Eddie LE Completed

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Evoke

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Eddie LE Completed
« on: 26 Jul 2018, 08:14 pm »


Well, 0001 and 0002 of the new Eddie LE are complete. Here's a sneak peek. Just set them up for a quick listen. I've got to spend some time in a good room but initial reactions: imaging exceeds expectations, coherency is staggering, can bass be too accurate?, headroom seems limitless... The discs underneath are not part of the speaker FYI.


Components include Mundorf Supreme Silver/Oil Caps, Silver Wire, WBT Connectors, Hybrid Internal Damping, 1/2" Thick Anodized Aluminum Faceplate - ZERO Resonance! [size=78%] [/size]


 


fredgarvin

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #1 on: 26 Jul 2018, 09:14 pm »
That looks like top tier design. Impressive.

Evoke

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #2 on: 26 Jul 2018, 09:31 pm »
That looks like top tier design. Impressive.


Thanks, Fred -  On any new model there are some hurdles. I want to kill myself over the faceplates. I redid the graining several times and stripped several finishes that I absolutely hated! Finally happy with the end result.


I did check a chrome show level finish. MY COST for a pair was $1000 - so, no - maybe someone wants that. I may make a pair for me but they have to be kidding.


The crossovers were a challenge. There are two boards inside. Putting them in place with 6 inductors in relationship to all the drivers and various magnetic fields was a lot of fun LOL... And my hands are LARGE! I discovered a lot of new ways to cut myself - not fun - but so far I'm happy with the sound.


Thanks for commenting,
Mark

mresseguie

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #3 on: 26 Jul 2018, 10:02 pm »
Mark,

It’s very nice looking. Does it sound great regardless of whether it’s playing softly or loudly; near- or far-field?

In the previous thread you mentioned a likely price of $4500/pr. Any change?

Shipping costs for these must be high. How much to ship to 97330? It may be cheaper for me to fly to LA to listen.

Michael

Evoke

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #4 on: 26 Jul 2018, 10:14 pm »
Mark,

It’s very nice looking. Does it sound great regardless of whether it’s playing softly or loudly; near- or far-field?


Michael


Hey Michael -


One of the qualities of the original Eddie was the ability to resolve at normal to lower listening levels. TAS did their listening that way. The new LE is actually 3 db more efficient. It also has dynamic capability. I set it for a normal 89 db level and the peak attacks on music were effortless. I also put on a movie the other night and I had to laugh it was so much fun.


I'm using a NuPrime K38 with channels bridged at 400/channel. I have found that stable power is critical and helps in damping. Oddly, tubes sound great - I didn't think it would work - but with the high current I was very pleasantly surprised.


I did build a proto subwoofer for Ruby - It uses a single 7" woofer from the original Eddie. It's very robust and blends well. The Alex prototype has prodigious bass down into the teens. When I built the original Eddie I had 2 crossovers - one that sounded a bit lush - very musical. The final crossover was far more accurate. The focus group picked that one as well. It was a good choice - especially when balancing the mid to the woof.


In the new LE - the XO has insanely expensive parts and the resolution is revealing more each day. I'm seeing just how much the mid and high can perform. And comparing the original Eddie to the new LE is similar to the first and second crossover. Eddie is lush in comparison the new new LE. So, it's becoming really clear that the new LE is literally showing up as a reference device. I'm hearing a lot of new material from the high 20's to the mid bass area. It's not bloated or bigger than real. Initially I was taken back by the neutrality. After listening to the LE for a week now, the caps are breaking in along with the woofer suspension, nicely. I'm comparing it to a few other speakers in house and the LE bass is simply more true to reality.


That's what I think at the moment. I am hoping that things only get better. Thanks for the comments...

Meicheng

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #5 on: 26 Jul 2018, 10:24 pm »
About how much $$ do you think you'll be selling them for?  Thanks.

Evoke

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #6 on: 26 Jul 2018, 10:42 pm »
About how much $$ do you think you'll be selling them for?  Thanks.


If I were to price them the way I priced the original Eddie, they would most likely be $3495 - $3995 a pair with Solen capacitors. I don't plan to do that - no one ever bought anything but the high end crossover anyway. So, if we ignore the insane wasted money on the first run of faceplates (LOL and ARGH), I'm going to sell them for $4995 a pair.


One well known company just introduced a new 2-way for $9800 (?). The also make a 3-way for $15900. I can say that the Eddie LE mids and highs are so far advanced that it's ridiculous. The mid-bass is more coherent and the lows more accurate. It disgusts me that some manufactures sell for these prices.


Now, if I priced just like traditional products and models, the Eddie LE would most likely be $6995 - but that ain't gonna happen. I believe in value/dollar. I think the people who truly care for real music should be able to get a good deal. That said it's crazy that $4995 is considered a deal these days. But comparatively speaking it's not out of whack. Ruby at $1995 a pair is really special. I've A/B'd the Eddie and Ruby and we sell a lot of 5.1 Ruby systems - Some with Eddie L and R.


I guess it's all a matter of perspective. I think that Bascom Kings last speaker for Infinity, the Epsilon was a true reference and work of art. That was a while back. With better manufacturing the Evoke mid and highs are far better than the Emit and Emim drivers on many levels. And if you want some shocking education - search for the schematics of an old Epsilon or high end Infinity - they used Solen. I about fell off my chair.


Thanks for the post.

saygrr

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #7 on: 27 Jul 2018, 12:12 pm »
The Eddie LE is very interesting and attractive. But it is the Alex that has my attention. Have a question on the low frequency extension speck. On your web sight it is -3db at 35 hz. The Eddie LE is 32hz. Is the Alex speck wrong? What is a hybrid crossover? I like the 90db efficiency.  I really like the photo of the Alex you have on the web sight. It is a very nice looking speaker. Will the Alex be around the $9,000 range. Can the Alex be heard at RMAF 2018 and AXPONA 2019?  How much does Eddie LE and Alex weigh?

Thanks
Jeff

Evoke

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #8 on: 27 Jul 2018, 03:22 pm »
The Eddie LE is very interesting and attractive. But it is the Alex that has my attention. Have a question on the low frequency extension speck. On your web sight it is -3db at 35 hz. The Eddie LE is 32hz. Is the Alex speck wrong? What is a hybrid crossover? I like the 90db efficiency.  I really like the photo of the Alex you have on the web sight. It is a very nice looking speaker. Will the Alex be around the $9,000 range. Can the Alex be heard at RMAF 2018 and AXPONA 2019?  How much does Eddie LE and Alex weigh?

Thanks
Jeff


Hey Jeff - You saw correctly. The idea on Alex is to have multiple very low MMS drivers so that there is enough air moving in the mid-bass. Here's the issue. This is the second version of Alex now. And I think when all is said and done a lot of people are going to want to kill me. I'm going to retain the "look" of the current Alex, but change the driver compliment. For the price, my goal is to go to the next level of mid-bass coherence. At the same time, I want to get the bass flat into the 20's with in-room in the teens. So it's going to be a 4-way. That aside, when you are just under $10K, personally, I would expect full-range performance.  The final should blend the best of both versions I've built.


You might weigh in - I'm planning on this being bi-amp only. I prefer for a customer to choose their own bass amp - most plates suck. Unlike most woofers, my designs have very benign impedance curves. A lot of speakers have bumps of 35 ohms which is not good for the amp or excursion. Eddie LE for example is 8 ohms nominal with with the highest peak being 12 ohms in the woofer - that's pretty good.  That's why I don't like to self-power subs. If the box and driver are designed correctly - then the Q can be maintained and it can be flat and extended without EQ. The first Alex prototype was flat into the teens - no EQ!  So, my preference is NOT to do a passive 4-way crossover. I think bi-amp is the way to go - any thoughts on that?


Eddie weighs about 40 pounds. He's a solid little puppy. I dropped a faceplate on my foot - I'm working on being more careful about that. The original Alex weighed about 150. The design, as is, is close to 100. The 4-way should be maybe 120?


Alex is a bit out time-wise. I'm not sure how I will be showing Alex. We'll have a pair on demo in Beverly Hills. I'm still sorting that out in my head.


Hope that helps for now - thanks for the post.
Mark

saygrr

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Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #9 on: 27 Jul 2018, 06:31 pm »
Hi Mark

Thanks for answering the questions. I have a major investment in mono blocks from Steve McCormack. Will fill you in more by phone.

I live in Wi. My wife and I are leaving for the weekend. Going to Packer training camp.

Thanks again for the interesting reply.

John Casler

Re: Eddie LE Completed
« Reply #10 on: 2 Aug 2018, 06:21 pm »
Mark,

It’s very nice looking. Does it sound great regardless of whether it’s playing softly or loudly; near- or far-field?


Michael

Michael, THAT is an excellent question, and one that many misunderstand.

NO common PRODUCTION speaker can "sound equally great" at all volume levels and distances.

All individual drivers have sweet spots in their voltage to performance outputs.  That is why the caps or digital XO's exist to take EACH Driver and set it to perform within a small window of frequencies, and voltage to output levels to match and complement the other drivers in the system. . . .BUT ONLY within the confines of a precise SPL.

Any SPL well above or below that output will suffer anomalies.  An example might be a PRO CONCERT Speaker that is designed to PLAY LOUD and at longer distances, but sucks at lower outputs and near fields.  All "fixed" speakers suffer this restriction.

Secondly, the Human ear has been demonstrated to have a similar neuro-mechanical quality of having differing sensitivities to differing SPL's/Frequencies.  This is called the Fletcher-Munson Effect.  It has been noted, that as SPL decreases, sensitivity to the higher, and lower frequencies reduce.  This finding (years ago) lead to the "LOUDNESS" Compensation circuits on some Amps and Receivers.

So ANY fixed XO will suffer these limitations, unless you have a compensation mechanism.

There are a few ways to do this to somewhat compensate.  You mentioned one, in nearfield listening.  This can present a greater HF presence due to the fact that dispersion (over distance) has not reduced the HF information, but it does not act on the Lower Frequencies, in fact it reduces their quality.

So EVOKE has a system quality that includes a high quality L-PAD to the tweeter and MR drivers to allow small adjustments to the SPL of those drivers to provide an individual means to TAILOR the Sonic Profile Balance to your listening position, your hearing ability, and your personal preferences.

Without electronic XO's that can also do this, but with arguable greater difficulty, this solution works exceptionally well and makes EVOKE somewhat unique in those abilities.

So you can increase or decrease the Tweeter and MR relative to each other, and doing so ALSO adjusts the relationship to the woofer's output. 

So you can run them flat, or slightly tilted up, or down to get closer for the PERFECT SOUND "you" want and like, instead of running out to find another FIXED Output Speaker, that has the same issues.

THAT is why I use EVOKE in my personal system and suggest them to ALL my customers and friends.

IMHO