Mark Audio MAOP Micro Arc Oxidation Process 10 is something which no markaudio driver will be able to reach.
My friend has a frugal horn XL with MAOP driver and i compared it with my Frugal XL markaudio Alpair 10.3
it simply annihilated my alpair frugal and all my diy till date.
well, there is something we say in audio world
if you design a good cabinet with bad speaker, it beats the good speaker with bad cabinet
now i will add something, sometimes it is not just the driver and cabinet engineering, sometimes it is pure science which destroy both.
and driver*science + cabinet(frugal horn XL + Markaudio MAOP) is the best full range or i will say best speaker i have heard till today.
compared to alpair 10.3M, bass goes deep, it extends limitlessly.
he told me that Fs = 29Hz compared to alpair 10.3 = 38Hz(well i dont remember exact but it is near to that)
mids are faster and well timed
treble axis performace is way better and it hits you with instrument image more than any fullrange
so,
ranking
Markaudio MOAP
Markaudio ALPAIR 10.3M
MarkAudio Pluvia 11
My friend has a frugal horn XL with MAOP driver and i compared it with my Frugal XL markaudio Alpair 10.3
it simply annihilated my alpair frugal and all my diy till date.
well, there is something we say in audio world
if you design a good cabinet with bad speaker, it beats the good speaker with bad cabinet
now i will add something, sometimes it is not just the driver and cabinet engineering, sometimes it is pure science which destroy both.
and driver*science + cabinet(frugal horn XL + Markaudio MAOP) is the best full range or i will say best speaker i have heard till today.
compared to alpair 10.3M, bass goes deep, it extends limitlessly.
he told me that Fs = 29Hz compared to alpair 10.3 = 38Hz(well i dont remember exact but it is near to that)
mids are faster and well timed
treble axis performace is way better and it hits you with instrument image more than any fullrange
so,
ranking
Markaudio MOAP
Markaudio ALPAIR 10.3M
MarkAudio Pluvia 11
From a design / engineering perspective, the MAOP Alpair 10 is essentially the 2nd generation Alpair 10 with oxidised cone, sold in matched pairs. The oxidised cone alters the damping of the transverse wave subtly. I own the first production pair serials 001a and 001b.
Each generation of the Alpair 10 has been different and they have never been directly comparable in terms of their response characteristics or electromechanical design (resulting in different T/S values). In most cases they are not direct swaps and cannot be used in the same enclosure as drivers from a different generation. FHXL is slightly different insofar as it was deliberately designed to have some flexibility / adjustability to accept alternate drivers (within reason).
Each generation of the Alpair 10 has been different and they have never been directly comparable in terms of their response characteristics or electromechanical design (resulting in different T/S values). In most cases they are not direct swaps and cannot be used in the same enclosure as drivers from a different generation. FHXL is slightly different insofar as it was deliberately designed to have some flexibility / adjustability to accept alternate drivers (within reason).
Scott, I am curious to find out if the Alpair 10 (or indeed any of the Alpair range) could be used effectively in a front loaded horn.
tapestryofsound
Not as much bass, but everywhere else the MOAP 7 is in its league at least. Of all the Alpairs the A10.2 (from which the MOAP is derived) had the most capability as far as potential bass extention goes, closely followed by EL70.
dave
Up to a point, but it depends what you mean by a front-loaded horn i.e. what type & what your particular goals are, as these vary from system to system. Presumably it's a midrange horn; the Alpairs don't really need a great deal of help purely in terms of general response trend from a horn, so the excess gain would need to be EQ'd down. But you still do have some benefits from the improved system efficiency & of course you're modifying the directivity which may or may not be beneficial for your setup. Sorry for the hedge-betting answer, but I'd need more information to give any more useful thoughts.
Sorry for those types of paraphrasing and words lol
I was kid back then
Newly introduced to audio
Well
I have Alpair 11ms and I am designing a TQWT style enclosure.
I need some help with dampening in inside
What material to use (for cheap, wink wink)
Also, the more I listen to MOAP
It sounds more like old Alpair with finesse to be exact
Alpair 11ms sounds nice. I mean now I don't talk like blow it away, zing zang
Alpair 11ms in closed box sounds pretty nice.
About markaudio fullrangers I have to say
Don't drive them too loud and they sound better than almost any standard crossover speaker in sonic delivery.
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I have mainly experience with the Alpair 10.3, the 10P and the 7.3, and of all the 10.3 is my favorite. The 7.3 is very close, but a bit less efficient (obvious because the cone is smaller) but very similar in sound. The 10P is a bit darker, oldskool style fullrange sound. A bit to much to my taste actually, but the differences are not that big.
I did tune my alpair 10.3 in ported cabinets to 45Hz and it does it with ease. I did tune it in older cabinets lower (32Hz) but then the driver start to struggle at half power, so that was not a good id. But my 17.9L ported cabinet tuned to 45Hz is perfect. I did put it next to a lot of speakers already, and even next to Jeff Bagby's Tango MT (a very high rated 2 way diy studio monitor wiht a 7" woofer) it was better in the bass department, but less flat in general response. But i liked it more, as it had a warmer sound than that ruler flat studio monitor and a true point-source. Both were in the same space and with the same amp... It's just a great driver.
The Pluvia i don't know, but i'm busy now with the even cheaper CHN110, and that is not to far of the quality of the Alpair series. I did run it in on an OB and obvious there is no bass (due to the lack of cabinet), but the mid and treble is great, very similar to the Alpair. So i guess the Pluvia will also be like that...
I did tune my alpair 10.3 in ported cabinets to 45Hz and it does it with ease. I did tune it in older cabinets lower (32Hz) but then the driver start to struggle at half power, so that was not a good id. But my 17.9L ported cabinet tuned to 45Hz is perfect. I did put it next to a lot of speakers already, and even next to Jeff Bagby's Tango MT (a very high rated 2 way diy studio monitor wiht a 7" woofer) it was better in the bass department, but less flat in general response. But i liked it more, as it had a warmer sound than that ruler flat studio monitor and a true point-source. Both were in the same space and with the same amp... It's just a great driver.
The Pluvia i don't know, but i'm busy now with the even cheaper CHN110, and that is not to far of the quality of the Alpair series. I did run it in on an OB and obvious there is no bass (due to the lack of cabinet), but the mid and treble is great, very similar to the Alpair. So i guess the Pluvia will also be like that...
Thanks for the review of the 3 models of Alpair you own, I like to confirm the Alpair 10.3 model you own is this model:
Markaudio Alpair-10M Gold 6" Full Range Gen 3, from Madisound.
Yes it is, Here you see it in the own design bookshelfs that i builded. And i don't own the 10P's anymore, i sold driver as i like the 10M more...
Attachments
I can only speak to the drivers i have heard.
Best has been A7 MAOP, just a tiny bit better than A7.3eN.
Then A10.3eN is just a tick behind A7.3eN in terms of midTop, it does bass a little better, does some things better than A11ms, some not.
The paper cone A10p and A6.2p are voiced differently with a more vintage top end (rolled off, doesn’t do anything objectionable up top). The A10.3 and A10p are really 6 of one half dozen of the other. The A10p seems a darling of the small Class A amp crowd.
I have yet to EnABL A11ms.
P11 is way down the list, i prefer CHN-110.
dave
Best has been A7 MAOP, just a tiny bit better than A7.3eN.
Then A10.3eN is just a tick behind A7.3eN in terms of midTop, it does bass a little better, does some things better than A11ms, some not.
The paper cone A10p and A6.2p are voiced differently with a more vintage top end (rolled off, doesn’t do anything objectionable up top). The A10.3 and A10p are really 6 of one half dozen of the other. The A10p seems a darling of the small Class A amp crowd.
I have yet to EnABL A11ms.
P11 is way down the list, i prefer CHN-110.
dave
Thanks, can you tell me the volume of the image shown here and internal dimensions, the size of the port, diameter and length. Thanks.
Since that was written MA has come out with Pluvia 7HD which is close to an Alpair 7.3 in the new basket, and standouts like CHN-110/50 and CHR90/120 are blurring the lines. Maybe they are just getting better :^)
dave