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JM Labs Electra 946 lack of high-end detail

I have a large open-plan home theater room that I could not fill with enough sound from my Boston VR-M90 mains. My (5th) sub, an SVS PB2 Plus, was up to the job, but overwhelmed the Bostons. So after reading the critiques in this forum I bought a used pair of Electra 946s. With a single Adcom 5802 they lack all high end detail. Bi-amping them with the Adcom 5802 bottom and 2 channels of an Adcom 5503 (a bright amp) brought out a lot of detail in the speakers, but they still lack the finesse and detail of the Bostons. (I like the Boston sound.) I use an Outlaw 970 pre/pro.

Any suggestions as to how to brighten up these speakers would be appreciated. My beef in partivular is with the single 5" midrange speaker and tweeter, which sound dead.

These speakers are the '80s speakers I couldn't afford back then: big stupid bass, as someone has pointed out, efficient, loud, but not refined.
lmhlaw

Showing 3 responses by zaikesman

zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Are you sure the tweeters are functioning properly? I know, stupid question, but I don't even want to recount the times I've been to audiophiles' houses to audition gear they were selling and discovered they had drivers out and didn't even realize it. As far as I know (haven't heard this particular JM Lab model), this is not a speaker thought to lack treble detail. Certainly no Boston models I've heard, including some VRs, have had the treble detail I've heard in other JM labs models, including lower line Choruses, but this is going back some years.
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Uh, guys, I'm sure the archetypal "80's speakers" Lmhlaw was referring to are neither Bostons nor JM Labs in his mind -- that was just a pejorative description of the sound. And I really don't think someone took out a healthy 6.5" mid and left a skinny little 5" shivering in its place. Every not take things so literally dudes? And yes, lots of bass and no highs does not indicate out of phase hook up...As I said, there is probably something screwy going on with the tweeters, which are more easily damaged. Well, in any case at least we all agree this ain't right...
zaikesman
3,017 posts
 
Yeah, the midrange is supposed to work that way. So, you're getting plenty of sound from both tweeters and both midranges if you put your ear up to them? Hard for me to judge what you're hearing wrong then, because I certainly never heard "a bell-like clarity" to the high end of the Boston/Adcom combo back when I used to sell that stuff, but that was 11 years ago now. Anyway, the JM Labs shouldn't sound so deficient, so it seems to me the most likely candidates are either damaged but partially working drivers, or somehow damaged crossovers. Really the only way I can think of that both crossovers would be 'damaged' the same is if somebody deliberately altered them. This doesn't seem very likely either though. Only other easily conceivable option, as has been mentioned, is that your perception of hearing the speakers is what's off. Who/where did you buy these from, and have you recontacted them about this? I think what you may need at this point is a second, in-person opinion from an experienced listener.
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