JIM N

Hello All, I am the customer that Carl has referred to in the previous posts. The original idea was to duplicate the sound of the OLA using modern components and a higher quality cabinet. Carl picked out the drivers (after a lot of research) and built the final XO. I built the cabinets. The cabinets are made of 5/4 hard maple with the exact same volume as an OLA. They also have a front-to-back brace (centered). As can be ascertained from the previous posts, there was a substantial amount of experimentation with stuffing and electrical components to get "the sound". I was constantly comparing the new speaker to OLA's that I own. I have 4 OLA's that I drive with a 1976 JVC 4VR-5456X receiver. I removed the 2 front speakers and replaced them with Carl's Maple Monsters I, my wife, and some music appreciating friends, now have over a week listening to them; as stand alones in 2ch stereo; and with the OLA's as rears in 4ch (that's Matrix 1 on the receiver). I also reversed the speakers; OLA's in front and new / maple in the rear. It is virtually impossible to tell the difference between the old and the new. If anything the new / maple speakers are probably a "half-a-notch" better than the OLA in a 2ch / 2 speaker / stereo configuration. All that being said, I believe that Carl has come up with a real and viable alternative for reproducing the famous Large Advent "colorless" sound; without dealing with re-foamed / coned woofers or burnt out fried egg tweeters. An OLA cabinet could be used or a new cabinet that remains faithful to the original OLA qualities and characteristics could be used. Thanks for hearing me out. An my sincere thanks to Carl for the effort. Gotta go listen to some Blues. Jim Nettle