Speakers

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valvesRus
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by valvesRus »

savvypaul wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 1:57 pm
valvesRus wrote: Thu Dec 09, 2021 4:25 pm

I have no idea how Lindsay earned his living but I wonder how he would feel if people were so dismissive of his trade, profession or vocation ?
This is not relevant to the thread, and it is unnecessarily personal. I will not be impressed by what I perceive as sly attempts to circumnavigate the ad-hominem rule. Please bear this in mind.
If Lindsay found this personal, I apologise.

Any attempt to explain what I was trying to convey will become complicated, so best just to say sorry and leave it there.

*

SteveS57
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by SteveS57 »

Docfoster wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 12:05 am Building speakers is great fun, and relatively easy-peasy (compared to other primary components).
It'll likely take a long time (weeks) to tweak the sound to your own system, room and ears, but that's an intensely meaningful and enjoyable process.
I would encourage anyone with ears, time, access to free online calculators, the ability to screw a box together and solder wires to have a go.
IME It's possible to achieve something vastly superior to anything that can be bought for 5x the amount of money from any commercial speaker retailer.
Possibly they won't look as good. :-D
I think that's pretty accurate description of what the average diy speaker builder goes through.

The issue in my early days was recognising what was wrong !

And I think that applies to most people.. they are that pleased to build something that produces reasonable sound, they don't hear what it actually sounds like.

In most cases and especially mine, it can be a long learning curve, but one definitely worth pursuing
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Lindsayt (Fri Dec 10, 2021 10:06 pm)

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SteveTheShadow
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by SteveTheShadow »

It's definitely a long learning curve.
I started when I was 14, making line arrays out of ex TV elliptical speaker drivers bought from junk shops for pocket money.
That was fun. 4 x 4 Ohm drivers in series made 16 Ohms. Just right as the extension speaker to my parents' valve radiogram.
Oh the innocence of those days. I thought they were the bees knees at playing Slade, T Rex and Alice Cooper singles.
ELECTEEEEEEEEEEED! :lol:
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Lindsayt (Fri Dec 10, 2021 10:07 pm)
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Latteman
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by Latteman »

Diy has lead me to find what is “my sound”

(2 years, 20 drive units and 7 cabinet variants later thought )
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karatestu (Fri Dec 10, 2021 8:59 pm) • antonio66 (Sat Dec 11, 2021 1:42 am)
Analogue Source -
Denon DP47f- Ortofon mc20 supreme
Ifi Zen Phono
Doug Self balanced Pre amp
Akai 4000DS mk2 R2R
Digital Sources- IfI stream, Ifi Neo idsd Dac; Tidal / Radio Paradise
Amplification Nva 30vdc mono blocks
Speakers Lii Audio F-15 in Open Baffle; Ls6
Weiduka AC8.8- for digital sources
Mini BMU for analog sources

valvesRus
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by valvesRus »

Latteman wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 8:58 pm
(2 years, 20 drive units and 7 cabinet variants later thought )
That's an impressive record, well done. :)
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Latteman (Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:40 pm)

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karatestu
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by karatestu »

I think it is very nieve to expect to build a good speaker first time with no prior experience (unless you are copying something already proven). It took me four years to arrive at something I was truly pleased with. But then maybe I am just a numpty who is slow to learn. The journey is as much fun as finally getting to the destination.

I agree with all that has been said about modern low efficiency speakers and the poor value for money that they represent. High efficiency may be a goal worthy of pursuing but personally I am unwilling to have mahoosive cabinets in my small living room. I am perfectly happy with a small Bluetooth speaker and youtube music so all the effort and expense is not worth it for me. You lot fill yer boots though.
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Lindsayt (Fri Dec 10, 2021 10:08 pm) • antonio66 (Sat Dec 11, 2021 1:43 am)
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Lindsayt
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by Lindsayt »

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.

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karatestu
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by karatestu »

Lindsayt wrote: Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:05 pm 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.
No , sorry, can't think of any. Mainly because I haven't heard any. My exposure to speakers is very limited cos I don't go to bake offs or hifi shows. I know one guy with some serious speakers- Wharfedale something or other but he won't let me listen to them. :roll:
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Lindsayt (Sat Dec 11, 2021 12:28 am)
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CN211276
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by CN211276 »

I have only heard one, Spendor WAF ported floor standers at a Mscaler demo nearly three years ago. When the dealer said they cost 3.5K you could have knocked me down with a feather. To say they sounded shite in comparison to my Cubes would be an understatement, totally unmusical. They had a five star What HiFi review. :lol: There is a thread on WAM comparing WAF Spendors with Harbeths which I can't take seriously. Like comparing two turds. :lol:
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karatestu (Fri Dec 10, 2021 11:55 pm) • Lindsayt (Sat Dec 11, 2021 12:28 am)
Main System
NVA BMU, P90SA/A80s (latest spec), Cube 1s, TIS, TISC(LS7)
Sonore OpticalRendu, Chord Mscaler & Qutest, Sbooster PSs
Network Acoustics Eno, ifi iPurifier3, AQ JB FMJ, Cisco 2940 & 2960
DH Labs ethernet, BNC & USB cables, Farnells cat 8 ethernet cable

Second System
NVA P20/ A20, Cubettes, LS3, SSP, SC
Sonore MicroRendu, Chord Mojo 2 MCRU PSs, AQ Carbon USB cable & JB FMJ

Headphones
Grado SR325e/Chord Mojo, Beyerdynamic Avetho/AQ DF Colbat

RIP Doc

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karatestu
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Re: Speakers

Unread post by karatestu »

Ports and passive radiators sound slow to me especially in the bass plus drums and piano (definitely a timing thing). Aperiodic is acceptable to me, in fact I quite like it. The king of the crop without a doubt (of the things I have tried) is sealed. True infinite baffle (drivers mounted in a wall) is something that would probably beat sealed but at home that is a no go. I could give it a go at the farm but to be quite honest I can't be arsed.

I had a fleeting play with open baffle with my doped 12 inchers but I can't give them enough room to the front and side walls to get a true picture of open baffle's worth. The sound had many things to admire but it just didn't work in my case.

There is nothing that appeals to me about modern mainstream speakers. Forget the ruler flat frequency response argument and just go for whatever sounds best to you. If you can accommodate fridge sized, highly efficient speakers then go for it. But that is the deal breaker for me. To get high efficiency bass you must have a big driver and a large enclosure. Hofmann's iron law can not be ignored.

Not everybody is willing to accommodate a big speaker so there has to be a market for smaller less efficient speakers. NVA cubes are probably low 80's efficiency but then you might say Doc was biased because they were his design. They are definitely music makers due to running the mid bass wide open and having a single high pass filter capacitor on the tweeter. The new nva speakers are going to be higher sensitivity than the old ones but still less than 90 dB sensitivity. In the minds of the high sensitivity lovers then how is that acceptable ?
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