Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure
----------------------------------------
Parameters (from Cube Audio):
Power: 40 W
Efficiency: 92 dB
Frequency response: 30Hz - 18kHz ( 6db)*
Dimensions: 30 x 50 x 105 cm
Weight: 40 Kg
Thanks @david_ten I bet that configuration sounds utterly fantastic! Tonal/musical finesse and emotionally engagement achievable at lower listening levels? Not easy to do. I’d choose this attribute by a factor of 10 compared to loud volume and bass "slam" abilities. Charles |
The Nenuphar is single driver and crossoverless. Where would one utilize a capacitor in this speaker? Charles |
10x better than what? Quite a few happy Nenuphar owners have heard or owned other full range drivers and have decided to go forward with Cube Audio offerings. There are numerous alternative choices available. If Lowther drivers stoke your passion then go for it. A number of experienced listeners may prefer Cube Audio to Lowther. YMMV. Charles |
Hi @stephendunn, I always appreciate your listening impressions and comments on this forum. I tend to fall in line with riaa_award and his comments regarding Steve Huff. He seems like a nice guy but his reviews of audio products do tend to fit the pattern articulated by riaa_award. In audio much is possible but I’d be surprised if the Pass integrated amplifier out performed the Vinnie Rossi hybrid amplifier driving the Nenuphars. Charles |
"There are trade-offs with either approach. Matching YOUR needs and preferences should take priority". Agree 100% David. With this speaker I'd prefer tubes (I just like what tubes do). However no question that there has been much success reported by those who have chosen solid state amplifiers. Superb outcomes are possible with either. Charles |
I have no reason to question that the superb Nenuphar drive utilized in an open baffle speaker with good implementation would sound very well. I'm not convinced at all that it would exceed the Nenuphar speaker in sound quality. As admirable as the driver and powerful motor assembly are the contribution of the cabinet construction and geometry can't be underestimated. A ton of work, methodical trial and error and design brainstorming went into the development and execution of the cabinet. All of these seperate aspects and their considerations combined to get the overall/finished product. This process deserves more acknowledgement and respect. Charles |
@sim_audio_nerd, Thanks for taking the time to post your listening impressions. A number of comments in this thread have touted the Bakoon amplifier as an excellent solid state choice for the Nenuphars. I do feel it’d be really beneficial to hear them with a good tube amplifier for contrast and different presentation. The Coincident Super Victory II is fairly easy to drive but needs more power than the Nenuphar. Which can be driven well with a 2A3 SET (3 to 4 watts usually).and a300b (Usually 7 to 10 watts).quite comfortably. With the Super Victory II I’d go with 20-25 watts or more. You have crossovers and seperate drivers to contend with. This is a non issue with the Nenuphar. I use a 300b 8 watt SET amplifier however my Coincident Total Eclipse II are an easier driven speaker compared to the later model Super Victory II. Charles |
but maybe I need to get over my "tube fear". Low power SET amplifiers are about as simple and straightforward as can be. Very few tubes (Or parts count in general) in these amplifiers and the DHT tubes have pretty good longevity. Also many of them are auto bias designed or simple manual bias. Overall this niche of amplifiers are exceptionally low maintenance. Nothing to fear in my opinion. Charles |
@mozartfan, Choices are plentiful. You’re very enamored with the Voxativ and it has garnered much respect and praise. I could see you being happy with them and understandably so. The Cube Audio Nenuphar has received universal praise from profession reviewers and I believe more significant, testimony of near unbridled joy and satisfaction from actual owners. No doubt that these two brands sound different from each other. Listeners will decide which suits their needs best. Both should continue to enjoy much success. Charles |
sim_audio_nerd, It's possible that you may prefer the Bakoon to a SET but you'll never know without comparing. What you've found in the SS to tube preamplifier transition (Air,space,liquidity) pretty much can be the case for tube amplifiers as well. If you do decide to venture into SET or some lower power push-pull tube amplifiers, make sure that they have good quality output transformers and power supply. Both factors are critical to achieving very good sound quality with tube amplifiers. The Nenuphars will sing! Charles |
I realize that the 300b tube is being discussed in the context of utilization for preamplifier section duty. I've only used them as output tubes in power amplifiers. I do believe that to get the best from this splendid (My opinion) tube you have to use the premium level options which admittedly are expensive (But worth it). Elrog, EML,KR, Takatsuki, these are going to yield exceptionally good sound quality. Worth the cost if you have the level of audio systems/components under discussion here. The Nenuphars will easily reveal the improvement these higher tier 300b tubes provide. I wouldn't cut corners. Charles |
@stevendunn, In a way I’m not surprised by your listening impressions using a super tweeter. I just do not believe that the Nenuphar needs this assistance in the ’vast' majority of listening situations. Cube Audio developed a remarkable wide/full range driver. Many owners find they do just fine without utilization of a subwoofer. Definitely need/preference based. Charles |
@rwpollock, That's a good observation. Ironic in the sense that the design concept from the very beginning of the Nenuphar was to mate with low power SET amplifiers. It's been established on this thread and elsewhere that solid state amplifiers can be paired very successfully with the Nenuphars. I do know that David has outstanding results with his superb 2A3 SET mono blocks. I believe my Coincident Frankenstein 300b SET mono blocks would be a successful match with these speakers. Charles |
@abd1, My then new (2009) Frankenstein MK II came standard with EH 300b tubes and they were solid performers. I soon upgraded to the Shuguang black Treasure 300b which was an immediate and obvious improvement. I later moved on to the Takatsuki and like you said, "WOW"!! Better in every conceivable way. David I know as high as your expectations were, the Found Music 2A3 SET and Nenuphar pairing has exceeded them. 3.5 watts of supreme quality and implementation. Certainly specific situations dictate choices but too often more power (Watt quantity) is the default recommendation when in fact watt quality is the answer. David you were generously rewarded by sticking with your well reasoned convictions. Charles |
@yorkshireman, At 10 watts I'm assuming that this is a SET amplifier utilizing a modest 6db of negative feedback (Many SETs are zero negative feedback). The damping factor is pretty modest as to suit the Nenuphars (Per design objective). I can not anticipate any problems with this amplifier. Charles |
@yorkshireman, I can not say with any authority that a lower power amplifier would unequivocally be better, certainly as good. @david_ten is enjoying truly splendid results with his superb 2A3 SET . I feel more strongly that the absolute quality of the amplifier is priority number 1. The best quality SET you feel that you can afford. SET circuits are straightforward and no mystery. Key criteria are high quality parts, output transformers and very stout power supply. The Nenuphar will readily exploit these amplifier attributes. Charles |
As far as specific recommendations go there are no shortage of worthy candidates. Have you determined a budget comfort range? 300b SET are more plentiful and are also generally more expensive than 2A3 SET amplifiers. Again, depends on what level/tier of quality you seek. The better the amplifier, the better the Nenuphar will sound. Charles |
@yorkshireman, Just saw your post (Watching the NBA champion game😊). I believe that the Allnic is an excellent choice. 1Established and highly respected manufacturer. 2 High standard built quality chassis construction. 3 Very high quality output transformers. 4 Robust power supply. 5 Very thoughtful soft start mechanism. This should sound quite wonderful paired with the Nenuphars. When you're able/willing to, buy the best 300b tubes you can afford. The one drawback to the 300b is the premium level choices are not low cost. In this case you get what you pay for. With an SET of this caliber and the high level Nenuphars there's little rationale for compromising on 300b tube quality. You'll be rewarded. Charles |
6 Moon’s Srajan Ebaen did review the 30K flagship Allnic L 10000 DHT line stage that utilizes the 300b and lacks an output transformer thus an OTL component. The Allnic 1500 integrated amplifier uses the 300b in a traditional power amplifier output stage fashion with output transformers . Although different types of audio components, I agree with David. The review provides useful information/insight concerning Allnic’s design, technical and engineering competency. They are a high quality manufacturer of audio products. Charles |
From @jollytinker on 03/10/2021 "I’ve been trying out a new pair of Nenuphars for about a week now and I’m mighty impressed. I’ll chime in more as I find the words to describe what I’m hearing. I’ll just mention for now that I’m powering the Nenuphars with a pair of Thoress EHT mono blocks. These amps are somewhat under the radar (they’re pricey and don’t seem to have much retail support in the US) but Ebaen reviewed them at 6moons in combination with the Nenuphars and used some striking language to describe the pairing. He rates the EHTs as a better match for the Cubes than the FW SIT1 monos. http://https//6moons.com/audioreview_articles/thoress2/ FWIW I can see what he’s talking about. I compared the EHTs with a SIT3 and found the difference to be profound (much as I love the SIT3). For now I’m still working on getting speaker placement and room treatments dialed in (at 20 sq meters my room is at the bottom end of the range for these speakers as specified by Cube Audio). so, more to come. Thanks to all here for a refreshingly good thread " |
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://positive-feedback.com/revie... Additional perspective. Charles |
Thanks for providing that link. As a non Nenuphar owner I confess that I have much admiration and respect for this speaker. It seems to nail all of the criteria and parameters that I find most important, even mandatory. I remain exceedingly happy with my Coincident Total Eclipse II speakers (13 years 😊). The Nenuphars are 1st on my list if I ever decide to change speakers. I do believe that they represent an extraordinary achievement. I completely understand your happiness and satisfaction with them. I believe they’d be a superb match with my Coincident 300b SET mono blocks with their low damping factor and zero NFB design/circuit. Charles |
From JA at Stereophile. "McIntosh specifies the MC462 as being able to deliver 450Wpc (26.5dBW) into a load matched to the nominal output Autoformer tap. With clipping defined as being when the THD+noise reaches 1%, fig.6 indicates that the MC462 exceeded its specification even with both channels driven, its 8 ohm output clipping at 516Wpc into 8 ohms (27.1dBW). The trace in this graph stops at 1%, as that is when the amplifier’s protection was triggered. Into 4 ohms (fig.7), the McIntosh’s 8 ohm output clipped at 720Wpc (25.6dBW). It’s fair to note that I don’t hold the wall voltage constant for this test; with both channels clipping into 4 ohms, the wall voltage had dropped from 121 to 115.4V. The MC462’s 2 ohm output delivered 190Wpc (22.8dBW) with both channels driven into 8 ohms at 1% THD+N, 298Wpc with both channels driven into 4 ohms (21.7dBW, fig.8), and 536W (21.3dBW) with one channel driven into 2 ohms" This type of amplifier (On paper) is truly the opposite of the kind of amplifier the Cube Audio designs of the Nenuphar had in mind to drive this speaker. Single driver crossoverless with intentionally easy impedance load and highly damped driven design. It will be very interesting to see how this pairing works out. You just never know until you listen. Best of luck @kragon. Charles |
@david_ten, "This despite Nenuphar specs, which suggest otherwise" Good point but only if one relies exclusively on specs and numbers on printed paper and ignore the actual words uttered by Grzegorz Rulka. He will with patience and conviction explain precisely why the Nenuphars preform brilliantly with low power tube amplifiers (Of suitable quality) with zero NFB and high output impedance. Just ask him😊. The added bonus of the Nenuphar is it is capable of performing very well with amplifiers that do not fit those clearly stated parameters. Grzegorz has been very open about the design and targeted amplification for his speaker. I readily acknowledge that there are people driving the Nenuphars with solid state amplifiers quite successfully. Charles |
@dspringham, "Honestly, I though the VR L2iSE did sound just fine with it’s built-in single device JFET output stage but the Zen just adds that last bit of air, righteous tone and life-breathing liveliness that takes favourite tunes a higher plane." Very well described! As much as I enjoyed my prior solid state amplifier and then some very fine class A/B push-pull tube amplifiers, the class A lower watt SET was just more "alive" sounding and emotionally connecting. In a nutshell more "breath of life" realness and tactile. Obviously not everyone will agree but @dspringham I relate to your listening comparison experience/evolution . |
@rwpollock, Class D SPEC amplifier driving Boenicke W-8 and Shindo Cortese driving the Nenuphars. Which is your primary system? Surely they possess rather different sonic presentations. I’ve always come across comments of high praise for the F2a output tubed Shindo Cortese. The late Art Dudley loved this amplifier. Charles |
