Well, not having given them a serious listen yet, and while I might be deluding myself that I have no dog in this fight, I suspect there’ll be some combination of expectation / confirmation bias if such a session is rolled into a face-off / shoot-out between the two. It’s taken far longer than it should to develop that degree of self-awareness.
Of course, just to further chum the waters, there’s the new Pluvia11 - about which I’d heard rumours, but is now apparently available. I note that there’s no paper version of either the P7 or 11. Is that a portent of things to come / be phased out? Who knows for sure?
Gonna be a fun filled few weeks, methinks.
Of course, just to further chum the waters, there’s the new Pluvia11 - about which I’d heard rumours, but is now apparently available. I note that there’s no paper version of either the P7 or 11. Is that a portent of things to come / be phased out? Who knows for sure?
Gonna be a fun filled few weeks, methinks.
The Eikonas aren't the most efficient things out there, the synergy with the equipment might have a large effect. A flea power tube amp probably won't be a good match.
The ACA amps may be a little underpowered for them. Maybe as monoblocks they may work OK. I will give the Eikonas a try with a wide variety of amps. Hoping they work well with my M2X amp.
Yes, that will be one of the next steps in Dave's audition / assessment. I'm curious myself whether my ears are still goldy enough to detect the sonic differences between the ACA in normal stereo and bridged mono operation.
Glacial might be an appropriate description of the progression at this particular time - but there are a lot of factors at play.
Currently giving these another listening session. These are seriously good. But what you guys no doubt want is a comparison to what else we have around here.
We’ll have a 1st impression against the Alpair 10PeN (no stock drivers around here) before Chris takes them for skinning with the plastic laminate, and i will soon have a set of finished A10.3eN to populate a similar set of trapezoidal miniOnkens. They wil not yet be at their best for smetime and comparisons will likely happen while they are still experiencing some break-in.
The A10 are the Eikona’s closest direct competition. Same size, and evolved from the same basic set of tenants laid down by Ted Jordan.
Stay tuned.
The ultimate test will come the weekend of Aug 25 when diyers from all over descend on the mountain for the 15th annual VI diyFEST.
dave
We’ll have a 1st impression against the Alpair 10PeN (no stock drivers around here) before Chris takes them for skinning with the plastic laminate, and i will soon have a set of finished A10.3eN to populate a similar set of trapezoidal miniOnkens. They wil not yet be at their best for smetime and comparisons will likely happen while they are still experiencing some break-in.
The A10 are the Eikona’s closest direct competition. Same size, and evolved from the same basic set of tenants laid down by Ted Jordan.
Stay tuned.
The ultimate test will come the weekend of Aug 25 when diyers from all over descend on the mountain for the 15th annual VI diyFEST.
dave
I'm not going to lie.. It's going to be tough waiting till the end of August for a review and more impressions. If you have the time, it would be nice to here some more thoughts now that the drivers have broken in some...
Before Chris took the Obelisks Wy to finish i did a quick compare to the Mar-Ken10pT with A10PeN in them.
The image/soundstage is good but not as 3D as the MK10. With Eikona edges of the music are more incisive and top is more extended but there is some edginess on some HF passages. The A10PeN is softer/warmer.
The big enclosure goes lower.
dave
The image/soundstage is good but not as 3D as the MK10. With Eikona edges of the music are more incisive and top is more extended but there is some edginess on some HF passages. The A10PeN is softer/warmer.
The big enclosure goes lower.
dave
The robot builder is just waiting for a second sheet of p-lam to arrive to replace one damaged in transit, and skin the boxes. After that, some testing vis a vis the 10.3, as well as staged "upgrades?" to front end / amps - possibly more comprehensive listening within the next couple of weeks. Funny how life - and retirement /training of replacement - gets in the way of one's plans 😉.
Shh, hear something? - that's the Universe laughing
Shh, hear something? - that's the Universe laughing
Thanks for the update.. Interesting to here the Apair 10s sounded softer with less edge to them! Was not expecting that. I thought the Eikonas had that smooth characteristic to them...
I appreciate the review! Looking forward to more!
I appreciate the review! Looking forward to more!
I'm interested in your impressions on the impact of the wide baffle on the sound vs a narrower baffle plus more bsc.
Well made paper always sounds warmer and smoother than aluminum, at least to me. Whether that smoothness and warmth is accurate is a whole other conversation. I've never heard a paper driver that didn't smear things compared to well designed metal drivers.
The Eikona typically has a 7-ish dB boost from 8kHz upward, which is probably part of what Planet10 is hearing.
The Eikona typically has a 7-ish dB boost from 8kHz upward, which is probably part of what Planet10 is hearing.
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Except for the bit wrt to imagining, i would say the same things about the compare of the EnABLed metal & paper Alpair 10s.
So the real comparisons will come when i can bring a set of A10.3eN up. I have 10 drivers on th ebench and will put a pair in a similar Mar-Ken enclosure. They will not yet be fully broken in thou, and the cab will still have a bass deficit (in comparison). The plan is for Chris to bring his Pensil10.3s out for diyFEST and we can press many ears to the task.
dave
My 4 compressed lumbar discs and inflamed rotator cuff are definitely all the more more so now after delivering the finished versions of these to Dave's earlier today. Even with several hours between the two required trips, the second enclosure gained about 5 pound each step up the stair case to their final destination, and they are simply a bitch on which to get a good handhold. Definitely a young man's game this is .
Hopefully I'll soon have more than 10 minutes to spare for a relaxed listening session to these.
Hopefully I'll soon have more than 10 minutes to spare for a relaxed listening session to these.