Looking to try full range, audio nirvana 15 good start?

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frugal-phile™
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For playing rock the 15" might be fine, i've not heard it.

But i haven't heard any yet that convince me that the sweet spot isn't 4-5" FR units. Much more sensible IMO to add helper woofers than helper tweeters, but even then some of these drivers really leave people surprised at the bass they can produce,

dave
 
I enjoy the sound of smaller full range drivers. I have the 4.5" 127e in BIBs and the inexpensive Dayton 5" full ranger in BIBs. I also have 3 and 4" TBs in various sealed and ported boxes (the TBs tend to sound better to me with helper tweeters). The older style 6" Fostex 168 i have doesn't seem to produce much more sound than the smaller drivers but when I tried 8" TB, Betsy and the Pioneer B20 things mellowed out a bit (less treble?) but they have a fuller sound that's more satisfying to me. When I tried the 12" Eminence 12lta I fell in love with it's big, effortless sound. I use a helper tweeter and woofer with them but nothing else I've tried gives me more of a sense of live music and they sound like they have plenty of treble. I can appreciate that smaller drivers would have better treble but when listening I tend to prefer the more relaxed sound of larger drivers. I have not heard any of the AN drivers but wouldn't hesitate to try their 12 and 15" drivers. I'd anticipate a large, effortless soundstage from them based on my experience with the 12lta.
 

ra7

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Joined 2009
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I doubt you would need a tweeter with the ANs. They have good response right up to 16 kHz.

Dave,

Its your business selling 4-5" drivers... No wonder you like them. You should give the large format drivers a try sometime. The effortlessness is really a special quality and it makes smaller drivers sound, well, distorted.
 

ra7

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Joined 2009
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There are advantages to both. The small fr drivers have high WAF, work well in small spaces. But once you turn it up, the lack of spl and high distortion is immediately evident, even in the midband. This is exactly where the larger drivers excel. The effortless sound comes from lower distortion and higher starting efficiency.

As for treble performance, it's a mixed bag isn't it? All of them have resonances and as for beaming, even the small ones have to cross to some form of cone... Dust cap, whizzer, etc.

For me it was clear. Once you hear >8" drivers the small ones start sounding small and distorted and once you hear horns, even your favorite large fr driver sounds distorted. So, it's all relative.
 
But once you turn it up, the lack of spl and high distortion is immediately evident, even in the midband.

.......once you hear horns, even your favorite large fr driver sounds distorted. So, it's all relative.

Not when you couple it to a proper wide BW woofer.........

Yeah, I got hooked on horns at a tender age, so as long as space permits, they will continue to be my critical listening preference.

GM
 
There are advantages to both. The small fr drivers have high WAF, work well in small spaces. But once you turn it up, the lack of spl and high distortion is immediately evident, even in the midband. This is exactly where the larger drivers excel. The effortless sound comes from lower distortion and higher starting efficiency.

As for treble performance, it's a mixed bag isn't it? All of them have resonances and as for beaming, even the small ones have to cross to some form of cone... Dust cap, whizzer, etc.

For me it was clear. Once you hear >8" drivers the small ones start sounding small and distorted and once you hear horns, even your favorite large fr driver sounds distorted. So, it's all relative.

Ra7,

Good observations - I also find that bigger cones are more effortless but tend to beam a bit.

On distortion creeping in, I am curious, what sort of SPL are we talking about?

-Zia
 
It did me too, but i only ever heard a pair once, and i was still a raw rookie with lots to learn, and lots of listening training yet to follow. Be nice to hear some now.

dave

Ditto, I'd 'cloned' [I use the term very loosely] numerous speakers by then, but except for my DIY Altec A7-500s that of course had a somewhat different presentation to any cone/dome speaker by way of reference, I just stuck whatever used drivers I could get dirt cheap or free in them and experimented with various ways to tweak them into something acceptably smooth, so I ruined many a driver that today we would cherish considering what replaced all those tabletop radio, TV, console, ultralight moving mass AlNiCo motor designs.

GM
 
I built a pair of the AN 12" with the big port and they sound fantastic. Detailed and beautiful, especially for the price. They don't go low enough to listen to modern electronic music, but the bass is still very nice.

I also built a pair of Fonkens with the FE127e and while they sound alright on my sofa, they are garbage compared to the AN12s.

Summary: The Audio Nirvana drivers are a wonderful start to FR.
 
>>> I also built a pair of Fonkens with the FE127e and while they sound alright on my sofa, they are garbage compared to the AN12s.

Perhaps, tho i'm uncertain, comparing a 4" driver with a 12" or 15" is like comparing a 4 cylinder with a 6 and 8 cylinder automobile. Having done the small cone full range thing (and enjoyed this type of speaker) I’ve also experienced larger diameter cones and happen to feel they have an ease of presentation smaller cones don’t. This doesn’t mean someone wouldn’t enjoy a VW GTI and its spirited 4 cylinder engine… it’s great fun! But driving an 8 cylinder Porsche ‘feels’ a bit different.

While smaller cones are great for smaller spaces, larger cones are better for filling larger spaces. But having my larger 12” drivers in a small room proved quite an incredible listening experience, as if I were wearing headphones. Music was effortless, detailed and HUGE. I’d swear instruments were emanating from different parts of the large cones surface. I guess one could say it provided a different presentation and we all could feel differently based on what we hear (and of course our room plays a very important role) but large diameter full/wide range drivers remind me more of planar type speakers since they have a large radiating surface… but with the dynamic drive of cones.

It excites me just thinking about all that air those large diameter drivers move around. Brings the music to life a bit more convincingly than smaller cones… but I do see the allure of small, fast, hyper detailed cones… I just prefer the more easygoing, relaxed sound of BIG drivers.
 
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