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Thin Walled Speakers -Tonian, Musical Affairs, etc

Hello,
It seems that a few speaker makers are using the thin walled, lightweight, less damping approach to building. For example Tonian, Musical Affairs and some others.

http://tonianlabs.com/
http://musicalaffairs.com/
http://vimeo.com/28295029

And I've read some very positive reviews of such speakers. I can see how they would sound unreal with vocals, acoustic instruments etc. But how do they sound with other more spectrally complex music- lets say rock. Do they turn to sonic mud?

I'd be curious to hear feedback from anyone who actually owns or has heard such speakers.

Thanks
anchan
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
I think we need to keep in mind that speakers are a vague representation of the original event and things like cabinet design are a small (but sometimes crucial) part of this formula.

What I mean is if a speaker offers 15% of the real experience and a few percentages of that tone/quality is determined by cabinet design and is largly a matter of taste and musical preferences.

No design is even close to absolute and all should be taken with a grain of salt.

I tend to focus on the way a sound of a design makes me feel for instance...

my two cents
sksos1
395 posts
 
As Nonoise stated, both types of designs can work or not work. I've had some pretty well damped and inert speakers I hated. Escalante Freemonts come to mind, they were 650 pounds of speaker that had no life or energy (not saying it was b/c of weight and inertness but they didn't "move" me. On the other hand Beauhorns with their thin walled cabinets were one of the musical speakers I've owned. Yes they were colored, or I'd say not as accurate as other speakers that have come thru my studio but at the end of the day they made me smile and listen to music.

(dealer disclaimer)
philjolet's avatar
philjolet
2,306 posts
 
Sksos1

my post was not intended for anyone in particular it was just referring to the overall tone of the responses and actually agreeing with several...
muj
3 posts
 

here's a video of Hans Kortenbach explaining the us of sitca spruce as material

http://vimeo.com/36753074

amazing speakers
stevecham
3,340 posts
 
I watched that video. The argument that controlling the wood with bracing to achieve resonance properties similar to that of a violin or a guitar doesn't make sense. Those instruments, by design, are intended to make music over a limited frequency and dynamic response. Loudspeakers are quite different in that they must reproduce over a much larger frequancy response and dynamic range. Also, no mention is made of the phasing capabilities of such construction. Individual instruments have phase cancelling properties, again by design, in order to convey the proper timbre of the instrument. How does then one vreate a resonance function in such a cabinet design that replicates the correct resonance functions of all instruments, with all timbres intact, simultaneously?
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