What Do You Think . . . and How Does It Work?


While watching vids on YouTube, I came across this pipe speaker design from a Dr. Linkwitz (see below).   The sound of this speaker is said to be impressive.  I was wondering if you know about this, how it works and what you think of this speaker design.  Also, what do you think would be the best room placement for such a speaker, and would you be tempted to build them?

https://www.linkwitzlab.com/Pluto/intro.htm
bob540
KenjitThank you for looking at the pics on the Linkwitz site and determining that the speakers were good for "background music". I don't know many others that can judge a speakers sound by looking at pictures - you really are an expert! I have listened to the LXmini and own the LX521.4, I have listened to B&W speakers costing 5 times more than the LX521 and the Linkwitz design still wins.The LX521 and the LXmini are available commercially from Germany, but I guess because you did not know it then it is not true.I find your comments about Linkwitz and his speaker designs nothing short of IGNORANT.
I wish I could hear them — I don’t really need more speakers, but if these things are as good as you say, plus very affordable, that’s an opportunity that needs to be seized!   
You have attacked the character of everyone on this forum in one way or another.

You have accused me and my kind (speaker designers) of incompetence and dishonesty.
There are many problems within the industry that i have identified.
The inability of audiophiles to hear problems is in itself a problem.
All these problems involve people so it is impossible to discuss them without mentioning the people involved.

The fact that you see it as an insult rather than a problem misses the point. The fact that you attack my character rather than the arguments i make is a fallacy.

You provide no solutions or reasons to refute what i say. You have nothing to offer duke.

You attacked Siegfried Linkwitz in this thread

Wrong. I attacked his design. I cast doubt on his method of using pvc as its not really rigid which is obvious to anybody that has used it. Linkwitz himself admits pipes have other serious problems if you read his website.

Somebody claimed he was a brilliant speaker designer, and i challenged this assertion. Im allowed to. I reasonably asked why if he was so brilliant, his designs have not achieved much commercial success.
In response you cited an obscure review in stereophile, which doesnt convince me. The fact is its all opinions. There is no agreement on what tests to use to decide how good a speaker is.

The linkwitz riley crossover which bears his name is not the only game in town. Plenty of designers dont use it. Plenty of designers including b&w choose the humble first order electrical design, and b&w has still sold untold pairs of speakers.

I am primarily an audiophile rather than a designer. As audiophiles we must be sceptical. We are entitled to be, given the amount of misinformation in this hobby and exaggerated or unproven claims. The onus is on your kind to show proof.

Kenjit ~ Perfectionist bar none "

Way too easy to identify these as narcissism.

Wrong again. You’re just choosing to misinterpret what i say in order to support your nasty accusations against me. There can be more than one interpretation (eg. a joke ) and there are no nonverbal cues on here that would help you to decide.

@ctstereo
I have listened to the LXmini and own the LX521.4, I have listened to B&W speakers costing 5 times more than the LX521 and the Linkwitz design still wins.

Thats just your preference. It says nothing about how well the design performs and there is no agreement on what measurements matter when deciding that anyway, so there is no way to tell.

In conclusion, there is no evidence that the linkwitz pluto speakers are superior to conventional boxes. Its all hearsay. The driver he refers to as a tweeter is in fact a full range mini driver. It goes lower than a typical tweeter at the expense of other factors such as high frequency extension and dispersion. Distortion on the driver seems high as well. Despite all the supposed advances in driver technology the linkwitz speaker uses a fairly ordinary 5 inch woofer.
It seems odd to claim that a speaker using such ordinary parts can achieve extraordinary performance. Are we being duped by the industry into thinking that driver quality is more important than it really is?
Tell us something we didn't know.

I am primarily an audiophile rather than a designer.