Speakers

[antonio66]

Coming back to the original post of this thread, Richard nominated NVA and Klipsch as 2 speaker brands that he likes.

Would anyone like to nominate any brands that can be bought new today that they like in addition to, or to a greater extent than those 2?
Preferably with a brief explanation why.

There are companies like Avantgarde that make good sounding speakers, but the prices are so doolally high that I don't like them.

I really like my Cube 3's Lindsay, previously owned Shahinian Obelkisk's but they're bloody expensive now. Another omni that I liked was from Duevel, https://www.duevel.com/ I heard the Bella Luna, again expensive now but they do the more affordable Planet's, unsure whether they would have the bass you would like, a sub would probably have to be added. It is difficult for me to say why, the ones I've mentioned sound very natural, and if I can listen to them all day long and still want more, they've passed the test. I've never heard Cube 1's, the 2's I enjoyed as well.

[CN211276]

I started off with Cube 3s which were only £100 more than the Dynaudios they replaced. I thought they were a revelation. The Cube 1s provide more bass and authority. Have to admit I was very sceptical about the cube design after being conditioned with P&S for decades. The 30 day return period was the deciding factor. The Dynaudios which were replaced sounded more musical than the 3.5 K Spendors I heard at the dealers. When I see WAF speakers in expensive systems in pictures on forums I just shake my head. What value can be attached to posts from the owner? I recall the comments of RD when he attended a bake off, he could not listen to them for long.

[NSNO2021]

Cube 3's with single 5.25" mid bass is probably no more than 80dB sensitivity. The raw driver is only 84dB and the doping lowers that further. If seems a shame to have to put a 12R padding resistor on a tweeter to balance it up but the concept works and many are happy with them. Just goes to show that there are many more aspects to a good speaker than sensitivity alone.

The most sensitive of the three cubes will be the Cube 2 which uses a raw driver of 88dB - about average for a 6.5". The Cube 1 uses an 8" with raw driver of 86dB so not the most sensitive of the range and the box volume is too low for a maximally flat bass response if Q = 0.7. They must have a bass hump . Add the doping and the fact that the mid bass is firing up then perceived sensitivity drops further. The original cubix used drivers run wide open with no doping. I don't know why RD could not find similar drivers for the later cubes- it must have been due to cost as the qtx drivers are dirt cheap.

The cubix were the pinnacle of the nva speaker range but they were no more sensitive than the Cube 1. Isobaric is all well and good but it wastes power. Imo it is only good for changing bass response and the cube 1 will benefit from that as the box is too small. The cube concept is the limiting factor as to increase volume the Cube keeps getting wider (as it must) and I think 30cm is about the limit before the form starts to look a bit silly.

If you mention nva cube 3's favourably in the same sentence as Shahinian and Duevel then that is a big compliment to nva cubes and just goes to show that sensitivity isn't everything. Nice to have if you can but not a deal breaker.

[savvypaul]

I get to hear quite few 'mainstream' speakers, as I've been friends with a dealer up here for many years.

The only ones that have interested me have been JBL, Klipsch (I bought a secondhand set of Heresy 3s), Magneplanar. Other than that, the only other speaker I heard at his that I could live with was a largish standmount Proac.

[savvypaul]

The Cube 1 uses an 8" with raw driver of 86dB

The new Cube driver is 89db. No doping required.

[TheMadMick]

When I tried the cubettes I found them dull. Maybe that was the small box but I put it down to the doped driver. If Savvy has solved that problem - and by his preferences, I would expect so - then these could be a winner!!!

Watch this space!

[karatestu]

The Cube 1 uses an 8" with raw driver of 86dB

The new Cube driver is 89db. No doping required.

Sounds good. It's still not what Lindsay would describe as high efficiency and it will not be as loud as the same driver pointing at you. Not that I am trying to be critical, You would be hard pushed to find anyone more married to the concept and I applaud you and Tomasz for what you are doing.

89dB is probably what Lindsay would call low efficiency so does that automatically make them inferior ?. They won't be slimline or ported though .

[Lindsayt]

It will all depend what low efficiency speaker we are comparing to what high efficiency speakers.

Sansui SP5500 high efficiency speakers do not sound as good as terrybooth's low efficiency NVA speakers.

savvypaul's low efficiency NVA speakers do not sound as good as SteveS57's red and black high efficiency speakers.

All 4 speakers sound better than typical modern mainstream low efficiency slimline ported speakers.

[CN211276]

Efficiency is not an issue for me with Cube 1s and previously Cube 3s and I live in a detached house and like heavy rock music loud. It is not a problem with Cubettes in the second system driven by the A20 as listening levels are always low.

[antonio66]

You've surprised me Stu with your 80db sensitivity for the Cube 3's, not that they are listened to load, but the volume knob is never past the 11 o'clock mark, in fact maybe not as high as that, I'd have to check with my brother.