So, I replaced the stock Alps RK16 pot with an Alps RK27 in the Jolida 102B and the results were not subtle. Gone is the shrilled and hard upper end, which seems to bring the lower end much more up in balance. I can actually now listen to these speakers and enjoy them at moderate to loud volume, even without a subwoofer. Adding my sub to them made a very nice full range blend. I enjoyed them for a bit of time yesterday, listening to a number of reference recordings and though, for what little I paid for the Heresy's and the Jolida, thought, "this is great sound". I'm mean "really great sound". The imaging is not in the same camp as my Classe'/Maggie system and the tweeters are outclassed by the Maggies ribbon but this is good. Very good, actually.
The reason I replaced the pot was that after two RK16 pots, which seemed to track inconsistently as you turned up the volume......creating a slight collapse of the sound stage to the left, I decided to go with a pot that was constructed a bit better. Well, that paid off in more ways than I would have thought. The change in timbre wrought by the pot change with the Heresy was shocking and wasn't something I planned or was looking for. It totally surprised me and now lends me to correct my overall impression of the Heresy. Sure, they are still limited in the low end but now there is more punch down there making them serviceable as a stand alone pair. I'm sure that if I got them back closer to a wall they would put out a bit more energy down there. The biggest revised impression, though, is in the upper mids and high end, where before, at reasonable listening volume they became too shouty, they are now much more enjoyable. It is like there are new mids and tweeters in place of the old ones. Yes, they still have an up front upper mid and lower treb and have a color to them that deviates from absolute neutral but they are not in the badly colored camp, which they were prior to the pot change.
I'm going to be listening to these over the next week or so and will get an even better understanding of their sonic signature but as for now, I need to modify my impression. Now, I like them, where before I couldn't understand why anyone would want them outside of playing them under 75dbs. Yesterday I was kicking 105dbs through them, with a sub, and I was as relaxed and engaged in the music as I am with my bigger system. Prior to the pot change I would not have been able to listen to them at this volume at all and actually couldn't stand them beyond 75-80dbs.
Why did a simple pot change make such a big difference? Got me! This was an identical change with the exception of the attention to construction. This may explain why after the 102b Jolida went from the RK16 to the RK27. Anyone who has the older 102b with the R16 would be well served to swap out the pot. BTW, the RK27 is not a drop in replacement and some mods need to be done to make it fit. The back plasitc cover of the RK27 has to be removed so that it will fit between the board and the faceplate, as well as the nub used to keep the pot stationary has to be filed down, since it does not fit in the pre drilled hole made for the RK16. Finally, the board sockets are not spaced the same for the dual volume. This is not a big issues though. Simply insert the back three in the socket. The front three will line up with the front of the board and by folding them over they will over lap the other three sockets, which you can then solder. Works perfectly! Initially I though I would have to run some wire but was nicely surprised by this alternative!!!!
So, lesson learned. The Jolida sounded good with other speakers using the RK16 but not with the Heresy. The Heresy has a reputation for being able to run on low watts and tubes, therefore I thought it should have been well served with the Jolida. When it wasn't I blamed the Heresy. I should have known better. A while back I used the Hersey for movie night with a class D amp and thought it sounded good but waived that off since it was not music. I should have tried it with music using the class D amp. Well, maybe not because if I did I would have never know that by replacing the pot in the Jolida would have made an enjoyable combination. So, this twisted path ends with a win/win for me. On a final thought, I'm going to have to find some time to run that class D amp in combination with the Heresy for music and get some idea on how that combination works in comparison with the Jolida.
I'll report back later. Sorry for the long ramble!
Topic: Klipsch heresy old school (Read 8661 times)