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Steve,
I've been busy at work and not doing much
listening. I'm the golf superintendent at Port Ludlow Golf Resort and we
have a very old and tired irrigation system that needs constant attention. So
when I come home, I'm ready to crash. But in the last week, I've found the
time.
My first impressions were that of very sweet midrange and
greater depth, but they seemed tight and I had lost some bass compared to the
FF165K's. When I first purchased the Cain & Cain Abbey's from Terry about 5
years ago, I was listening to the FE166E's in them, but later went to the
FF165K's because they were less ' in your face ' and more listenable at close
range.
With the DFR-65's after some adjustment with the Bailey
subwoofer, the bass was back and sweet mid was still there. I think you've
really hit on a great thing with your suspension and elimination of mid-range
glare. Every recording is so much fun to listen to now.
I stuck in some cheap Sovtek EL84 / 6BQ5 tubes and what a
difference that made. Wow! Sound stage is even deeper and pin-point
accurate.
My listening comparisons go back to my old electrostatic
Apogee Stages driven by a 400 watt Aragon amp and Counterpoint hybrid preamp.
Great system but the sweet spot listening area was about 6 inches wide and the
speakers took up the whole living room. Now I'm at 2 watts with Don Garber's
Fi 45 and the Abbeys remind me a little of the Apogees, but with a much wider
listening area, and much more soundstage depth.
Your DFR-65's have made the Abbey's more musical,
articulate, and a pure joy. I can't thank you enough. My default listening
test disc, James Taylor's Hourglass, never sounded better. Drums sound like
drums, wind instruments are right on, and piano is to die for with your
DFR-65's. Keep up the good work.
Jerry |