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Congratulation Bigun!!! 
BTW is that a Sequerra tuner I spied? I think I have another reason to be jealous of you....
I'm surprised how reasonable they are size wise to be honest. Having spent a good deal of time with 15 inchers they are really not that bad - a pleasing ratio of height to depth and width
once again well done - its not every DIYAudio nut who manages to pull off a whopper like that AND get spousal approval
BTW is that a Sequerra tuner I spied? I think I have another reason to be jealous of you....
I'm surprised how reasonable they are size wise to be honest. Having spent a good deal of time with 15 inchers they are really not that bad - a pleasing ratio of height to depth and width
once again well done - its not every DIYAudio nut who manages to pull off a whopper like that AND get spousal approval
After playing my wife's favourite song it became clear that WAF is NOT AN ISSUE
let that be a lesson for all !!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats
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Thanks JRKO !
fyi - actually it's a Magnum Dynalab all-analogue FM tuner. It's my favourite source - sounds pretty good if you find a good channel. Mind you, they didn't fit the best caps on the output (an easy upgrade) so you don't have to feel so bad now
Thanks JRKO !
fyi - actually it's a Magnum Dynalab all-analogue FM tuner. It's my favourite source - sounds pretty good if you find a good channel. Mind you, they didn't fit the best caps on the output (an easy upgrade) so you don't have to feel so bad now
Yes what a muppet I am. I was reading about the Seq last night - was the first name that popped into my head this morning!! Of course its a Dynalab! would love one myself. I have Yamaha, Denon (digi) and Marantz tuners. I love radio and thank goodness for the BBC!!
Whats the FM situation in the land of the Maple leaf?
Have you opened up the throttle on the big boys yet?
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it's a bigun alright.
Well I've given it a try out today using my CELLINI tube amp (a flea powered single ended 6SN7 driving a 6AS7 via a PIO cap, Hammond 125ESE OPT, tube recifier with choke loaded supply - not the the most linear amp but it is my first and only DIY tube amp).
I'm still running the AN15 open back, fairly close to the wall with old clothes shoved in the back. Not ideal.
Overall the sound is good, the source is my FM tuner.
The bass goes pretty low, not sure where it cuts off but there isn't a lack of bass. It may be capable of more once the stuffing/back is sorted out. My tube amp hasn't been auditioned with big speakers before, I've always used it with small FRs so I don't know where the amp runs out. I need to try my Bryston SS amp which has no shortage of clean bass (and lots of available throttle for JRKO!). With my tube amp the bass sounds slightly soft, as if it would do well with some double bass in a jazz ensemble. I'm not used top having this much bass on tap for my tube amp and it's a nice upgrade.
The treble does beam slightly. My wife and I were in the kitchen and noticed that it sounded like there was a small radio playing on the fridge - really convincing it was. But it was the sound from the speaker aiming through the kitchen door about 30 feet away and reflecting perfectly off the large fridge freezer ! Nevertheless, I wouldn't describe the off-axis response as a problem but simply consistent with what you might expect from a driver of this design. Listening off-axis it sounds just fine, you can sit at a wide range of angles off-axis and enjoy the music. If anything it's better listening off-axis than directly on-axis. On a good FM channel (at 89.9 we have a really nice French language channel that doesn't sound compressed and always sounds great) it sounds detailed without harshness. On the usual pop channels you can tell the sound is more processed and to my ears it gains a slightly etched quality on some tracks that I don't hear when I listen to my Tivoli desktop radio. I noticed the same thing with my CSS EL-70 drivers - they also show up the quality of the FM station - mind you I've seen measurements on this forum somewhere showing that the EL-70's do have some bumpiness in the FR around 6kHz to 7kHz and the AN 15 is likely not perfectly smooth either.
The mids sound balanced, not recessed or forward, not lush or ultra-clean but somewhat neutral - not in a boring way, in an enjoyable 'I can keep listening to this music' kind of way.
My PMC floorstanding 2-way TL speakers do not have the 'life' of the AN15 but my ears tell me they have a flatter FR.
Well, that's the start of the journey.
Well I've given it a try out today using my CELLINI tube amp (a flea powered single ended 6SN7 driving a 6AS7 via a PIO cap, Hammond 125ESE OPT, tube recifier with choke loaded supply - not the the most linear amp but it is my first and only DIY tube amp).
I'm still running the AN15 open back, fairly close to the wall with old clothes shoved in the back. Not ideal.
Overall the sound is good, the source is my FM tuner.
The bass goes pretty low, not sure where it cuts off but there isn't a lack of bass. It may be capable of more once the stuffing/back is sorted out. My tube amp hasn't been auditioned with big speakers before, I've always used it with small FRs so I don't know where the amp runs out. I need to try my Bryston SS amp which has no shortage of clean bass (and lots of available throttle for JRKO!). With my tube amp the bass sounds slightly soft, as if it would do well with some double bass in a jazz ensemble. I'm not used top having this much bass on tap for my tube amp and it's a nice upgrade.
The treble does beam slightly. My wife and I were in the kitchen and noticed that it sounded like there was a small radio playing on the fridge - really convincing it was. But it was the sound from the speaker aiming through the kitchen door about 30 feet away and reflecting perfectly off the large fridge freezer ! Nevertheless, I wouldn't describe the off-axis response as a problem but simply consistent with what you might expect from a driver of this design. Listening off-axis it sounds just fine, you can sit at a wide range of angles off-axis and enjoy the music. If anything it's better listening off-axis than directly on-axis. On a good FM channel (at 89.9 we have a really nice French language channel that doesn't sound compressed and always sounds great) it sounds detailed without harshness. On the usual pop channels you can tell the sound is more processed and to my ears it gains a slightly etched quality on some tracks that I don't hear when I listen to my Tivoli desktop radio. I noticed the same thing with my CSS EL-70 drivers - they also show up the quality of the FM station - mind you I've seen measurements on this forum somewhere showing that the EL-70's do have some bumpiness in the FR around 6kHz to 7kHz and the AN 15 is likely not perfectly smooth either.
The mids sound balanced, not recessed or forward, not lush or ultra-clean but somewhat neutral - not in a boring way, in an enjoyable 'I can keep listening to this music' kind of way.
My PMC floorstanding 2-way TL speakers do not have the 'life' of the AN15 but my ears tell me they have a flatter FR.
Well, that's the start of the journey.
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yea, my little 4 x 4" on open backed (2' wide x 2' tall x 19" deep) seemed to go far lower than I expected, and its mass corner is around 200hz, not like 100hz for the an15.
I think the dipole hump really tricks our ears into thinking it goes deeper. Especially to those of us who listen to small to mid width speakers without baffle step.
Norman
I think the dipole hump really tricks our ears into thinking it goes deeper. Especially to those of us who listen to small to mid width speakers without baffle step.
Norman
While this speaker is certainly large (there are larger ones out there from Wilson, Magico, etc.) it has nice proportions and uses just a full range driver! So this design represents our goal. Many of us, including me, still play around with helper woofers and tweeters which complicates the design. This speaker also represents your dedication to music reproduction in your home making a bold statement. Kudos and enjoy!
Zilla
Zilla
89.9 FM would be CBC's Espace Musique, correct? All of CBC's radio stations sound good and uncompressed, save for a couple of shows.
Nice speakers! I also just finished building some "big'uns", multi-way pro-driver stuff though. It will be interesting to see what configuration you end-up prefering, open-back or closed-back. Maybe an aperiodic vent could help out if closed-back sounds too boomy in the end.
IG
Nice speakers! I also just finished building some "big'uns", multi-way pro-driver stuff though. It will be interesting to see what configuration you end-up prefering, open-back or closed-back. Maybe an aperiodic vent could help out if closed-back sounds too boomy in the end.
IG
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Playing very nicely. I'm convinced the limitation is now with the amplifier.
One thing that isn't quite right, to my ears, is the bass. It doesn't sound as if the FR is very flat. I can't separate this from the amp yet, until I try out my Bryston on it. But I think it's connected with the fact I haven't put the back on the cabinet and it's got some OB-like bass behaviour going on.
Despite the scary nature of the published FR plot, the treble sounds fine, it does not seem to 'excite' the parts of my 'receiving apparatus' that found the Fostex too bright.
It's a pleasure to listen to and is now in daily service even though the back and stuffing are unfinished !
IG81 - how about some photo's of your Big'un ?
One thing that isn't quite right, to my ears, is the bass. It doesn't sound as if the FR is very flat. I can't separate this from the amp yet, until I try out my Bryston on it. But I think it's connected with the fact I haven't put the back on the cabinet and it's got some OB-like bass behaviour going on.
Despite the scary nature of the published FR plot, the treble sounds fine, it does not seem to 'excite' the parts of my 'receiving apparatus' that found the Fostex too bright.
It's a pleasure to listen to and is now in daily service even though the back and stuffing are unfinished !
IG81 - how about some photo's of your Big'un ?
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