I've never tried AN... and after contacting the CS company I know that I will never have a chance to try. I've informed that I am building a low wattage amplifier and looking for high efficiency speakers, instead of a help in choosing them I have received this reply from Mr. (owner of the company):
"[...]Our AN EL84 Ultralinear is only $525 with free shipping. I am confident it would sound many times better than the kit you are making. Amplifiers should be assembled by experts for the best performance. All AN amplifiers are professionally assembled. [...]"
"[...]Our AN EL84 Ultralinear is only $525 with free shipping. I am confident it would sound many times better than the kit you are making. Amplifiers should be assembled by experts for the best performance. All AN amplifiers are professionally assembled. [...]"
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1.5 watts is very low power I think. With very good recordings and high DR.
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Indeed. I wouldn't touch most of the AN units with a barge pole, their FR curves look hideous. If I were buying based on specifications alone then there are very few of their units that are worth using, perhaps 3 in total once you've gone through all the data. Unfortunately, the more popular sizes (6" to 10" ?) were some of the worse. In recent years they've brought out a few new models, some of them also hideous looking FR curves but one or two look rather nice - albeit they are the more expensive options and I question their value.
I have only experience with 1 unit, the 15" Super. It has superb dispersion in the treble, satisfying deep bass and gorgeous mid-range. I have found it one of the best drivers I've ever heard and there are a few others on the forum who have expressed similar sentiments. I was turned-on to this driver by Bud Purvine who labelled it as one of the best drivers he's ever heard. The 15" Super ferrite is no longer in production - I've no idea why, seems like stupid choice to obsolete but I understand from the owner that the AlNiCo version outsold it and that's the one to buy. My 2nd choice would probably be the 12" Super. I see no reason to go smaller with AN drivers as there are many other options out there once you are looking at 6" and 8" sizes.
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I think the reason the 15" AN is good is because: Big FR units are AWESOME!
The Ferrite version probably got ditched because it was probably better(?). and provided smaller profit margins than the alnico.
But this is probably just me being full of opinions again.
Did watch the 15" AN ferrite with much interest a few years back.
The Ferrite version probably got ditched because it was probably better(?). and provided smaller profit margins than the alnico.
But this is probably just me being full of opinions again.
Did watch the 15" AN ferrite with much interest a few years back.
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It's a shame because the 15" Ferrite Super has/had a tolerable FR (a bit of on-axis treble emphasis still) and good dispersion - it was one of their best drivers if you can tolerate the large box.
Their current Audio Niravana 12" Ferrite is the only other unit I'd consider, based on spec. and it still maintains a good Qts if you want to use it open baffle / largish box style with good sensitivity of 95dB for valve people (includes me). IMHO it's really good value at ($350/pr), perhaps the best value in their line up; I've been seriously considering a pair for a future project. The 12" Super AlNiCo might be OK if you have to have the magic magnet.
I think the large drivers not only give you bass but there's more cone area that's not occluded by the whizzer and so the overall FR is better behaved.
Smaller Audio Nirvana drivers: At the 10" size (still with whizzer for good dispersion) there is some hope with the AlNiCo Super although it looks to benefit from work to toe-in or otherwise deal with the tilted-up FR and pricing is similarly tilted up by the cost of the magnet ($800/pr). At the 8" size it's only the Class 8+ AlNiCo that looks decent (potential annoyance around 6kHz) - but it's also way too pricey if you ask me ($1300/pr) unless the sound is super awesome.
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I’d dumb that down to about 6K before the nose dive - based on my last WCB hearing test, but don’t worry the oscillating tinnitus makes up for it.
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I must admit that I'm looking seriously at the GPA 604-8H-III coaxial, the FR plots look good, sensitivity is a very nice 100dB and reputation is so strong that the driver can be re-sold if my ears don't like it with much less pain than trying re-sell virtually any other production driver available. But it's 5x the price of the Audio Nirvana 12" Super although sensitivity is a clearly lower. It takes a lot of beer to pull out the wallet for the GPA under such comparisons.
That's because it's a 16in coax (arguably the greatest ever built) rather than a 12in widebander, built in the US on Altec tooling with same materials & all the latest refinements. None of which comes cheap (unfortunately).
Attached plots from the respective data sheets of the 604 and Super 12CF, showing the on-axis outputs, plus that data in an overlay (red = 604, green AN12). The former doesn't look clearly lower to me.
It's a bit down at 3KHz but that's not necessarily a bad thing as 3KHz is the last place you want gain peaking. Some variability for both units (as you'd expect) but as far as average SPLs are concerned they appear to be much of a muchess; different in detail but these average out as roughly equal over the frequency range. YMMV.Attachments
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Back down on planet Earth that is of course seen as the bollocks it is. No great talent required, I simply took the manufacturer curves and displayed them in Xsim (other software can do the same) as independent driver responses. Easy.
Note that the conditions are not the same; both are anechoic but the AN was (presumably) taken on an IEC baffle, the GPA in a 9ft^3 box, so I'd ignore everything < 300Hz.
No great talent required, I simply took the manufacturer curves and displayed them in Xsim (other software can do the same) as independent driver responses. Easy.Note that the conditions are not the same; both are anechoic but the AN was (presumably) taken on an IEC baffle, the GPA in a 9ft^3 box, so I'd ignore everything < 300Hz.
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Dont do EQ/Zobel/notch filter they are all active and will kill the harmonics, instead up the bass by stuffing inside the box with that brown 10mm car wood blanket.
How Treat Passively Peaky Fullrange Drivers
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