t blow-out, I guess because of their 16 ohm rating, the amp can hardly even ‘see’ them.

I shamefully will admit that I have four pairs.

And Vern, yes when I go hunting for fuses, I go hunting, and I bag the best prices.

I could never live without fuses because of my insanely bad habit of enjoying loud volumes. Heck, a few weeks ago ‘Mexico-Mike’ mentioned sitting back a enjoying low volumes, all due respects Mike, but I’m nuts about enjoying AR’s with large amounts of gain. You see, I go back to a time and to paraphrase the TAS article, when low-efficiency speakers sounded dull and reticent all the time. When the ‘Phase’ hit the market, AR’s, I feel finally received their just rewards and sounded so much better when pushed to ‘life-like’ volumes, which is what I do, and why I have stayed in the same place with my amp and speaker choices. And even though it’s been said that AR had almost one third of the speaker market here in the US back then, anyone who owned them was severely slighted because of low power amps, which were the norm prior to the big transistor amps arrival. And Vern regarding ‘stacking’; I use 4, two on each side. I have another pair of LST’s I intend to install as rear channels when I relocate soon. My Carver 4000, a wonderful vinyl pre-amp gives me the ability to do that. Then, watch out, cause I haven’t heard something like that before and I can only imagine what it would be like.

I have learned to restrain myself from buying any more speakers or amps. Now I just indulge in small vinyl accessories and the like and even in that area I’ve stopped buying. I just finished buying all the S.M.E. stuff I’ll ever need.

This hobby can be crazy when you loose control like I have these last few years.

Now, I look for used records, wash them and simply as Carl would say; ‘enjoy the music’.

FM

P.S. Yes "The Day The Earth Stood Still" CD (can't find it on vinyl anywhere)is great music to listen to loud on AR's especially. Bernard Hermann is one of my favorite modern day composers. I enjoy powerful music immensely.

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I haven't seen a pair of 'Micro-Static' tweeters for sale on eBay in a long time. In fact since I bought the last pair I saw about a year or more ago, there hasn't been any at all.

Hi Frank

HA! I snagged a pair as a B-I-N on ePay one month ago :P

I'm with you--I like the MicroStatics. Have been using them with my KLH Twelves and that is one fantastic sounding system. I "may" use my 2nd pair with my newly-refurbished AR3s, although I'm not sure. They have the HiVi tweets and may not "need" the MicroStatics.

Happy hunting.

Kent

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I used microstatics with my 3As and liked them quite a bit back in the day. I can't see much use for them with LSTs but have to admit I've never tried them...

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I have six of these I picked up at a yard sale years ago. They make a big difference in the sound of the lower end AR models with cone tweeters, such as the 4 or 6 series. Barely noticeable on higher range models like the 3a and 2ax with dome tweeters. But my wife saw them in a box when we were unpacking from a move shortly after we got married and declared them "cute," and when your wife likes the look of a piece of your audio gear you find a way to put it out on display whether you think it makes much difference or not!

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I have six of these I picked up at a yard sale years ago. They make a big difference in the sound of the lower end AR models with cone tweeters, such as the 4 or 6 series. Barely noticeable on higher range models like the 3a and 2ax with dome tweeters. But my wife saw them in a box when we were unpacking from a move shortly after we got married and declared them "cute," and when your wife likes the look of a piece of your audio gear you find a way to put it out on display whether you think it makes much difference or not!

I must respectfully disagree with the contention that the Microstatics make a “barely noticeable” difference on the 2ax-5-3a speakers with the ¾” dome tweeter.

The Microstatics were made for those speakers. Microacoustics even showed the Micros sitting on top of the 3a in their lit.

The original Classic ARs were well-known for having a “reticent” high end. We all know that, and their ‘polite, smooth’ HF sound is one of their charms (along with their many other great attributes). But let’s not re-write history and pretend that that wasn’t the case.

AR intentionally sacrificed HF output for wide dispersion. There was no ferro-fluid cooling in those days, so in order to achieve wide dispersion, AR went to a very small voice coil tweeter (3/4”). This gave them the small-diameter dome which delivered great HF dispersion, but at the expense of power-handling. Therefore, the HF sections always had to be driven at a lower level through the crossover in order to keep the tweeter out of thermal danger. Even so, many a ¾” tweeter lost its life on the Hi-Fi battlefield.

(Oh and BTW, just to clear up any technical misconception: AR didn’t sacrifice flat on-axis HF response in order to get a flat power response with wide dispersion. That makes no technical sense. If the on-axis response is already low—and it was in the Classic ¾” models—then by definition the far-field HF power response will be even lower, since power response is a measurement of the total output of the speaker, in all directions. On-axis is the direction of greatest output; and if that’s low to begin with, then the sum/average of everything else from all directions will be even lower.

It’s more accurate to say that AR sacrificed flat or hot on-axis HF response in favor of a smooth far-field power response, since a wide dispersion tweeter like the ¾” dome will not exhibit the sharp drop-off from on- to off-axis that other tweeters do, and hence its integrated far-field response will likely be smoother. Not ‘flat,’ but ‘smooth.’ And a smooth response is a good goal, because it means the speaker will sound more consistent and less directionally/placement-critical.)

The Microstatic had a choice of either 3.5 or 7 kHz crossover settings. When the 3.5 kHz setting was chosen and the Micros’ level control was advanced close to max (both perfectly reasonable choices by the user), the difference was extremely noticeable, to say the least.

Now, one might say that those simple, unsophisticated little cone tweeters—resembling nothing so much as transistor-radio speakers—had high a degree of coloration compared to the AR dome, and you didn’t care for their somewhat brash sound quality. Fair enough. That’s a legitimate point of view.

But “barely noticeable”?

Hardly.

Steve F.

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Yes, barely noticeable, at least on my speakers in my living room. Perhaps it is just that my living rooms tend to be more "live" than most peoples' (big room with no carpet, no curtains, not much in the way of soft, cushy upholstered stuff, etc.), but with the MS on the 3as and 3axs and set at 3.5 kHz and full volume I can switch them in and out and not notice any difference in the sound at all unless I'm standing close enough to be able to put my ears within a foot or two of the individual drivers.

OTOH, on my 6s, which are considerably "darker" than my 3as and 2axs and are in my office, which is much smaller and does have carpeting, the difference is like night and day.

I should point out that I find this to be pretty consistent with the original MA literature, which stressed that the MS' purpose was not to increase HF output but to boost dispersion, but YMMV.

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Yes, barely noticeable, at least on my speakers in my living room. Perhaps it is just that my living rooms tend to be more "live" than most peoples' (big room with no carpet, no curtains, not much in the way of soft, cushy upholstered stuff, etc.), but with the MS on the 3as and 2axs and set at 3.5 kHz and full volume I can switch them in and out and not notice any difference in the sound at all unless I'm standing close enough to be able to put my ears within a foot or two of the individual drivers.

OTOH, on my 6s, which are considerably "darker" than my 3as and 2axs and are in my office, which is much smaller and does have carpeting, the difference is like night and day.

I should point out that I find this to be pretty consistent with the original MA literature, which stressed that the MS' purpose was not to increase HF output but to boost dispersion, but YMMV.

In perfect candor, that line in the original MA lit was total BS, designed to not offend either AR nor their products' owners.

The MS provided both--an HF boost and an increase in dispersion.

I completely accept your impression of your Microstatics in your listening room. I'm not about to tell you what you hear; only what I hear.

I've heard Micros on countless ARs in countless rooms, with countless systems. The difference has always been quite noticeable. To me, anyway.

Improvement? In the ear of the beholder. As you say, for both noticeability and quality, YMMV.

Steve F.

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It's not just what I hear. My wife, being mostly homebound these days, listens to the living room system more than I do, and has asked why the MS doesn't seem to make as much of a difference there as it does on the speakers in my office. So there are at least two of us in that listening sample.

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It's not just what I hear. My wife, being mostly homebound these days, listens to the living room system more than I do, and has asked why the MS doesn't seem to make as much of a difference there as it does on the speakers in my office. So there are at least two of us in that listening sample.

Again, I'm not about to tell you what either you or your wife hears in your room with your system.

In Julian Hirsch's review of the Micros (or was it High Fidelity Magazine's review? I forget), he says something to the effect of "....without them, it makes you think that the tweeter in your speaker is burned out.....you might be unwilling to give them up....."

So, someone notices.

As always, YMMV.

Steve F.

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In Julian Hirsch's review of the Micros (or was it High Fidelity Magazine's review? I forget), he says something to the effect of "....without them, it makes you think that the tweeter in your speaker is burned out.....you might be unwilling to give them up....."

IIRC, Hirsch's reference system was a specially built AR-LST. I can see how removing the MS from a 3a or 2ax suddenly could sound like killing one tweeter on an LST. But we're talking about drivers that operate in ranges where a lot of people now need the toilet roll trick to be able to tell for sure whether their tweeters have gone out. If not for the fact that I bought these 20 years ago, I might attribute the listening experience to the fact that we're both over 50, but my hearing still tested pretty well when I was in my 30's.

Right now I have the MSs from the office system off to use their usual speaker terminals on the amp to test a pair of AR-1ms that I just had refoamed, and of course the sound is hugely different because these go down to under 100Hz. I wonder what would happen if I modded the MSs with new caps to drop the low end of their range from 3.5kHz down to around 2.5kHz...?

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Again, I'm not about to tell you what either you or your wife hears in your room with your system.

In Julian Hirsch's review of the Micros (or was it High Fidelity Magazine's review? I forget), he says something to the effect of "....without them, it makes you think that the tweeter in your speaker is burned out.....you might be unwilling to give them up....."

So, someone notices.

As always, YMMV.

Steve F.

It was SR. See attached. I happen to agree with Julian but I wish he had described his testing method (including the speakers he used these with). And yes, YMMV B)

Kent

post-101828-0-00930400-1303400565_thumb.

post-101828-0-31567000-1303400566_thumb.

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IIRC, Hirsch's reference system was a specially built AR-LST. I can see how removing the MS from a 3a or 2ax suddenly could sound like killing one tweeter on an LST. But we're talking about drivers that operate in ranges where a lot of people now need the toilet roll trick to be able to tell for sure whether their tweeters have gone out. If not for the fact that I bought these 20 years ago, I might attribute the listening experience to the fact that we're both over 50, but my hearing still tested pretty well when I was in my 30's.

Julian's SR report said nothing whatsoever about testing the MS's with the LST. I doubt he did; I suspect very strongly he simply plopped them on top of a common bookshelf speaker (probably an AR) and used a toggle switch with 20 ft' wires to turn them on and off from his listening position. I'd bet that was his 'test.' And I'm sure most people would agree. If Julian were still with us, I'd ask him, since I knew him pretty well.

Re: Hearing, I'm a member of the BAS. One of our members is an audiologist and runs a SOTA hearing-testing and hearing-aid facility.

A few years ago, we had our monthly BAS meeting at his office, where he performed hearing tests on all of us in his specially-calibrated test chamber. Most commercial hearing test chambers go to 8 kHz. His goes right up to 20 kHz, because he's an audiophile and he finds this inherently interesting.

Anyway, the aging, graying membership of the BAS tested pretty much like you'd have expected: a lot of cliff dives after 6-8-10 kHz.

I was never a rock-and-roll junkie as a teen; I never worked construction during my college summers, I always took care of my ears.

And it showed in these tests: Strong response to just past 15k, and a sharp drop-off after that. I was 52 then; I'm 56 now. I'm never going to test my hearing again, because I don't want to know!! 15k is my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Steve F.

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From my mid 20's until the age of 40 I was working in an industry that put heavy stress on hearing protection and regular testing (as often as twice a year, depending on what we were working on). As late as age 40 I tested at close to 19k. My last test was about 5 years ago and I was surprised to find I still scored around 17k. Good hearing protection habits learned young do pay off. But that was single tones. My discrimination score has dropped from the 90's down into the upper 70's. Which may help explain why my music preferences have shifted more toward instrumental music.

My wife says my hearing is particularly faulty in the "Jody range." :)

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From my mid 20's until the age of 40 I was working in an industry that put heavy stress on hearing protection and regular testing (as often as twice a year, depending on what we were working on). As late as age 40 I tested at close to 19k. My last test was about 5 years ago and I was surprised to find I still scored around 17k. Good hearing protection habits learned young do pay off. But that was single tones. My discrimination score has dropped from the 90's down into the upper 70's. Which may help explain why my music preferences have shifted more toward instrumental music.

My wife says my hearing is particularly faulty in the "Jody range." :)

I'm not familiar with the term "Jody range."

In my late 30's, I worked at a tech company that had lots of research labs. One of the engineers used a Sony CRT monitor that had a very slightly defective flyback transformer that wasn't properly shielded. It emitted a constant, low-level 15.7 kHz howl. The engineer wasn't bothered by it.

I could hear it in the hallway through his closed lab door as I walked past his room. It made the hair on my neck stand up.

Ah, those were the days.

Steve F.

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From my mid 20's until the age of 40 I was working in an industry that put heavy stress on hearing protection and regular testing (as often as twice a year, depending on what we were working on). As late as age 40 I tested at close to 19k. My last test was about 5 years ago and I was surprised to find I still scored around 17k. Good hearing protection habits learned young do pay off. But that was single tones. My discrimination score has dropped from the 90's down into the upper 70's. Which may help explain why my music preferences have shifted more toward instrumental music.

My wife says my hearing is particularly faulty in the "Jody range." :)

At age 62, I was very happy when my ENT told me I had the hearing acuity of a child. I was quickly brought down by my wife who commented "Yes, and you LISTEN like one too!" ;)

Kent

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At age 62, I was very happy when my ENT told me I had the hearing acuity of a child. I was quickly brought down by my wife who commented "Yes, and you LISTEN like one too!" ;)

Kent

Hi Kent

I believe that it is called, "selective hearing disorder". LOL

I believe that all married men develope it over a period of time. LOL

Women probably do as well. LOL

I added more of my commentary to the, NEWS section, today, regarding, the "SOUND ADVICE" topic, that I started here several years ago.

Likely the best way IMHO of testing and commenting on the pros and cons of the Microstatic tweeters, is to

listen to music with highs that are very cleanly recorded.

Maybe listen for 1/2 hour or so.

Seated front row center.

This test should be done at normal listening levels and with the switch set at 3.5 Kh and the level control set at maximum and the

AR speaker level controls also set at maximum.

Close your eyes and intermittantly have a friend switch off the pair of Microstatics.

This should have a very noticeable effect.

I wrote several years ago regarding my one time only weekend living with my own AR-3A's, a borrowed pair of Microstatic tweeters and a borrowed pair of

Janszen 1-30 tweeter array.

The total sound was extremely outstanding and exciting, to say the very least, I haven't forgotten that much.

The clarity and room filling effect was to die for.

There was 3 Russian sailors, on shore leave and a local doctor friend who owned Quad Electrostatics with an AR-3 woofer for bass in attendance.

The sailors were more interested in TV, than hifi, and the doctor wanted the music much louder.

I was using only my AR amplifier at that time.

When the one set on one channel was completely disconneted, leaving just the AR-3A, the clarity and brilliance sound void that was created was undeniablly there.

I cannot in all honesty comment on possible clashes with the different driver frequencies or dispersion or covering the same sound spectrum.

Also I did not have them any where near long enough to evaluate the increased brightness and if there would be listener fatigue from them.

The room was carpeted and the rest was gyproc, so all in all, a slightly hard reflective room.

I also could not suck up to my former wife enough to let me keep them. LOL

And believe me, I realy tried. LOL

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My MS tweeters are on the 3a and 2ax pairs in my LR HT setup and on the 6s in my office and are on 24/7. Although I think their effect is probably being totally lost in my super-bright, super-reflective LR, the effect is significant in the office and fatigue in either space is non-existent. I probably wouldn't have bought SIX of them at their original price (just one pair for the 6s), but $20 for all in a yard sale box 20 years ago was money well spent.

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