killatone impressions

[audiothings]

my killatones are finally ready and i'm quite thrilled...

i built them with the fx120s and hardwood as per image...

been listening to different types of music, some Steely Dan, Herbie Hancock, Bjork... and various other mixes, they all sound great. The speakers sound very smooth, but perhaps a bit too mid-bass heavy (??)... really surprised by the amount of bass they put out, was not expecting it, with the 117Hz rolloff. Obviously not the chest thumping sub bass or anything, but perhaps i can put it this way... in most of the mixes, the bass guitar seems very upfront (sometimes a little too round or flabby, but very nice, nonetheless) and the bass drum drum a tad recessed... But like i said, listening pleasure is enormous, and good stuff sounds good and my own mixes sound less pro in comparison... This difference is not all too apparent im my main mixing setup of yamaha msp5's with a hsu research vtf-2 subwoofer. Also, when I switch between the two systems, it appears that the msp5+sub combination is all bass and highs with no mids, while the killatone sounds rather more smooth and round... One other thing i noticed is that the highs rapidly rolloff when my ear is not at the same height as the speakers... currently they are about 9" above my ear, and its a very significant difference... so i gotta find a way to place them at ear level...

will report back after using them on some mixes.

question: as i understand, the bfc attenuates the hf response, if i were to remove the bfc, might they not sound more even off axis?

bottom line: smooth, smooth smooth... highly recommended!!

many thanks to Thomas.

jai shankar.

PS: "smooth" count in this post = 6

[knightfly]

You might try tilting them down toward your ears; on axis should be more accurate than using EQ to compensate.

On your MSP-5/sub combo, you might try backing off the treble and sub, sounds like maybe balances aren't quite right... Steve

[audiothings]

thank you steve...

You might try tilting them down toward your ears; on axis should be more accurate than using EQ to compensate.

Actually, i was thinking of removing the eq (the bfc, which is a passive eq?) to compensate. But will try to find a way to tilt them like you said, and anyway i'm not about to touch the design (i mean remove the bfc) without first trying my best to find a way to level them with my ear.

On your MSP-5/sub combo, you might try backing off the treble and sub, sounds like maybe balances aren't quite right... Steve

Exactly what i did, yesterday... adjusted the crossover point and backed the sub off by more than 6 dB, didn't mess with the hf response, but i guess i'll do so now... Great idea, thanks!

self.

[barefoot]

question: as i understand, the bfc attenuates the hf response, if i were to remove the bfc, might they not sound more even off axis?

No, the directivity comes from the fact that this is a full range driver. The Fostex is designed to reduce this problem by making the dust cap produce more highs than the rest of the cone. But it's far from ideal.

The highs will decrease when you move off-axis whether you include the baffle step filter or not. Listening to the speaker off-axis without a baffle step filter will probably yield a peak in the midrange. Steve's suggestion of tilting them towards your ears is probably your best bet.

Thomas