Druid 08 upgrade kit customer feedback
Sean, I thought I would give you some feedback concerning the driver upgrade.Installation
Instructional video and procedure conceptually very straight forward. The Fast On terminals were bit of a pain to take off as well as reconnecting new interface. It took quite a bit of time to "walk" the terminals off the connection point. This is a good thing for a solid contact, but you made it look soooooooooooo easy:) The same issue with slipping the new connections back on. I was concerned they were on properly to ensure a good connection.
Sonics
Initially I was used to my well broken in previous drivers, especially in the lower register department. However, right off the bat, I noticed a still cleaner presentation, where another layer of "film" was taken away. It almost reminds me when I put the Mother on the CD player. In addition, as you pointed out, the 3-D aspect vastly improved. A huge spatial difference in some music where the lower registers are the back drop or "wall" while the instruments are markedly forward. An example would be lower end synthesizer creating a steady backdrop through the performance while the other instruments dance up front and to the left and right. Instruments are well defined to give a sense of movement when the musician "rocks." There is a benny Goodman CD which has a track where Benny starts to really swing the clarinet. This perception seems to be reinforced. The last time I had that vision is when I was listening to electrostats! There are some recordings with the old drivers that definitely went beyond stage left and right. Now these same recordings give that as well as having to turn my head almost 90 degrees. The holography aspect is what seems to stand out right now. At some points, I'm given a perception of wearing a really good set of headphones. I still need more hours at higher dB to regain the bass I had. Normally I would have the Mini-method set at 9 o'clock or less. I've had to increase the knob closer to 10 o'clock. [yep, this will come around with a bit more time. - Zu] With the tubes and the new upgrades, the listening experience is becoming transcendental!
Thanks again!
Neil Williams
Initially I was used to my well broken in previous drivers, especially in the lower register department. However, right off the bat, I noticed a still cleaner presentation, where another layer of "film" was taken away. It almost reminds me when I put the Mother on the CD player. In addition, as you pointed out, the 3-D aspect vastly improved. A huge spatial difference in some music where the lower registers are the back drop or "wall" while the instruments are markedly forward. An example would be lower end synthesizer creating a steady backdrop through the performance while the other instruments dance up front and to the left and right. Instruments are well defined to give a sense of movement when the musician "rocks." There is a benny Goodman CD which has a track where Benny starts to really swing the clarinet. This perception seems to be reinforced. The last time I had that vision is when I was listening to electrostats! There are some recordings with the old drivers that definitely went beyond stage left and right. Now these same recordings give that as well as having to turn my head almost 90 degrees. The holography aspect is what seems to stand out right now. At some points, I'm given a perception of wearing a really good set of headphones. I still need more hours at higher dB to regain the bass I had. Normally I would have the Mini-method set at 9 o'clock or less. I've had to increase the knob closer to 10 o'clock. [yep, this will come around with a bit more time. - Zu] With the tubes and the new upgrades, the listening experience is becoming transcendental!
Thanks again!
Neil Williams