I gave the Mirage speakers a long and significant audition this morning (Monday) after bringing them home on Sunday night and realised there was something amiss. As mentioned in my previous post, I felt it lacked bass weight in comparison with the Rogers.
So I had a closer inspection through the front bass port and saw the potential culprit.
It looks like the previous owner had bought the cabinets pre-assembled and simply fitted the rest of the electronics and drive units. In doing so, he simply stuffed the wadding into the bottom part of the speaker and it was completely blocking the bass port.
I dropped a thoughtful e-mail to neil at Wilmslow explaining that I hadn't bought these new from them but wanted some advice. Within an hour, he'd explained the concept and technique behind the use of wadding and how it should be applied in the case of the Mirage from top to bottom.
So without much fuss I set about doing the basic things right.
The outcome is simply stunning. These Mirage speakers are a real audiophiles treat.
The big airy soudstage is still there and now the lower frequencies gel with with the whole ensemble, blending seamlessly to produce a fluid dynamic big sound that doesn't suffer at the lower volumes I'm used to when the girls have gone to bed. The Rogers now sound more .... well ... hmm....modest. I'm glad that it's taken a speaker of this calibre to do this.
Admittedly I've not tried many newer speaker lineups, but everyone who's listened to my LS55a's have never shown anything but praise for their great sound.
Ultimately, the biggest difference lies in the third pairing of old school Peerless 8" bass units and the way in which this has been married to the other drive units.
If I have to criticise anything about these speakers, it's how they can expose a poor source. The prime example being the difference between the Marantz CD6000 OSE and it's big sister the CD17 KI Sig Mk2 which i now have. The gulf feels enormous as the delivery of music feels slower and less detailed with the CD6000 sibling. Don't get me wrong, the CD6000 OSE is a very good player, but in this company it's weaknesses become more exposed.
I would say this is the best £100 I've spent on any set of speakers. If I had the £1400 for a new set, I'd have gladly paid £800 for them only because I'm a tight Yorkshireman. I'm not surprised the seller was desperate to sell, considering the way they were previously configured. A big thanks to Neil @ Wilmslow Audio too. He assures me I can improve the sound even more by investing around £700 on the latest Scan speak and Volt units. I'm inclined to believe him but I just don't have the money right now.
I'm a happy bunny