Audience A3

[D_Dubya]

Got one side done, currently playing on the el-cheapo sony receiver and i-pod in mono.

[norman bates]

And it sounds like ???????????????

It sounds different from xxxxx driver, how ?

Any baffle step ?


With this many views, more than a few people are curious.........

I guarantee a 2 driver setup like yours will sound better than 1 driver.

To me you have to do a shootout of a 2 driver array vs. 4 driver array setup.
I'd be hesitant of a 4 driver array due to the 84mm frame.

I'd like to hear a 4 or 8 driver flat array setup without having to build one.



Norman

[D_Dubya]

I got the other speaker done last night as well.

You'll notice the gold colored screws, which are just temporary until I permanently mount them. Also internal wiring was whatever I had around, Radio Shack 18 gauge I believe, and just secured over the terminals and not soldered. No filters of any kind at this point and only a hand full of damping material. All this just to say its a temporary set up...I wanted to listen

I did have a single driver in the cabinet at one point and played some music via i-pod and a Sony receiver in mono. I always do this to make sure when I put things in my primary system nothing starts to smoke. This sound was uninspiring at the kitchen table and I started to second guess myself. Useful as a desktop computer monitor I thought, but I want high end monitor type performance.

With the second driver installed things got better, vocals had real energy and presence now. Vertical dispersion is pretty narrow, the highs drop off quickly with your ears above or below listening axis. Still Sony receiver and i-pod in mono at this point.

Finished up the second speaker real late, tested it out and moved both into my main system (Pass Labs / Balanced Audio / VPI Scoutmaster front end).

As expected things got much better here. I only got to play a single side of an LP (Ray Lamontagne Turn in Black) at low levels but it sounded promising.

Better high frequencies, broader soundstage and more inner detail than my single CSS FR125s.

I'll post more later tonight once I have a chance to listen more, and at a more reasonable volume.

[mfishmike]

D_Dubya,

Although there has been a lot of controversy over the use of expensive interconnect wire, I used the Auric #21 gauge and good solder with some silver in it. Audience has introduced the OHNO wire as well which is even better, but carries a price tag of $6.00/ft. It's all about how much you want to put into your speaker design. (I don't want to start a debate over interconnect wire because it belongs in a new thread and gets very opposing opionions when I popped a question. I went through this in another forum.)

I was so impressed with the Auric wire, I bought another 140' of the wire to rewire my mains and center speaker and have some left over for stock. After rewiring my center speaker, I noticed a marked improvement in overall sound quality. I'm anxious to re-wire my mains now. When I rebuild my next pair of Bang & Olufsen Redline 60s, I'm going to use the better wire in it as well.

Norman,

You showed some concern about using four or more drivers because of the 84 mm frame. With these drivers you won't have any combing issues with them mounted like D_Dubya and I have with the drivers mounted next to each other. The cones are so close to each other. I think that may be your concern.

Audience's ClairAudient line arrays with the Bandors, which aren't as good as the A3s, have been quite successful with up to a 24 driver array, and have no combing problems.

[planet10]

Originally posted by mfishmike
You showed some concern about using four or more drivers because of the 84 mm frame. With these drivers you won't have any combing issues with them mounted like D_Dubya and I have with the drivers mounted next to each other. The cones are so close to each other.

It is the centre to centre distance that counts.

Vertical dispersion is pretty narrow, the highs drop off quickly with your ears above or below listening axis

A pretty solid indication that significant combing is happening even with 2 drivers...

dave

[mfishmike]

Dave, you posted on the 4 driver array and combing at one of my other forums I have a thread started. You were using the Griffens paper example. Here is your cut and pasted quote:

"With only 4 drivers, if you get far enuff away, it shouldn't be a big problem. Most of the 4 driver arrarys (not many) are using 2" drivers and some of those allow for turning off the outer 2 above a certain frequency.

With 3" driver spacing, lambda ~ 4500, Griffins paper indicates that the array will transition from a virtual line array to individual point sources and will start combing above this. You need to get into the far field to avoid the worst of it (about > 10 ft for your 4 driver array)"

I beleive D_Dubya was listening to his speakers on his kitchen table, then at his computer when he made that comment. Any small driver will experience combing listening that close to the driver. When he moved it out into his main system, things improved. My main listening area or sweet spot is 13 ft. away and I notice no combing at all. They are wonderful and so articulate. John McDonald, the owner of Audience, recommends that you place the speakers at 45 degree angles to each other and make sure the speakers clear the front of your display and audio rack, especially when your listening area is as large as mine. I'm including a pic where mine are. I have them placed there temporarily.

[planet10]

I did miss the "at the listening distance he was at"

I'd still be very hesitant using a driver this big in long arrays without a tweeter array.

But i really need to hear some to render a proper opinion.

dave

[D_Dubya]

Please note my comments above are in haste and eagerness to listen and under less than ideal situations...at a kitchen table and then placed on top of ~40" tall floorstanders. Hope that helps put my comments about off axis high frequency drop in a better context.

Later tonight I'll bring out my stands and place them in a much more appropriate listening position for further evaluation.

[mfishmike]

Dave,

You would be pleasantly surprised to hear them in a line array of 8 or 16 drivers. These puppies reach 22,000 hz and are so clean and crisp. By adding tweeters to them, the highs would be so brilliant you couldn't listen to them very long.

I auditioned a pair of B & W Nautilus speakers with a single top mounted tweeter. It was so bright, I moved on to the next room.

The Audience company has designed the A3 speaker to truely be the full range driver with the XBL2 technology.

Years ago, I was going to build some line arrays with the Aura 2" drivers, but chose the conventional driver alignment because I didn't think I could get the sound I wanted. Audience has done it right with their A3s.

Grab two or four of them and you will be as surprised as I was/am.

[planet10]

I will certainly grab the opportunity to have a listen if i ever get a chance.

Originally posted by mfishmike
Grab two or four of them and you will be as surprised as I was/am.

Unless i get loaned some to try 1st, i'm not ging to spend the money. Except for the bottom, i would not be surprised if the A3 has trouble keeping up with the FF85KeN (for half the retail), they would have to be seriously good to beat them (you never know)

dave