Zaph Audio SB12.3 Build Thread

[_henry_]

what amps do u use now? as i assumed this will respond to higher rating amp then the lower ones.
please tell us more

henry

[renyrc]

Originally Posted by _henry_

what amps do u use now? as i assumed this will respond to higher rating amp then the lower ones.
please tell us more

henry

For stereo ,I use either music files from PC over DLNA to blu ray player which is hooked up via HDMI to amp, or play cd's in the player directly.

The blu-ray player is Sony BDP S-580 and the receiver/amp is an onkyo 805.

Yes you are correct in that it looks the speakers responds better to higher powered amp. In my case, the Onkyo 805 can easily give more than 100 watts for each channel ( 7 channels in total ) but when bi-amped connections are used the speakers sounds much better!

Hope to upgrade to separates in the future , i.e dac/pre-amp hooked up to quality monoblock poweramps , what do you think?

[_henry_]

av receiver prob not best suited for this speaker, as the impedance dip to 4ohms.

most receiver only happy 6ohms and above, i assume with good 200w above solid state amps this speakers will truly sing , which usually comfortable within 2-8ohms.

[_henry_]

i think hypex ncore will be good for this + DAC/Preamp combo as ncore have enough gain by itself.

[_henry_]

any DAC will improve your bluray player, as i got BDP S760, while i dont complain for bluray performance, but for cd playback the audiogd nfb12 ($200) improves the sound miles away.

[renyrc]

wow thanks for the suggestions henry...Do you know if any dac/preamp which supports dlna/wireless so that pc source can be used effectively without distance limitation.

The onkyo 805 is o.k compared to most receivers as it has a chunky class a/b amp section and has decent dac when considering when it was released....and it also weighs a ton!

[_henry_]

i think the new oppo bd-105 might do that, but im not sure. it has good dac and prob the best multi disc player out there.

just checked the 805, not sure about the specs, they only rate until 6ohm, and there is "dynamic power 1 ch driven" which gives 8, 4 and 3ohm not even sure what that's mean

[AlexanderTD]

Originally Posted by farl

How does it sound compared to some expensive speakers? Co'z i am interested to build one.

Like any good DIY speaker - it beats commercial speakers many times the cost.
SB12.3 are accurate, dry and "big" sounding. Large baffle and double midrange probably contribute a lot to it. These are extremely good for home theater - spacious and uniform sound that doesn't feel like coming from speakers at all and can shake your room. However when it comes to music - the bass is fast, accurate and dry - these speakers (or at least my version)are NOT bass heavy. They go very low, but they wont produce that constant "boom" you usualy get from bass reflex and all kind of boomboxes.
Just like bass - overall sound is very dry and precise, more monitor like. Sound stage is good and there's a lot of "air" and presence to the sound - it's what they do well compared to say Zaph's SR71 which sound a bit "closed" (though i just built them, they need break-in).

Things i'd consider:
1. While their bass is both deep and very fast\precise (actually one of the best i ever heard) - some people might expect more boomy or simply more bass from default configuration (though one can always adjust levels).
2. These are flat frequency response speakers at 2.5m and if you believe some other designers out there - flat FR = too much treble. These need distance (or adjust tweeter level). Also one need to pay attention to baffle (round edges) and flush mounting drivers.