XT-8's Finished At Last

FredT300B · « **on:** 2 Jun 2005, 09:37 pm »

It took longer than I expected because of some unplanned interruptions, but my modified XT-8's are finished at last. They were a bit bright out of the oven, but Rick suggested a tweeter attenuation resistor which solved that problem. They are the ported alignment, and I built them 71" tall instead of the usual 61" with the bottom 12" section used as a rear- accessible crossover chamber.

The sound is every bit as clean as the Magnepan 3.6's they replaced. The bass extends deeper, the midrange is a bit warmer, and the treble resolution is comparable. And compared to the Maggies you get an extra 10dB sensitivity, 16 tube-friendly ohms impedance instead of four, and several magnitudes more dynamic range. Anyone who has ever been to an indoor arena rock concert will understand what I mean when I tell you that 40 watts elevates them from an auditory experience to a tactile one. These big boys are keepers.

Photo at http://fredt300b.smugmug.com/gallery/132721/1/23808918

PeteG · « **Reply #1 on:** 2 Jun 2005, 11:46 pm »

Very NICE

,
All those speakers look good, I wish I had a shop like that.

Pete

Bingenito · « **Reply #2 on:** 3 Jun 2005, 11:18 am »

How far is the back of the speaker from the wall? It looks close. When I moved my arrays out 4ft into the room the soundstage depth was amazing.

FredT300B · « **Reply #3 on:** 4 Jun 2005, 06:30 pm »

Quote from: Bingenito

How far is the back of the speaker from the wall? It looks close. When I moved my arrays out 4ft into the room the soundstage depth was amazing.

The backs are 21" from the back wall. Definitely closer than I would like, especially with rear ported enclosures. For now I'm just enjoying them as they are. Next week I'll probably pull them out more to see how a greater distance effects the soundstage, but the fronts are already 39" out into the room, and if they come out much farther they will block access to the master bedroom. Life is filled with difficult decisions

ekovalsky · « **Reply #4 on:** 4 Jun 2005, 07:29 pm »

Those look nice Fred. How do they compare with the other array's you had ?

Also, any reason why you didn't veneer the baffles ?

FredT300B · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 Jun 2005, 02:17 pm »

Quote from: ekovalsky

...any reason why you didn't veneer the baffles ?

Yes, my cutting of the tweeter slots was sort of crude and they aren't perfectly straight, so I thought using the black color with black drivers would de-emphasize the imperfections. It does, but these speakers do look a bit like the monoliths in "2001: A Space Odyssey".