10F/8424 & RS225-8 FAST / WAW Ref Monitor

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#4,261
jt1000 said:
If you're going to do these: a) do it properly and b) they aren't going to be free.

1) Buy the right drivers - Amazon/wherever - probably roughly £200
2) Crossover bits. Hifi Collective does the correct Jantzen parts, plus some prototyping board off eBay (~10x15cm) - Probably £100 all in
3) Cabinet. You can get board CNC cut. 18mm MDF will give great performance, you can glue it up with only some glue and 2-4 hand clamps. Will take a week or so, doing a couple of edges at a time. Without CAD or tools, this will probably cost £150-200 to get the parts. If you glue them up very carefully, and use shellac/filler/sand/texture paint the cabinet, you should get them to look quite neat.
4) Cone. Sports cones fine, but I would recon on making fibreglass ones from the sports cone as a mould. Maybe £50 for cones and fibreglass kit from eBay
5) Binding posts, wire, etc - maybe another £50.

It is not something you can throw together and probably £600 will cover it. They do sound excellent though - especially if you want something musical that doesn't force sparkly detail in your face like a lot of commercial offerings. If you start cutting corners, they will not even be close to potential. By the time you're cutting down to off the shelf cabinets - and especially off the shelf crossovers - you should really just look for something on eBay for £200.
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Is that aimed at me?
 
#4,262
andyjevans said:
I have indeed heard the argument that "a good speaker should not favour any type of music." I wouldn't say it was that simple, based on my many years as a musician. The tonalities of musical instruments are quite distinctive. Pianos have different tonalities - A Steinway isn't a Bechstein. Same for violins, and right down the line, also important for vocalists. For me the reproduction must be as faithful as possible to the original instruments I'm familiar with - that's what I want to hear. For example, with percussion like triangles, shakers etc. a ribbon works well for the detail of the high frequencies. I could go on, but I don't want to go off topic. I found this a lot when building valve amps, for example a resistor load had better tonality on classical and opera than an active CCS load. This is from someone who has played for years in orchestras and jazz groups. And of course parts like capacitors.

So my question remains - how have you found this speaker for opera and classical music? Any comments would be most welcome.
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At reasonable SPl listening levels this speaker is great for classical and opera. Because of the low distortion and flat phase, you will not have congested sound of complex material. But don’t expect super high SPLs of cannon shots like on some pieces.

Most music like classic rock, pop, jazz, instrumentals, country, new age, etc work well. Heavy metal or death metal at loud SPLs maybe not.
 
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#4,266
This speaker has a baffle step correction (bsc) that makes the output flat. So it’s same 82.5dB at 1kHz as it is at 55Hz due to the attenuation in the crossover. What I meant is that some speaker manufacturers don’t implement a flat bsc and have a rising response so the sensitivity will be about 5dB to 6dB higher.
 
#4,267
andyjevans said:
I have indeed heard the argument that "a good speaker should not favour any type of music." I wouldn't say it was that simple, based on my many years as a musician. The tonalities of musical instruments are quite distinctive. Pianos have different tonalities - A Steinway isn't a Bechstein. Same for violins, and right down the line, also important for vocalists. For me the reproduction must be as faithful as possible to the original instruments I'm familiar with - that's what I want to hear. For example, with percussion like triangles, shakers etc. a ribbon works well for the detail of the high frequencies. I could go on, but I don't want to go off topic. I found this a lot when building valve amps, for example a resistor load had better tonality on classical and opera than an active CCS load. This is from someone who has played for years in orchestras and jazz groups. And of course parts like capacitors.

So my question remains - how have you found this speaker for opera and classical music? Any comments would be most welcome.
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Based on 15 years mixing music, being a musician, working in live and studio, it is as simple as a good speaker does not show preference for genre. A speaker is not a musical instrument.
 
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#4,268
I think Andy meant that it's not simple (actually or economically) to find a speaker that is good for all genres of music, not that the statement wasn't inherently true. So, one might reasonably think a speaker that favours your listening tastes is good.
 
#4,269
It is easy to find though, a c note kit is neutral enough to sound great with anything.

Anyway. I often find myself interested in this speaker but never commit. The reason being ive tried a few drivers in this waw configuration but haven't landed on a full range that renders the top end right. I've only used cheap drivers like tc9 and tebm46, ds90, but with dsp and pretty linearized responses. is there a noticeable improvement with the scan speak over what ive used or am I just not the right person for this type of speaker?
 
#4,270
But you need to take into account individual taste as well. Not everyone would agree that the C-Note kit is good.

I can't comment on the thread speaker as I haven't built mine yet, but apparently the fibreglass cone used in the Scan or TG9 is noticeably better than the TC9. I am about to buy the Scan drivers in the next few weeks, but won't get round to building the speakers for ages yet as I have house repairs to finish.
 
#4,271
wafflesomd said:
It is easy to find though, a c note kit is neutral enough to sound great with anything.

Anyway. I often find myself interested in this speaker but never commit. The reason being ive tried a few drivers in this waw configuration but haven't landed on a full range that renders the top end right. I've only used cheap drivers like tc9 and tebm46, ds90, but with dsp and pretty linearized responses. is there a noticeable improvement with the scan speak over what ive used or am I just not the right person for this type of speaker?
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You will get a similar response from similar driver, as they tend to beam around the same area.
You won't get better top end from a TG9, a 10F or a B80, etc...

The one that will approach tweeter territory is the SBA SB65WBAC25-4. That little thing can reach much higher, has a very good transient response that makes it really shine on string instruments and percussion. Interestingly enough, it also renders woodwinds very well. The other 3.5" like 10F, TC9/TG9, B80... will sound warmer on vocals.
 
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