SL's Pluto

[sdclc126]

Hey all - I just looked at SL's Pluto and I have to say "I don't get it!" A woofer firing straight up towards the ceiling AND into the tweeter mounting? Drivers firing at right angles to eachother? A tweet that dies at 15k? (Probably no music up there anyway?) Absolutely NO baffles whatsoever on either driver?

What doesn't make sense to me is that it's so different from how he says a speaker SHOULD be designed - yet he went ahead and broke a bunch of his own rules. Of course I don't know what the thing sounds like, but jeez - it looks like a mess to me. What's the point? Might as well have just made a smaller, cheaper OPEN BAFFLE, 3-WAY DIPOLE, which is what he says a speaker should be, and NOT what the Pluto IS.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm outta line - but I must say I lose a little respect for SL when he seems to so blatantly contradict his own principles. Pluto certainly seems to be a speaker of multiple sacrifices and compromises, with unbalanced emphasis on electronics, and for the money I think many of us could probably come up with something a little better.

Feedback folks?

[thylantyr]

Hey all - I just looked at SL's Pluto and I have to say "I don't get it!" A woofer firing straight up towards the ceiling AND into the tweeter mounting? Drivers firing at right angles to eachother? A tweet that dies at 15k? (Probably no music up there anyway?) Absolutely NO baffles whatsoever on either driver?

so.

What doesn't make sense to me is that it's so different from how he says a speaker SHOULD be designed - yet he went ahead and broke a bunch of his own rules.

There is more than one way to design a loudspeaker and
every loudspeaker will offer something good or bad. People
will perceive the sound as they please. It's ok to break rules,
it's just audio not the law. /hehe

Of course I don't know what the thing sounds like, but jeez - it looks like a mess to me.

What's the point?

I like it because it's 'black sheep'.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm outta line - but I must say I lose a little respect for SL when he seems to so blatantly contradict his own principles.

And who said that his principles is the Bible of audio?

Pluto certainly seems to be a speaker of multiple sacrifices and compromises

All loudspeaker designs are compromises.

and for the money I think many of us could probably come up with something a little better.

How can you say a loudspeaker is better when everyone
will precieve the sound quality different.

[ScottG]

there is a LOT going on here that is not readily apparent. And yes he is breaking his own rules, but like everyone else he is still learning.. It appears though that he is still grudgingly adhering to his rules by stating that the Pluto is only fractionally inferior to the Orion - not leaping so far to the conclusion that some of his rules may be wrong (i.e. that a better "pluto-like" desging might actually sound better than the Orion and therefor that some of the design behind the Orion is flawed).

What seems absurd though is that he has once again gone for the active crossover solution (..last time I checked). Not that an active solution is absurd, but rather that the speaker system was designed to be a very low cost solution and the active approach radiacally increases total cost.

[sdclc126]

"Hey all - I just looked at SL's Pluto and I have to say "I don't get it!" A woofer firing straight up towards the ceiling AND into the tweeter mounting? Drivers firing at right angles to eachother? A tweet that dies at 15k? (Probably no music up there anyway?) Absolutely NO baffles whatsoever on either driver?"

:so."

SO - Linkwitz himself says no baffle is one of the worst designs - it's on his site.

"Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm outta line - but I must say I lose a little respect for SL when he seems to so blatantly contradict his own principles."

And who said that his principles is the Bible of audio?

No one - not my point - his principles are HIS bible - and yet he doesn't follow them - so they don't have much meaning, apparently even to Linkwitz.

"Pluto certainly seems to be a speaker of multiple sacrifices and compromises "

All loudspeaker designs are compromises

Yes, I know - these compromises are goofy.

"and for the money I think many of us could probably come up with something a little better. "

How can you say a loudspeaker is better when everyone will precieve the sound quality different

Build the Pluto, then for the same money build YOUR design - then listen - I'm saying YOU might like yours better, and other might too.

[thylantyr]

Nobody said Audio is without comedy ....

Maybe SL took the Bose factory tour to get inspired.

[sdclc126]

Originally posted by thylantyr
Nobody said Audio is without comedy ....

Maybe SL took the Bose factory tour to get inspired.

Sounds like we're more in agreement than I thought. Good analogy. Wonder what kind of flak he's going to get on his site email? Maybe he should think about getting a bigger mailbox.

[thylantyr]

Originally posted by sdclc126


Wonder what kind of flak he's going to get on his site email?

/joke

If he markets like Bose, then expect huge growth and the bad emails
are directed to the public relations officer, aka the trash bin.



Oddly enough I wanted to do something similar with those NSB's
and $4 tweeters in a PVC pipe. Can't beat the <$10 speaker project
minus crossover.

[BrianL]

Did it ever occur to you dudes that SL knows quite a bit;
that, in fact, he probably knows more than all of you (us)
put together when it comes to speaker design?

As to the active crossover being more expensive...
I recently purchased xover componenst for my speakers,
fairly simple design, and spent noticably more than
SL's xover would cost -- not to mention the "free" amplification
thrown in to his setup. And, no, I did not buy particularly
exotic xover components.

I believe that the Pluto is exactly what he says it is. An
easy-to-build fairly low-cost system. It is based on
his earlier work on pipe-based surround. Try/listen before
you make arbitrary judgements not based on fact. It would
also be handy to read the full text of his multi-page descriptions.

[sdclc126]

Did it ever occur to you dudes that SL knows quite a bit; ...

Yes, it did - which is exactly why I find it so bizarre that he would design a speaker using principles HE HIMSELF says are a bad idea.

This is a discussion forum - we talk all the time about speakers we've never heard, designs that have never been built, etc., and, like SL, have opinions based on our knowledge and experience. If I asked you what you thought about design XYZ, you would probably have some feedback, even if you'd never heard it. Happens every day here - if it didn't, this site probably wouldn't exist.

I wonder what the chatter would be like here if, instead of SL, the Pluto had been designed by one of us lesser mortals, and put up on the forum for review?

Dude.

[thylantyr]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by BrianL
Did it ever occur to you dudes that SL knows quite a bit;
that, in fact, he probably knows more than all of you (us)
put together when it comes to speaker design?

Knowledge of speaker design doesn't guarantee that
I will like the loudspeaker sound. ie, all manufacturers claim
their loudspeaker is engineered properly, but yet I'm not
fond of the sound you get from store bought speakers. /rofl

I prefer DIY speakers to customize the sound for my specific needs.

Maybe you missed the --> /joke or in my posts.