[Rick Craig]

Soon headed for the Boston area... enjoy!

[Brucemck]

How do they sound?

[mca]

They look cool, that's for sure 

[corky-w]

Whoa! Nice one, Rick. Reminds me of another exotic. Was it the "Talon Hawk"? Are you going to offer this one on a regular basis? Is it sealed, ported or is that optional? Price range?
Thanks,
Corky
 

[Rocket]

Hi Rick,

Have you ever thought of using a raven 1 ribbon tweeter and pairing them with accuton mid/bass drivers.  I've heard this combination and the combination sounds excellent.

Btw nice looking speaker.  Is that an accuton tweeter?

Regards

Rod

[Rick Craig]

How do they sound?

Very nice - I'll ask the owner to post some impressions after he's had a chance to spend some hours listening.

[Rick Craig]

Whoa! Nice one, Rick. Reminds me of another exotic. Was it the "Talon Hawk"? Are you going to offer this one on a regular basis? Is it sealed, ported or is that optional? Price range?
Thanks,
Corky
 

This was a custom design but I can always build another pair. The design is sealed and no porting is available for this woofer. Accuton has a few different 7" woofers and this version (C92) is designed specifically for sealed cabinets. The cost will vary according to what veneer you want - feel free to email me for a quote.

[Rick Craig]

Hi Rick,

Have you ever thought of using a raven 1 ribbon tweeter and pairing them with accuton mid/bass drivers.  I've heard this combination and the combination sounds excellent.

Btw nice looking speaker.  Is that an accuton tweeter?

Regards

Rod

You could possibly use a Fountek ribbon but not the Raven since it won't cross low enough. The tweeter is a 1" Accuton.

[cadobhuk]

How does the Accuton compare to the Scan Speak?

[Rick Craig]

How does the Accuton compare to the Scan Speak?

Both are excellent woofers and I could easily live with either one.

[chrismercurio]

Can the owner post any comments?

Thanks Rick,

C

[Rick Craig]

Can the owner post any comments?

Thanks Rick,

C

I've sent him an email this evening.

4-17 update : The owner will post in the next week or so. He had also made some other system changes and wanted to wait until there was enough listening time.

[bssk]

I would like to thank Rick for his patience in building this speaker (well, there is a long story behind it). I took time in writing this review as there were a few changes in my system and also wanted the drivers to break-in.

2-Way Sealed-box Monitor

Accuton 7" C292-6 Ceramic Mid/Bass driver

Accuton 30mm C223-6 Ceramic Tweeter

Synergestic Research Alpha wires for internal wiring

I do not have to say much about these drivers, they are very high resolution, low distortion and highly revealing drivers. The tweeter's response ranges from 1.8kHz to 32kHz, and the mid/bass response is linear from 29Hz to 4kHz.

The cabinet construction is sturdy and easily passes the knuckle test on all sides except the rear. This does not mean that the rear of the cabinet is resonant, but I feel that it is not as sturdy as the other walls of the speaker. Overall, the cabinet construction is excellent with little to no resonance.

I asked Rick to design a Sealed-box speaker as I wanted a low distortion speaker rather than good low frequency extension and high sensitivity. I prefer a sealed box design, which sacrifices the lowest of the low frequencies but gains a tighter, quicker, harder hitting bass and better transients. The frequency response is almost flat in the critical mid-band region, and I asked Rick to give a 3dB raise in the frequencies above 10kHz to get more 'air.' (This decision was based on my liking and also psychoacoustics – adult human hearing is less sensitive to high frequencies above 10kHz – Fletcher-Munson curves). The crossover design is excellent and there is a seamless transition between the mid/bass and tweeter with good phase integration. The crossover frequency is around 2.2kHz, sensitivity of the speaker is around 83dB (yes they require lots of power at least 100W RMS / channel) and the impedance of the speaker does not drop below 7 Ohms.

The speaker reveals every nuance of the recording, but is not very bright. The speakers have a decent soundstage, with great speed and no sign of veiling. The midrange is just right, and voices are lifelike and there is a sense of space and air around instruments. The high frequency extension is excellent and I have not heard it in some expensive monitors.

The bass is tight but rolls-off around 80Hz, and I was expecting this because of the design. I can augment the bass by adding a fast subwoofer / a bass module, but I did not want a boomy 50-70Hz from a ported cabinet coupled with port chuffing.

There is much more to good loudspeaker design than putting nice drivers and components in a good looking cabinet. It is a fine blend of art and science. This is where Rick excels; he can understand the customers' requirements and implements it in his design very well. I will surely go to Rick for future loudspeaker projects.

[Carl V]

Thanks for the update.

I have Rick's SSR & a Garnet.  Both Ported.
I auditioned  The Rapides-C95 woofer & SS 6600,
Vented.  These are Excellant.  Detailed,
responsive & hard hitting.  I'd be curious what
you assesment might be comparing & contrasting
these 2 'similar' desgins.  They are available for
Audition.

I have often preferred a sealed design but if
the design is well balanced & planned a vented
design can yield non-boomy results.  Preferences
play a big role in the final choices we all must make.

Thanks oncea gain for the update.

[bssk]

Carl, I agree that well designed vented loudspeakers sound great, but sealed box loudspeakers have better transient response and a smoother roll-off

[bssk]

I attended the RMAF 2009, and I listened to speakers from various manufacturers including big $ systems. This is the first time I attended RMAF, and it was a great educational experience.

I went there thinking that I might return unsatisfied with my speakers (system) after listening to expensive speakers. After listening to familiar recordings on various systems, I am very glad that my speakers built by Rick held up very well, against speakers costing three to four times more.

Rick, I would like to thank you again for building such great speakers.

[Cyan]

How many liters is the box? And what's the Q?
Why didn't you use a ribbon tweeter? The main problem with most ribbon tweeter is that they don't go down very deeply. But the accuton have little or no breakup, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to be cut high.

[Rick Craig]

How many liters is the box? And what's the Q?
Why didn't you use a ribbon tweeter? The main problem with most ribbon tweeter is that they don't go down very deeply. But the accuton have little or no breakup, so it shouldn't be a problem for them to be cut high.

"Q" and alignments are really a thing of the past now with today's current design software and measurements. The box is about 20L. The owner had heard the Accuton tweeter and requested that we use it; however, a ribbon would be possible as well.

[Cyan]

"Q" and alignments are really a thing of the past now with today's current design software and measurements.

Nice.

[Rocket]

Hi,

I heard an accuton tweeter many years ago and it is very good quality and sounds great.

Regards

Rod