Stormen the CAST are AMAZING!
They are dark and quiet when you first get them though. Also they are hard to get a handle on.
A friend was by tonight and I did not tell him which speaker had the CAST in. At first he did the same as most do. He liked the VSF. After awhile he changed to the CAST. Which makes me think we like resonance at first then once our brains can process what is going on we like prefer the low resonance.
He said it was like the speakers were "full range with the CAST and noisy with the VSF".
The downside to the CAST is and there is a downside in my mind. They will not cover up your amp or source!
I will end up getting rid of at least half my vinyl. The CAST are excellent as they are ULTRA low resonance.
The strange side effect to me is I may end up selling my turntable not because there is anything wrong with the Lp12 but the CAST have revealed that my vinyl is MUCH more worn than I thought.
What the CAST have shown me is maybe vinyl is not the way to go at this level. My very good vinyl sounds fantastic! My less than good vinyl is torn to shreds by the CAST.
There is no hiding and pretending that the vinyl is Ok.
My Karik has finally quit opening so I have only an old CD player and the CAST tears it to shreds as a piece of garbage. (which it is!)
For horn speakers (which is of course what mine are) the CAST are miles better! The VSF sound all washed out by comparison. Everyone who has heard them wondered if the speaker with the VSF was broken! No kiddding.
The CAST tilt the sound downward by the MASSIVE reduction in noise. So if you get CAST be expecting that because you will get it. It speaks volumes that given a choice with one speaker on VSF tweeters and one on CAST I am very content to always listen to the CAST.
I agree with Stormen and although I have not traded the VSF's away I can easily see why one would consider them one of the biggest upgrades one could do going from VSF to CAST. Who would have thought??? Not me!
So much for the theory of dimishing returns.
Another interesting thing is many say horns do not have bass. I think by nature horns amplify sound. Since most noise is in the high freq the horn will exagerate that freq. So the horns sound like lack of bass. The CAST through the huge reduction in noise change the tonal balance down. The CAST have given a side benefit and that is correcting a weakness in my speakers.
I am going to have to hear Burt's modern horns. (not buying anything soon but am curious)
I feel the CAST tweeter caps very good value but the midrange with out hearing it that is a lot of coin! For my speakers it would be $2200 plus tax and shipping for mid range caps. Silver CAST would be $15k for the pair! Holy Crap!
After hearing CAST I must admit it would be haunting to know how much noise they get rid of and putting coin some where else in the system. If your caps are noisy (and even VSF are noisy) how can you get the most out of your system?
I want to thank everyone who has helped along the way.
After looking at those CAST prices I do not want to even contemplate. I am going to put one CAST and one VSF in the tweeters and finish the rebuild and wrap this up.
I am moving on to tweaking up the amp and maybe a top notch digital front end and no vinyl. Maybe.
Thanks for all the help!
They are dark and quiet when you first get them though. Also they are hard to get a handle on.
A friend was by tonight and I did not tell him which speaker had the CAST in. At first he did the same as most do. He liked the VSF. After awhile he changed to the CAST. Which makes me think we like resonance at first then once our brains can process what is going on we like prefer the low resonance.
He said it was like the speakers were "full range with the CAST and noisy with the VSF".
The downside to the CAST is and there is a downside in my mind. They will not cover up your amp or source!
I will end up getting rid of at least half my vinyl. The CAST are excellent as they are ULTRA low resonance.
The strange side effect to me is I may end up selling my turntable not because there is anything wrong with the Lp12 but the CAST have revealed that my vinyl is MUCH more worn than I thought.
What the CAST have shown me is maybe vinyl is not the way to go at this level. My very good vinyl sounds fantastic! My less than good vinyl is torn to shreds by the CAST.
There is no hiding and pretending that the vinyl is Ok.
My Karik has finally quit opening so I have only an old CD player and the CAST tears it to shreds as a piece of garbage. (which it is!)
For horn speakers (which is of course what mine are) the CAST are miles better! The VSF sound all washed out by comparison. Everyone who has heard them wondered if the speaker with the VSF was broken! No kiddding.
The CAST tilt the sound downward by the MASSIVE reduction in noise. So if you get CAST be expecting that because you will get it. It speaks volumes that given a choice with one speaker on VSF tweeters and one on CAST I am very content to always listen to the CAST.
I agree with Stormen and although I have not traded the VSF's away I can easily see why one would consider them one of the biggest upgrades one could do going from VSF to CAST. Who would have thought??? Not me!
So much for the theory of dimishing returns.
Another interesting thing is many say horns do not have bass. I think by nature horns amplify sound. Since most noise is in the high freq the horn will exagerate that freq. So the horns sound like lack of bass. The CAST through the huge reduction in noise change the tonal balance down. The CAST have given a side benefit and that is correcting a weakness in my speakers.
I am going to have to hear Burt's modern horns. (not buying anything soon but am curious)
I feel the CAST tweeter caps very good value but the midrange with out hearing it that is a lot of coin! For my speakers it would be $2200 plus tax and shipping for mid range caps. Silver CAST would be $15k for the pair! Holy Crap!
After hearing CAST I must admit it would be haunting to know how much noise they get rid of and putting coin some where else in the system. If your caps are noisy (and even VSF are noisy) how can you get the most out of your system?
I want to thank everyone who has helped along the way.
After looking at those CAST prices I do not want to even contemplate. I am going to put one CAST and one VSF in the tweeters and finish the rebuild and wrap this up.
I am moving on to tweaking up the amp and maybe a top notch digital front end and no vinyl. Maybe.
Thanks for all the help!