Hey guys!

I have installed a new crossover in my Leslie 22H and wanted to share my
thoughts on it. Speakeasy Vintage Music recently contacted me about
testing a new crossover for them and I was more than happy to oblige.
After spending several hours going back and forth between the original
Leslie crossover and this new crossover I have come to the conclusion
that this new crossover has filled gaps in the tone that the original
crossover left wide open. The main focus behind the new crossover was to
make the lower rotor more prominent without affecting the highs on the
tweeter horn section. I can genuinely say that Speakeasy Vintage Music
did their homework when they designed this new crossover.

Right at first, not knowing what to expect, I wasn't really sure if what
I was hearing was any different. So I spent some more time doing a
"bass speaker only" test, that way I could clearly hear the new
crossover without the high end interfering. When I did that, the change
between crossovers was so blatantly obvious, you'd have to be deaf not
to hear the change. Once I plugged in the horn again, it was like a
light bulb clicked on. I could tell the lower rotor was more upfront and
punchy. You can actually hear the ramping up and down. The awesome thing
is even though something has changed, it stays true to the classic
Hammond/Leslie tone - just better.

A really good example that just happened last night. I had a couple of
guys over at the house last night. One of them is a monster Hammond
player. He can tear it up. As he was playing last night, he mentioned
more than once that the Leslie sounded especially good. I actually had
just met this guy last night so he had never played my Hammond/Leslie
combo before. I didn't mention to him that I had installed a new crossover.

To be fair with everyone here, the results may vary depending how old
the capacitor in your crossover is. Most everyone who reads this is most
likely using the original crossover with the original capacitor. As most
of you know, capacitors drift over time and in the crossover, that
changes the frequency. I suspect those who will hear the most
significant change will be those using a recapped crossover or a brand
new crossover where the frequency is genuinely 800hz. I personally was
using an original Leslie crossover with the original paper wax capacitor
so I would imagine the actual frequency wasn't 800hz.

Now for those who feel that "Don Leslie decided on 800hz as the
crossover point for a reason so leave well enough alone", this product
is probably not for you. However, I would encourage you at least try it
out before you prejudge it. You might surprise yourself.

I am not a Hammond/Leslie tech. I know very little about electronics and
I honestly don't have the time nor the desire to learn anything more
than what I know. I can change out a capacitor here, a resistor there,
change a couple of tubes, but beyond that, I am pretty much clueless.
That being said, any questions regarding the technical aspect of the new
crossover need to be addressed to Steve Hayes or Ted Thompson. They
understand far more about the workings than I do.

Lastly, I wanted to mention that the construction of this crossover is
impressive. The coils are huge on this thing! But overall the build
quality is very solid. All mounting hardware and wire nuts are included
with the crossover so you won't have to worry about finding the right
screws and wire nuts to get this installed. Also for those who own
Leslies with the field coil woofer (31H, 21H, 44W, 46W, etc.), you are
in luck. The new crossover can be adapted to operate with the field coil.

Before I end this long post, I do want to make sure to say that I am NOT
an endorser for Speakeasy Vintage Music nor will I receive any royalties
for the number of crossovers they sell. Speakeasy Vintage Music
contacted me out of the blue, I never went to them. I volunteered my
free time (which I have very little of these days) to do extensive tests
on this new product. And as I noted before, I don't understand the
technical side of things so all my extensive testing was done with the
ear, not a multimeter.

So to wrap this up, Speakeasy Vintage Music has won my vote and I hope
all of you will find this review informative and convincing enough to
try it out for yourself. I'll leave you with a couple of clips from the
Bass Speaker only test.


Original Crossover
http://tinyurl.com/originalcrossover-mp3

New Speakeasy Crossover
http://tinyurl.com/speakeasycrossover-mp3

--
Ryan