Tarkus or not Tarkus?

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wfr329

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Joined 2012
#1
Hi all,

The Tarkus seems to be still appreciated after 14 years of existance. I understant it is an relatvely inexpensive design and rock music oriented. Since i come from Harbeth, Audio Physic and Triangle land, I want to make shure the Tarkus is not a too fatiguing speaker (harsh, agressive, etc.).

I do want a rock speaker buy my old ears are fragile 😉

Can I have some feedback please.

Walter
 
#3
Check if you can get the drivers, most sellers have just some remaining and cannot order, because tymphany is leaving the diy market, unfortunately.

Toutlehautparleur.com is selling off the woofers, afaik. Not sure about midranges and tweeters.

Edit - Tlhp stock:
Woofers >30 left
Midrange: 53 left
Tweeters: unavailable
 
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#4
A speaker shouldn't be suited to a particular style of music unless it has limitations or biases. Such biases may also be deliberate.

At the end of the day I'm sure many of us have built something like this and the benefit of a project like this as I see it is that you don't have to design the crossover..
 
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#6
Paul Carmody's website has some photos of Tarkus builds which might have higher WAF than the standard design, but they're still large speakers. There are many builds and reviews which should give you an idea of the sound. As far as I can tell, Paul voices his designs to enable long listening sessions; that's certainly the case with his Classix II.

Paul's write up says that the Tarkus have been voiced for rock music but will of course play other material as well.

As noted above, future driver availability might be an issue. They're all available in Oz at the moment - we're the last market to get products, but the last to run out of stock - but shipping will kill your budget.

Maybe Digikey might be an option, although I haven't used them.

Paul also has a newer design of similar size which might suit, but its cabinet is bigger than the Tarkus:

https://sites.google.com/site/undefinition/floorstanding-speakers/pit-vipers

Geoff
 
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#7
Speakers with more cone area (bigger speakers 🙂) tend to do rock/metal with more realism (slam/punch, dynamics, ability to play louder) - I am with Cal on this.

If finding parts for the Tarkus is too difficult, another speaker you can consider is the Uluwatu by Curt Campbell:

https://www.speakerdesignworks.com/copy-of-anthologys-2

P.S. Some good points by GeoffMiller on Paul's voicing of his speakers. I built the Classix II long time back and found it enjoyable across genres.
 
#8
The Uluwatu look like a great option, I love the sound of Curt's designs (Tritrix and Slapshot built).

The Uluwata uses the SB13pfc mid with the 'square' frame, which has been superceded by a round frame, but the specs look the same and the sound should be the same. Easier to mount, too. Tweeter is a Vifa so you would need to check availability.

Geoff
 
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#11
In terms of 'old ears', mine are 'old' but thankfully my hearing is relatively good: it cuts out at around 9,500Hz but I can hear very well below that for my age.

However, any music or speaker which sounds harsh has me reaching for the volume knob, off button or sick bag. Almost all 'big box' retail speakers sound harsh to me, perhaps that's because they're designed /voiced to impress the customer in a two minute listening session?

To date, the DIY designs I've built - all other peoples' designs except one - have been very good to excellent with no harshness or peakiness in the sound and work fine with all our music.

I looked at the Tarkus some time ago, but parts cost in Oz was a bit steep and the cabinets were too large for our room.

One of the builds on Paul's website uses one cabinet with curved sides, looks great.

Geoff
 
#13
zman01 said:
Speakers with more cone area (bigger speakers 🙂) tend to do rock/metal with more realism (slam/punch, dynamics, ability to play louder) - I am with Cal on this.

If finding parts for the Tarkus is too difficult, another speaker you can consider is the Uluwatu by Curt Campbell:

https://www.speakerdesignworks.com/copy-of-anthologys-2

P.S. Some good points by GeoffMiller on Paul's voicing of his speakers. I built the Classix II long time back and found it enjoyable across genres.
Click to expand...
Very interesting website !!

The Halcyon is based on Alpairs and I have them in the Pensil enclosure. There is enough room in the Pensil to add the two woofers. This design cannot be called «rock speakers» but it is an easely attained result for me. Next project maybe and a good way to reuse the Alpair.

Walter
 
#14
GeoffMillar said:
In terms of 'old ears', mine are 'old' but thankfully my hearing is relatively good: it cuts out at around 9,500Hz but I can hear very well below that for my age.

However, any music or speaker which sounds harsh has me reaching for the volume knob, off button or sick bag. Almost all 'big box' retail speakers sound harsh to me, perhaps that's because they're designed /voiced to impress the customer in a two minute listening session?

To date, the DIY designs I've built - all other peoples' designs except one - have been very good to excellent with no harshness or peakiness in the sound and work fine with all our music.

I looked at the Tarkus some time ago, but parts cost in Oz was a bit steep and the cabinets were too large for our room.

One of the builds on Paul's website uses one cabinet with curved sides, looks great.

Geoff
Click to expand...
Geoff,

I want to enjoy what I have left of those ears. I am alergic to harshness.

Walter
 
#15
In terms of protecting my ears, I:

  • always wear ear plugs at sports events and ear protection when using garden machinery;
  • never listen to loud music for any length of time (there is a suggested dB level but I can't think of it at the moment); and
  • never listen on headphones at too high a level

I don't think speaker harshness affects hearing as much as those issues.

There are albums to which I can't listen due to their sound, but they don't damage my hearing as I either don't play them or listen at low level. Red Hot Chili Peppers 'Californication' is the worst, but I have a couple of bootleg albums which are just awful and unlistenable, even with my efforts at editing them with Audacity.

Geoff
 
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#17
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#19
I thought it'd look like this:

th-2958038808.jpeg
 
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