2. speakers
  3. 138466-115375

Damn it

Ok, I have a problem, granted it is a gold plated one. I thought I had this down to two choices, Burchart S400, Harbeth E30.1 or Elac Adante AS61. That's 3, I know.. Now, I came across info on Watkins Gen Four that were $2,000 a pair and actually called the place in Tennessee earlier but they had closed up shop for the day. However, I see on the website that the introductory price has been withdrawn, so now they are $3,000 a pair. What started this whole thing was me trying to follow advise from fellow audiophiles (I could be one in the making) and thought, ok, I'll spend a larger/higher amount on the speakers because they factor or weigh on the outcome of the end product. Now, the Adante's are really just too damn large for the application I plan on using them for. That really leaves the Burchart S400's & Harbeth 30.1. To compound this dilemma not many have heard the Watkins Gen Four, that's my question, has anyone heard these super speakers or believe they worth their value @ $3,000?  Any input will be greatly appreciated..      
mrdon

Showing 2 responses by mzkmxcv

mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
I would consider the S400 or the Gen 4.  
  
The Gen 4’s gives a lot of info regarding specs, more than most any other company I’ve seen. However, they are using a 1st order crossover between a 1” tweeter and  6.5” woofer, which I can likely assume that it will have poor imaging around the crossover region. The S400 uses a large waveguide to help with it’s crossover integration, and they provide a good amount of measurements to show that it performs very well (of course, they don’t give you everything, like distortion and the transient response nor decay).
mzkmxcv
777 posts
 
@mrdon 
 
Yeah, nothing inherently wrong with 1st order crossovers, but it does require that both drivers can easily play past the crossover region, so it’s usually more appropriate for speakers that are 3-way or greater. Because, if you cross over a tweeter at 2000Hz with a 1st order, it means it’s only 12dB down when at 500Hz, no way do you want a tweeter playing that deep (and that means the 6.5” woofer is down 12dB at 8000Hz, you also don’t want such a large driver playing such high frequencies). If you have a hard time grasping what a 12dB difference sound like, being 3ft from a riding lawnmower is 12dB louder than 50ft from a jackhammer. So yeah, you don’t want your tweeter playing that loudly at that low of a frequency.
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