DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly

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lokie

DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« on: 18 Oct 2018, 07:41 pm »
What is the top of line monitor that I could build that has an 8ohm load minimum and say,... 92db or better?
And... I have subs.
 

Rick Craig

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #1 on: 20 Oct 2018, 12:44 am »
What is the top of line monitor that I could build that has an 8ohm load minimum and say,... 92db or better?
And... I have subs.

What are your desired maximum cabinet dimensions? Amplifier being used?

lokie

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #2 on: 20 Oct 2018, 04:37 pm »
My everyday driver is an Eico HF-60 w KT-77's. Around 40watts Push Pull and using the 16ohm taps.

One of these days I'll pick up a SET in the 10 watt range... which might be asking too much of a monitor. I also have 20 watt 6L6 I am tinkering with.

Regarding cabinets.... I have a few classic monitors in mind as inspiration. Can I post pictures? or would that be uncool?

Rick Craig

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #3 on: 20 Oct 2018, 04:51 pm »
My everyday driver is an Eico HF-60 w KT-77's. Around 40watts Push Pull and using the 16ohm taps.

One of these days I'll pick up a SET in the 10 watt range... which might be asking too much of a monitor. I also have 20 watt 6L6 I am tinkering with.

Regarding cabinets.... I have a few classic monitors in mind as inspiration. Can I post pictures? or would that be uncool?

Sure - feel free to post them.

lokie

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #4 on: 21 Oct 2018, 12:10 am »
 
 

Rusty Jefferson

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #5 on: 21 Oct 2018, 12:28 am »
I didn't know there were monitor speakers (multi driver) that were 92db or higher.... 
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/high-efficiency-monitors-list

MHL

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #6 on: 21 Oct 2018, 12:33 am »
http://www.reference3a.com/decapo.html

92db of pure sonic grandeur.

lokie

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #7 on: 21 Oct 2018, 12:55 am »
I didn't know there were monitor speakers (multi driver) that were 92db or higher.... 
https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/high-efficiency-monitors-list
Right.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know much about monitors... just kind of guessing at the specs. But maybe the subs will help if it doesn't need to go below 80hz like most commercial offerings?

lokie


Rusty Jefferson

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #9 on: 21 Oct 2018, 01:11 pm »
I don't know about the LS3/5A as a diy project. Also, the sensitivity couldn't be much lower than those. There are plenty of diyable small speakers out there, some close to 90db.
http://www.jantzen-audio.com/atiri/#prettyPhoto

Rusty Jefferson

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #10 on: 21 Oct 2018, 08:33 pm »
Sorry, my bad.  Just realized this is in the Selah Audio circle.  :D

lokie

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #11 on: 21 Oct 2018, 10:50 pm »
All good. We're still in inspiration mode.

Rick Craig

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #12 on: 22 Oct 2018, 12:34 am »
You'll need something larger than the speakers that were posted as examples. To cross to your sub is most likely going to be a 8" or larger woofer in order to get enough bandwidth.

lokie

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #13 on: 24 Oct 2018, 05:40 pm »
Does bi-amping help? How about Passive Line Level Xover scheme betwean the amps and the Pre-Amp.?
Maybe the xover doesnt add that much to the inefficiency?

Rick Craig

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #14 on: 24 Oct 2018, 07:50 pm »
Does bi-amping help? How about Passive Line Level Xover scheme betwean the amps and the Pre-Amp.?
Maybe the xover doesnt add that much to the inefficiency?

Buy a Benchmark AHB2 and then you can choose from a myriad of speakers.

HT cOz

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #15 on: 25 Oct 2018, 08:04 pm »
Rick what are your thought on the Accoustic Elegance TD8M?  Would it be capable of hitting 92bd in a monitor with support from separate subwoofers?  Maybe it would work with your hybrid ribbons?

Rick Craig

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #16 on: 25 Oct 2018, 08:26 pm »
Rick what are your thought on the Accoustic Elegance TD8M?  Would it be capable of hitting 92bd in a monitor with support from separate subwoofers?  Maybe it would work with your hybrid ribbons?

I've not tested the TD8M. Based on my experience with the TD6M I would look at another driver.

Armaegis

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #17 on: 26 Oct 2018, 03:49 am »
I don't think they're around anymore, but Parker Audio used to make monitors that were something like 95dB.


Does bi-amping help? How about Passive Line Level Xover scheme betwean the amps and the Pre-Amp.?
Maybe the xover doesnt add that much to the inefficiency?

Bi-amping is generally nice. Even better if the crossover is before the amps.

Buy a Benchmark AHB2 and then you can choose from a myriad of speakers.

I have one. Absolutely fantastic amp.

cyberstudio

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Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #18 on: 28 Oct 2018, 09:59 pm »
A high efficiency speaker is typically made of a horn tweeter and a fairly large woofer cone and most likely a 3-way to smooth out any gaps in the dispersion pattern. I wouldn't call that a "monitor" but tube amp lovers are hoarding things like the Klipsch (heritage speakers like the Heresy) for this very reason.

50 years ago amplifier power was scarce and expensive and speaker manufacturers paid a lot of attention to efficiency. Nowadays amplifier power is both cheap AND efficient (class D) and speaker manufacturers paid attention to size instead. Modern speakers, like those Selah Audio ones Rick make, both sound better and are smaller, the only downside was they were not as efficient as yesterday's speakers, but to solid state amp users this is the least of worries.

Today, TUBE amplifier power is still scarce and expensive, so we may have to look into the approaches taken in the post-war period for inspiration.

borism

Re: DIY- World Class Monitor that's Tube Amp Friendly
« Reply #19 on: 29 Oct 2018, 10:47 pm »
I faced a similar issue in trying to find a high sensitivity DIY speaker with the different requirement of good quality but affordable for a father-son project. We decided on this build that I documented here:

https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=139584.0

It turns out it included like Cyberstudio suggested a waveguide/compression driver for the high frequencies. At the time I did try out the speakers with my 2A3 tube amplifier with good result. My son still uses these speakers and loves them.