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Speed kills....

Which is why I love 'stats so much.  For myself, dynamics and leading edge transients are essential.  Are there any alternatives in terms of dynamic "boxey" type (verity?) speakers that I should listen to?  My present speakers are hales t8's (hales has been out of business a long time ago) and they are about as far away from that ideal as you can get.   I want to go in a different direction for my FINAL set of speakers.

russellrcncom

Showing 6 responses by bdp24

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bdp24
10,074 posts
 
@russellrcncom, I too have the Stax Lambda (Pro) phones and SRM-1. Have you heard the Sanders ESL's? I heard them at the show in SoCal a few years ago, and found them very much to my liking, more than the current Quads.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,074 posts
 
Yes Erik, absolutely. ESL’s are almost often implemented as dipoles (sound launched forward and rearward), but not always as line sources. None of the Quads are line sources, but all are dipoles (though the rear of the 57 comes covered in felt---the center tweeter---and burlap---the entire back of the speaker). And of course a line source can also be made with multiple cones or domes, and as either a direct radiator loudspeaker or a dipole.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,074 posts
 

Erik, did you meant to say "the perception of speed does NOT come from dispersion alone"? Or is that in fact the main tenet of your assertion?

For speaker designers who have used the Quad 57 as their standard for natural timbre reproduction, I’ve read that in interviews many times over the years (more than a few designers have Quads in their labs), most recently by Roger Modjeski, who said in an AudiogoN post that he voiced his new Music Reference Direct-Drive ESL speaker with the 57---Eric.

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,074 posts
 
Erik, there is a reason loudspeaker designers still work hard to get theirs to sound as natural (lifelike timbres, especially vocals) as the 1957 Quad ESL. Limitations yes, but not at what's most important to some music lovers. Add a pair or quad of dipole subs, and you may forget about what they don't do.
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bdp24
10,074 posts
 

Erik, as you know ESL’s aren’t the only dipole planars. Magneplanars and Eminent Technology LFT’s, both magnetic-planar/ribbon speakers, also have nulls to either side (their radiation pattern is a figure-of-8), but they don’t have the apparent speed of ESL’s, or their liquid see-through transparency and low-level detail. Roger Modjeski says that’s because of the extremely low moving mass of the Mylar used in ESL drivers.

The thought of ESL speakers with direct-drive tube amps really has me lusting. Guess I’m gonna hafta sell some of my vintage drums!

bdp24's avatar
bdp24
10,074 posts
 
Music Reference is offering a direct-drive ESL for $12k. That buys you left and right panels, each of which is powered by it's own direct-drive tube amp (no output transformer on the amp, no input transformer on the panels!), plus a pair of 8" dynamic woofers for 100Hz down. No power amp(s) needed, nor speaker cables.
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