| ionomolo |
As you may have read, i have asked in other threads which loudspeakers in the 1K$ range could suit a chipamp.
The idea is to power them with an amplifier based on the forthcomming AN-1625 whose power supply i'm already building (+/- 65V 5A per rail in mono-block construction and separate housing for the supply).
The problem is not that i havn't searched but rather that i've searched too much and found everything to be contradictory. :(
My preferences are Midrange > Clarity (or air or how do you want to call it) > Bass. This doesn't mean that bass isn't important for me, but that i won't care about it if the loudspeakers have no midrange.
The loudspeakers forum would not suit that because this is not about diy loudspeakers but rather about finding a part to suit a chipamp (a very notable part, i know).
My choices are between the monitor audio ones, which have received both good and bad reviews (for being bright), the kef ones, the b&w ones and the tannoy's. One thing that freaks me about the tannoys (DC4T-DC6T is that they aren't on the "audiophile" press). And there isn't a single user opinion telling to have listened and found them horrible. There is also a sonus faber (concertino domus) loudspeaker in that price range which has received terrible reviews. There are some people praising the DC6-T. Any input?
Hope that people with similar amplifiers and tastes will give me some advice. |
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| Nuuk |
| I've heard GC's with the Monitor Audio GR60's and the sound was much as you say you like. You may find a s/h pair for around your budget. |
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| valleyman |
| Why not take your amp to a dealer and try it out with as many speakers as they'll let you? It'd be fun as well as very helpful in making a decision |
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| ionomolo |
Yes, and probably he would have a hard time to keep selling $1500 amps : ).
But if we are a bit realistic, the probabilities to find a seller letting me connect that ugly-looking (wonderfully sounding) diy thing to $1000 gear are pretty low. |
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| valleyman |
Well, since you plan to use this amp with $1000 speakers it's a given that you're sure it wont harm them. or at the very least are willing to assume that small risk, so go in, ask to try and just let them know you'll pay for a pair of speakers if they're damaged by the amp.
To be honest, I think the dealer might be interested to hear your amp anyway, just so long as his other customers don't know how much it cost!
Edit: Also, before taking the stance that finding a dealer to let you try it out will be very hard, just call around a few nearby and ask, that's easy, won't take long and worst case scenario you have ruled out the possibility of listening with dealers |
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| ionomolo |
A not-so-bad idea.
I'm working on a class A amp that sounds i won't say very good, but rather in a way that pleases me a lot, but i'm also expecting the release of a national application note on how to develop an "Ultra high fidelity" amplifier.
As you pointed out damaging expensive loudspeakers isn't an option so i plan to delay buying those loudspeakers until i make my mind about which one i prefer and i have a version not in prototype stage. If it looks up to the task i will try it. |
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| valleyman |
| out of interest, why not DIY the speakers? I suppose one major downside is you can't try before you buy so to speak unless you can find someone nearby who has built a pair and will let you have a listen |
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| WJMIII |
I'm with valleyman - get a pair of 8" Audio Nirvana full-range drivers and have the cabinets built for you at about 1/2 the $1000 cost
plenty of great midrange, super detail and clarity |
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| ionomolo |
Wow... these are very efficient and have a nice impedance curve... well, with a megapeak, but i really prefer a megapeak to a megadip!
I will go for these and use them with a class A amps. Lowthers aren't a good idea? The driver is not as expensive...
Will the design of the cabinet ruin the efficiency? I have only a single thing to tune for my amp (Sziklai vs EF) and i will dip into loudspeakers.
Hope they aren't "bassless"... |
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| Nuuk |
| quote: | | Hope they aren't "bassless"... |
I've been using 'full-range' drivers for a while now but only with bass augmentation! Much depends on musical tastes but I like to be able to enjoy any type of music. :att'n: |
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| ionomolo |
| I've been storing a car audio subwoofer for one year but havn't found anything to pair it to. Would this be a good idea? |
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| Nuuk |
| I personally don't like sub-woofers unless that's what they are used fo, ie for frequencies below the woofers. Bass augmentation using two drivers is what I was referring to! |
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| ionomolo |
I will have to do a lot of reading since my knowledge about loudspeakers is very close to zero. Which "other" driver would you use? Since bass is not the focus of the amp i would probably use a standard gainclone for the bass, but if the boasted efficiency of 99dB's of some of the NA drivers means that my class A amp would sound like if it had 470W on my 84dB loudspeakers, right? This is... uhm... loud.
EDIT: Would you filter the signal feed to the bass driver? A textbook second-order bessel done with something like the LM4562 would be right? I have just ordered some of these : ). |
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| Nuuk |
I formerly used Goodmans 201 'full-range' drivers, mostly in open baffles. I found these needed a boost at the bottom end so built some transmission-line woofers. They were used with a 4th order to roll them off from around 60hz.
I currently use Hawthorne Audio drivers in open baffles (what they are specifically designed fo). I use the same 4th order (active) filters on the augmentation woofers. OB's are large but offer a great sound - it depends if you have the room as they need around a metre between them and the wall behind them.
As regards high-efficiency speakers, it is sensible to look at the over-all gain of your system, if only to make sure that you have a reasonable amount of adjustment with your volume control. |
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| PJN |
| Since you are a beginner with speakers a full range driver would be a good choice. I have both single driver full range (horns), as well as conventional multi driver speakers and have driven all of them with a chipamp with no problems. But a well designed single driver system can sound great with a chip amp. Go over to the full range forum, there are a lot of great designs available and a lot of nice folks who can give you good advice. You could easily build a great set of speakers for a fraction of your budget. |
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| ionomolo |
I will definitely take a look at these drivers, as if i buy the most expensive NA's i will still have a lot of money!
I will diy the cabinet as i don't like to half-do things, so i either buy it finished or diy from scratch!
The gain of my system is 10 to provide 12W at line level input. My sources go a bit higher so i can get it to "just clip a bit" with everything at maximum. i may as well add another passive volume control if everything sounds too loud.
The problem is that if the fullranges are too sensitive, the 50W gainclone may not be able to produce reasonable levels to match the (much lower powered) class A amp. |
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| Nuuk |
| quote: | | i may as well add another passive volume control if everything sounds too loud. |
Or just a simple attenuator!
| quote: | | The problem is that if the fullranges are too sensitive, the 50W gainclone may not be able to produce reasonable levels to match the (much lower powered) class A amp. |
I may be wrong but I don't think that is the case. I would be more worried about low-efficiency drivers causing a problem with a GC, than high-efficiency ones.
I agree with PJN that going for a single-driver speaker is a good idea to begin your loudspeaker building career. You could even build something using a cheapo driver, just to see if that type of speaker is for you. |
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| ionomolo |
I will definitely go there to look how they get it done. I'm studying physics and there are a lot of books about acoustics at the library in spite we don't do a single lecture on it.
I will give them a read as i will work there this summer.
Anyways i think i will add the bass driver anyways, because i feel safe at amplifiers and filters and i have a new gainclone just build for "no reason other than fun" and i have no idea what to do with it. I will place it in a separate enclosure with its own filter and no filter at the fullrange class A so i don't have to walk tru the "getting active crossover not to hum" because the filter will be similar in grounding to an opamp buffer.
A lot of thanks for your great help! |
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| PJN |
Since you are taking physics you are familiar with math, and if you want to take a crack at designing a speaker yourself, take a read on Martin King's site, great info. Martin has done some excellent pioneering work on resonant type enclosures (TQWP, MLTL, horns) and has created some of the most definitive calculations methods to design these types of speakers. For a small fee you can license his mathcad spreadsheet calculators, well worth the money especially considering the cost and effort that goes into building a speaker enclosure. I have designed three speakers using Martin's spreadsheets, one horn and two MLTLs, with great results. There are also a lot of nice designs that were developed using his software on the frugal horn site.
PJN |
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| ionomolo |
| quote: | Originally posted by PJN
Since you are taking physics you are familiar with math, and if you want to take a crack at designing a speaker yourself, take a read on Martin King's site, great info. Martin has done some excellent pioneering work on resonant type enclosures (TQWP, MLTL, horns) and has created some of the most definitive calculations methods to design these types of speakers. For a small fee you can license his mathcad spreadsheet calculators, well worth the money especially considering the cost and effort that goes into building a speaker enclosure. I have designed three speakers using Martin's spreadsheets, one horn and two MLTLs, with great results. There are also a lot of nice designs that were developed using his software on the frugal horn site.
PJN |
I would really like to understand all about audio, but i have to focus on something since i have no time.
What about magnepan's?[*]
EDIT[*] with current-capable LME49810/49830 desings, BTW i want to try the brand new AN-1850. |
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