OT: New Mahler listening devices!

[ChrisH]

Perhaps not totally on topic here, but I thought I'd show you gents what I've been working on the past year. It kind of fits, because Mahler is what will be pumping through these most of the time.

A friend and I decided to build a pair of speakers using aluminum plate as our material. I contacted Rick Craig from Selah Audio, to help with this project. I settled on his Tempesta, a 3 way stand mount utilizing a Raal Tweeter, Accuton mid-range, and a Scanspeak Illuminator woofer. I then decided to take it to a further extreme, making this a totally active system. There is no passive crossover. Each driver is hooked directly to an amp. A Deqx 2.6p is the brains of the operation, this allows for a digital crosssover using slopes that you can't produce mechanically. Right now I'm using 96db an octave. When time allows, the Deqx will also allow me to time and phase align all of the drivers. Meaning that all the drivers fire in unison, this takes it to another level.
With some rough measurement these are about +/- 1.5 from 200hz to 40,000khz.

I won't try and describe the sound other than to say that they reveal what has really been recorded. Instruments actually sound real. The soundstage is 12 feet wide and roughly 6 feet deep.

Here is an album of pictures:
http://imgur.com/a/roTMb#6

[barry guerrero]

Just askin'. If you were to build a second pair of these, how much would you sell them for?

Barry

[ChrisH]

Somewhere around $7,000-$10,000, honestly. We could build something else for much cheaper than that though.

[barry guerrero]

For Mahler, the best or nothing.

[ChrisH]

Honestly, this is a pretty extreme set-up. The only way to set something like this up is to have help, or know how to measure speakers and drivers properly.

These speakers reveal everything. Example, the Gilbert M3, if I was giving an audio only grading, until these speakers 5/5. Loved it, great sounding. Now 4/5. It's incredibly dry, and closed mic'd. It's pretty good still, way above average, but the flaws appear like black on white. Also lots of audiences noise appeared. I swear I heard someone crumple a program.

Some are into the Mahler for the emotion, or the philosophy, even the man himself. I would imagine most of us are mix of the 3. I really just love the sound of Mahlers orchestra. Everything is else is all well and good, and deepens understanding, but that sound he evokes. That's what really gets me.

This project is just an extension of that. Thankfully, it all worked when I plugged it in for the first time.

[James Meckley]

Thankfully, it all worked when I plugged it in for the first time.

It's no fun unless something smokes the first time. 

I clearly remember the first speakers I ever heard that at least gave some lip service to phase coherency. As a student in the mid 1970s I was in the thrall of Harry Pearson and the boys at The Absolute Sound, and was dutifully running "double Advents." The local audio salon (remember those?) got in some small stand-mounted speakers from a company called Bang & Olufsen whose designers had at least given some consideration to time and phase coherency. The spectral balance was not as pleasing as my old Advents, but they were doing remarkable things (for the time) with depth and imaging. It set a new standard for me, which was ultimately realized with a pair of Quad ESL-63s.

Good luck with the tweaking!

James

[ChrisH]

James,

I just finished up some measurements and setting up the Deqx speaker correction and phase/time alignment. It's another level of detail different. Essentially point source from 3 separate drivers.

It's sad what's happened to B&O, their ICE amps are still very nice, though. I've yet to hear the Quads, everyone who owns them raves about them.

Chris

[barry guerrero]

A friend of mine who is longer among us, used a Quad amp exclusively with his Quad electrostatic speakers. Sounded pretty darn good.