Atelier Rullit field coil driver

Hello Jason

It is not a moving coil speaker but a field coil. And yes, the technology is quite old but that doesn’t mean anything. In fact I think that field coil based speakers are superior to most systems that are built today. I’d rather have a efficient and a somewhat “full range” system instead of speakers with complex technology and complicated crossovers. 
 

Field coils can be some of the best drivers out there, look as Voxativ's top models all field coils. but in my experience, they require lots of money to get right. one of the biggest issues we have had is getting the field coil power supply noiseless. especially hi sensitivity speakers like horns. I have too close friends who run field coils, and they are both now moving away from them due to power supply issues.

 If you have the money to do it right and get the power supply that is very good, then go for it some of the best sound I’ve heard. If you’re on a budget, I would not recommend it. Just a quality power supply for a field coil is going to cost what a top-notch amp will, and you need two.

Both my friends did the field coils in open baffles by the way, they both moved away from cabinets due to the cabinet sound. Once you go OB its hard to go back to a cabinet, i.e. once you hear a cabinet you can’t unhear it.  Granted you have the room for them and I think you do.

The field coil driver I'm considering is among the best drivers to have ever existed. I will keep in mind investing in a proper, valve-based power supply. 

I believe that OB need a lot of space around them. I would love to have the Telefunken design but my interior doesn't allow for their placing. 

I have heard the Atelier Rullit field coil driver in Trehause open baffle speakers.  I cannot attribute specific qualities to that driver, but, I can say that these were not among my favorite open baffle speakers; the sound was a little thin and rough.  Not a bad speaker, but, not the best in my opinion.  Among the better field coil wide range driver systems I've heard is the Songer Audio model; the sound was rich and free of the kind of harshness or peakyness that I hear with some full-range driver systems yet it retained the dynamic qualities of such drivers.  The Audio Note two-way AN-E speakers with field coil drivers sounds good too, and it is not a fiddly thing (one does not have to adjust voltage) and it appears to overcome a common problem with field coil speakers in an enclosed box, which is overheating.

I've heard many custom-made systems employing field coil full range drivers and field coil midrange compression drivers for horn-based systems.  As mentioned above, overheating is an issue with enclosed cabinet systems, and for some systems, the ideal sound requires a bit of adjusting of the voltage as the system warms up.  With the compression drivers, I heard a pretty substantial difference in sound based on the power supply feeding the drivers.  I was shocked to find that the power supply made such a big difference; the tube-based supply sounded better than a solid state supply.

I'm not interested in field coil drivers, but for my vintage 8 inch drivers (and a small room like yours) I would consider Oris 250 horns mated with the little Gallo 3 subs  (no lower cutoff on the horns and the tight sounding subs extend to 200Hz+).

The horns/subs would come in at under $2.5K (new) and you would just have to DIY stands for the horns.

You could experiment with various drivers using this setup.

DeKay