The mail arrived today,-5x Coral Flat 8 II's and a Quad Vena II amp. Two of the Corals are modded with a phase plug, three are unmodified. I plan to put two of them in an Open Baffle system, (not sure what to do with the remaining) but while waiting to get the baffles made I just couldn't resist having a listen.
I've read a lot about full range speakers, rumours of shoutiness and unwanted resonances made me unsure about spending money on full range speakers at all. There's two things I can't stand: -Shoutiness and shrillness!
No baffles yet, so I placed two of the Corals at an angle towards the wall and played some music: Ein Straussfest from the Telarc record company,-no dynamic limit with gunshots and the whole works. Skinny Tuba (blues/jazz), Postmodern Jukebox (jazz) and the tune "After you get what you want" from the TV-series Boardwalk Empire.
#1: Ein Straussfest sounded,-well, dynamic (who would have thunk!) and unrestrained. The gunshots didn't seem to bother the speakers one bit.
#2: Skinny Tuba has a female singer. Her voice sounded very pleasant, no problems there.
#3: The song from Boardwalk Empire is performed by a female singer with a voice that could rip the skin of your back straight off and make your ears bleed, but even her voice sounded OK. Much better than I feared it would sound.
To sum it up,-the Coral speakers have made me look forward to building baffles for them, they do sound pleasant and even if they probably don't go up to 20 kHz they do not seem to lack treble.
In case of any lack of bass I have two 15 inch Eminence Alphas lurking in the corners.
I've read a lot about full range speakers, rumours of shoutiness and unwanted resonances made me unsure about spending money on full range speakers at all. There's two things I can't stand: -Shoutiness and shrillness!
No baffles yet, so I placed two of the Corals at an angle towards the wall and played some music: Ein Straussfest from the Telarc record company,-no dynamic limit with gunshots and the whole works. Skinny Tuba (blues/jazz), Postmodern Jukebox (jazz) and the tune "After you get what you want" from the TV-series Boardwalk Empire.
#1: Ein Straussfest sounded,-well, dynamic (who would have thunk!) and unrestrained. The gunshots didn't seem to bother the speakers one bit.
#2: Skinny Tuba has a female singer. Her voice sounded very pleasant, no problems there.
#3: The song from Boardwalk Empire is performed by a female singer with a voice that could rip the skin of your back straight off and make your ears bleed, but even her voice sounded OK. Much better than I feared it would sound.
To sum it up,-the Coral speakers have made me look forward to building baffles for them, they do sound pleasant and even if they probably don't go up to 20 kHz they do not seem to lack treble.
In case of any lack of bass I have two 15 inch Eminence Alphas lurking in the corners.
Hi Emtor,
Your Corals are very nice drivers, but will most probably best be used up from, let´s say 200 or 300 Hz in an OB. And they deserve something better than the Alphas... at least in my opinion.
But best implementation, as always, is depending on many things and details, and of course of your way to do things. Are you considering measurements? Are you deciding by ear? Are you willing to invest time, work and money?
However, good luck with your nice historic drivers!
All the best
Mattes
Your Corals are very nice drivers, but will most probably best be used up from, let´s say 200 or 300 Hz in an OB. And they deserve something better than the Alphas... at least in my opinion.
But best implementation, as always, is depending on many things and details, and of course of your way to do things. Are you considering measurements? Are you deciding by ear? Are you willing to invest time, work and money?
However, good luck with your nice historic drivers!
All the best
Mattes
It all started with buying a flat screen TV, not the cheapest one. I knew that the sound wouldn't be up to par, but I was surprised it sounded as bad as it did.
It sounds like voices are spoken inside of a pillow.
Soundbar? -No way. -So I bought the Quad Vena II amp and the Corals plus Alphas.
Yes, I am considering measurments in tandem with using my ears.
I also consider bi-amping. The Quad has a pre out so I plan on building a tube amp for the Corals with passive high-pass filters for the tube amp. The low-pass might be just air core inductors for the Alphas.
It sounds like voices are spoken inside of a pillow.
Soundbar? -No way. -So I bought the Quad Vena II amp and the Corals plus Alphas.
Yes, I am considering measurments in tandem with using my ears.
I also consider bi-amping. The Quad has a pre out so I plan on building a tube amp for the Corals with passive high-pass filters for the tube amp. The low-pass might be just air core inductors for the Alphas.
Update: Mounted the Corals on 35x33 inch prototype panels.
I rarely listen to music. Listening fatigue sets in after two to three minutes, that's why.
Tonight I've been playing music for three hours straight,-new record for me.
OB's with Coral Flat 8's must be doing something right.
Ein Straussfest by the Cicinatti Pops Orchestra has a track "Bahn Frei" that starts with someone blowing a whistle before the train starts.
At that moment the speakers vanished and the whistle was in the room.
Same thing happened while playing Chinese traditional music. Some of the instruments were actually in the room.
The sound from these speakers is airy, unrestrained and fills the room.
Lots of potential,-the final panels will be made with care and all the small tricks in the book to make them sound as good as they can sound.
There's no going back now.
I rarely listen to music. Listening fatigue sets in after two to three minutes, that's why.
Tonight I've been playing music for three hours straight,-new record for me.
OB's with Coral Flat 8's must be doing something right.
Ein Straussfest by the Cicinatti Pops Orchestra has a track "Bahn Frei" that starts with someone blowing a whistle before the train starts.
At that moment the speakers vanished and the whistle was in the room.
Same thing happened while playing Chinese traditional music. Some of the instruments were actually in the room.
The sound from these speakers is airy, unrestrained and fills the room.
Lots of potential,-the final panels will be made with care and all the small tricks in the book to make them sound as good as they can sound.
There's no going back now.
Me too! With ~life long Tinnitus, even a hint has me 'beating a hasty retreat'!
Really like these two, especially the European Postmodern folks!
FWIW, my 'Litmus Test' [the original vinyl anyway]: Yusef Lateef, Live at Peps [1964] Yusef Lateef, Live at Peps [1964] - Google Search
GM
Ringing ears ?
I've had some luck with "bilberry complex" usually found in health food section or natural grocery.
Bilberry is supposed to help with circulation, especially eyes, but it also has Citrus bioflavanoid, known to help lower ear ringing for some people.
I take 2 a day (making 200mg total bioflavanoid).
I tried 500mg of citrus bioflavanoid by itself and it made my face flush/sting in 45 minutex flat (2 different times).
I have rosacea and i guess i also have a problem with high levels of citrus.
I've had some luck with "bilberry complex" usually found in health food section or natural grocery.
Bilberry is supposed to help with circulation, especially eyes, but it also has Citrus bioflavanoid, known to help lower ear ringing for some people.
I take 2 a day (making 200mg total bioflavanoid).
I tried 500mg of citrus bioflavanoid by itself and it made my face flush/sting in 45 minutex flat (2 different times).
I have rosacea and i guess i also have a problem with high levels of citrus.
Thanks! Unfortunately, mine has proven to be indifferent to everything tried to date, though for all I know my ~life long daily intake of mass quantities of pulp loaded OJ and Grapefruit concentrate with no side effects other than a constant weight gain battle AFAIK is why I've never noticed it getting worse beyond the other week when an old, mildly sibilant, recording didn't seem quite as irritating as I remember.
GM
GM
nothing to eek about. You just need to change your diet, both problems will disappear.
Anyway, i use coral 10" drivers to cover about 200Hz~10kHz, first order slopes, in an active triamped OB setup in my main system. The drivers (10TX70 with those horrid tweeters removed) are nearly as old as i am, but i doubt they've ever been bettered. Certainly not to these old ears. How coral managed to produced such drivers with the rudimentary testing gear of the late 60s is beyond me. They must have had some serious talent there.
Anyway, i use coral 10" drivers to cover about 200Hz~10kHz, first order slopes, in an active triamped OB setup in my main system. The drivers (10TX70 with those horrid tweeters removed) are nearly as old as i am, but i doubt they've ever been bettered. Certainly not to these old ears. How coral managed to produced such drivers with the rudimentary testing gear of the late 60s is beyond me. They must have had some serious talent there.
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