I did a bunch of listening - notes, for anyone interested in the comparison:
(Where I refer to "spread", that's bounded between the two outer vertical lines)
- BG Neo3S in side panels (4 of them)
- EQ'd to bring midbass and Neo3s in line
7 years (Lukas Graham) - image height above speakers and level. The film projector sound was perfectly present, yet subdued. Opening piano perfectly centered. Vocals were decent - no gap but there was a spread... I think just a 'presence' that I need to EQ out.
Fast Car (Tracy Chapman) - Guitar was nicely centered and high. Tracy's vocals had no gap, yet there was another undefined width to it. Enjoying the detail of the Neo3s as widebands - no tweeters needed and good high detail without sibilance.
Africa (Toto) - opening drum detail is nice - and well placed and cohesive. Vocals mostly good - the range he sings helps: that spread appears at only his lower vocals. If I move my head slightly toward center it disappears, so I think it's simply aiming. Lots of great detail in these that I'm impressed to hear come out in my jenky rig.
Blurred Lines (Alan Thicke) - for some reason, these lower vocals have less (but not no) of the spread. Decent. And the percussion effects come out as they should, clicking slightly right and left. You can hear the instant decay of the Neo3s with this song.
Star Wars: a new hope (prague Philharmonic Orchestra) - ok, I was ambitious listening to this. The details are honestly impressive, real, maybe my best "stage image" with my half-assed evaluation aiming and eq-ing - but damn this song makes me wish I had a sub hooked up to get the timpani drum rumble that this track has! I guess the good take is, what I hear pulled me in and I wanted the whole thing.
ID (Kygo) - again the percussive aspects, detail, decay - fantastic. All the snappy pops, dings, bells - all very real. The piano was all well centered but the lower chords near the end did have a bit of spread - this is good enough though that it simply sounded like a separate instrument. This track really came alive, and I suspect I can tighten the center at the low midrange.
Can I kick it (a tribe called quest) -good detail on the acoustics, and vocals had that spread. The scratching sounded right, without sibilance.
Isn't she lovely (Livingston Taylor) - opening whistle nicely centered as the guitar on the right maintained height! Same with the left - no "rainbow" like with them firing up.
The acoustic guitar details are what's lovely.
Suzie Blue (ben Harper and the innocent criminals) - the opening victrola effect comes out dramatically, as the recording engineers intended. Music opens up into that wide, full, very live sound. There's enough sound energy across the spectrum on this track to mask that low-mid spread at his vocals, but it is still there.
Brothers in arms (Dire Straits) - The thunder effect really comes out - mostly because of my EQ attempt this time, I'm sure. But the imaging and presence and height and lack of rainbow throughout this song - I do believe to be both the vertical orientation and the direct pathlength alignment of the dual drivers on each side.
I will remember (Toto) - those opening drums. Yes. Great right-to-left as recorded.
The choir vocals ("ooh ooh") were perfect. Lead singer vocals had that spread, but the drum effect made it seem that he was simply slightly left.
Avrats (infected mushroom) - I didn't need to hear this track - I knew the details and stereo effects would be good, but I can't get away from this track - and I did pick up even more acoustic details (the tin-can ting-ting to the left!) that sounded truly real. This was the first time this song had me imagining it was Blue Man Group and these electronic effects were BMG contraptions.
That said - some localization was also present if I listened for it. Fortunately, it was all uniform stage height, and that really did help mitigate it.
Wicked Game (Chris Isaak) - this has the haunting, give you chills effect I like with this song. Which made me want to try:
Sound of Silence (Disturbed) - WAY more centered than I thought. The crescendo does bring the emotion, but not quite as spot-on as Wicked Game - but think it's EQ details.
Regulate (Warren G) - these Anarchies kick the midbass. Both rappers have that spread/location issue, more Nate than Warren. But the detail and sonic are great.
Until the end of time (2Pac) - I'm a sucker for 2Pac's remakes of 80s classics. His voice has the spread, but image height is great - and again, the detail on the bells... Oh yeah.
Poison (Alice Cooper) - this is never on my SQ eval list but I had to give my favorite hair metal song a listen. Largely good - what's missing to make it "rock concert live" is the THUD of bass slamming me -again wish I had a sub. Slight subdued feeling to Alice's vocals, again think this is simply EQ needs, not a speaker or placement issue.
Run to the hills (iron maiden) - man it's hard listening to metal without the power of slamming bass. The Neo3s handle the speed just fine - things simply sound a little hollow without a sub on this stuff.
Silent Lucidity (Queensryche) - since I'm in my Hair Metal playlist, here's one that should shine - and it does. Great acoustic guitar. Vocal presence is great. Sure I missed a little kick when the rest of the band came in, but the details and orchestral effects really come through - by the choir, there's no more missing the sub. (Well... you know)
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