Both are good in close proximity. 6P needs help at any distance down low. The 7.3 is Mark's best driver, for near field(small room), and best overall if supplemented with woofer. 6p is cheaper and also good with app helper woofer. I have some 6p if you want them. A7.3's you can get from Dave @PLanet10 hifi or Madisound. 10.2 is best for pure FR
Just my opinion, having listened listened to most of the current MA range. EL70, 6P, 7.3, 10.2, 12.2
Just my opinion, having listened listened to most of the current MA range. EL70, 6P, 7.3, 10.2, 12.2
You won't be disappointed on your choice of driver
Next question of course is "which enclosure" - personally I've been far less enthused with any "conventional BR" , including a couple of well respected commercial products recently I recently heard ( Totem Arro and Hawk) than with QW designs such as Scott's Pensils, Brines' MLTLs or of course any of numerous Planet10's - most notably the "quasi-aperiodic" MarKens for small rooms
I would agree with that assessment... I own the Totem Arro's along with Alpair 7.2, 7.3, 6P. For critical listening, I go with the Alpair's every time. Although, for home theater use, dynamics and bass response the Arro's out shine them by a long shot. The Alpair's have that sweet midrange that the Totem's are missing, so for music, especially vocals, Alpair's hands down...
"boom / tizz" would be my short description of the Totems, and numerous other commercial multi-ways - certainly not without a fan base, but having been DIYing for over 10yrs now, and after a few years in the retail audio trade in a previous life-time, I find it hard to swallow the value of most retail pricing and believe that one could equal or surpass the performance for a small fraction of the cost.
The Arros I found particularly murky in bass articulation, 2 dimensional and lacking in clarity and focused imaging in the vocal range. Of course, I guess the demo started off wrong when the sales associate sniffed at my suggestion of playing Apple Lossless files from my iPhone since " if it's alright, I'd like to start with some things I know quite well" - his reply - " I can tell a lossless from a WAV file with my eyes closed ", then later " I've got over 3 tera-bytes of High resolution files on my system at home" - but the coup de gras had to be - "I can see pairing the Hawks with something like the Naim Pre-Power combo( I didn't bother to look) or perhaps that little Marantz integrated - you know starting in the $3000 range" -
no, this wasn't at the Junction
but back to Mark's drivers - for me there's something ineffably magic about the 7.3 from around 300(?) on up that the 10.s2 don't quite capture - for either a smallish room, or with help with heavy lifting, I find the 7s pretty darned special
caveat emptor, YMMV, just one idiot's opinion, etc.
Last edited:
Dave's dMarKen would be my first choice, as it is highlights the strengths of the driver. We took mine over to my brothers house and mounted them on some nice stands of his with some nice isolaters and I was amazed how much tighter everything got. Dave has done his legwork and extracted the best of this driver in his design. If you are looking for more low end, go with the Pensil or MLTL. If yo want big sound, try to find a Scottmoose BVR to put it in. For me, its the Onken with some sort of woofer supplement. BudP is raving over Dave's woofer tower, but unfortunately the drivers are very hard to come by.
You will be shocked at the quality you get from this driver. Small room, listening nearfield, I could easily stop my speaker search. I am waiting for Mark to do the MAOP version.
You will be shocked at the quality you get from this driver. Small room, listening nearfield, I could easily stop my speaker search. I am waiting for Mark to do the MAOP version.
Using 15mm material the dMar-Ken7 measures in at 245mm W x 221mm D x 354mm H - while the BR designs posted on Mark's site bracket those dimensions - some are wider, some shallower, some taller. To be fair, all are simpler to build than the MarKens, particularly the trapezoid versions.
I've noted before that I'm not particularly enamored of BR designs - several years ago we built a couple of pairs for purposes of direct comparison to resistive slot vented enclosures of nominally the same volume and tuning frequencies, so this isn't just supposition. I haven't heard any of the BR designs for this driver, but I'd bet my lunch on the performance characteristics. (OK, so it's a homemade vegan mock tuna sandwich on multigrain bread, so it wouldn't be much of a wager
)So where can i find plan to buld MarKens for 7.3? Thanks!Using 15mm material the dMar-Ken7 measures in at 245mm W x 221mm D x 354mm H - while the BR designs posted on Mark's site bracket those dimensions - some are wider, some shallower, some taller. To be fair, all are simpler to build than the MarKens, particularly the trapezoid versions.
I've noted before that I'm not particularly enamored of BR designs - several years ago we built a couple of pairs for purposes of direct comparison to resistive slot vented enclosures of nominally the same volume and tuning frequencies, so this isn't just supposition. I haven't heard any of the BR designs for this driver, but I'd bet my lunch on the performance characteristics. (OK, so it's a homemade vegan mock tuna sandwich on multigrain bread, so it wouldn't be much of a wager
email me. It is part of a paid planset.
There is a free Classic Golden Ratio version here: Frugal-phile | Box Library / Mark Audio
dave
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.