In the Issue 78 Positive Feedback Online review of the SPEC RSA-M3 EX Real Sound Amplifier and the SPEC RSP-901EX Real Sound Processors, I only reviewed the Real Sound Processors on my Harbeth Super HL5 loudspeakers.

If you read the review, you know I was very impressed with what the Real Sound Processors did for my Harbeth Super HL5s: "The SPEC RSP-901EX Real Sound Processors are the real deal and worth their asking price, and one of those no-brainer products that you can buy, install in your system, marvel at the result, and never look back."

The Real Sound Processors worked great on my Harbeths, and I was very impressed with the result, but the Duelund external crossovers on my Westminster Royal SE loudspeakers made it a little trickier to review the Real Sound Processors because of their bi-wire arrangement.

I could have used jumpers I suppose, but I thought that it might have compromised the sound of the WRSEs enough that it would have been hard to get a reliable read on what the Real Sound Processors were really doing, so I stuck with the Harbeths which I was used to hearing with jumpers.

Mr. Shirokazu Yazaki encouraged me to try the Real Sound Processors on the Duelund high-frequency crossovers, and if that went well, then he said he would send another pair so I could try them on both the low & high-frequency crossovers at the same time.

I pulled the Real Sound Processors off my Harbeths and got ready to install them onto the high-frequency Duelund crossovers of my Westminsters. You can see them in the foreground between the WRSEs connected to Auditorium 23 speaker cables, which I used on the Harbeths.

Before I installed the Real Sound Processors on the WRSEs, I listened to Masterpieces by Ellington a couple of times using the Garrard Project 2015 player system that I will be writing a lot more about shortly. Masterpieces is a mono recording from 1950, so I used the Ortofon SPU mono CG 25 Di MkII cartridge (check out Art Dudley's just published review of it here), which produced a fantastic musical experience together.

As a point of reference, Pete stopped by and listened to the Ortofon mono setup a couple days ago, and followed up with a message to the audio troops saying, "I'm exploring this after having my socks knocked of by Jeff's mono SPU playback of an Ellington album from 1950. I look forward to listening to 500 or more classical and popular mono records waiting on my shelves to surprise us all. This is going to be fun," and "As I hinted yesterday, the mono SPU,  on a mono record of course, has a tonal quality that is so rich and enjoyable that it must be heard to be appreciated. Mono may not please everyone, but I would like to have a mono SPU setup for the many hundreds of mono records hanging out on my shelves." Pete has now been bitten by the mono SPU bug.

Pete's not kidding, Masterpieces with the mono Ortofon was a mind blower, particularly in terms of timbral textures and tone color, it was amazing. I can't begin to tell you how thrilled I am having a mono setup on my Garrard player system to listen to my favorite old mono jazz records.

After I installed the Real Sound Processors on the high-frequency Duelund crossovers, I kicked back for a little more listening. It was apparent right away that I needed a pair of the Real Sound Processors on the low-frequency crossovers too, as there was a major difference in the way the concentric driver integrated with the Real Sound Processors on the high-frequency crossovers only, making the driver's highs & lows sound disconnected.

But ... what I was hearing from the high-frequency crossovers was quite amazing. Much more transparency, livelier melodies, increased sense of touch, and so forth. Dynamics in particular were much more convincing. On a peak in Masterpieces it actually startled me - scared me - and I almost jumped up off the couch!

So clearly it's worth checking into the Real Sound Processors on both the high and frequency Duelund crossovers of the Westminsters.

I need to use the Auditorium 23 speaker cables with my Harbeths, but with the Duelund crossovers being on the floor, I don't really need to do that. I only need a couple of inches of wire from the Duelund crossovers to the Real Sound Processors, so that's what I'll do when I follow up.

Stay tuned on this developing story, and I'll have more to tell you in the future about using a bi-wire pair of Real Sound Processors on the Duelund crossovers of my Westminster Royal SEs.

Thanks for stopping by!