Mini Karlsonator (0.53X) with Dual TC9FDs

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Finally finished my 0,4x with faital pro 3fe25. Impression to come.
 
I'm not after extremely loud volume. It's for personal listening in a lounge - at decent sound levels, but loud enough to appreciate every aspect of the recordings (flac).

Thus, my aim is to get the best quality sound (within the constraints of the ACA's 5/6W per channel). Therefore, I need your honest opinion, X: Would 4ohms or 8ohms give me that? I.o.w. 2x16ohms parallel or 2x8ohms parallel?
 
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Both setups will probably work well. In the end, the choice of dual 16ohms for nominal 8ohms is closer to the nominal impedance rating of the ACA. Since the ACA is a single ended Class A topology, it's distortion will be directly related to the speaker impedance and using nominal 8ohm will result in lower harmonic distortion for the same voltage output. The 4ohm version will be twice as loud for the same voltage drive level. The Qts of the parallel 16ohm is higher and this may actually improve bass extension. So if you think that 15dB gain of the ACA is enough for you given your source.

So I guess upon careful weighing of pros and cons I recommend the dual 16ohm version - you can't really go wrong with it given your stated preference over sound quality vs ultimate high SPL.

Sound good? Now you can order the drivers.

I do recall that I have a pair of 3FE22 (Nd magnet) in 16ohms. They are lovely sounding drivers and very smooth.
 
... So I guess upon careful weighing of pros and cons I recommend the dual 16ohm version - you can't really go wrong with it given your stated preference over sound quality vs ultimate high SPL.

Sound good? Now you can order the drivers.

I do recall that I have a pair of 3FE22 (Nd magnet) in 16ohms. They are lovely sounding drivers and very smooth.


Thank you very much, X.

I feel much happier now, because even with my limited knowledge, that is what I thought would be the better choice for me. :D
 
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MK 0.41X in studio

Here's an update on the MK 0.41X's that I built for my buddy's studio. They were installed about three weeks ago. To my ears they are miles ahead of the Event monitors that are already there, especially for mixing purposes. They won't play as loud, but I prefer less levels anyway to combat ear fatigue. The studio owner's initial comment "wow, they are really bassy" which I suppose is true considering their size. But they do not produce a bloated bass. He subsequently used them to check a mix and was very impressed. The real plus is that the midrange on the MK's is very clean and easy to differentiate instruments. On the Events it's just a big hodgepodge mush of guitars, keys, vocals, drums and cymbals that make it torture (for me anyway) to get a good mix. There is a ceramic tile on each MK to weigh it down (helps with the upper bass region ~125Hz) as well as a second front wing on each (liquid nailed onto the original wing) for the same reason. These are a second set; the first set I use daily at my computer for hours on end, going on two months now. I haven't listened to music this much in years. They are totally enjoyable. I am about to embark on a set of 0.53X with the Dayton 5" PA full range to use in the main listening room; have them go head to head with a 20 year old scanspeak two way :)

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