These are two of Electro-Voice’s “middle-ground” speaker systems, filling the quality (and price) range between the huge Patrician 800 and the diminutive Coronet system.
The Model 6 is a rather large four-way system employing an 18″ woofer with a ½”-thick cone of light, rigid foam plastic (See “Farewell to the Paper Cone,” in Vol.1 No.1 of The Stereophile), an 8″ paper-cone driver for the lower-middle range, and compression-type horn units for the upper ranges. Crossovers are at 250, 800 and 3500Hz (footnote 1). A five-position rotary switch provides treble adjustments in steps of about 2.5dB, hinged at about 1500Hz. Position 3 is the Normal response setting, which we used for our tests.
Oscillator checks on the Model 6 revealed something we had never before encountered: The system’s subjective response (fig.1) seemed to agree almost exactly with the manufacturer’s published response curve! The same was found to be the case with the Model 2, so we are publishing the manufacturer’s own response data with this report as an aid in interpreting our comments about the sound of these systems. Like the other subjective response curves published in recent issues of The Stereophile, these curves have their vertical scales adjusted so that a response deviation that is barely perceptible to the eye will be barely perceptible to a critical ear.
Fig.1 Electro-Voice Model 6, subjective frequency response.
No spurious sounds were evident when sweeping the oscillator through the speaker’s middle and upper ranges, but at frequencies below 50Hz, some harmonics were audible even at moderate input power levels. At levels corresponding to fairly high listening volume on program material, harmonic content was readily apparent below 40Hz.
Sound Quality: the Model 6
On music, the E-V 6 sounded big, rich, and markedly boomy. The boominess sounded like the result of underdamping of the woofer, since it seemed to be induced by any deep bass note instead of by a narrow range of frequencies. As a result, the entire bass range was somewhat obscure and deficient in detail, and the very deepest notes (and some of them were very deep) were significantly masked by the higher-pitched boominess.
The system, like all E-V speakers we have heard, was an excellent reproducer of brass instruments, and at low-to-moderate volume levels, it was judged completely free of the raucous brilliance we have heard from early E-V speakers. There was very little coloration, and what there was consisted of a slight “snarl” in the upper middle range and some mild sizzle up around 10kHz which tended to exaggerate record surface noise and added a subtle wiry quality to string tone. The tweeters were quite directional, providing subjectively uniform treble over a range of only about 40 degrees, so stereo center fill-in was not very good until the speakers were placed fairly close together. The accompanying instructions show the optimum speaker spacing.
Sonic details were fairly well reproduced, but transient response was not comparable to that of a good electrostatic system. At higher-than-moderate listening levels (in an 8′ × 20′ × 13′ room), the Model 6 took on an edge of shrillness and added an odd gargling quality to the sound, as though some of the elements associated with the upper range were tending to ring or to go into marginal overload.
For $300, we would have expected more of this system. Admittedly, we have not heard another system in this price range that we would consider as good as the E-V Model 6, but on the other hand, we have heard less costly ones that, to us, are better-sounding. For example, $240 will buy a Janszen four-element electrostatic tweeter and its mating 350 woofer, with a suitable enclosure. And although the Janszen tweeter, too. leaves some thing to be desired for stereo reproduction (because of its multiple treble beams), the overall system performance would, in our opinion, be superior to that of the E-V 6.
The Model 2
The E-V Model 2, at S120, has even stiffer competition than the Model 6, for there are more high-fidelity speaker systems in this price range than in any other, and some of them are very, very good. The Model 2 has a 12″ high- compliance woofer in a sealed enclosure, and a horn-loaded compression tweeter for the range above 800Hz. A three-position slide switch controls treble balance above about 1.5kHz, in increments of about 5dB (at 10kHz) above and below normal level.
Oscillator checks on the Model 2 did not reveal any marked response irregularities throughout the audio range (fig.2), and no distortion products were audible above 50Hz. Below this frequency, the woofer in the Model 2 seemed actually to have less distortion than that in the Model 6, at equivalent output levels. Only at quite high levels was some distortion evident from the woofer, and this was audible as a slight fluttering modulation rather than as perceptible harmonic tones.
Fig.2 Electro-Voice Model 2, subjective frequency response.
Sound Quality: the Model 2
The Model 2’s overall sound was similar to that of the Model 6, with somewhat less high-end detail and less low-bass output. The differences were not, however, as pronounced as the differences in their response curves would suggest, and frankly, we rather preferred the Model 2’s softer high end, as it did not emphasize surface noise and it lacked the slight wiry quality that the Model 6 imparted to string tone. Like the Model 6, the E-V 2 was quite boomy, and this may have helped to account for the relatively small difference we observed between the low-bass output of the two systems.
The Model 2 has a quality of “aliveness” and presence (and we don’t mean that in its derogatory sense) that is somewhat lacking in direct-radiator systems, and many listeners may prefer it. We would still choose the Janszen Z-500 as the best unit in this price class, if only because our long-time exposure to good electrostatic sound has spoiled us for any thing with less over-all transparency and detail.
Footnote 1: JGH originally referred to “cycles per second” or “cps.” We have updated the usage to “Hz” for “Hertz.”—Editor
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Electro-Voice, Inc.
Electro-Voice, a division of Bosch Communications Systems (2020)
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