Zaph's SR-71 vs B&W 3 and 6 series
Hi All,
I'm really interested in building my own speakers and Zaph's SR-71 seems to be a really good design judging from all the discussions on the net. The best speakers that I own currently are the B&W DM 303s and I was wondering how the SR-71's would compare.
Hi All,
I'm really interested in building my own speakers and Zaph's SR-71 seems to be a really good design judging from all the discussions on the net. The best speakers that I own currently are the B&W DM 303s and I was wondering how the SR-71's would compare.
Unless you compare distortion measurements for the drivers used in each speaker you're comparing apples to oranges. If there are no published measurements on the B&W drivers your only choice is to build the Zaph design and decide for yourself.
Well, the Sr71's kit costs $360 not including the enclosure and the DM303's retail for $300. From what I've read so far on the forum, DIY speakers give much more performance/value. So I thought that it would be clear the Sr71's would outperform the DM303s.
The DM303 is a reasonable budget speaker.
Having both heard it and seen measurements of the 303, I would say it a decent little entry level speaker. Despite the shelved off-axis response there's nothing particularly objectionable about its sound.
Now if you have to compare the SR71 to a commercial speaker, judging by size, ingredients and design alone is a bit difficult.
I have not built Zaph's SR71, but I have built the all-aluminium equivalent (All Metal System), and it is incredible value.
The SR71 should be no different, perhaps even lower distortion and easier on the ears.
Why don't you slap together ome scrap MDF boxes, built the SR71 XO with correct crossover and driver layouts.
If I was a betting man I'd say it's easily competitive with the B&W 705...
Having both heard it and seen measurements of the 303, I would say it a decent little entry level speaker. Despite the shelved off-axis response there's nothing particularly objectionable about its sound.
Now if you have to compare the SR71 to a commercial speaker, judging by size, ingredients and design alone is a bit difficult.
I have not built Zaph's SR71, but I have built the all-aluminium equivalent (All Metal System), and it is incredible value.
The SR71 should be no different, perhaps even lower distortion and easier on the ears.
Why don't you slap together ome scrap MDF boxes, built the SR71 XO with correct crossover and driver layouts.
If I was a betting man I'd say it's easily competitive with the B&W 705...
The DM303 is a nice speaker and great value. I think it was an EISA winner at the time.
I used to own a pair and used to use it as a reference to beat for budget speakers. I have also heard a speaker which is the similar to the SR71 but with a different xo and it's no contest.... a SR71 type speaker does win easily, as it should as the money is in the drivers unlike the the DM303 that is handicapped by commercial restraints.
I used to own a pair and used to use it as a reference to beat for budget speakers. I have also heard a speaker which is the similar to the SR71 but with a different xo and it's no contest.... a SR71 type speaker does win easily, as it should as the money is in the drivers unlike the the DM303 that is handicapped by commercial restraints.
Thanks for all the inputs guys. I know it all comes down to the enclosure and such. Ultimately I'll have to build it to know but just wanted to know what to expect.
Cal Weldon said:
I'd say it's more of a bell curve, where some speakers (fullrangers largely, or zaph's more budget oriented ones) that are very affordable just can't be done commerically, but up between $250-1k, things get a little more competitive due to economies of scale, and above that, you start getting into paying a lot more due to low production quantities and audio jewelry.
Smaller B&Ws are often value-leaders.
Exceptions abound to all of these matters.
Fair enough. My thought being you can build a $500 pair of speakers for $250 or $300 but the real savings start when you build a $5000 or $50,000 pair. Instead of a bell curve I see a constant acceleration graph. 🙂
Cal, but for <$100 you can do some of the single driver, or value multiway designs, which can perform WAY above storebought, since the single driver in particular doesn't make a great 'mass market' speaker (bass limitations, cabinet sizes, and output limits).
From my understanding, the SR71's were supposed to be able to pace similar commercial offerings somewhere around the 2k mark, give or take. Additionally, I built a set and love them to death, but I am not about to walk into an audio boutique with my pair and go "whaddya got?!", so I can't really compare them to anything of that nature.
But they sound damn good for what they are, and I am really growing fond of that ER18RNX mid-woofer they use.
But they sound damn good for what they are, and I am really growing fond of that ER18RNX mid-woofer they use.
How about this one? http://www.ascendacoustics.com/pages/products/speakers/SRM1/srm1.html, can sr-71 be notably better?
It costs almost same money to build sr-71
It costs almost same money to build sr-71
Albrerta said:
Hi,
Well it is somewhat smaller than the SR-71, and you could build your own SR-71 cabinets.
FWIW the sensitivity and impedance of the Sierra suggest limited attention to BSC.
🙂/sreten.
Cataclysm said:
That's exactly what I thought, that's why I was hoping the SR71s would blow the 303s out of the water.
Going a little off topic here, I decided to take the plunge but now I am wondering what the effects of the impedance flattening circuit with a chip amp is.
The reason I ask is because I will probably be using both tube and chip. Obviously not at the same time but the occasional swap.
The reason I ask is because I will probably be using both tube and chip. Obviously not at the same time but the occasional swap.
badman said:
OK, you win. 😉
I was thinking of decent multi-ways with passive XO's but I think we both have credible thoughts.
I can offer a point of reference here. About 3.5 years ago I built Zaph's Seas L18/27TBFCG's, using the Parts Express prefab cabinets, and some good quality crossover parts - about $550 total for the materials. At that time, I had been using Paradigm Studio/20's as my main speakers for a couple of years. The Zaph L18's hands-down beat the Paradigms in bass depth, musical timbre, and especially resolution / transparency... they were better in almost every respect except two things: imaging and bass articulation, but the Paradigms were only slightly better in those areas. On balance, the Zaph's were miles ahead, but I would have to add that I did not spend much time tweaking the cabinet stuffing. I'm sure if I'd spent even a modest effort on that, I could have achieved a better damped bass response (probably enough to equal the definition of the Studio/20s).
Back when I bought the Studio/20's, I had also auditioned the DM601's and to me the Paradigms were clearly superior. I also put them up against my friends' DM301's, which was pretty much no contest against the Studio/20s.
Given the calibre of drivers Zaph has chosen for the SR-71 (same manufacturer and performance category as the L18's), and the fact that it looks like Zaph has put a bit more time into the SR-71 design, it seems pretty plain to me that they would be in a different league entirely from the B&W's you mention.
Impedance flattening circuit will help the tube amp some (although I ran my L18's on a tube amp, without), but probably have only a minimal benefit for anything solid-state.
Back when I bought the Studio/20's, I had also auditioned the DM601's and to me the Paradigms were clearly superior. I also put them up against my friends' DM301's, which was pretty much no contest against the Studio/20s.
Given the calibre of drivers Zaph has chosen for the SR-71 (same manufacturer and performance category as the L18's), and the fact that it looks like Zaph has put a bit more time into the SR-71 design, it seems pretty plain to me that they would be in a different league entirely from the B&W's you mention.
Impedance flattening circuit will help the tube amp some (although I ran my L18's on a tube amp, without), but probably have only a minimal benefit for anything solid-state.
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