When I heard that the Beveridge 2SW's were available, I was curious, since I was so impressed with the Model 3's that I had heard. I took the plunge. I was not disappointed. The sound was more full range than any other electrostatic I had heard. The subwoofers give pretty well integrated bass and the main line source drivers have ease of placement and incredible dispersion. After a fairly short refinement process, I was happy using these Beveridges as my main system.

A little while after getting settled in with this system, I found a pair of Beveridge Model 2's that were available for sale. I was again curious as to the differences, since I had heard that the Model 2's were the most "pure" of the Beveridge designs. I decided to give them a try. I was very favorably impressed with the overall improvement in the fidelity of the sound. Measurements agreed that these were very accurate loudspeakers.

The biggest issues I found were that they did not have deep bass and would not get as loud as the Model 2SW's. The Model 2's now became my principle loudspeaker.

In the process of acquiring and working with these speakers, I became friends with Rick Beveridge. He has spent the last few years resurrecting the manufacturing processes needed to make new pairs of Beveridge Model 2 speakers from scratch. I have been working with him though this process and have been amazed at the quality of craftsmanship that he has been achieving with the new speakers. I was very fortunate to be one of the first listeners to his first Model 2 speakers. I was very impressed with the improvement of definition, detail, and extended bass that was produced by the new speakers. I decided to have Rick rebuild my Model 2's to the same standards that were used to make his new ones.

The results were remarkable. He was able to transform some very good loudspeakers to a new level. The main improvement is the increased definition, detail, and solidity of the sound. I have always been impressed with the low coloration of the 2's and the amount of music that is revealed with these speakers. They have an amazing amount of life, detail, and musicality. Now they have more accuracy and an almost analytical quality to them.

Much of the subtle coloration that was present in the original Model 2's is gone. The intricate details that could be heard before are now clearly delineated, with less question as to their accuracy. The speakers are now much faster sounding. They have much more immediacy.

I do not know if they have surpassed the KLH 9's in this respect. The 9's are some of the fastest speakers that I have heard. They are second only to plasma loudspeakers, from what I can tell.

The most frustrating side effect of the new upgrade is that now there is an even greater need for quality in both source material and drive electronics. One hears everything that is going on with this upgraded speaker. I am used to this and I have gotten very picky with both parts of the source stream. I expect I will be working even harder to improve this part of the system.

In many other cases, the result of "extra" definition is an edginess that the sound exhibits with this new "detail". This is not the problem here. The speakers are not edgy. What I have found is that very good electronics sound very good. Less performance in the source signal makes the speakers sound more like many other high-end systems.

These speakers can sound much better than people usually experience, even with some of the most expensive systems. The challenge for me now is to get electronics that reach this rare level of performance. Do not expect these speakers to be the principal limiting factor in the fidelity of a system.

The basic changes that were done to the speakers with the upgrade were:

1. Rebuilt the transducers. This matched the transducers and improved the overall high frequency response of the speakers.

2. Stiffened and added more mass to the lens horns. This gave the most dramatic improvement to the definition of the sound. It also improved the bass.

3. Stiffened the face of the cabinet. This reduced a major source of coloration.

4. Stiffened the sides of the cabinet. This also reduced the coloration.

5. Sealed the air leaks around the lens. This helped improve the definition, since the only sound now emanating was coming from the  "lens" of the speaker.

6. Removed many rattles and resonances in the wood frame of the cabinet. The bass is much cleaner now, since it does not stimulate any rattles or other sounds.

7. Added static discharge conductors to the inside of the cabinet. This is a feature that was added to many of the production speakers, but was not present on mine. It keeps the speakers from periodically "popping" from static buildup.

So what are the negative issues resulting from the upgrade? The primary one is that the bass is more extended and, as a result, more resonant. This comes from the cabinet now being stiffer. The original flexing of the cabinets made them seem acoustically larger. With the new stiffness, they resonate at a slightly higher frequency. Many people will feel that the speaker now has more bass. This is true. It also has more bass definition.

This effect was amplified when I added an extra stiff rear panel to my speakers. The end result was an even more pronounced resonance, which moved up to 60 Hz. I was able to correct this with some simple equalization, which removed this hump. Because of the damping in the speaker, this resonance is broad and not very loud. As a result, the EQ trick works pretty well.

The advantage of this additional back panel stiffening is major. First, the bass goes much lower in frequency and is much better defined. Second, the dynamics of the speaker are greatly increased. This can be heard as a new "life" to the sound. These speakers really like to "jump" with the dynamics of the music. There is no hesitation or softness now. I never get tired listening. Every piece of music is so happy to be playing. This was one of the last hidden issues that I found with the Beveridge "sound".

It is very good, but could it get better? Now I know it was this lack of dynamic life that was coming from the cabinet flexing. It is now a real joy to listen to music for days and days without tiring. The big challenge with all of this is to remove the new bass resonance. Good quality EQ seems to work fine.

Several people that I have talked to use Model 2 speakers with a crossover that switches the sound reproduction to a fast subwoofer around 60 Hz. Doing this gives the system several dB more volume, with very powerful bass.

I recommend this back stiffening for anyone who is running the 2's in a crossovered system. The added definition in the bass is very impressive and accurate.

In general, I could not be happier with these speakers. As I mentioned, more enhancements are also being worked on in the electronics. I am now running with some amplifier improvements and the combination of all these upgrades has impressed several jaded audiophiles who have come by recently. In addition, many people who thought they could not discern a "hi-fi" system have mentioned that the realism that is produced by this system was something beyond what they imagined would be possible. This has become a very special music re-creation system.