41 vs 52
This was an interesting listening session, and took longer than I expected!
To minimize the effect of position, I set the 41's upside down and on top of the 52's. This put the 41 tweeters 6-1/2" above the 52 tweeters.
Because the 52's have deeper bass, I leveled the bass playing field to better hear on the rest of the speakers' sound. I ran the signal from the CD player into my Emotiva USP-1 with the crossover set to 130Hz. This signal then ran into my pair of Marantz receivers for level matched A/B comparisons. Both receivers were set to "Pure Direct" mode. No sub was used, just rolling off the speakers at 130Hz.
I primarily listened to Ed Palmaro's big band. It is a perverse combination of a big jazz band (or swing band) playing Frank Zappa's music. The recording quality is top notch. Other artists are as noted.
The first listening impression I got is that these speakers have a lot in common. There was one place where only sax and glockenspiel were playing and when I switched, I had to visually confirm that the remote worked.
The next thing I noticed was sometimes the 52's had a wider sound-stage than the 41's. after a while switching between them with my eyes closed, I realized that the effect was as if I had taken the speakers and moved them 3' closer together. The speakers are 11' apart, so if we consider that the norm, the 41's sound like they are 8' apart. The problem is this effect was inconsistent! After more time I realized that anytime the ride cymbal was being played, this difference was easily noticed, and later I established that if HF content was there the sound-stage of the 52's would be wider. The 41 tweeter has good extension and decent shine. The 52 has a little bit more shine and more "air" that somehow gave the perception of the larger stage. Listening to Katy Perry's voice, I detected an air she has to her voice that was lessened on the 41's - and the same soundstage effect previously associated with the ride cymbal (interesting that there is such a HF component from her voice alone).
While the 52 had a wider stage, the 41's had a fuller, more solid sound; however the sound of the 52 had greater appeal to me.
Looking for midrange differences was tougher. I found them listening to Alanis Morsette (Jagged Little Pill - Acoustic). Her voice lost much of its metallic edge on the 41's. It is interesting that something so elusive with other music becomes so obvious with her voice as the litmus test! Her voice actually sounds less frail on the 41's, but it is the unique combination of frailty, power, and edge that makes it Alanis.
I next listened to another of my audition standards, Yes - Heart of the Sunrise. For this tune, I found I preferred the 41's! After more time to figure out why, I started to play with the volume knob and reached the conclusion that the 41's were between 1 and 2db louder in this mid-bass region. I had level matched them for overall music, but the mostly isolated bass lines highlighted the disparity. I really can't say which is correct, just tell you the relative difference. I believe this is the source of the "fuller, more solid" sound I mentioned the 41's having earlier.
Next, I eliminated the crossover. Obviously the 52's have deeper bass. Interestingly, I'm not sure I can say they have "more" bass. On Heart of the Sunrise, I was surprised not to see the 52's become dominant. The 41's louder bass outweighed any additional depth that the 52's offered. Furthermore, the 41's seemed better balanced on this particular tune. If I level matched the bass lines, the 52 seemed too loud on the treble (mainly cymbals). It just goes to show that you need to audition speakers with a wide variety of music to get a better overall sense.
Steely Dan's (Big) Black Cow was a different story. It had enough deep bass content to make the added depth of the 52's outweigh the 41's solid mid-bass.
In conclusion, no surprise - the 52's have better sound, but the 41's are no slouch. You can tell they have a lot in common in their voicing.
