You shouldn't. They are the least of my concerns right now! Bass is okay, really. They still have their piston movement!

Jacques

 

After a few hours listening, the placebo effect has vanished and my final conclusion is that the new caps didn't change the speakers' character: they are dull.

Oh dear!

 

Jacques

Interesting - I always thought my S80s were dull but Tim recapped them and swears by them. I confess to preferring the earlier Uniphase range generally. They could be regarded as a bit bright - maybe they would suit you better?

Hi,

Everybody, when you say these speakers sound very nice, what do you compare them with?

I compared them to three other speakers and their sound is recessed, as if a curtain was laid in front of them (whatever amp or source I use).

Why am I so disappointed as other members here are so happy with them?

 

 

chartz:

Hi,

Everybody, when you say these speakers sound very nice, what do you compare them with?

I compared them to three other speakers and their sound is recessed, as if a curtain was laid in front of them (whatever amp or source I use).

Why am I so disappointed as other members here are so happy with them?

Having recently listened to my MC120.2s, Beovox Pentas and Beovox 5000 panels (all powered by a recently serviced Beolab 5000 amp and a CDX2 source), I can say that the MC120.2s sound fantastic and stand up very well in comparison with the others. Bass on the Pentas is slightly better than the MC120.2s, but I think that they shade the Pentas in terms of clarity and punchy-ness. The 5000 panels lack bass compared to the other two, but probably edge the lot in terms of detail.

I wouldn't sell/swap my MC120.2s for anything!

There you go - my two penneth worth :)

 

Compared to brands I've heard quite a few times, like Magnepan, Dynaudio, and B&W, the MC120.2's sound very nice. This comparison isn't quite fair, however, because I've never heard these speakers all with the same amps and sources.

They are very neutral speakers, limited in bass weight and extension, and maybe dynamically compared with some of the bigger Dyn's and others.

Neutrality = boring. No zinginess or boominess. Nothing added to, or taken from, the signal. Just the signal. But as you listen, you realize how much more accurate they are than many other speakers. All a speaker should be, ideally, is a perfect acoustic reproducer of an electrical signal. No more, no less.

Either something about your speakers is broken or incorrect, or you just prefer a little "liveliness" in your speakers.

Sell 'em and get something you like! That's what matters!

Jon

Hello!

Well I do not know what happened but the speakers really sing for me now. 

Voices and piano are delightful and yes, they are very neutral but not dull after all. Treble appears to be back too, with no less delightful guitar strings.

I can't really explain on this strange phenomenon. Maybe those electrolytics supplied by Martin need some running-in.

Anyway my Arcams were too bright I'm sure!

Or am I just the victim of some placebo effect?

Who cares? You can now add my name to the MC120.2 lovers.

Jacques

Wow absolutely must be placeabo my friend although maybe somthing significant is different? I cannot for the life of me ever see capacitors burning in but the human brain on the other hand... Definately!!! Maybe you just needed to adapt?

What I would be interested in is how they now sound compared to the speakers that originaly overshadowed them?

I've noticed that it takes a while to learn away from coloured sound, be it caused by unnatural tone control settings or the equipment itself... so yes, I believe that you had just ruined your perception with the Arcams

Anyway, good to hear you're happy after all the work!

Step1:

What I would be interested in is how they now sound compared to the speakers that originaly overshadowed them?

They sound far more accurate and linear I'd say. The Arcams have a rising response with more upper bass slam. The Beovoxes' bass is much drier.

Strangely, the mids are more present in the Beovoxes but are less aggressive!

Treble is very delicate and seem to be more extended than that of the Arcams (Peerless tweeters) which was more obvious.

Imaging is fine, and perhaps a bit more sensitive to the listener's position.

The only problem is the resonant cabinet of the Beovoxes. Is it so by design (calculated and wanted resonance) or simply cost-cutting? The Arcams' cabinets are very rigid and thick, with several layers of materials inside, including bitumen!

 

Jacques

 

(2) quick follow-ups from earlier in the thread...

1.) Did you indeed bypass the protection circuit?

2.) I did not see any further posts about refoaming -though they make look fine, they are likely degraded. After all that you have been through -it is a rather small investment.

OTH, if you are happy... well, maybe just leave them alone.

 

I bypassed the protection circuit indeed.

No, I haven't yet re-foamed the bass units, but I plan to have Martin do it when funds allow (the cost of shipment  is well over 100€).

 

Jacques

 

Martin does a very good job on refoming bass units.

He did my S120 2 years ago. The sound is awesome.

He also did the crossovers I might ad.

 

Hi, 

I know many don't believe in "cable sound" but here's what happened to me.

I used plain DIY shop "speaker cable" with these speakers. After a change to more exotic cables (Monitor PC silver) I had at hand (and after thinking my BM 6000 died...) the sound really woke up!

It is now neutral but not dull at all!

However, I lost some bass depth into the bargain. This is very sensitive on organ lower notes which almost seem to have disappeared! And what's funny is that the section of the"new" cable is much, much thicker!

Back to the other cable, back to the recessed treble!

Maybe the reason why some think they lack bass, and some think this region is fine... Food for thought!

Well I think you can't have it all then. 

 

When the day comes that I can hear a difference between lamp cord and zillion-dollar exotic thievery cable, I'll be ecstatic.

Jon

Most probably placebo, unless the old cables were faulty. I had a simliar experience some 20 years ago and was very happy with the improvment, but a couple of weeks later I did some blindtests with a friend and the result was that we couldn't tell the cables apart in the blind test. Oops! :P

I can live with that. After all, some people swear by homeopathy, don't they? I for one don't buy it at all!

But where has the bass gone?

Hello!

I've lived with them for one year now.

The Martin re-foamed woofers should be here tomorrow!

I'm not sure whether I'll have the time to do them soon—the others are still in place, alive and kicking in spite of their degraded suspensions!

Will I be surprised?

Stay tuned my friends!

Now listening to Irene Cara's On my Own. Boy what a fantastic sound, a very emotional song!

Analogue and music at their best!

Hi,

Woofers back from Martin's!

He did a great job! These speakers now sound like new again. More weight to the overall balance with the new woofers. Martin says the bass will continue to improve in the next weeks (they need to be run-in all over again). Funnily enough, even the upper registers seem to have improved (which I know is impossible).

 

 

chartz:

Funnily enough, even the upper registers seem to have improved (which I know is impossible).

Chartz, after every service or repair of any of my vintage I think the sound improve, well sometimes it does, but an optical cleaning should be sound neutral, and even so I think it sounds better when looking clean

Enjoy your MCs

chartz:

Funnily enough, even the upper registers seem to have improved (which I know is impossible).

Not impossible - at the frequency and slope which those woofers are crossed over, they affect the sound well into upper end of the spectrum.

Jon