castle howard s3 problem

[peterwatkins]

Hello - Casltle Howard s3, biwired to Linn Intek playing micromega / LPT turntable. The speakers are giving out a flat, boring, unimpressive sound, which sounds all the more appaling when I undo the wires and connect them to my other speakers, sparkling, forward Mission 775e floorstanders.

The tweeters are giving out sound, seem to work fine in that they are both functioning, but the sound is just completely dull, with hardly any high treble, sparkle or surprises.

Can tweeters 'half' work? What else might be the problem please?! All suggestions welcome!

 

[davedotco]

Drive units usually work or don't, if both speakers sound the same they are probably fine.

If my recollection is correct, Howards are big speakers suited to large rooms with plenty of room to breath, they have a relaxed presentation that I never found particularly engaging. Exciting they are not.

But then I find Mission speakers (in general, I am not familier with the specific model) to be bright, brash and aggressive. Maybe this suits the rest of your setup better than the laid back Howards.

Just a comparative thing with two exremes of the design spectrum.

 

[peterwatkins]

Thank you!

 

[peterwatkins]

might another amp help? something newer than the linn intek?

 

[davedotco]

might another amp help? something newer than the linn intek?

To all but the most dedicated Linn fanciers the Intek was always a pretty dull sounding amplifier, this is really just an exercise in system building.

i would be surprised if you bought this combination after a demonstration, it looks rather like you have just somehow aquired some equipment without much thought for the way they go together.

A new amp probably would help but you really need to think in terms of the system, what you have, what you play and what you want to achieve.

If you want assistance, list the equipment you have in reasonable detail, tell us what you listen to, both source components and musical taste, room details and what, if anything, you would like to keep.

 

[Justin76]

Hi Pete,

I've just read your thread from a couple of months ago....

I bought a pair of Castle Howard S3's from Geoff at Acoustics in Chester (the older version made in Skipton, prior to the company being taken over by AEG). Having gotten over the excitement of wiring them up to my Cyrus set up, there was a problem with the speakers. I called Geoff and he instantly offered a refund and suggested that the transit could have damaged the drivers (a fair comment). Fortunately, another pair had come into his shop (quite amazinlgy considering how rare these speakers are now!). I sent the initial pair back to him and he sent me out the new pair.

Again, the excitement was too much to bare however, there was once again an issue where-by they just did not sound right.....Geoff at Acoustica was, second time around, fantastic and provided me with the contact details of Mike Laister in York (lovely chap) who was a chief engineer at Castle Acoustics for more than 30 years.

I dropped the Castles off with him at his home a couple of weeks ago, he has 're-collimated' all 4 main drivers and after a discussion with him, he has said the drivers needed 're-alignment so they are parallel with the magnets' - this was the issue which was causing the speakers to sound flat/un-responsive.

Geoff has paid for the work carried out (x4 driver repair - £192) and is a true gentleman who hold's his word. I will be collecting the speakers tomorrow and cannot wait to wire them up!

Ps the speakers sounded the worst of all when playing 'It could be sweet' by Portishead..

Cyrus Hark, Cyrus 7CD, Cyrus 7 Amp, Castle Howard S3's, Linn Bi-wires + War of the Worlds/Pink Floyd/Supertramp/Ravi Shankar/Royksopp/Goldfrapp = Audio heaven!