Forgot to mention there’s horn volume adjustment on the Wagner silver signature where it’s missing on the original Wagner, which means you can adjust the horn volume based on the environment/listening position. It is a very practical feature for Hong Kong users due to the limitation of the living conditions here.
During the test-listening session, Chris put it on -2db (there are total 5 levels +2db, +1, 0, -1,-2) in the beginning. Then we listened “tears in heaven” and Maria plays Mozart, I felt the bass was pretty dominant and the energy was impressive however overall refinement is lacking compared with the original Wagner. Especially when playing piano, the sound was somewhat muffled and lacking sparkling on the highs. I thought it was due to the speakers are new and need burn-in. Then Chris told me about the horn adjustment feature and we tried -1db and 0db.
To my ears, 0db is the clear winner here. When put on 0db, the highs are opened up and the perfect balance on the original Wagner is back, the piano sounds beautiful with great timbre and decay. Chris prefers -1db though, to me it is not about “which one is preferred” it’s about “which one is correct”.
Maybe they are better? But that is impossible because the Wagner is an entry model of Cessaro. Probably PT sold the Firebird as they charity show impressed hundreds of people.
Reproduction of Leslie Cheung was shocking by the Firebird. That was one of the most vivid audition ever that still locks with my mind from time to time. A smaller speaker, I am afraid may not be able to resurrect the soul of Leslie.
What is the plan here? The Firebird has a full fledged active side firing subwoofer system. They deliver tremendous energy. A pair of XiangYu subwoofers may not deliver as much as energy of the Firebird subwoofer system.
Leslie, Sam and Roman from the Firebird brought back so much memories and emotions. And the Firebird “was” at peak performance. I was kind of shock PT took the Firebird away. I am sure it went to a happy owner.
Comments
During the test-listening session, Chris put it on -2db (there are total 5 levels +2db, +1, 0, -1,-2) in the beginning. Then we listened “tears in heaven” and Maria plays Mozart, I felt the bass was pretty dominant and the energy was impressive however overall refinement is lacking compared with the original Wagner. Especially when playing piano, the sound was somewhat muffled and lacking sparkling on the highs. I thought it was due to the speakers are new and need burn-in. Then Chris told me about the horn adjustment feature and we tried -1db and 0db.
To my ears, 0db is the clear winner here. When put on 0db, the highs are opened up and the perfect balance on the original Wagner is back, the piano sounds beautiful with great timbre and decay. Chris prefers -1db though, to me it is not about “which one is preferred” it’s about “which one is correct”.
I switched the sensitivity of the tweeter back to “0” after the addition of one subwoofer.