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Surreal Speakers: Made to order in Virginia, USA

My wife and I have just returned from a listening session at Surreal's auditioning room in White Stone, VA, and we have been super-impressed with these speakers and the marvelous musical experience they create! I'm convinced that the newest version of the Surreal Speakers out-perform speakers at twice their price.

Over the past three years, I've watched Surreal evolve these speakers. Today's listening session convinces me that the designers have really achieved the promise that these speakers have suggested since day one. These speakers integrate seamlessly across the frequency spectrum, deliver exceptional dynamics and resolution, and deliver superb results with tube amplification of as little as 30 watts per channel.

The speakers operate with a single cross-over at 135hz. The sound above this crossover comes from a single driver per side for exceptional coherence and soundstage precision. Crossing over below 135hz are six dynamic 10" woofers per side in a dipole array for incredibly fast, dynamic and highly resolved bass reproduction. This woofer cabinet is fast enough and accurate enough to mate seamlessly with electrostatic speakers. With the dynamic drivers used by Surreal on the top, the sound of the entire speaker is completely coherent.

If you are anywhere near Virginia, scheduling an audition of these speakers will reward your effort in doing so.

Surreal Speakers: http://surrealspeakers.com/
rushton

Showing 3 responses by lewinskih01

lewinskih01
910 posts
 
Rushton,

Thanks for bringing these speakers to my attention. In full disclosure, I am thinking about venturing into DIY speakers and a different approach like this one is surely intriguing.

The AER driver apparently is working all the way from 130 Hz approx on up. I guess the advantage of a single driver playing that wide range is time coherency. I was wondering if you had ever experienced time-aligned speakers and if Surreal Speakers sounded along those lines?

Cheers
lewinskih01
910 posts
 
Rushton,

Indeed, you have given me a couple of research paths. The dipole subwoofer array is one. I wish I could come by and hear or even buy a sub from them as you suggest, but I'm in South America so not feasable. I'm a UVA grad so who knows, maybe for my next reunion I stop by Surreal :-)

The single AER driver vs a very good tweeter (like a RAAL) + a very good midrange (an Accuton maybe, but taste is crucial) both time aligned is another path. The latter needs to be time aligned for a fair comparison.

Do you think the improved imaging - a key design goal in my case - is driven by being a point source more than being time-aligned?
lewinskih01
910 posts
 
Hey Bif!

We've been coming across these threads a fair amount lately. A good thing! Yes, we exchanged in the sloped baffle and the DEQX threads regarding these same aspects. I've been thinking about it for a while. And will continue doing so for a while too. Before going the DIY speaker route I want to implement DRC through Acourate, then digital crossovers and multiamped system.

These AER drivers are intriguing though, just as the dipole subwoofer section is. Accomplishing crossovers in the digital domain seems to be less of a challenge than with analog XO, from some reading I've been doing.

Cheers!
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