Folk
Tracy Chapman "Fast Car"
A solo acoustic guitar opening Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car" has a splendid sound. Its reverb conveys the ambiance of the stage as it's captured by the bounding wall to the left. The Morels pick this up effortlessly along with the finest details of the strings. Chapman's vocals enter prominently with a deep lush tone, yet without the steadfast imaging found with the previous artists. The sibilance in her voice tended to be stable and centered while her fundamental tone would bloom outward. I was a bit puzzled by this since tonally her voice sounded correct.
As the song progresses, additional ambiance is added-product of an electric guitar and bass, timpani and a cowbell. The guitar, bass, and timpani are subtle in the recording, so you do have to listen for them, but the excellent resolution of the XO 6's enabled me to pick each one out without having to strain to hear them. The cowbell isn't as laid-back, and provided the soundstage with a good sense of depth and transparency. Actually, it was on par with some of the best speakers I've listened to, many of which hail from the same bloodline as this set.
The timpani are also deep in the stage and the Morels define them as such. Like the bass, their deepest tones were rich and full. Impressive for a system without a sub.Score: 9/10
Alternative
Coldplay "Clocks"
Pianos can be particularly hard to resolve at higher levels, so playing this acoustic recording of "Clocks" can take its toll on the integrity of a system's midrange. "Clocks" is a simple track with Chris Martin handling the primary duties of vocals and piano, while his efforts are supported by a bass, guitar, and shaker.
I first listened to the track at a reasonable listening level, and the Morels performed admirably. The piano sounded full and boxy, and filled the smallish studio with reverb that outlined its space. Martin's voice imaged nicely with a good stationary focus. His vocals were well resolved, but I feel the XO 6's fell just short of bringing his character to life. The guitar was easy to pick out of the lineup, just right of center, and the bass seemed to emerge from just behind the piano.
With the volume up, the guitar was never muddled and was always distinct and clear. The shaker, while delicate, never got lost in the mix. The piano, however, exhibited a smidgen of harshness that wasn't detectable at the lower level, but I still found it to be more than acceptable. Overall, this was another impressive performance.Score: 8/10
Reggae
Ziggy Marley "Many Waters"
Since the XO 6's behaved so admirably, especially with the lowest notes of the other genres, I thought I'd test it with something carrying a bit more low end that was also a good test of stereo separation. For this I loaded in "Gone Away" from Ziggy Marley.
There's a lot going on in this track, so it's easy for items to get eclipsed. For instance, there are singers to the left and right of the stage. Listening to this, I should be able to delineate the individual voices as they aren't entirely cohesive, and the Morels do a great job resolving them. The bongos to the hard left were superb as I could visualize the hand slapping their hide, and the wood blocks to the right were wonderfully full even in the more complex areas of this song.
I absolutely loved the cymbal work and the tambourine at the beginning of this track. Both were incredibly focused to the right and just center of right, respectively, and each was astonishingly real in its playback. When Ziggy starts singing, his image was concrete and didn't waver regardless of how he escalated his range. The XO 6's also did a splendid job picking up the rasp in his voice and the airiness as he tries to sing softly.