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Cube Audio Nenuphar Single Driver Speaker (10 inch) TQWT Enclosure

Cube Audio (Poland) designs single drivers and single driver speakers. 

Principals are Grzegorz Rulka and Marek Kostrzyński.

Link to the Cube Audio Nenuphar (with F10 Neo driver) speaker page: 

https://www.cubeaudio.eu/cube-audio-nenuphar

Link to 6Moons review by Srajan Ebaen (August 2018):

https://6moons.com/audioreview_articles/cubeaudio2/

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Parameters (from Cube Audio):

​Power: 40 W

Efficiency: 92 dB

Frequency response: 30Hz - 18kHz ( 6db)*

​Dimensions: 30 x 50 x 105 cm

Weight: 40 Kg


* Frequency response may vary and depends on room size and accompanying electronic equipment.
david_ten
david_ten OP
5,480 posts
 
At what point did you feel the speakers were fully broken in?

Stephen, copied below [from 10-09-2019 / Page 2 of this thread] are my thoughts on break in for the Nenuphars.

Both Richard ( @toetapaudio ) and Jon Ver Halen may, based on their personal exposure and client feedback, find differently.

Here is a response I sent to @toetapaudio on my personal experience with break in:

"....Cube, if memory serves me, felt a few hours of runtime would be sufficient.

Jon Ver Halen, the US importer, put it at 40 hours or so.

Based on my experience, I peg it at about 150 hours before the Nenuphar start coming into their own. They definitely started sounding better after Jon’s recommendation of 40+ hours. So take 40 as a minimum, minimum...with 150 as my personally recommended minimum.

For ’full’ break-in around 500 hours for musical beauty, wonder and engagement.

An industry person I respect and who has significant experience tuning analog gear, felt 1000 hours would be needed. I realize ’hours’ of burn-in are a hot topic with folks falling on either side of the divide. I took his feedback and pushed for that 1K mark, after which I consider break in to be complete. However, If I were advising, I’d stick to the 500 hours with folks generally being happy with the results post 200 hours."


stephendunn's avatar
stephendunn
151 posts
 
david_ten

Thanks, David, I missed your post in the thread.  Hard to imagine there is more to come from these wonderful speakers as I  reach the 100 hour mark.

If anyone has heard of or experienced the Nenuphars being driven by 300bs, please let me know.  Curious about that tube's synergy.  
larryi
4,055 posts
 
At 92 db/w efficiency, whether or not something like a single-ended 300b or other small triode will work depends a lot on how loud you like to play the system.  With most single driver systems, you have the BIG advantage of the speakers sounding really good--lively and engaging--at quite low volume.  I liked the Nenuphar playing at low volume.  I liked it less when the volume was cranked up.  That is not a big deal to me, because I like low-volume listening, but, it is something to consider when looking at this kind of speaker and the right amp to work with the speaker.
charles1dad's avatar
charles1dad
10,250 posts
 

Stephen,

David uses 3.5 watt 2A3 SET mono blocks with superb results and preferred them in direct comparison to an excellent quality el 34 PP amp and his excellent T+A SS amps. I believe you’d be very happy with a good quality 300b SET (8 watts usually) driving your Nenuphars..

At European audio shows Cube Audio often demonstrates with 2A3 and 45 SETs to reveal how easily driven the Nenuphar is.

Charles

larryi
4,055 posts
 
I am not surprised that people report good results with SET 2a3 and 300b amps.  I generally do find that most people overestimate the amount of power they really need.  For the vast majority of time, one listens at levels where a watt or two is enough.

But, there will be some limitations with these types of amps and speakers in this efficiency range.   With really demanding music, such as large-scale choral music, at crescendi, one will hear the effects of compression--the music stops getting louder and it becomes more muddled sounding.  I hear this to some extent when using my 5.5 watt amps on 99 db/w efficient speakers.  It is not a big deal to me; I don't attempt to listen to Mahler's 8th at "realistic" volume, but it may be a bigger deal to someone else.  This is something everyone has to judge for themselves.
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