I've been eyeing these drivers from Lii Audio on Taobao for a while. How did you end up implementing them? Did you like these drivers?
I've been following the conversation on DIYA around Lii Audio a bit. While there are several pages on the cultural, business, and legal aspects ranging from fascinating to tedious, little appears to exist in terms of actual hands-on reviews of Lii Audio products.
As others have pointed out, the documentation around the drivers is poor. There seem to be typographic errors, unconventional units (e.g. decimeters instead of cm in cases), and probably some outright errors, too. Commas become decimals, M becomes mm, and before you know it the data is worthless. I believe that might contribute to the saturation Lii Song is getting on YouTube and Reddit. Give someone an attractive price and an enclosure drawing and you're going to get some armchair Youtube reviews, for better or worse.
Maybe the lack of quality specs isn't as big of an issue for the open baffle folks? Lii audio's craftsmanship does seem to instill some confidence.
I've been curious about this H1502 coaxial, for example – but there's no way I would drop $800 to scratch an itch about a driver without any reliable data.
As others have pointed out, the documentation around the drivers is poor. There seem to be typographic errors, unconventional units (e.g. decimeters instead of cm in cases), and probably some outright errors, too. Commas become decimals, M becomes mm, and before you know it the data is worthless. I believe that might contribute to the saturation Lii Song is getting on YouTube and Reddit. Give someone an attractive price and an enclosure drawing and you're going to get some armchair Youtube reviews, for better or worse.
Maybe the lack of quality specs isn't as big of an issue for the open baffle folks? Lii audio's craftsmanship does seem to instill some confidence.
I've been curious about this H1502 coaxial, for example – but there's no way I would drop $800 to scratch an itch about a driver without any reliable data.
In fairness to the Lii brands they both offer a suite of niche drivers at a fraction of Lowther or Votavix pricing. The Decware collab is an example of a visually aesthetic steal to me. Without independent measurements though not tempting enough.
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I will add. If you do decide to buy Lee audio drivers off ali Express, make sure you check the shipping methods available. There is no way i would have them sent by their standard shipping method. I would only select dhl or ups expedited. Imo, the less time in transit the better and it's a sensible expense to reduce that transit time. I'm saying this because some may just see the price and shipping costs and assume it's all the same but it's not. At the moment, lee audio official store the default shipping is 2 to 3 weeks to the usa and on other stores selling the same drivers the standard shipping rate is for expedited shipping. You have to factor that in so you are comparing appropriately. Also always ask to see the packaging. Before you buy. I personally think these drivers are great. I have the music-8 alnico magnet full rangers.
Still playing in in a open baffle. I will eventually try them in a suitable cabinet and may build a folded horn style cab.
I would have to say that business wise and buying experience and marketing all go to lee song because they have been properly developed.
And their is definitely a language barrier/handicap with lee audio.
Im not buying all that I'm buying speakers. Lee-audio measures in a anacoic chamber that they built. They designed the driver's and still are designing drivers and although maybe not the best slick polished marketing/distribution ECT, in the end the speakers are what I bought. They actually manufacturer their own drivers. I have no idea who builds lee song drivers for them. I do know the materials used are different although they appear similar. I also know that people seem happy with the lee song drivers and good for them and so be it. That's the paradox. I took the chance.I love what i chose. I like that I'm supporting a company that is essentially a small family size business that produces and develops new and interesting speakers. I can't vouch for any of their other speakers. I can vouch for the music 8's though. Wish you all well on your audio journey. Now back to the music !
Still playing in in a open baffle. I will eventually try them in a suitable cabinet and may build a folded horn style cab.
I would have to say that business wise and buying experience and marketing all go to lee song because they have been properly developed.
And their is definitely a language barrier/handicap with lee audio.
Im not buying all that I'm buying speakers. Lee-audio measures in a anacoic chamber that they built. They designed the driver's and still are designing drivers and although maybe not the best slick polished marketing/distribution ECT, in the end the speakers are what I bought. They actually manufacturer their own drivers. I have no idea who builds lee song drivers for them. I do know the materials used are different although they appear similar. I also know that people seem happy with the lee song drivers and good for them and so be it. That's the paradox. I took the chance.I love what i chose. I like that I'm supporting a company that is essentially a small family size business that produces and develops new and interesting speakers. I can't vouch for any of their other speakers. I can vouch for the music 8's though. Wish you all well on your audio journey. Now back to the music !
I am not sure I can visit Lii Audio factory on my next trip, he rightfully seems not so confident to show it to strangers, even if i sign an NDA, an NDA is useless if you don't have the power to use it with big cash.
Here is a picture of Line Magnetic that i visited on the same trip. The transformers are all in house. The place was clean, the employees well treated as I met with gentle team which is not always the case when you meet suppliers (i am talking global not just china).
Just to say this is good chinese manufacturing, not what some call chifi.
Here is a picture of Line Magnetic that i visited on the same trip. The transformers are all in house. The place was clean, the employees well treated as I met with gentle team which is not always the case when you meet suppliers (i am talking global not just china).
Just to say this is good chinese manufacturing, not what some call chifi.
I got introduced to Lii Audio in 2019 (as it then was) through Caintuck Audio when Caintuck first offered the F15 in its baffles. I think at that time Lii Audio was still the main supplier of those drivers that Caintuck was using. I got a pair and was very happy with them (although I ended up selling them).
In 2021, I wanted to upgrade and saw on Taobao that Lii Audio was selling these beautiful 12 inch ALNICO drivers and I snatched them up. According to Lii Audio, these were custom made for a customer and they had a pair leftover, so there are only, like, two pairs in existence. The build quality is phenomenal and the sound is magnificent, I have them in huge cabinets and they are my reference. I recently added a pair of tweeters (also from Lii Audio) and they are perfect now.
That being said, I have also purchased a few drivers directly from Lii Song, (F12 and W15) and can say that their customer service is top notch. Very professional and responsive.
I have no idea what the dispute is really about but from my dealings with both Lii Audio and Lii Song, they are both very nice to deal with, although I prefer Lii Audio's speakers quite a bit more.
In 2021, I wanted to upgrade and saw on Taobao that Lii Audio was selling these beautiful 12 inch ALNICO drivers and I snatched them up. According to Lii Audio, these were custom made for a customer and they had a pair leftover, so there are only, like, two pairs in existence. The build quality is phenomenal and the sound is magnificent, I have them in huge cabinets and they are my reference. I recently added a pair of tweeters (also from Lii Audio) and they are perfect now.
That being said, I have also purchased a few drivers directly from Lii Song, (F12 and W15) and can say that their customer service is top notch. Very professional and responsive.
I have no idea what the dispute is really about but from my dealings with both Lii Audio and Lii Song, they are both very nice to deal with, although I prefer Lii Audio's speakers quite a bit more.
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@benzxc those look stunning.
I've been eyeing the H1502 coaxials as a potential option to retrofit some empty Altec 620 cabinets that fell into my lap.
I can't seem to find it at the moment, but on one of Lii Audio's products there was a diatribe about their philosophy of judging by ear and experimentation rather than chasing after data plots that woo the buyer. If I find it I'll share – I found it compelling and a clear indication that this is a passionate, small batch, craftsmen led operation.
All that said, Vas for the H1502 is listed as "692.717 m M?", and Sd is an equally confusing "85.4 mM?". Not very helpful in figuring out if this is a fools errand for my 170L enclosure.
I've been eyeing the H1502 coaxials as a potential option to retrofit some empty Altec 620 cabinets that fell into my lap.
I can't seem to find it at the moment, but on one of Lii Audio's products there was a diatribe about their philosophy of judging by ear and experimentation rather than chasing after data plots that woo the buyer. If I find it I'll share – I found it compelling and a clear indication that this is a passionate, small batch, craftsmen led operation.
All that said, Vas for the H1502 is listed as "692.717 m M?", and Sd is an equally confusing "85.4 mM?". Not very helpful in figuring out if this is a fools errand for my 170L enclosure.
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@benzxc,
Those look really interesting. Can Canadians buy from taobao? In the USA, from my experience we can not.
Those drivers look incredible. They must be twenty pounds a piece! That's a lot of alnico ! Congrats. Did you use the superteeter that lee audio sells or was that custom also?
Did you use a bass reflex design or a folded horn cabinet or something else?
Those look really interesting. Can Canadians buy from taobao? In the USA, from my experience we can not.
Those drivers look incredible. They must be twenty pounds a piece! That's a lot of alnico ! Congrats. Did you use the superteeter that lee audio sells or was that custom also?
Did you use a bass reflex design or a folded horn cabinet or something else?
If there is no cabinet listed, you can contact the seller and they will inquire to lee audio for you to show you a suggested cab which you can use to determine if you will have enough volume in your altec cabs.
I'm on the app on a phone and there is a message icon at the bottom left of center
@Phloored Thanks! Yes they are about 20 pounds a piece. I used the tweeter that Lii Audio sells and they integrate quite nicely. I've attached a few photos of the drivers in their cabinets. I used the drawing specs that Lii Audio gave me, I downsized it a little though. I am glad I did because or else they would have been way too big for my listening space.
I am not sure about Taobao in Canada, my understanding is not. I can buy from Taobao because I am currently located in Taiwan, and Taobao ships to Taiwan which is very convenient.
@chirs Thanks! I am not sure if this helps, but I get a friend to help translate on Taobao where Lii Audio has a site and customer service, and they are super helpful, giving me designs for the drivers, and other sort of data. You can totally tell they are themselves into audio and very knowledgeable about the hobby in general and their products in particular.
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I've tried this, but unfortunately the suggestion was to use one of their 12" drivers for a 170L volume. I will try Taoboa with my wife's Mandarin assistance ;-)
It seems these drivers have very high compliance (if I'm using that term correctly.. I'm learning!)
Oddly, some drawings do exist – there's a guy on Facebook – "CRC DIY" – who's posted a few enclosure drawings and even tested a bit.
What a snag! Your listening / entertainment space with these in those cabs looks great. How fun it would be to stop by for a listen -
I too like the "clear indication that this is a passionate, small batch, craftsmen led operation." And perhaps that's where the split between Audio and Song lies in philosophy; Song wants to be a capitalist, build out a top notch marketing, sales and support organization. Perhaps Audio doesnt give a flyin flip about any of that, they're passion is in design, crafting, exploring shapes and materials, all the while using their own ears as "design verification".
They're happy if modest sales supports their continued endeavors, while Song wouldnt mind becoming a millionaire selling speakers. It's refreshing to see there's someone in this world for whom getting for themselves the most money possible isnt the ultimate gold ring. Especially when for so many, that's all that matters.