Hello full-rangers,
David from Planet 10 was kind enough to offer me a chance to listen to and compare the CSS EL70 and Mark Audio CHP-70 in Planet 10 mMar-Kel70 enclosures. In lieu of measurements or a technical comparison of the drivers that I am not well versed enough to give I will stick with a short subjective review. The speakers were powered by a Dayton DTA2 T-amp being fed by my AirPort Express.
I casually used both speakers for a few days just getting a feel for how they sounded in my living room. Both speakers were very pleasant to listen to, no remarkable bad habits. Once I set some time aside to do a side by side and listen to the same song on each speaker consecutively the difference could be heard. The EL70 did a better job on almost every track I played. I tried to pick music that I thought had a clear and honest quality, Diana Krall's Girl In The Other Room for example. In this small enclosure the EL70 manages to produce a very effortless sound. The CHP-70 sounds held back or dampened in some way. Perhaps a larger enclosure would suite it better?
If you have been to David's and heard the EL70 in the milliSized mMar-Kel and then in the primeSize Mar-Kel box the step up in sound quality is similar to what I experienced between these two drivers; a larger and more involving sound.
Fun stuff!
Kyle
Late addition: David swapped the CHP with an eNabled set of EL70s for another comparison. I didn't detect a huge difference between the enabled and plain drivers. Perhaps my source material didn't hit the notes that the process hoped to tame/enhance. Maybe the difference could be heard more in the primeSized enclosure with the driver able to do more work? My amp and compressed material are not the best possible source for these speakers either.
David from Planet 10 was kind enough to offer me a chance to listen to and compare the CSS EL70 and Mark Audio CHP-70 in Planet 10 mMar-Kel70 enclosures. In lieu of measurements or a technical comparison of the drivers that I am not well versed enough to give I will stick with a short subjective review. The speakers were powered by a Dayton DTA2 T-amp being fed by my AirPort Express.
I casually used both speakers for a few days just getting a feel for how they sounded in my living room. Both speakers were very pleasant to listen to, no remarkable bad habits. Once I set some time aside to do a side by side and listen to the same song on each speaker consecutively the difference could be heard. The EL70 did a better job on almost every track I played. I tried to pick music that I thought had a clear and honest quality, Diana Krall's Girl In The Other Room for example. In this small enclosure the EL70 manages to produce a very effortless sound. The CHP-70 sounds held back or dampened in some way. Perhaps a larger enclosure would suite it better?
If you have been to David's and heard the EL70 in the milliSized mMar-Kel and then in the primeSize Mar-Kel box the step up in sound quality is similar to what I experienced between these two drivers; a larger and more involving sound.
Fun stuff!
Kyle
Late addition: David swapped the CHP with an eNabled set of EL70s for another comparison. I didn't detect a huge difference between the enabled and plain drivers. Perhaps my source material didn't hit the notes that the process hoped to tame/enhance. Maybe the difference could be heard more in the primeSized enclosure with the driver able to do more work? My amp and compressed material are not the best possible source for these speakers either.
Wushuliu,
Sinatra should sound great anywhere, right?
OT - how are your Alp 12 bass reflex boxes playing?
I sold the A12 drivers a long while ago. They were too large for my small listening space. Now I alternate between dual EL70s and A6Ps crossed to 8" woofers with Minidsp. The A12s were great for movies, though. Wow.
Re discontinuation: Bob has said he will not be re-ordering. He had just over 200 units when i last checked, i have about 60, and there are units in Australia (Darcher), and at least a couple places in Europe, so they should be around for a bit... if you want spares don't lolly gag thou.
And if someone wants to step up to the plate, Mark would be happy to make a version using generation 3 tech (or better). I'd love to but it takes more scratch than i have to fund the minimum order. With sufficent feedback it might be possible to have this driver as the next generation CHP.
dave
And if someone wants to step up to the plate, Mark would be happy to make a version using generation 3 tech (or better). I'd love to but it takes more scratch than i have to fund the minimum order. With sufficent feedback it might be possible to have this driver as the next generation CHP.
dave
PS: we should be testing Mar-Kel70WT next week (WT = Wide Trapezoid). This box is the result of a situation similar to how PAWO for FE127 came about. Bernie had built me a beautiful surprise pair of Mar-Ken12T. Promblem was that i ended up with 1 more pair of boxes than i had Alpair12. Struggling with how to deal with that, i realized that at 13 litre i could convert this box to fit either Alpair 10.2 or EL70 as long as the slot ports needed were smaller than those for Mar-Ken12 (ie tuned lower). Turns out this is the case for both drivers.
So Bernie has done surgery on the MK12, i'm doing up a custom set of EL70eN, so we should have box assembly this next Sunday.
Teaser picture from Bernie with 1 coat of finish and a fill in driver.
This box can be considered a pre-sage for MT, and NT versions for EL70, and 2 sizes for A10.2.
dave
So Bernie has done surgery on the MK12, i'm doing up a custom set of EL70eN, so we should have box assembly this next Sunday.
Teaser picture from Bernie with 1 coat of finish and a fill in driver.
This box can be considered a pre-sage for MT, and NT versions for EL70, and 2 sizes for A10.2.
dave
Attachments
referring to the CHP70.2?
The intentional shelving of upper couple of octaves could at least in part explain what a few of us here hear - cone paper and upper surround look to be the same on the two, but drive train including lower spider are probably quite different
I'm still running dual EL70s as daily drivers in one of my home systems - other is 5.1 with Alpair7 & 6Ms.
The Alpair6P is very very good, even at a +50% greater cost than CHP70 - if I didn't already have the Pensil7s as mains, I'd probably go for all paper ( 3@EL70 & A6P) in the HT system.
and yes, anyone got spare change in the sofa cushions to bootstrap an updated "EL70"? I can't imagine Mark wouldn't want to incorporate some new tech - $20K or so should be a decent opening bid?
Wow, those are really pretty boxes.
Shifty
yup, for a newbie, Bernie does a pretty decent job of hacking wood
big smilie here
Excuse me, Master Dave, but... Huh?
The trapezodal boxes are spreading out thru the entire miniOnken range.
The original was a necessity of fitting Alpair12 into a 13 litre box. The next one, the uFonkenSET, was a bases-loaded out-of-the-park sucess performance wise.
WT, MT, NT? Wide, medium, narrow. Each successive design trades narrower width, for more height. Obviously the larger drivers won't fit into the narrowist box format.
The basics for the prime size boxes (13 litre, A12, A10, EL70, FE127) are done. A 17 litre for A10.2 (and a 34 litre for 2xA10.2) also done (Don, aka Doorman), is doing beta of the Mar-Ken10.2TT). 9 litre based boxes are next (A7, CHP, CHR, CHBW, FF125wk). An A6P variation should be doable too.
Next driver order will include some Peerless wooders for a uFonkenSET push-push fonkenWoof/stands
dave
You mean the 5dB shelved down response 5 k up? I find that this, when driver by a good front-end, is really noticable as missing information particularily with female vocals In isolation they sound fine, when you switch to something that is flatter, you realize what is missing. With grungy source, or a front-end that is aggressive on the top, this may well be a good thing.
dave
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.