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Sonido Field Coil Driver Speaker

Finally got off the fence to build my first set of speakers in 30 years.  Was planning on building a Pair of Decware DNA2’s but I wanted to explore what was available in the reasonably priced high end full range drivers.  Came across on DIY Audio forum Electro Magnet Speakers from France which had good reviews and looked great but then I heard about Sonido drivers made in Hungary.  After researching and when Nelson Pass gave a recommendation for Sonido I was in.  Took a leap of faith and ordered their top one of their top of the line Field Coil Driver SWR096FC.  A cool oval 6x9 speaker that requires a power supply for their field coil magnets.  Working with owner Istavan was a pleasure with top notch service and fast delivery.  Received the drivers and power supply late January.   I built Sonido’s recommended cabinet and now have 6 days of listening time.  They are really something special and the best speakers I have heard on my system with my initial listening impression. Bass, clarity, detail, separation, sound stage, realism they do it all and they still need more hours of break in.  Just for reference, my prior speakers for comparison were KEF Monitors, Fritz Rev6 SE Monitors, Goldenear Tritan 2 and Ohm Walsh Tall 2000’s.  There is not much information out there on Sonido so I thought I would share my experience for another DIY option especially if you are interested in true Field Coil drivers.  I will be posting pics on my system section of the forum well.  No affiliation here with Sonido. 
https://www.sonido.hu/index2.php?lang=en

tksteingraber
tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber OP
676 posts
 

@superchunk yes indeed it is a superb driver.  Now with over a month of use it has settled in nicely.  I did try a few tweaks with tubes and speaker cables to dial in the mid-highs as my system is quite transparent. I recently made some Duelund/Coherent DCA10GA tinned speaker cables with cotton sleeves and WOW what a great match.  So life-like and real sounding without losing detail/clarity.  Far exceeded my expectations and they should even improve more as they break-in.  With the recommended Sonido cabinets I built they have excellent clear, crisp, low bass with no need of assistance in my set up.

superchunk
23 posts
 

I also am using almost all duelund. They definitely will sound better with break in, they can be pretty aweful to start. I agree they seem like a good match, I'm playing around with sizes right now, going to try 16ga with 12ga and see how that sounds. That's for midrange only.

tksteingraber's avatar
tksteingraber OP
676 posts
 

Well now that I have  had sufficient burn in time and made some changes I thought I would give an update for anyone with interest.  First this has been a fun and very rewarding project for taking a big leap of faith on the Sonido Field Coil Drivers and my cabinet building abilities.  I was a bit nervous when I made the decision to say the least!  I have to say both exceeded my expectations.  These DIY Towers are absolutely phenomenal once everything settled in and finding the right wire/cables etc.  The soundstage, clarity, instrument separation, deep tight bass, 3D imaging and especially the realism…they hit all the boxes on my list and more. These Sonido’s have destroyed any speakers I have listened to in my system that is for sure.  
At first, these speakers were definitely harsh on the highs/upper mids and quite fatiguing to my ears.  After additional 70-100 play hours they got a little bit better but still my ears were struggling with them.  Buyers remorse started to set in and it was time to start making some adjustments.  Tried rolling tubes with minimal impact.  Tried prepositioning the speakers and tested room damping..nope.  Changed out my Goertz MI-3 ribbon speaker cables with an old pair of Kimber Kable 12TC and that made the needle move a bit …I was onto something.  Researched and decided to make some Duelund (Western Electric) Tinned Copper (10Ga twisted with cotton sleeve) speaker cables. The cables made a substanctial  improvement.  Then I replaced the OCC Silver plated Copper  internal cabinet wire with Duelund Tinned Copper (12 Ga twisted with cotton sleeve) for additional improvement.  Last I replaced my Audio Envy IC’s with Top of the line Veritas Argentum IC’s and my Audioquest Coffee Usb for Veritas Audax USB =my head 🤯. I can’t believe what I am hearing and the cables are only going to improve with more break in. The cables made a HUGE overall improvement and I now have no fatigue.  I am now a big believer in spending more $$ on a USB and IC cables.  Overall I think the combo of break in of the Field Coil drivers/driver transformer, finding the right speaker cable/wire match and upgrading my USB/IC made these speakers end game level.  No buyer’s remorse now!  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

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