css 125's & Adire 6.8's in a 2way sys

[binarywhisper]

does anyone know of anybody that has built a set of speakers using the css fr125 & Adire Extremis 6.8 in a two way config?

I am currently playing with a pair of fr125's. I have them hooked up to a panny xr-50 and they appear to be everything that I had heard they were. They are about 2/3's of the way through their break in.

So far I find them to be more of a near field solution though and I wish to use them for HT and music. When pushed hard enough to be used far field they bottom out on things like stand up bass, etc.

So I am trying to decide on building a set of speakers using two fr125's per side, both running full range or the 2 way using a crossover to releive the 125's of some bottom end duty. I'm not much at the x-over design part and would love suggestions.

Incidently, anyone that loves simple acoustic pieces, celtic tenors, blues/jazz instrumentals really owes it to themselves to try a pair of these drivers. They are dirt ******* cheap and seem to work in just about any box you toss them into. For the jazz/blues lover just having a pair of speakers this good that are this portable and this cheap make them a must have. I can't take my Infinity Q's camping.

They have a very open sound with a speed and delicateness that can send shivers down your spine. It's impossible to close your eyes and equate what you are hearing with such a tiny inexpensive driver.

They are so controlled and fast that it makes it seem as if the noise table of your system has been lowered. I think that might be a large part of the magic that I've read so many people try and explain about them. I'ts not that you hear so much more detail in the music, its that you hear the silences between notes clearer. The depth, contol and clarity of the silences between notes fully reveals the astounding levels of attack they are capable of.

A truly remarkable little speaker.

I have heard many many speaker systems costing $1000's more created by audio god's that can't do much of what these do. Simply owning a pair makes you want to experiment with all kinds of designs just to see what magic they might create. At their worst, they make a very cheap extremely capable midrange and that in its self is not a common thing, is it?

[RAW]

Yes we have been doing a design just as you have asked.
A FR front firing with a side firing Extremis.
Same cabinet as our HT3 slim 7" cabinet 11" depth but using the FR and not the WR and our ribbon.
All for those who want use the FR and have some low end extention.

[Landroval]

A similar design has been in my thoughs for a while now. I'm thinking to pair the FR125S with a Dayton RS-series woofer. Trying to decide between ported RS125/150/180 and sealed RS225. I would like to keep them small, but I guess the RS125 is a little undersized for the job.

[binarywhisper]

Originally posted by RAW
Yes we have been doing a design just as you have asked.
A FR front firing with a side firing Extremis.
Same cabinet as our HT3 slim 7" cabinet 11" depth but using the FR and not the WR and our ribbon.
All for those who want use the FR and have some low end extention.

I had a look at HT3. Very pretty speaker Actually I have spent a considerable amount of time on your site in the past. I like what you guys do. Solid clean common sense design.

Don't suppose you want to share your x-over design for the HT3 with me :-)

[binarywhisper]

Originally posted by Landroval
A similar design has been in my thoughs for a while now. I'm thinking to pair the FR125S with a Dayton RS-series woofer. Trying to decide between ported RS125/150/180 and sealed RS225. I would like to keep them small, but I guess the RS125 is a little undersized for the job.

Are you thinking of using the RS's because of a target budget ? It certainly would be cheaper then the Adire 6.8 but my experience with the CSS 125 has been so positive that I am very curious about the 6.8.

I guess my hope is that 2 drivers that have each garnered such praise individually and appear on paper to be such a perfect match for each other might produce that intangable magic that we all strive for in our speakers. If they do then the result would be special regardless of price which would make the result one of the best deals in the audio biz. .... yep ... thats my hope ... :-)

[Landroval]

It's not necessarily the lower price of the RS drivers. People are getting good results with them and they look very nice. While I have never heard the Extremis, I wonder how much more can it do than a ported RS180 or closed RS225.

The lower efficiency, worse CSD, similar distortion and higher price of the Extremis make me not like it so much.

[RAW]

Extremis in a three way very very good

I will say from usage of the Extremis and measure the RS not even close in the lower frequency range.
Tune a Extremis in the 29hz range and drive them all day long with a in room response of 24hz range what else you need.

Add a few extremis together in a cabinet tune them a little lower even yet down to 27hz and put a sure shock value on anyones face!!
Sure loved the look on a few reps from SVS when they dropped by the room at CES and had a listen to our HT8 with a pair of Extremis in each yes that was 4 count them 4 Extremis in a room.


"OK nice covering for those tube subs in the corner"
Sorry no subs in this room!
" Ya sure"
No very serious!
" All that low end comes from them small 7" drivers"
yes!

And this was repeated over and over all CES

For a three way go the Extremis if it fits the bill.

Just my 2 cents

[Landroval]

No offence or anything but I cant take your opinion as a very objective one. The Extremis sure is a powerfull bass driver considering it's size, but I dont see the point going with a small high excursion driver in an EBS alignment while you could get a decent 8" in a higher quality QB3 or SBB4 instead. EBS is nothing close to high fidelity in my eyes.

Tony Gee said it well at his Andromeda page:
"The bass: I believe that you can only produce “real” bass by moving a large area of air gently and not by moving a small area of air violently. "

[RAW]

Yes you may think it is objective
But having tried both.I rest my case.

Till you have tried both I would say try them you may just like them!

[Landroval]

Yes, I agree.

And it's not that I would not like them, it's just that I might like something cheaper just as good. The driver itself is never the whole story, the implementation plays a big part.