Seas' Thors kit up N runnin


Finally after 3 years of waiting, I ordered the Seas' kit from Madisound, the Thor's a MTM xover designd by Joseph Appolito. Has 2 midwoofers, W17 and a high tech tweeter, the Millenium. Though they are 87db, running a Jadis Orch Reference tube amp, 4 KT 90's + a Cayin cdp. Very nice sound. I'll never complain again. Note: these speakers demand a Class A amp, anything less, don't touch them. The tone controls on the Jadis need to be spiked for the higher frequencies. Paul
bartokfan
Assemble: ahh, If you know how to solder, not hard at all. The xover is laid out on a board very organized. The diagram shows you the exact points to solder the 2 positive flat wires of the 2 W17 Midbass, the 2 negative wires, the 1 positive wire of the tweeter, the negative wire. Then shows you the points of contact for the tweeter output, points for the woofer output, has dual posts/cups. I had Richard Grey of New Orleans solder mine, he's fast. Took him 30 minutes to solder the wires in both cabinets. I screwed in the drivers. Lets see, the borad that holds the xover on, at the bottom is something we couldn't figure out exactly how it is attached, we just screwed it in with as best we could. Works fine, thats all that matters.
Compared to others I've owned:, well I've only owned the old 2 way Philips, awesome tweeter, and the new B&W's 2 ways. No comparison there. Also have heard at least 50+ speaker systems in the past 20 years. Nothing I heard compares to these. I don't want to go on about these speakers, it'll begin to sound...bias...IOW =hyped. I'll leave that for other posters....
OK, why Class A amp: ... Not an easy question for me to answer, but I'll try, if you'll try to understand my viewpoint. when I first put them up with the Jadis (Jadis' tone on flat, the tone control on the Jadis is like a vol control, but actually only responds as off or on, at full throttle, does it actually kick in 100%, though you can make a tiny adjustment for les, but NOT MUCH)...so the tone was off, I thought the Thors lacked in all areas, bass, mids, treble. So disappointly took the Thors upstairs to the Rotel, 981, "100 class B" watts. First heard it with the NAD cdp, nothing going. Unhooked the NAD, placed in the Cayin tube, a good change. So it clicked that these speakers do RESPOND TO QUALITY. With me so far? ...depressed, but alittle hopeful I took the Thors back to the Jadis+ Cayin. Put in some test cds..stated playing with the Jadis tone controls...BINGO, Dynamics, clarity, GALORE. I'd say the very first time my ears heard a real Class A sound. So Class A/B Jadis did deliver the fq's needed to blossom these drivers. The tubes in the Cayin are Bugle Boys, bought it used here on the Agon 2 months ago. When you loomat the craftmanship/tech aspects of the Seas' drivers + the beauty of the xover with PREMIUM parts (3 big Hovland Music caps for the tweeter), you'll know why these speakers do best with class A. Now as to which amps you consider class A, that's you're call. I already have my eye on another amp, maybe monos+pre. And its NOT Jadis. These speakers are only limited by the amp/cdp you use. If you go over to Madsisound, I've been posting quite abit about the Thor's there recently. I post under paul best. Also seems there is not only Tyler Acoustics that use the Seas drivers, but also a Phil Bamberg also uses the MTM W18+Millenium+W18. As to his xover, not sure how its done. The Thor by Jpseph D'Appolito I can say is "one hell of a design".
If you have questions, you can email me. Paul
No they don't have GIGANTIC bass, but all the tight clear bass I hope for in a speaker. Mids never attack you, the complexity of classical, or say like Gloria Estafan's Mi tiera, just leave you mezmerized, all the instruments have a voice, each has their own space. I'm hearing my music in a toatally new way. For the highs...what do you think I'm going to say...There is no fatigue at all with these speakers. None.
I'm wondering..suppose I had NOT bought the Thors...pure supposition...which other speaker would equal the Thors? All things being equal. Equal being: 1) NOT OVER 75 POUNDS EACH 2) NOT BEING MORE THAN $2K 3) HAVING DYNAMICS WITH A 40 WATT AMP.
I'm wondering..which other speaker would equal the Thors
That's a bit subjective and the Thos is a very nice design (so you CAN pat yrself on the back, so to speak:)); speaking of diy designs, however, I'd mention the Ariel, the Acapella or J Kerkovski's NaO(both open baffle), the Baszilla... many others.
I think yr fine with the Thor. Cheers
gallo nucleus reference, the older two or three ball affair. not sure about the 75 pound weight though. will have dynamics with 26wpc SET. maybe less.