High End Sound In A Small Package

[dcisive]

First let me say that I've been a musician and a audiophile (as well as recording engineer) for over 50 years. That said I recently picked up a pair of the "Fives" to replace an annoying top line soundbar which as we all know they simply are NOT "HiFi" by any means. I wanted to capture top quality sound off my 75" Sony Bravia but was told by many it could not be done. Well......after months of research and looking further into it I think the timing may also have aligned. The release of the Five's of course addressed those of us who wanted to utilize the HDMI from our big screens. However of course that would eliminate any possible additions of say an Equalizer to the equation due to there not being such items for that interface.

 

Well the work around, while perhaps not quite as convenient, is still a very good work around indeed for those of us who want rather uncompromised sound quality. Before I dive in let me also say that for those snooty types who happen to think that equalization in line with the electronics is heresy (pun intended) I'm here to tell you that NO sources are identical let alone well executed mixes which becomes painfully apparent when using a pair of "Fives" let alone ANY loudspeaker in particular one that has superb definition and imaging in the first place. That said I added a Shiit Modi DAC (a very high quality DAC indeed with superb dynamic range, low noise floor and is very transparent) For a whopping $100 which I can't complain about. So the next step which was essential to coaxing the Five's into giving up what I truly believed were their capabilities of revealing wonderful "air" and detail as well as well as unclouded midrange (which they are very guilty of out of the box) was to try adding an equalizer or other device to allow them to come alive. Enter the Bellari Exciter SE560. I used Exciters in my recording studio for some individual and even mixdown applications to bring out detail that would enhance the overall end mix result. The Bellari of course comes in line after the Modi DAC. The out RCA to the Line/Phono inputs of the Five's. 

 

Sorry for the long explanation but I wanted you all to hear of this. I found the best settings on the Bellari was 1 O'Clock on the bass enhancement and about 2-3 O'Clock on the one other enhancement dial which is essentiall from mids  through the upper range. The Bellari also functions as a preamp so I judiciously set it around 50-60% as you don't want to jam too much signal into the speaker's amps or distortion would result. So I went through a ton of song's I'm real familiar with as great mixes, my own mixes from 2 indi albums I produced, as well as watched a couple of movies with action and great sound tracks.

 

What I heard was a superbly wide open airy high end where you could hear EVERYTHING that was there. From birds, water flowing and more in the movie tracks. Cymbals, the essence of guitar strings and piano sustain and more were astoundingly present......NOT overdone just THERE! The imaging was also greatly enhanced needless to say and space opened wide up. With my SW100 sub hooked up (which when plugged into the Five's nicely rolls off the bass to take over also further cleaning up the midrange by design) the sub had nice tight clean low end that transported you INTO the experience primarily of a sound track in a movie and even a live concert or two I listened to off Youtube. The main reason I did all this was because of the seriously annoying lack of definition in the vocal range of mid to upper mid and even the extreme high end which I refer to as "Air" was missing and just NOT happening. With the combo I described above it is now what I would consider to be a very worthy high end listening experience not missing a thing.

 

If you really think your system is doing the job without this just go onto Youtube and find the recording of James Taylor/J.D. Souther doing "Her Town Too". Without the units I added it sounded like mud and even the cymbals from the drummer were darn subdued. Now it's like you are there in the 3rd row LIVE and their voices are as crisp as if they were 4 feet from you singing. So I wanted to share this end result so if any of you are annoyed with the lack of that "right there" type of experience of your speakers get the Modi and Bellari and use your Optical output to feed the Modi and go out RCA to the Five's and you'll have a very rewarding experience. I simply was NOT going to be waiting around suffering till Klipsch engineers come up with the so called promised EQ for the Five's. We shall see. This is a work around for NOW however I can attest to.

[billybob]

Work arounds can be fun and think the guys with the 5s may 

find your takeaways revealing.

 

[Pondoro]

I'm running PC >Modi > Klipsch (powered) R-51PMs for our living room PC, watching online concerts. Like you I am very happy and the gear doesn't fill the room. Heresy's in the "Man Cave" where my wife literally cannot go because it is down in the basement and her artificial knees won't take her there.