Mark audio alpair 7p vs alpair 7.3

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Always useful to have more information. :) That said, I'd be rather wary of the 2nd link -you may not be aware, but that is the site belonging to a peculiar chap who whiled away his leisure time trolling on this forum, was banned for his chronic attitude-problem, then got banned again for continuing to troll with his first sock puppet. All rather sad, really. So under those circumstances, one would be inclined to regard any data or statements emanating from such a quarter with circumspection (until they are independently confirmed by another source).

Part of the issue is that wideband drivers do not, and generally cannot, produce such pretty measurements as limited BW units. That's just the nature of the beast, and since manufacturers are businesses rather than charitable institutions, it is not in their interest to present their product in the worst possible light. This applies to all who produce loudspeaker drive units (not just widebanders), to varying extents. No news there. The majority of people who like widebanders aren't all that bothered one way or the other -they're usually after something else, whatever that might happen to be (it varying, like anything else, from person to person). That can puzzle those who are used to more conventional contemporary approaches, and a very small minority have sometimes felt the need to patronise those having a different set of values to themselves. Fortunately this is an increasingly rare occurrence nowadays, since even that small minority generally remember after a while that other people are entitled to have their own tastes and preferences without being insulted for it, and we all live happily together in our little corner of the internet, enjoying the different music we like in the different ways we prefer.
 
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Mmm. Agreed. My multiways, especially larger ones, are typically designed using a 2m nominal listening distance / mic. location (any closer & they won't sum properly), and generally for ~10 - 15 degrees off-axis. Possible honourable exception re the latter for the Vifa XT25 tweeter & its Scan Speak descendants since the HF of these ring-radiators falls off a cliff as you move off-axis -although in fairness, this varies with model, some holding up better than others & pretty good out to ~20 degrees or so.
 
I spent a great deal of time traveling back and forth to Japan where I was first introduced to fullrange. This has always been a pretty big deal over there. The best sounding systems used super tweeters for at least the top octave (10KHz and above). I don't want a true FR; I want to use a FR driver as a very wide band (i. e. extended range) midrange.

I found this design (on youtube) using the A7M, curious to know what make of tweet that is (sans horn) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsXCaPVWl0M
 
TAKET A link for super tweeter on youtube.

I looked on the YT video showing an Alpair with super tweeter on top. I'm retired by the way so I have all day to dream and play, especially internet research! The tweeter is called "BATPURE" Taket (Japan) is the parent company; they do headphones mostly for international markets but they do super tweeters for the Japanese market
 
Exactly what did you mean by this? FYI no one in their right mind listens to speakers on axis. On-axis 1m 2.83v FR measurements are great for building cross-overs, but are meaningless in the normal listening room, unless your listening room is a large anechoic chamber and the listener is covered with a deep blanked of sound absorbing material. EQ needs to be done with the microphone at the listening chair and at normal listening SPL.

Bob
:confused:
 
Bob's point (slightly overstated for effect) is that if a speaker is designed to be listened to off-axis, it is generally not a good idea to listen to it on axis since you will not have optimal results. For example, many wideband drivers have a rising on-axis HF response. This is not because the designers are unable to produce a unit with a flat on-axis response trend (relatively speaking, that's no harder to achieve), but because the laws of physics dictate that due to cone size & profile, the dispersion of larger drivers in the higher frequencies will be relatively poor compared to smaller types (e.g. a 1in dome tweeter). So, since it is impractical for most people to weld themselves into a very tight listening region (other people might wish to listen for example), they design an HF rise into the on-axis HF response to improve performance over a wider listening window. Common practice since the 1940s / '50s.
 
kk
true that indeed for full range drivers!
Bob's point (slightly overstated for effect) is that if a speaker is designed to be listened to off-axis, it is generally not a good idea to listen to it on axis since you will not have optimal results. For example, many wideband drivers have a rising on-axis HF response. This is not because the designers are unable to produce a unit with a flat on-axis response trend (relatively speaking, that's no harder to achieve), but because the laws of physics dictate that due to cone size & profile, the dispersion of larger drivers in the higher frequencies will be relatively poor compared to smaller types (e.g. a 1in dome tweeter). So, since it is impractical for most people to weld themselves into a very tight listening region (other people might wish to listen for example), they design an HF rise into the on-axis HF response to improve performance over a wider listening window. Common practice since the 1940s / '50s.
 
which was, as I recall the 7P vis a vis 7.3 , and the logical extension I think of metal vs paper in general?

I spent the better part of this past weekend playing with a system employing the 7P - I've lived with 7M and MAOP7 for several years now, and am getting further from an absolute conviction as to which I'd recommend or choose among the 3.
Actually, that's not quite true - the particular bi-amped speaker set up allowed me to swap out different drivers for the mid/tweet, and the MAOPs are an entirely different level of performance - but certainly well beyond most folks' comfort zone
 
which was, as I recall the 7P vis a vis 7.3 , and the logical extension I think of metal vs paper in general?

I spent the better part of this past weekend playing with a system employing the 7P - I've lived with 7M and MAOP7 for several years now, and am getting further from an absolute conviction as to which I'd recommend or choose among the 3.
Actually, that's not quite true - the particular bi-amped speaker set up allowed me to swap out different drivers for the mid/tweet, and the MAOPs are an entirely different level of performance - but certainly well beyond most folks' comfort zone
:confused:
 
Chris means that the MAOP units are decidedly 'not cheap' and almost unobtainable since they are not standard production drivers. They're made in very small runs which are usually sold well in advance, mostly to collectors in Japan. I believe Chris has the only pair of A7MAOPs in the west, while I have the only pair of A10MAOPs. Exceptional if your partnering equipment is up to it, mainly because they have very little character of their own.
 
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frugal-phile™
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I tried to order some 7 MAOP's from japan as I'll be there in 2 weeks, and sterling yen rate is quite favourable right now. But none available. They make batches periodically, the next lot avail in autumn (!)

Each batch is essentially sold out before it is made. AFAIK the only way of getting a set is to send Mark a big lump of cash and wait.

dave
 
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