[Danny Richie]

I bought out the remaining inventory of custom Neo 3 tweeters from Serenity Acoustics. These are the models used in the Super-7.

With these I will be producing a limited number of kits with flat packs. The flat packs are a necessary part of this design and have to be CNC cut. Flat packs will be made by our northern neighbors Jay and Don and drop shipped to each customer per order.

I will be limiting these to ten pairs and that's it.

Basically these are the X-Otica with the custom Neo 3 tweeter in an open baffle wave guide. Testing, measuring,  and listening to the prototype went fantasitc. So custom Neo 3 tweeters, M-165NQ-16 woofers, and M-165 woofers below.

Here are a few pics of the test box.











We'll be making a few cosmetic changes like sloping the sides and giving the speaker a slight tilt.

Borrowing lessons learned from the Wedgie design, the baffle is 1.5" thick. And with the Neo tweeter mounted to the back side it physically aligns the Neo tweeter to the voice coils of the woofers. So they stay in phase front to back.

And the 1.5" deep wave guide let the tweeter play way on down....

The test models sounds amazing. It is very much like the Wedgie design but with a little more body and fullness.

[Danny Richie]

The 1.5" deep wave guide and the Neo tweeter are a match made in heaven.



Yes, they really do play that low in the wave guide. Look close that's on a 5db scale. So these are much smoother than they look on the graph.

And here is the response curves of the custom Neo 3 and the M165NQ drivers together.



Yes, the tweeter really does cross at 1,100hz. 

On axis response curve:



And super clean spectral decay:



Now here is where it REALLY gets good. The the crossover point being real low. The vertical off axis is almost identical to the on axis response.



And the horizontal off axis response. In the horizontal plane it is only about 5db down at 6kHz where it is a little strong in the on axis. That's perfect.

In the measured graphs I accidentally saved them without the top octave. So I will go back and re-shoot them shortly. Looks great so far though.

[Danny Richie]

The limited addition NX-Treme...

And since the tweeter plays so low. It will allow crossing it to four M165NQ drivers in an MMTMM configuration that will bring the sensitivity up to about 96db.



I will be offering only 6 pairs of these, and that's it.

[bfs21]

Just. Awesome.

[gregfisk]

Pricing Danny Boy, Pricing.

O.K., that sounds a bit Irish which I am not, but you get the idea

Very interested in these, the Wedge is just too small for my Huge great room which I need new speakers for since I moved my Super V's t to my dedicated space.

[Danny Richie]

Pricing Danny Boy, Pricing.

O.K., that sounds a bit Irish which I am not, but you get the idea

Very interested in these, the Wedge is just too small for my Huge great room which I need new speakers for since I moved my Super V's t to my dedicated space.

On the NX-Otica you're looking at $875.00 for the drivers. Plus the crossover cost. I won't say it's final yet (more listening to come next with a pair), but it's close. And then plus the cost of the flat pack, and some shipping.... Not bad at all for what this brings to the table.

On the NX-Treme you're looking at $1,432.00 for the drivers only. Plus the crossover cost.  And then plus the cost of the flat pack, and some shipping....  It's going to be a bargain for speakers at this level.

[gregfisk]

On the NX-Otica you're looking at $875.00 for the drivers. Plus the crossover cost. I won't say it's final yet (more listening to come next with a pair), but it's close. And then plus the cost of the flat pack, and some shipping.... Not bad at all for what this brings to the table.

On the NX-Treme you're looking at $1,432.00 for the drivers only. Plus the crossover cost.  And then plus the cost of the flat pack, and some shipping....  It's going to be a bargain for speakers at this level.

Sounds very fair Danny, so how low with the NX-Otica go. I would love not to have to buy a sub but that may be unrealistic in the room I'm in. The Super V's are the only speakers I've ever had in my great room that could produce satisfying bass

[Danny Richie]

Sounds very fair Danny, so how low with the NX-Otica go. I would love not to have to buy a sub but that may be unrealistic in the room I'm in. The Super V's are the only speakers I've ever had in my great room that could produce satisfying bass

The NX-Otica in my room played flat to 60Hz and then fell like a rock. So not ideal for use without subs, but perfect for use with subs, especially open baffle subs.

[mlundy57]

Very Interesting.

[mresseguie]

Danny,

Awesome stuff. I've been wondering what was in the works for some time now.

With either model, how close to the front wall can they be placed without degrading the sound or sound stage?

How heavy is each completed model?

How much power (tube or SS) do you suppose one needs to drive these to beautiful sound?

Thanks for your answers.

Michael

[Danny Richie]

Danny,

Awesome stuff. I've been wondering what was in the works for some time now.

With either model, how close to the front wall can they be placed without degrading the sound or sound stage?

How heavy is each completed model?

How much power (tube or SS) do you suppose one needs to drive these to beautiful sound?

Thanks for your answers.

Michael

Like any open baffle speaker they need to be three feet or more from the front wall.

The NX-Otica is not real heavy. I haven't weight it yet, but it is not hard to move around.

Sensitivity of the NX-Otica is about 92db. So they can be driven with lower powered amps. I was driving them with a little 8 to 10 watt chip amp pretty well.

[Captainhemo]

It was killing me to be quiet   

Greg, I'm going to shoot you a PM, we aren't  really  that far away from each other

Michail,  the first completed prototype that we shipped down hit the UPS scales at 51 lbs packed, I'd guess add another  20 - 25 lbs for drivers and corssover (approx).

jay

[mlundy57]

It was killing me to be quiet   

Greg, I'm going to shoot you a PM, we aren't  really  that far away from each other

Michail,  the first completed prototype that we shipped down hit the UPS scales at 51 lbs packed, I'd guess add another  20 - 25 lbs for drivers and corssover (approx).

jay

Stinker 

So which one is going to replace the OB7's?

Mike

[Captainhemo]

LOL, I don't think the  NX-Treme will even fit in my room  man !!
I don't need a crystal ball to see a pair in don's room though, can't wait .

jay

[Early B.]

What are the dimensions of the NX-Otica?

Will the base for the NX-Otica look similar to the base for the NX-Treme?

And I assume No-Rez would be beneficial, too?

[Captainhemo]

What are the dimensions of the NX-Otica?

Will the base for the NX-Otica look similar to the base for the NX-Treme?

And I assume No-Rez would be beneficial, too?

52.5" tall  before base, 8.5"  wide baffle, short wings are  2" off rear of baffle, long wings are 14" off rear of baffle,tweeter cutout is the same as above.  It will be similar to this  but there will be some  cosmetic changes as Danny mentioned (rounding of  corners, sloped tops on wings to match 8 degree slope on lower wing etc
Not a lot ofdiscussion  regarding basses yet. We just modeled them to  basically match the  shape of the cabinet.  I think the  NX-Treme will have an outrigger(s0 of some  sort



jay

[Brad]

Tube-friendly impedance?

[bnut311]

Limited edition?

[Danny Richie]

Tube-friendly impedance?

Yes, vary tube friendly. I'm a tube guy.

Limited edition?

There is a limited number of tweeters available.

[AUDFILE74]

so how low does the  nxotica play?