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Danny Richie "fixes" the Linkwitz Arion loudspeaker

For some time now I have been directing those interested in loudspeaker design to Danny Richie’s GR Research Tech Talk Tuesday videos on YouTube. Here is his latest: an examination of the Linkwitz Arion loudspeaker. You may be asking yourself: if Siegfried Linkwitz is the genius he is touted to be, how is it Danny found the Orion to be lacking, and was able to find solutions for it’s failings? I’ll leave that to you to answer. In the meantime, after watching and listening to this video, you may want to watch all the Tech Talk Tuesday videos. They may just make you a more informed loudspeaker consumer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCA-eSPUkJA.









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clio09
3,355 posts
 
His friend and neighbor Nelson Pass (designer/maker of the First Watt B4, of course)---knowing that digital filtering was not going to be well received in Asia---asked Linkwitz if he wanted him to create an analog x/o for the LX541.

As Nelson Pass told the story at a Burning Amp a couple years back in which they were honoring Siegfried Linkwitz who just passed away, it was Siegfried who pestered Nelson about building the ASP (they often spent time together in Sea Ranch talking audio and eating cookies as Nelson tells it). Nelson had to think it through a bit but came up with a design and in line with his generous nature and contributions to the DIY community had 100 stuffed boards he distributed at the event. I was lucky to get one and they are now available in a complete build kit including a very nice chassis at the DIY Audio store for a very reasonable price.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,788 posts
 
Excellent @clio09! Linkwitz loudspeaker owners should jump on that.
clio09
3,355 posts
 
The really nice thing about it for Linkwitz owners is that you can run the various EQ simulations through the ASP just as you would in the miniDSP that comes with the speakers. Requires a bit more work but for an analog crossover it would be worth it in my opinion.
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,788 posts
 

I’ve learned that a lot of Audiogoner’s aren’t much interested in DIY, but Linkwitz owners have already built the OB frames for their loudspeakers. Still, assembling crossovers is a more demanding task that glueing and painting an MDF flat pack.

There are a few guys building GR Research speaker kits for guys who either can’t or don’t want to do it. Maybe somebody on the DIY site is offering the same for Linkwitz customers.

One of the reasons I gravitate towards planars is that they provide a sound that is more "seamless", 20Hz to 20kHz not being broken up into as many segments, with the then requisite (often) complex crossover. Full range ESL’s and magnetic-planars reproduce instrumental and vocal timbres in a manner I’ve never heard from a dynamic speaker. I learned that lesson when I sold my Magneplanar Tympani I’s to get a pair of Fulton J’s. Yes, the latter’s RTR ESL tweeters provided greater transparency that did the original Maggie tweeter, and deeper bass from it’s transmissionline-loaded woofer, but at the cost of everything being "cut from the same cloth".

My Eminent Technology LFT-8b reproduce 180Hz to 10kHz from a pair of identical m-p drivers! An 8" woofer in a sealed enclosure for 180Hz down, a ribbon tweeter for 10k up, both with simple 1st-order filters. My ET LFT-4’s do all frequencies from it’s pair of segmented full range m-p drivers. If I was loaded I’d get myself a pair of big SoundLab ESL’s. For around $15k, one can get the Sanders ESL, which I have heard and love. Roger's Music Reference ESL's were on my "to hear" list, but I never managed to do that. @clio09, do you have a pair?

clio09
3,355 posts
 
I have Roger's personal ESLs and direct drive amp and they are quite good, but I think the ESLs fall off a bit due to their size. It suited Roger's tastes and mine for the most part, but they don't sound as big as my Acoustat Model 2 or Analysis Audio Omega. They remind me of the Quad 57, what they lacked they made up for and then some in many other areas. Roger told me many times if he decided to make more ESLs he would double the width and add a bit more height to the panel.

I never liked SoundLabs and would venture to say your ETs would sound better. I would someday like to have Sanders ESLs and see if I can find a way to modify them to use a direct drive amp. To me they are a great "personal" speaker because of the narrow sweet spot.

Few know how maximize dispersion in a panel. The curved panel is a method, although I once read that Roger Sanders may have been onto the curved panel first, but decided against producing them. Jim Strickland was on to something special before Acoustat blew up, and Roger Modjeski kind of stumbled onto the same track and developed a few tricks to get wider dispersion from a flat panel.
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