WE 755A

[xcortes]

A "reprint" from my post at the HE forum:

he WE 755As are the most amazing speakers I've ever heard. They are not extended. They don't play loud. They struggle with complicated music (more later). Yet they suck you into the music and transmit you its soul.

I set up a pair in 2 cu ft boxes with 2A3 amps. Cheap Monster cable between them. Quoting my friend: "Even if you play complicated music through them they are so intelligent that they extract the part they can play well". And they excel at doing so. No, you don't hear every instrument from a symphonic. But you get the spirit from it and you get the composer's.

JSB's cello sonatas through these speakers have been the grandest audio (and probably musical too) experience in my life.

I may try 300Bs and see if I can get an extra couple dBs. And OBs at some point in time.

If I had to choose between my tetra-amped horns with field coils RCAs on the middle and Ionovacs on top and the WEs... Well, I don't so who cares.

These paging, cheap, elevator speakers live to its fame.

For disclosure: No, I'm not a WE speakers dealer. Just a (very) satisfied customer. Oh, and of course this is just my opinion and yours may differ.

Saludos

 

[xcortes]

The last 24 hours my spirit has been struggling after a very interesting listening session. I concluded I enjoy the WEs more than the horn system. I guess simplicity has its benefits. I am about to put the big horns in storage. Along with the karlsons, three pairs of Paramounts, the restored tube rca power supply, etc, etc. Nope I have no plans to get rid of such system. I'm sure at some point in my life I will get the system back together. But right now I'm switching to the WEs. They are that good.

As for amplification I have an unbuilt Paramour 2 set along with Co opts and Co plate chokes, grid chokes and I think I will go overboard with caps, wire, etc. Easier to do when its one pair vs three. Stay tuned

 

[johnsonad]

Aren't you glad that you didn't sell those WE's

 

[xcortes]

 

[johnsonad]

Please put the new toy in the big system before breaking it down. I would like to know how it sounds full range and all

I hope to someday hear a pair of those WE's.

 

[xcortes]

Tryng to take advantage of PJ's how-to-break-speakers-iron-law by taking advantage of SETs low damping and after running some models I had these 4 cu fts (twice the WE recommended volume). For these we went with solid alder on the front to allow for back mounting. The rest is plywood with very nicely matched alder veneer. Removable back panel.

In the pic Master Speaker Gerardo (who has been building keto's and my own crazy ideas for close to a decade).

 

[Paul Joppa]

Sweet!!  We all want to hear you impressions when done and broken in  :^)

 

[fullheadofnothing]

There's a pair of 755As that aren't broken in yet?!?

 

[Paul Joppa]

There's a pair of 755As that aren't broken in yet?!?

Haha - my bad, can't imagine why i said that. Must be the gin talking.  :^)

 

[xcortes]

They are sounding amazing. -3dB at 60hz (per keto: the low C on the cello).

The flatest response and best sound so far is in the corners. Of course the soundstage is pretty extended but you can always imagine being at the first row at the club.

Gonna find hard justifying going back to the horns. Or maybe not when the excitement all goes away?

 

[xcortes]

Corners  ???

 

[johnsonad]

The room looks completely different now

 

[xcortes]

After a long listening night I ended up disliking the new boxes.

This morning measured them outside vs the old WE design. The yellow is the big box. The other two the WE design (did both speakers to compare, man this IS a matched pair). Of couse the WE design works much better.

 

[xcortes]

So back to the room in the WE boxes. An in room measurement:

 

[xcortes]

Both channels combined from 40 hz to 2k.

 

[xcortes]

Awesome exercise. I learned a lot. Clearly there's resonances in the big boxes that need to be tamed. I out the speakers back in them (again) and will continue moddin them to tame them without killin them.

 

[johnsonad]

I was reading an artice on the 755 today where people prefered the resonant 618C cab over the stock WE cab which was very solid. They felt the resonance of the cab added to the 755 sonic signature.

http://junkyardjukebox.blogspot.com/2012/10/wealtec-755a-thinking-inside-box.html?m=1

 

[xcortes]

Yep, those are the ones I have. My big boxes were made resonant on purpose and they're even more resonant. Like a big cello. But a tad too much. The good thing is resonance can be tamed little by little 'til one find the sweet spot. Right now they're colored.

Having said that, they suck you into the music. The music has soooooul.

All this reminds me of Mr Sakuma who has a lowther pm6 in a beer barrell. And legend says Sakuma brought tears to the unbreakable and alway very tough Doc B when he heard his "concert" at VSAC (no with the beer barrell though).

 

[xcortes]

Now I know why Joe Esmilla loves them so much. Of all the things they do and they don't they just shine with a violin. The Oistrakh TP album and the WE are a match made in heaven. The orchestra behind is a mess but Oistrakh....

Time to play my old 2 track tapes where the orchestra is a mess anyway!

 

[xcortes]

Violin concerti