After stumbling across a magazine written by Joe, in a bookstore far from home this weekend, I can honestly say I am disappointed in the Thor.
Please understand my perspective, a person who learned a heck of a lot about speaker design by Joe D'Appolito via Kimon Bellas. I had always held the utmost appreciation for his talent, creativity, and experience.
However, I feel that we as speaker enthusiasts are no longer living in the world we used to. By that I mean, late 1980's - mid 1990's. Many of us have rediscovered what used to reign supreme. Tubes, low power, more simple, more truthful, more natural sound.
During this metamorphosis, speakers have needed to evolve as well. The speakers of 15 years were much more difficult to drive. Built to take the idea of the speaker designer as far as he could go. Most of these designs were a supremely punishing load for an amplifier, they required massive amounts of current. As audiophiles have turned their focus back to tubes, speaker loads have become more benign. Speakers have changed.
Joe D'Appolito's thoughts have changed some also. The Thor is a transmission line.
However, in reading the article I was most curious to see what his crossover design would be. The feeling as if I was looking at something written in 1992 came over me. Lots of capacitors, lots of coils. This speaker presents a lot of components between the drivers and amplifier. It takes current to knock down those obstacles.
Joe, please do not take this the wrong way. But, please give a more simple crossover a try.
