Updated system pics
My system has been upgraded so much it demanded me loading new pics. I built a new CC using JBL 2118j’s and Hivi RT2ii ribbon. Side ported, individual compartments.
Installed the Hivi ribbons on the open baffle AN Super 12’s as well.
Got rid of the Eminence Alpha 15a’s, replaced them with JBL 4530’s loaded with JBL 2226h drivers.
Finally, introduced a set of horns to the system, Emilar EH 500’s with EC 175 8 drivers.
My system has been upgraded so much it demanded me loading new pics. I built a new CC using JBL 2118j’s and Hivi RT2ii ribbon. Side ported, individual compartments.
Installed the Hivi ribbons on the open baffle AN Super 12’s as well.
Got rid of the Eminence Alpha 15a’s, replaced them with JBL 4530’s loaded with JBL 2226h drivers.
Finally, introduced a set of horns to the system, Emilar EH 500’s with EC 175 8 drivers.
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My impression of the 'Finalists'
(The speaker in the pic is from the designer's site, my camera isn't at hand right now and it looks pretty much the same except my pair is painted white...)
It's hard to compare speakers objectively as we all know (unless you have a proper A/B set up...), but I'll do my best to describe close listening to music I know well enough to tell what's missing and what is revealed by them.
I read the Finalists are all about the mid, which is very detailed with every lick in the singer's lips audible, but these speakers go deep deep down, better than any of the popular slightly more compact and aesthetic pairs can do. It's not massive bass but it's there (as low as 30Hz?).
First, there's great variability between how different genres sound on them. The 70's rock classics are generally badly recorded (King Crimson) with a few rare exceptions as the Pink Floyd, and don't sound that much more enjoyable on them than properly recorded material (sounds to me most has no extension down at all but I didn't analyze it with a software...).
Where they really shine is newer chamber music and especially modern acoustic music. My listening room is far from acoustically ideal, and as they say the room is part of the speakers, but even then music such as the 'Rodrigo Y Gabriela' duo guitar heavy laden music excels beyond my expectations.
The best I heard in them so far is Moondog's 'Sax Pax For A Sax'. It's crazy good. There's something it does just right with how it reproduces natural sounds with every delicate thump in Moondog's custom made percussion and the way which it decays into the black background with felt reverberations, with every instrument in the band easy to tell apart and isolate and I suspect it's not the sound engineer who got it right but rather the lack of engineering thereof (no compression?).
I don't see myself upgrading from these, and not just because it took so long to build... It's hard for me to justify upgrading from something which wow's me even after hours of listening, and it seems to me most popular recorded material isn't detailed enough to get much more out of...
Hope I didn't tire you with my lengthy description, and thanks to Jim and to the patient guys from here I asked silly questions...
(The speaker in the pic is from the designer's site, my camera isn't at hand right now and it looks pretty much the same except my pair is painted white...)
It's hard to compare speakers objectively as we all know (unless you have a proper A/B set up...), but I'll do my best to describe close listening to music I know well enough to tell what's missing and what is revealed by them.
I read the Finalists are all about the mid, which is very detailed with every lick in the singer's lips audible, but these speakers go deep deep down, better than any of the popular slightly more compact and aesthetic pairs can do. It's not massive bass but it's there (as low as 30Hz?).
First, there's great variability between how different genres sound on them. The 70's rock classics are generally badly recorded (King Crimson) with a few rare exceptions as the Pink Floyd, and don't sound that much more enjoyable on them than properly recorded material (sounds to me most has no extension down at all but I didn't analyze it with a software...).
Where they really shine is newer chamber music and especially modern acoustic music. My listening room is far from acoustically ideal, and as they say the room is part of the speakers, but even then music such as the 'Rodrigo Y Gabriela' duo guitar heavy laden music excels beyond my expectations.
The best I heard in them so far is Moondog's 'Sax Pax For A Sax'. It's crazy good. There's something it does just right with how it reproduces natural sounds with every delicate thump in Moondog's custom made percussion and the way which it decays into the black background with felt reverberations, with every instrument in the band easy to tell apart and isolate and I suspect it's not the sound engineer who got it right but rather the lack of engineering thereof (no compression?).
I don't see myself upgrading from these, and not just because it took so long to build... It's hard for me to justify upgrading from something which wow's me even after hours of listening, and it seems to me most popular recorded material isn't detailed enough to get much more out of...
Hope I didn't tire you with my lengthy description, and thanks to Jim and to the patient guys from here I asked silly questions...
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I chose white because the rooms here are painted white and it would make them more lowkey and grab less attention.I'd still see your white version.. I'm also planning speakers in piano white.. it would be great to see a pair of such..
Two low quality photos I just took with my phone. I really cut corners at the end and didn't bother to fix the pink polish stains and a few other cosmetic flaws but nobody even notices from afar... I'm mostly concerned with sound quality. I just listened to the Jacques Loussier Trio, and these babies sure deliver.
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I don't know how that happened. Maybe since the MDF thickness is different here than in the original design (metric instead of imperial) I adapted the design and ended up with wrong proportions... I know from an engineering perspective it makes less sense in that configuration but they still sound OK. I'm not going to rebuild them because of that...
I think there's another mistake, the mid drivers look a bit too standing out...
(Nearly) Finished my active speaker last week. SB-Acoustics Satori TW29B-B, MR16P-4 and dual WO24P-4's. Midrange in a 15+ L sealed and optimally shaped chamber for extremely low compression and prevention of reflections and standing waves. Woofers are in 58 L sealed chamber. It's all powered internally by Hypex FA123 plate amps with built-in DSP and active crossovers.
Crossovers and DSP have yet to be set properly, damping material has yet to be added and a couple of leaks have yet to be sealed. Though, already, after just a few hours of playing in some pretty bad placement in a way too small room with the speakers not even totally finished yet and far from optimized. They sound amazing. Absolutely astonishing. They exceeded all my expectations.
Soundstage is incredible. Very deep. Imaging is also superb since they entire midrange from 300 Hz to 3,5 kHz (which is the most sensitive range of the human ear and the frequency range of the human voice) is coming from just the MR16P-4. Midrange is very clear, full and snappy, just like I want it to be. And the tweeter and midrange deliver clarity, transparency, and detail that I've never heard before. And I've heard a lot of very good stuff with one of the best hifi stores in the Netherlands, Chattelin Audio Systems, just 15 minutes away. Bass is very tight, punchy, natural and powerful when I want it to be. These speakers are in their entirety some of the best I've ever heard.
For scale, I'm 6' 5".
Crossovers and DSP have yet to be set properly, damping material has yet to be added and a couple of leaks have yet to be sealed. Though, already, after just a few hours of playing in some pretty bad placement in a way too small room with the speakers not even totally finished yet and far from optimized. They sound amazing. Absolutely astonishing. They exceeded all my expectations.
Soundstage is incredible. Very deep. Imaging is also superb since they entire midrange from 300 Hz to 3,5 kHz (which is the most sensitive range of the human ear and the frequency range of the human voice) is coming from just the MR16P-4. Midrange is very clear, full and snappy, just like I want it to be. And the tweeter and midrange deliver clarity, transparency, and detail that I've never heard before. And I've heard a lot of very good stuff with one of the best hifi stores in the Netherlands, Chattelin Audio Systems, just 15 minutes away. Bass is very tight, punchy, natural and powerful when I want it to be. These speakers are in their entirety some of the best I've ever heard.
For scale, I'm 6' 5".
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3wayaddict,
Congratulations, looks like you went for a well thought out build, and the end results are really good! What finish are you planning for the cabinets? Beware, if you like 'em too much, you might end up listening to them as they are and they will remain in raw MDF.
If you don't mind me asking, what genres of music did you try them out with?
Congratulations, looks like you went for a well thought out build, and the end results are really good! What finish are you planning for the cabinets? Beware, if you like 'em too much, you might end up listening to them as they are and they will remain in raw MDF.
If you don't mind me asking, what genres of music did you try them out with?
To really test the raw quality (so that's clarity, transparency, detail etc.) I often listen to a live recording of Anouk - "It Wasn't Me" (Live From Oosterpoort), a live recording of Eagles - "Hotel California" (Hell Freezes Over), Pepe Romero - "Farrucas", Stevie Ray Vaughan - "Tin Pan Alley", Tears For Fears - "Bad Man's Song" and I think The Handsome Family - Singing Bones is also a great album for sound quality. Many of the songs are also often played during demonstrations at Chattelin.
I really like a number of the songs above to listen to normally as well but normally I mostly listen to rock, alternative in particular. Like Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Genesis and obviously many more (my playlist is over 1500 songs). So to really test if the speakers are emotionally grabbing me, and to see what kind of punch they pack during loud playback of loud, complicated songs, I often play some of that, even though most of it isn't recorded too well, unfortunately.
I really like a number of the songs above to listen to normally as well but normally I mostly listen to rock, alternative in particular. Like Pink Floyd, Supertramp, Genesis and obviously many more (my playlist is over 1500 songs). So to really test if the speakers are emotionally grabbing me, and to see what kind of punch they pack during loud playback of loud, complicated songs, I often play some of that, even though most of it isn't recorded too well, unfortunately.
3wayaddict,
Good to hear that the speaker will get some demanding music and not only Diana Krall.
That's a problem with rock music, a lot of it is not that well recorded (though the music is fantastic).
Have fun listening and only request/advice is that don't play too loud, as you need to be careful about hearing damage. It's easy to crank up good systems, specially when you're young!
Good to hear that the speaker will get some demanding music and not only Diana Krall.
That's a problem with rock music, a lot of it is not that well recorded (though the music is fantastic).
Have fun listening and only request/advice is that don't play too loud, as you need to be careful about hearing damage. It's easy to crank up good systems, specially when you're young!
I tthink it's a good thing I have found my passion at my age. Now I know what I want to do later.
My hearing something I'm very careful with. I definitely don't want to miss the sounds my years have yet to bring! Thanks for the advice.
I think I'm gonna make them mat white, like Kroma Audio. I just love the look of those.
My hearing something I'm very careful with. I definitely don't want to miss the sounds my years have yet to bring! Thanks for the advice.
I think I'm gonna make them mat white, like Kroma Audio. I just love the look of those.
a standard by which i judge the mid-range of a speaker system is to pull out any recording of Karen Carpenter. she had such a soul stirring voice that the passion and beauty is missed by so many speaker systems.
Optimized placement today. This gives the best balance between soundstage and precise imaging. Now that they have played in for a day more, they have gotten even better and are obviously still getting better. I'm not the kind of audiophile that necessarily wants it to seem as if the artist are right there with you in the room, I'm looking for al the best but just someth i by that sounds nice and has a big soundstage but when playing the studio recording of Anouk - "It Wasn't Me", it is just as if the guitarist and her are sitting RIGHT THERE one meter away from me, so realistic. And the utter clarity these speakers deliver is of a level that can't be described by words.
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I've upgraded the crossovers on my Swan 3.1 speakers and in the process, replaced the 47uf electrolytic with a poly equivalent. Are there any concerns with the proximity of the large capacitor and the 2R resistor underneath? It's not touching and I don't think I can move the capacitor any further away.
