New Thor's Hammer Installed

[Charles]

Originally Posted by BillK

When do you add the second for a stereo pair?

Bilk, Thanks for the interest in my system. I will not be adding a stereo pair. If you look at my arrangement, I have no room to do it. Of course anything can be done but it would take a massive rearrangement of my speakers and amps.

The question becomes, would I get better sound? IMO, I would get worse sound. With a crossover at 30 Hz LP there is zero directionality. My bass is now quite smooth down to below 20 Hz. I have been able to eliminate my 40 Hz 3-4 dB peak by setting my phase control at 90 degrees so I now have slightly less bass. My previous bass was so good that the peak only became noticeable on albums with obviously too much bass in the 30-50 Hz range. Then I would remember my bass peak. Otherwise, on 99% of my music it was forgotten. Who complains about a little extra beautifu bass?

Then I read about how Greg Weaver of TAS smoothed out the bass of his Ultra 9's (Oct 2019 vol 298 p.136 2nd paragraph). I had never in my 40 plus years of high end ever fully understood subwoofer phase. My source at Wilson told me how to check it. When I did I found that 0 degrees was the correct setting. This is no mystery as my Thor and the XVX are in the same plane and I had the phase set to 0 for lack of knowing where else to set it. It was easy to hear the bass at 40 Hz significantly diminish on the Wilson test CD at phase set at 180 degrees. After experimentation 90 degrees very significantly eliminated my 3-4 dB 40 Hz peak without affecting the rest of my bass range. It was like a miracle. My bass peak that had always been in my system, eliminated. Now no one hearing my system today would say it is bass shy. But for me I have slightly less bass and I like it a lot better. I don't like dsp or equalizers because I can hear them, the distortion they add. I'd rather put up with a clean 3-4 dB peak. I had this peak with stereo subs (Gen II's and Mac XRT 30's). Also with Krell Master Reference subwoofer (mono setting where the Thor is). It was endemic to my room. Previously, I thought it could not be eliminated.

Incidentally, I had always had a bass dip in the 100 Hz range. Previously, I had a strong 200 Hz note, a weaker 125 Hz, and a weak 100 Hz, then the bass would come back up on the 80 Hz note and be smooth until the 40 Hz peak and then extend smoothly to below 20 Hz. However, with the XVX the 125-100 Hz notes are strong. I no longer have a bass dip. I have remarked to Wilson that the XVX in my room has the best upper bass I have had. The XVX has a powerful upper bass in my room.

I really like jazz. It's my favorite music. With jazz you want a nimble, accurate, highly resolving bass with weight only when weight is appropriate.

So at this point I will not be adding another Thor. The improvement I would consider is the new sub crossover Wilson has developed. But they were kind enough to include a new Watch Controller (at no charge) with my new Thor. I'm going to keep it for a while. It's a very fine piece of gear but at some point I will be adding the new crossover.

Best,

Charles