Does anyone have some positive/negative to share about these?
I could be interested in the "Classic 10", the one without whizzer cone or plug.
Could be great if as good as David says.
I could be interested in the "Classic 10", the one without whizzer cone or plug.
Could be great if as good as David says.
A search here should turn up enough reading to amuse you for a while.
I think the experts on speakers and enclosures here, find the specs and consistency of the AN offerings to be frustrating to work with.
Planet 10 (Dave) gave me help a few years ago, suggesting a better port tuning for the AN 2.8 enclosure.
My AN10s sound pretty good to me, and are efficient and cheap....but I don' t know much!😀
John - you still running those, or have you obsessed onwards to something else?
I certainly have in the intervening few years 😉
I certainly have in the intervening few years 😉
Sorry for the digression...
I have a speaker project waiting for boxes to be built -DTQWT by Gravesen - perhaps later this 'winter'.
The biamped (myRef+chipamp) Fonkens with woofers are also occupying space there - it gets cramped!
Yup, they are still in the living room, attached to the Chinese EL34 'kit' amp.
I have a speaker project waiting for boxes to be built -DTQWT by Gravesen - perhaps later this 'winter'.
The biamped (myRef+chipamp) Fonkens with woofers are also occupying space there - it gets cramped!
AN and DTQWT by Troels. I listen both, AN much better.
Chinese EL34 kit, good for chassis and transformers 🙂
Sound much better when you treat the cones.
Good basket, copper caps to reduce distortion.
The cones are poor and have a lot of resonances. Try simple mod podge treatment for distinct improvement in sound.
Good basket, copper caps to reduce distortion.
The cones are poor and have a lot of resonances. Try simple mod podge treatment for distinct improvement in sound.
Member
Joined 2009
Paid Member
I have not heard the whizzer-less drivers. I have an AN 15 with whizzer and phase plug. I have applied a small treatment around the back edge of the cone and whizzer as recommended by Bud Purvine (of EnABL fame). It's a very good sounding speaker. It's a big driver and not suited for near-field listening on-axis. You need to be a few metres away for on-axis or be slightly off-axis for the treble to sound 'sorted out'. I like it a lot and it is my main speaker in my living room for casual music listening.
I have never seen modge podge recommended for the AN cones.
I have never seen modge podge recommended for the AN cones.
I have a AN Super 8 Cast Frame into a Monitor MKII gabinets (43L) built strictly according to AN site instructions, that is, without any treatment, only the inner lining damping materials and the result is disappointing
I play with a DIY Tubelab SSE with about 8 WRMS per channel and there is no bass. The medium frequencies is so high and cracked and the top end is weak, dull.
I am open to suggestions to improve my speakers.
Thanks.
Antonio
(I apologize if my English is not clear)
I play with a DIY Tubelab SSE with about 8 WRMS per channel and there is no bass. The medium frequencies is so high and cracked and the top end is weak, dull.
I am open to suggestions to improve my speakers.
Thanks.
Antonio
(I apologize if my English is not clear)
Depends what you mean by 'improve' since this covers a multitude of different possibilities.
For starters, if the AN Cast 8's published specs are correct, I'm not surprised it sounds lousy. I don't have CSA's venting arrangements for that box, but from eyeballing the photographs on the website, looks to be about 70mm diameter, with no duct. So call it 70mm x 19mm; I doubt that's exact, but it's near enough to be going on with since major changes would be required to box and venting to obtain any significant change to the general response shape / behaviour; smaller alterations will effectively be window-dressing.
Yellow in the anechoic sim. below assumes a voltage source -worst-case baseline for this combination. Your SET amp likely has an output impedance of between 2.5 - 4ohms. Blue indicates with 2.5ohms added, pink with 4ohms added. Better, but not all that distinguished.
The excessive midrange / HF output is due to this being a very low Q driver, with a naturally rising response above about 1KHz. Add baffle-step loss into this, and you'll have very weak bass with a 'screechy' midband / higher frequencies. 'can't comment on the top end per se; that likely will depend on what you're using as the basis for your comparison. It's been a while since I heard a pair of the Cast8s, and I didn't think they lacked too much in terms of output up to about 15KHz (although in a qualitative sense I didn't think they were great), but it does drop off above that.
Assuming you want to stick with your existing boxes, about the best you'll be able to do is stick a shelving filter on them -both to compensate for baffle-step and to an extent, the rising midband / HF. You don't want to go too far with the latter though since a flat on-axis response with a wideband driver of this type generally results in lousy output off-axis since they have limited dispersion -that's one reason they often have a rising HF response in the first place (to compensate for this & make them more generally useable over a wider axis). Try paralleling a 1.2mH inductor with a 3ohm resistor & place in series with the driver. You'll lose some sensitivity, but it should help rebalance things. To make significant improvements though in terms of LF output etc., you'll need a different enclosure -a large back-horn variation would be the obvious choice since it needs all the help it can get on the bottom end.
For starters, if the AN Cast 8's published specs are correct, I'm not surprised it sounds lousy. I don't have CSA's venting arrangements for that box, but from eyeballing the photographs on the website, looks to be about 70mm diameter, with no duct. So call it 70mm x 19mm; I doubt that's exact, but it's near enough to be going on with since major changes would be required to box and venting to obtain any significant change to the general response shape / behaviour; smaller alterations will effectively be window-dressing.
Yellow in the anechoic sim. below assumes a voltage source -worst-case baseline for this combination. Your SET amp likely has an output impedance of between 2.5 - 4ohms. Blue indicates with 2.5ohms added, pink with 4ohms added. Better, but not all that distinguished.
The excessive midrange / HF output is due to this being a very low Q driver, with a naturally rising response above about 1KHz. Add baffle-step loss into this, and you'll have very weak bass with a 'screechy' midband / higher frequencies. 'can't comment on the top end per se; that likely will depend on what you're using as the basis for your comparison. It's been a while since I heard a pair of the Cast8s, and I didn't think they lacked too much in terms of output up to about 15KHz (although in a qualitative sense I didn't think they were great), but it does drop off above that.
Assuming you want to stick with your existing boxes, about the best you'll be able to do is stick a shelving filter on them -both to compensate for baffle-step and to an extent, the rising midband / HF. You don't want to go too far with the latter though since a flat on-axis response with a wideband driver of this type generally results in lousy output off-axis since they have limited dispersion -that's one reason they often have a rising HF response in the first place (to compensate for this & make them more generally useable over a wider axis). Try paralleling a 1.2mH inductor with a 3ohm resistor & place in series with the driver. You'll lose some sensitivity, but it should help rebalance things. To make significant improvements though in terms of LF output etc., you'll need a different enclosure -a large back-horn variation would be the obvious choice since it needs all the help it can get on the bottom end.
YMMV but after logging a good number hours of music the sound of my AN cast 12's relaxed somewhat in the upper freq.
Maybe the whizzer cone lost a bit of stiffness ? , I don't know .
After a few months I removed the notch filter that was in place since it didn't seem to be as necessary after break-in
Maybe the whizzer cone lost a bit of stiffness ? , I don't know .
After a few months I removed the notch filter that was in place since it didn't seem to be as necessary after break-in
I'm happy user of AN 12" too. It need much time to warm up, more than half year. But they still demand to source and amp. People who listen my AN in 5.6 cu.ft says, they better in dynamics, resolution, tonal balance than PHY-HP, fostex, etc.
I easely drive them by my 6em7 DC-coupled 1.5W DIY amplifier. BTW it's very linear tube.
>>> I have an AN 15 with whizzer and phase plug...
This is the one driver I'd really like to hear. Having gone thru full range drivers ranging from 3" to 12" I appreciate size. AN marches to the beat of a different drummer without care for measurements. Their drivers are high efficient designs (probably sourced from an innexpensive Chinese manufacturer) but who cares. They appeared to try jumping onto the Fostex bandwagon but have grown into a brand all their own with unique offerings. Everyone who knows anything about modeling speakers agrees AN's own designs stink but people buy them anyway because they are unique, offer something different and reside in the nitch low powered tube amp folks enjoy. So if they sound different and less smooth the owners of these drivers don't care because what else plays well with a 2 watt amp? What other driver is 15" and doesn't need a tweeter?
They may do things no other speaker can. I want a pair!
This is the one driver I'd really like to hear. Having gone thru full range drivers ranging from 3" to 12" I appreciate size. AN marches to the beat of a different drummer without care for measurements. Their drivers are high efficient designs (probably sourced from an innexpensive Chinese manufacturer) but who cares. They appeared to try jumping onto the Fostex bandwagon but have grown into a brand all their own with unique offerings. Everyone who knows anything about modeling speakers agrees AN's own designs stink but people buy them anyway because they are unique, offer something different and reside in the nitch low powered tube amp folks enjoy. So if they sound different and less smooth the owners of these drivers don't care because what else plays well with a 2 watt amp? What other driver is 15" and doesn't need a tweeter?
They may do things no other speaker can. I want a pair!
They're OEM units from Guide Sound (Taiwan based).
AN's primary selling point to my mind are the drivers that do not have direct (or rough) equivalents from Fostex, i.e. the 10in, 12in and 15in models. Their niche success I suspect is largely due to these, and to careful phrasing on their website -for instance:
Our alnico models use magnets made of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. They are the smoothest and also make the most bass
No doubt -because they've got the highest Q.
The Alnico magnet is made of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt and is stronger than normal ferrite/ceramic magnets.
Size-for-size, generally true (note there are different grades of all magnet types) but what they neglect to mention is that the AlNiCo magnets they are using are significantly smaller & have much less overall magnetic strength in the VC gap -B*L factor is lower than the ferrite & neo. models, while as noted Q is higher.
Which is not an 'attack' on AN -just an observation. They're not alone when it comes to selective phrasing. And it's solid marketing because it does appeal, especially to people new to speaker building or single-driver systems aren't don't necessarily have much knowledge base of their own. The boxes are generally abominable in alignment terms, but people new to the hobby do at least gain a foothold. Whether the results are good enough to encourage them to continue is another matter -YMMV on that one as always.
AN's primary selling point to my mind are the drivers that do not have direct (or rough) equivalents from Fostex, i.e. the 10in, 12in and 15in models. Their niche success I suspect is largely due to these, and to careful phrasing on their website -for instance:
Our alnico models use magnets made of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt. They are the smoothest and also make the most bass
No doubt -because they've got the highest Q.
The Alnico magnet is made of aluminum, nickel, and cobalt and is stronger than normal ferrite/ceramic magnets.
Size-for-size, generally true (note there are different grades of all magnet types) but what they neglect to mention is that the AlNiCo magnets they are using are significantly smaller & have much less overall magnetic strength in the VC gap -B*L factor is lower than the ferrite & neo. models, while as noted Q is higher.
Which is not an 'attack' on AN -just an observation. They're not alone when it comes to selective phrasing. And it's solid marketing because it does appeal, especially to people new to speaker building or single-driver systems aren't don't necessarily have much knowledge base of their own. The boxes are generally abominable in alignment terms, but people new to the hobby do at least gain a foothold. Whether the results are good enough to encourage them to continue is another matter -YMMV on that one as always.
Does your audio source and amplifier sound good when you connect it to different speakers?
Have you tried a different audio source and amplifier with the AudrioNirvanas?
I know that some people are more 'sensitive' than me to speaker characteristics, and I've never heard the AN8s. I do own AN10s in the 2.8 boxes (with modified ports) and listen to them often, and they aren't 'that bad'. For me and most other people that have listened to them, they sound OK.
Yeah, between the low Q driver and the baffle step, a screaming treble range is to be expected in that setup.
Try the shelving filter recommended by Scottmoose.
Another trick is to put the boxes in corners. This will bring up the bass and low mids.
It may be old school now, but I still like a thin coat of dammar varnish on my paper cone full ranges. This won't change the frequency balance much if at all, but it will make the highs a little smoother and cleaner. Dammar is sold in art supply stores.
Try the shelving filter recommended by Scottmoose.
Another trick is to put the boxes in corners. This will bring up the bass and low mids.
It may be old school now, but I still like a thin coat of dammar varnish on my paper cone full ranges. This won't change the frequency balance much if at all, but it will make the highs a little smoother and cleaner. Dammar is sold in art supply stores.
Here are my AN Cast12's. I wanted to try OB and the 12's had the highest QTS. They are a very nice sounding driver, perfect for a wide range driver. You will notice I added a AMT tweeter to them as I wanted a little bit of sparkle. To be honest I don't know if they really needed them. For most people they were fine by themselves, but, it was just one song that kept sounding wrong. Adele's Someone Like You. Her voice just seemed to have a darker tone than I had heard on other speakers. I added the Airbourne 5002 tweeter and crossed them at 4500hz with a very simple 1st order crossover. Fixed. The soundstage is wonderful, but there is definitely a sweet spot. The H Frame Eminence Alpha 15As are crossed over at 120hz. For the money I don't think you can go wrong. I am am ordering another 2 so I can make a matching MTM center channel.
Last edited:
Big Dave, I bet your system sounds better than most.
Love your big red H-frame. I have a pair just like it with Eminence 12lta's on top (and an Eminence tweeter on top of that). These types of speakers move lots of air and have huge imaging. Going back to boxes isn't easy but sine they sound so much different I consider them something else entirely. Love my OBs!
Love your big red H-frame. I have a pair just like it with Eminence 12lta's on top (and an Eminence tweeter on top of that). These types of speakers move lots of air and have huge imaging. Going back to boxes isn't easy but sine they sound so much different I consider them something else entirely. Love my OBs!
- Status
- Not open for further replies.