nothing wrong with simple.
Thanks.
What is your favorite High EFF speaker
Hello Everyone!
The most interesting item on my horizon lately are high efficiency speakers.
Better said, speakers which can easily be driven by amps whose output is from 15 to 70wpc. And likely lower, ala 300B amps, or a pr of Els or KTs, etc. there are a ton of 30 to 75wpc tube amps out there that perform at fascinating levels, and are very interesting.
Having exactly no EXP in this realm other than a former interlude with Silverline Sonata IIIs (reputedly 93db, @ 8 ohms) some time back, I’m asking for members EXP on current or recent production speakers still available you have used which check all the boxes IYO.
imaging, resolution, bottom end accuracy, impact and honesty.
I listen to sensible music. Nothing urban or inner city, rave, etc.., but I do enjoy twisting up the ‘fun’ knob on the preamp from time to time.
Many thanks.
Showing 10 responses by blindjim
@kalali Anything else that could deliver this level of detail and speed with quality bass and could also extend down to something around 20Hz would require much larger footprint and cost significantly more. blindjim> Regrettably yes. @kalali Daedalus speakers could be a great option if they meet your size, decor, and budget requirements. blindjim> These are on the ‘we’ll see list. Logistics separate me from them ordinarily. @kalali As a side note, the more efficient speakers, in my case full range single driver, seem to sound a lot better even when you listen to only a single speaker and they seem to maintain that level of detail and aliveness .. from greater distances. blindjim> Curiously enough… Alluring items IMO currently are the Cube Audio 10 inch single driver model from Poland, ala Lampasader Electronics GG and Pacific DACs among other contestants things are happening over there. At $14K these seem very interesting as they are usually presented with what I believe is a 2A3 Tektron amp. They rate at 92/93db @ 8 ohms. = = = On another note, I will add from personal EXP Classic audio, and Volte Audio were two instances which I heard earlier this year. Also heard were AG Uno latest ver., and one other horn offering in a more ‘antique’ or classic arrangement. Briefly I heard the UK Audio Note towers though it was too brief an EXP to note which units though it was an all AN outfit using their 300b amps. @atmasphere> Agreed completely on the presentation. If there was a turn key setup I’d buy if/when possible, that setup at the Fla Audio Expo was it…. Apart from the analog TT & Phono aspect. As I have posted here previously, in my reviews/threads the Classic audio t1s & your amps proved the most fascinating of that show with only one other room close to that encounter, albeit the cA spkrs were beyond $40K. CA offers a down sized ver T3 @ $20 to 25K. According to John Wolfe who I spoke with for a moment or three and he said the biggest diff was in the bottom end, and of course the overall physical dims as the lower cost units were smaller yet still had the options list the T1s speakers possess. Eg., coils w/tube power sups. . FWIW I never got back to hear the 3s regrettably. Cone driver slam with panel aplomb. LP caveat was to have ten ft at least from the spkrs. And I never delved into what or how the adjustments on the driver’s power supplies or other controls accomplished or why? = = = The Volte Audio units were the more affordable models as I recall. (Rivals?) At about $9k base price. The listening was near non existent as I was more interested in speaking with Volte designer/fabricator Greg Roberts about his products designs, setup, and options. I thought I would get back to that room the next day but did not. There is a real lesson in there somewhere. The aG Unos did nothing for me at all. They had Viva power and I think a MSB stack feeding them thru an all Shunyata loom. Maybe the most eye opening demos were with the KEF Blade Its. With a Carver PP 75wpc amp and Bel canto pre/DAC the blades were exceptionally resolving and dynamic and the music list was with real world songs… nothing way out there on the esoteric limb tune wise, thankfully. … and the Doshi plus Joseph Audio pulsars with all Cardas clear cabling. In a word? Exceptional given the size of the spkrs. Its one thing to show systems with adept, well heeled records and tracks aimed squarely as IMO, ‘show pony’ fare. Sure they will sound good. They are supposed to for Pete’s sake. Real world musical fare however goes much further in one’s home. Classic Audio was playing a Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double trouble LP. Kudos CA, Purist Audio Design, & Atmas. Likewise for the Doshi & JA exhibition. |
correct me if wrong, I'm getting the impression from these posts horns last a pretty long time. a friend out of state has a pair of klipshorns that I think he said were 30 years old. maybe 20. large units though. quite wide perhaps 30 inches? only 40 inches tall... I think. using Bryston amps and shitte upstream gear, I was fairly impressed with how they sounded overall, given the setup. nothing to speak of wire wise. Shitte DAC was mid level. the sound was clean, clear quite resolving in a very musical manner. using his latest additon, a shitte tube preamp, the demo was very very nice. |
@atmasphere The power supplies are simply set to a particular current to energize the field coils and then left alone. blindjim> thanks. 22Hz, I could live with that. You mentioned with a 16 ohm IMP speaker system, amp consideration is important. In what respect? As I would think an amp with 20wpc > should be enough to push them. Albeit the caveat as usual would be any amp’s voice/performance falling in line with one’s own preffs. IMO I’d visualize a setup of T3s with 30 or better glass monos, or something akin to one of the Pass labs similar but SS monos. I forget exactly what JW said when he mentioned they enjoyed power in the ranges of 30 to 60wpc. Perhaps for the lower end 15 in. Driver to perform best/better? Only hearing his T1s with your 60wpc monos was impressive. Especially in that immense room, standing well back and far off center as we spoke. Many, many thanks. |
@dodgealum … very high with the Apollo series 10” woofer, very good resolution without fatigue and very good imaging blindjim> Thanks much. I did not want to interject price, room size or amps as I wanted to see what other’s have used, enjoyed, demo’d, etc. in various settings etc., so to ascertain a broader spectrum of user EXP. It is why I asked for available production models rather than an all time sort of love fest with the genre. Perhaps a consensus would formulate, perhaps not. It always helps to update such a list of user EXP from time to time as speaker tech and tech in general, is not static, ever matriculating the ‘ball’ forward. as well Klipschorn and Daedalus have received some voices here already, among others. I’m only sure of the way I want to go, how I get there and with what, is another story entirely. … and there are countless other speaker systems which as yet have not been named here. As they say, “More will be revealed”. |
Classic Audio Florida Audio Expo 2019 AVS YouTube t 1.5 demo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LohOV-ilstI the room and gear are described. if in fact your fav High Eff speaker is in a videeo then by all means post that link. |
Cube audio youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6k8TPH-jlE&feature=em-uploademail Daedalus Zeus + Modright https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9feSWCg1PNs Tannoy Cantebury + Carey Audio https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42AKTR-BaFs Living Voice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0c4PgPlk-Y |
Devore fidelity O series Reference 90K & AduioMat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awDLTtkvti0 Tannoy Kinsington & Nagra https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Kpf57uyxzI JBL 4367 & ML 536 INT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjQCIFOOOFc |