From obxwindsurf@yahoo.com Thu Jan 08 13:58:16 2004
Subject:Re: Leslie tone better than Motion Sound - why?

As in the difference between an inexpensive and a Strad violin are a
result of the wood and the craftsmanship, so are the differences
between wood and non-wood cabinets. While they both sound like a
violin in either inexperienced or experienced hands, using a
microphone and feeding a spectrum analyzer would reveal quite a
different story between the sound of one and the other. Our ears
can "hear" those subtle nuances, although we may not be able to
classify or verbalize what we hear.

This was one of the first things I noticed when I built my Leslie out
of cabinet grade plywood and machined the slots to the same cross
sectional area as louvres. When I thump the wood between the slots
there is a distinct but distant overtone of the wood bars of a
marimba.

As I mentioned in my other posts, however I would not qualify one
over the other as better. Consider how different this discussion
would be if Motion Sound had been the innovator and Leslie the clone.
Personally I like the result with a wood cabinet that has a bit of
resonance to it.

A different touchstone would have been established and Leslie
compared to the baseline of the MS rotary speaker.

BTW, I also play Didgeridoo, and my first
> all the complex dopplering involved. It's all that plus a boomy
> cabinet.
>
> In that case, the MDF, non-resonant, properly designed MS LoPro
> cabinet will never qualify, I guess.
>
> This sounded more contentious than I intended. My apologies. I
> really do love vintage audio.. but Imperial folded horns are built
> like a brick. No boom when you thump 'em.. box resonance is a bad
> thing.
>
> Karl