So I spent a ton of my spare time making a really good sounding mini speaker because there were no great sounding small speakers I can buy. However, I got really into it because it was amazing to see just how good a small speaker can sound when serious efforts are put into achieving as many proper speaker design principles and good speaker performance criteria. Having no budget concerns also really helped.
My speaker is 5" x 13" x 5'' (WHD), and it is a 3 way design using very high quality drivers from Scan-Speak. It has a properly designed time aligned, linear phase tri-amped active crossover. The speaker is very small, but it has real bass extension to 45Hz, outdoors!
I'm wondering, would anyone be interested in listening to my speakers and tell me a no sugarcoating answer of what they think about my speaker and how it compares to high end speakers you've experienced? My goal is to design a mini speaker that sounds just as good, if not better than normal sized speakers, and every criticism helps improve the next speaker I'm in Mid City Los Angeles, and I'd welcome anyone interested to have a listening session in my home, or bring this speaker to your home. I'm new to Los Angeles, and I'd love to meet some fellow audiophiles here.
Hehehe, having "no budget concerns" means a whole different thing in DIY world than store bought. :) It is true though, you can get droolworthy parts for a song if you know how to put them together yourself. :)
I encourage you to post at the DIYAudio site in the multi-way forums. Lots of Scanspeak fans, including me, there, and lots of people to talk speaker design tools and practices too.
Yes... a small speaker can sound virtually as good as almost any speaker made. Many have reported the WaveTouch Audio Grand Tetons (now the Antero) certainly rival some of the best speakers available at 10-20x their price. Mine certainly do.
A great way to see how your’s compare - Since you're in LA, just get together with Alex at WaveTouch Audio, or request a demo pair, and do the comparison. He has a guaranteed money back return policy, if you try them and don’t like them. Quick and easy at no cost to you.
I can't believe anyone would recommend "auditioning" anything on you tube.
And, to the point if this discussion, I have never, in my 45 years of devotion to this hi-end audio addiction, heard a pair of small speakers that sounded authoritatively convincing. Good, yes. But authoritative, no. IMO, you need to move a lot of air, and in order to do that, you need big drivers.
You are exactly the type of person I'd like to get an impression from for my speakers. Can I ask where are you located? If the locations work out (not necessarily just LA, I travel often), I'd very much like to hear your honest opinion about my speakers. The problem with my own ears is that I'm biased, and my friends probably won't say anything bad. You seem like you'd be able to give a harsh opinion if you don't like what you heard.
Here's one that works amazingly good in a small room using a 3" titanium
driver in a transmission line design. No crossover and
completely disappears with a 3D image.
This speaker's sound is very open, sweet and dynamic with a
real natural tone to the music. The speaker produces a full bodied three
dimensional image that fills the room. The music sounds great no matter where you are
seated in the room
I heard this one installed in a bedroom with all Wyetech SET amplification
<ELAC dealer disclaimer> The Elac UB5 is a compact, 3-way speaker system that blows my mind every time I'm listening to them. So, yeah a small speaker can sound incredible. And, they only cost $500/pr! :-) -Brian Herndon Audio
I met with Alex at Wavetouch Audio. He was a very gracious host and we spent hours listening and comparing our speakers while talking about all sorts of audio.
The Antero sounds incredible. Huge, spacious imaging with superb clarity and a beautifully smooth sound that sounds far far better than any $2400 speaker should sound. It was a real eye opener in more ways than one.
The Antero was very interesting that even though it wasn’t as accurate as my speaker, it sounded more pleasant to my ears. My speakers did not throw as big of a soundstage either, but had deeper and stronger bass. This isn’t a knock on the Antero, I’ve yet to hear a bookshelf speaker that can compare to my speaker’s bass.
Thank you, Alex for hosting this comparison. I wish the best for his business and encourage more people to hear his excellent sounding speakers.
Very intrigued. Would love to hear more details about size of the drivers, crossover design, etc. Its always a revelation to hear small speakers sound several times their size. Very few people can pull that of. For me, this occasion was when I heard a pair of (small)speakers at the NYC audio show from Sonner Audio. It simply challenged the laws of physics in my book. Talked to the designer, real guy. Unfortunately, just like everything else exceptional in their domain, I found the price way outside of my budget - $10K for the pair, apparently all spent on components since the cabinet was nothing special when compared to some of the Italian furniture masterpieces out there.
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