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

Charles,

Thanks for the insight into the CSL.  I do think it might be a great match for my system but I have one reservation: I have been spoiled by using a remote volume control.  I understand there was a version of the CSL made with a remote but that they had trouble with it.  Also, I've heard the MkII version has significant improvements over it's predecessor--I assume it was the MKII that came out briefly with a volume remote.  Any insights would be helpful. 

@stephendunn Steven, thanks for the response / answer.

I’m of two minds on this.

First, from your posts regarding what Max shared with your friend...it seems coupling the entire speaker bottom / surface to the Townshend Platforms is recommended. It makes sense (intellectually to me) for a traditional speaker with a fully enclosed bottom. In other words, the greater the coupling, the better.

When I connected with Grzegorz about Height and Tilt for the Nenuphar, my takeaway was that both Angle and Height differentials from a solid floor would lead to differences in low frequency performance. And that the ’stock’ setup was what Cube found best based on the configurations they tried out. He also said that playing with both to meet the owner’s specific needs / preferences was fine.

Of significant concern to me is that solid wood strips (both front and rear) mean that the Nenuphar would then only port via the gap on the left and right sides of each speaker.

Given that (1) the Nenuphar is already raised beyond what Cube "ideally" chose (due to sitting higher on the Townshend platforms) and (2) porting is over an ’uneven’ double surface... I am concerned about further additional deviations and their likely impact on sound quality.

Can you comment more on your experimentation in the area as well as the results from your friend (assuming he/she also have the Nenuphars)?

I’d also love to hear from others active in the thread regarding your thoughts on the pros and cons of doing this?

Thanks!

David,

You make good points regarding the placement of the Nenuphars on the Townshend Seismic Platforms.

1.  When I first placed the Nenuphars on the Platforms I noticed a distinct improvement in bass response, as well as other other SQ issues that have been well documented in this thread.  The speakers were on their original spikes and rubber feet.  I mention this because I too was worried about the Platform negatively impacting bass response because of the having the double surface you mentioned.

2.  The strips of wood do not interfere with the port of the Nenuphar.  The front 1x2 is underneath the solid portion of the speaker bottom between the spikes and the front plane of the speaker.  The rear strip has less bottom surface to work with but rests underneath the maybe 3/8" between the port and the back plane of the speaker.

3.  I have been careful to maintain the angle of backward slant that the original spikes and rubber feet created.

So even though I have not coupled very much of the speaker's bottom surface area to the platform, it is obviously significantly greater than the surface area touched by the spikes and rubber feet.  

I have to emphasize that this way of coupling the speaker to the Platform created an immediate change in sound--not subtle as they say.  I thought the change improved virtually all aspects of the speakers performance, including bass.  It would be great for some Nenuphar/Townshend Platform owner to corroborate this: obviously a change in sound this strong could be interpreted negatively by other people. 

My friend who passed this info on from Max does not have Nenuphars, so didn't have to deal with the port issue.  He had a special bottom plate built for his Spatial Audio Lumina's by Clayton Shaw, the designer, who was also impressed by the benefits.