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Hard to believe the screen is 110" dia. I just finished by front three speakers, and the itch to start the next design is very strong. I am going to build a two channel purist system, so am figuring out the best approach over next few months. I do not want to go commercial, to many compromises and/or to high of cost.
I really like large drivers, as witnessed by the two 18" and two 15" drivers in my HT speakers.
It sure is...I am a fan of large drivers. My HT speakers are very good, but for two channel system I am building from scratch I am wanting something different. No having to worry about crossover point, crossover slope, driver delay, sensitivity matching, etc is a desired end goal. I tend to obsess over such things.
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Perhaps you would like to consider a BLH for your two-way. I don't have experience with them myself, but I have read good comments about their ability to provide good dynamics despite having smaller drivers. I see a horn as acting like a magnifier for a smaller driver - which isn't far off reality when you consider they are acting as impedance converters.
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Gareth, I am just in the process of moving to a house with a larger room,, been working on this house for quite a while and using the MA 12.2 as the AN's are still at the old house. I will be interesting to get comparing them, in the larger space.
I also got a nice new pre power that is stunning on the MA drivers but I have not got trying it with the Audio Nirvana's I look forward to that, so lots to play around with!
I also have a pair of the NA12 cast frame, pair of Alpair 10P and pair of Alpair 7.3 sitting in the boxes,,, waiting for boxes
. Ray
That will give you more time spend to obsess over the position of the stuffing and see if long fiber mohair is better than the hand plucked stuff from a yaks ****!
I have always liked the 15's.
Bro also has a pair, lives in NH and when he heard mine many years ago he just had to build a pair for himself and I don't see him changing ever.
They are nice!
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Although the AN12 comes from the same family as the AN15 I wouldn't expect them to be the same, i.e. you might find one of them suits your ears better than the other. Same with the Alpair drivers I would imagine although I've only really heard the A10.3. If I ever build a 2-way / full range + woofer pairing I might consider the A7.3.
Gareth, my gut says the 7.3 would need a little augmentation on the bottom end to satisfy my own ears as well, I know many would disagree but god knows what they listen to.
I ran the 7.3 and the 10P drivers screwed into a bit of ply. Wasn't really able to form many firm opinions at the time , other than the paper driver had a very different character from the metal,,,, I liked it. I found running them in OB a little trying after a short period as my nerves were starting to get a little frayed so the kill switch got a whack. The AN12 I have only ran in OB ,,, I played about running the 12 in OB with the AN15 housed in the box and I liked the the result,, it fattened things up ,, imaging deteriorated but a nice full sound that was not offensive,,, may have been good with classical or orchestral stuff,, perhaps more to play with down the road!
I'm more of a mucker than matmatician but I trust my ears.
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And suitably large
What I'm less enthusiastic about is the increased directionality at high frequencies from the Alpair. The published data shows a lot of narrowing in dispersion by 10kHz. Not just the Alpair but most full range drivers of 4" and above can show nearly a 20dB drop at 30deg off-axis. I asked Troels G why he hasn't built a FAST speaker and he drew my attention to this, showing me that a good tweeter will not suffer from this issue (e.g. Satori). I don't have data to hand for the AN15 but my listening experience is of very wide dispersion, the whizzer really does t's job.
What I'm less enthusiastic about is the increased directionality at high frequencies from the Alpair. The published data shows a lot of narrowing in dispersion by 10kHz. Not just the Alpair but most full range drivers of 4" and above can show nearly a 20dB drop at 30deg off-axis. I asked Troels G why he hasn't built a FAST speaker and he drew my attention to this, showing me that a good tweeter will not suffer from this issue (e.g. Satori). I don't have data to hand for the AN15 but my listening experience is of very wide dispersion, the whizzer really does t's job.
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And suitably large
What I'm less enthusiastic about is the increased directionality at high frequencies from the Alpair. The published data shows a lot of narrowing in dispersion by 10kHz. Not just the Alpair but most full range drivers of 4" and above can show nearly a 20dB drop at 30deg off-axis. I asked Troels G why he hasn't built a FAST speaker and he drew my attention to this, showing me that a good tweeter will not suffer from this issue (e.g. Satori). I don't have data to hand for the AN15 but my listening experience is of very wide dispersion, the whizzer really does t's job.
I think that is what I am experiencing at present with the 10.2s ,,, I brought the hifi into the bigger room and now that I getting a bit of damping going on with the carpet alone. I am noticing the much more directional thing going on and I don't have the huge ceiling to floor interlined curtains up yet at each end of the room. I think the AN 15 may be needed,,, maybe a rebuild,,, maybe a bigger box,,,if I could do a taller box it could go to the ceiling,,,,, so many thoughts!
There is always something to obsess over in audio.
I am just now starting to look into the full range driver systems, so I have a lot of learning to do. Perhaps BLH's as suggested by Bigun.
I have 5 tunes that a system must be able to play or its a no-go:
1) Black Sabbath - "A Bit of Finger / Sleeping Village / Warning" (Black Sabbath) - contains the most "raw" electric guitar of any recording I have heard. Sounds fantastic on great speakers, like garbage on others.
2) Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - "Flight of the Cosmic Hippo" (Flight of the Cosmic Hippo) - best quote from internet describing this tune "soul shaking bass lines and a futuristic percussion barrage as a base in which Bela can soar with his beautifully complex banjo riffing."
3) Michael Hedges (R.I.P.) - "The Funky Avocado" (Breakfast in the Field) - Amazing transients and recording quality from an acoustic guitar master.
4) Dead Can Dance - "The Wind that Shakes the Barley" (Into the Labyrinth) - haunting recording with a lot of reverb, can sound terribly harsh on poor speakers.
5) Terry Evans - "Blues No More" (Puttin' It Down) - Blues great featuring superlative sound.
I think a tiny driver would have a hard time getting decent volume (not ear shattering, I have a home theater for that when the desire for concert SPL strikes).
Love some of the speakers in this thread. Been enjoying a 10" midrange (Eminence Lil' Buddy) on OB - sounds great! But I do have the 15" woofers... once you go 15" it's difficult to go back. Larger drivers excite more air and may be why we love them so much - even at lower volumes. Loving the horn tweeters too these days but always a full range driver fan.
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More like a combination of a very reverberant room and a cheap cellphone camera and mic.
Since when can we actually compare speakers from poorly recorded Youtube videos?
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