[Matt__P]

Mithat was in town last week and sold me a set of Biro prototype monitors. Super nice guy but I didnt have alot of time to talk to him.
Has anyone had much experience with his speakers?
this pair appears to use a Seas Prestige metal dome tweeter and a Vifa mineral filled poly cone woofer.
He only charged me for the cost of his parts so I know I got a good deal.
They blow away my onix xls's. now I just need to get an AVA amp!
 

[plaf26]

Yes, I have a pair of the Biro L1's.  They are fine speakers that outplay the B&W 560's I was using before.  I've never had any problems with them or needed repairs or replacements.  Unlike with a pair of Polk 10A's several years ago which required  a replacement of one of the active drivers. 

I like to listen to organ works and full orchestral classical stuff, so I also got the Biro Kensington subwoofer for that greater impact on the bottom end. 

Currently I am using them downstairs in my HT set up, because I have become beguiled by a pair of Magnepan MMG's in my main music listening room.  There I am using my old B&W Acoustitune subwoofer in anticipation of Frank's fully balanced, differential stuff  .  The Acoustitune is a passive sub with dual drivers for stereo, so it is one of the only subs I know of that will work in a balanced system, (that is, without having to buy two  of them).

Enjoy your Biro's, I'm sure you won't be sorry.

[Wayner]

I never heard a pair or Biro L1's, wish I did. I think the woofer was discontinued by the manufacturer and a replacement was not offered and that kind of put an end to the line. That's my understanding of the situation. I have never met Mithat, but Frank talks kindly about him.

A nice Insight 260EX would make the new Biros surrender, for sure!

Wayner 

[Matt__P]

yeah he wouldn't sell parts for a set of the L1's because the remaining stock of drivers is all he'll ever have for any future repairs or replacement.
He was fairly confident that I'd like this pair of protos though.
An Insight 260 is definatley next
 

[Zheeeem]

Mithat was in town last week and sold me a set of Biro prototype monitors. Super nice guy but I didnt have alot of time to talk to him.
Has anyone had much experience with his speakers?
this pair appears to use a Seas Prestige metal dome tweeter and a Vifa mineral filled poly cone woofer.
He only charged me for the cost of his parts so I know I got a good deal.
They blow away my onix xls's. now I just need to get an AVA amp!

I had a pair of L/1s for 7-8 years.  Very nice speakers.  Tonally and spatially outstanding.  Restricted bottom end.  I am not a big fan of metal drivers, but the aluminum dome he was using integrated pretty well.  I had a small and somewhat boxy room, so there was a big bass hump at around 50 Hz.  I bought a REL Strata III sub and reversed phase, which tamed things pretty well.

I traded them in to Frank in partial exchange for a DAC upgrade to ultra.  I temporarily shifted to a pair of MMGs, which really sucked, especially by comparison.  I now have a pair of VMPS RM30Ms, which are exceedingly excellent.

Mithat certainly is a good engineer.  More than that, he has a good ear.  Glad he's back in business.

[rustneversleeps]

So are we supposed to know this Mithat like most of you? Where was he at when he was "in town"? When will he be in town again?

Where is Mithat now and how do we buy stuff from him?

If you don't mind I ask of course.

I do expect that there will be flooded with warm welcoming posts such as " Rusty, if you don't know Mithat, you shouldn't be here." " where have you been, Rusty?"  "Rusty, you know nothing about audio if you've never heard of Mithat."

[TjMV3]

So are we supposed to know this Mithat like most of you? Where was he at when he was "in town"? When will he be in town again?

Where is Mithat now and how do we buy stuff from him?

If you don't mind I ask of course.

I do expect that there will be flooded with warm welcoming posts such as " Rusty, if you don't know Mithat, you shouldn't be here." " where have you been, Rusty?"  "Rusty, you know nothing about audio if you've never heard of Mithat."

You're not alone.  I have absolutely no idea what they are talking about.

[Matt__P]

So are we supposed to know this Mithat like most of you? Where was he at when he was "in town"? When will he be in town again?

Where is Mithat now and how do we buy stuff from him?

If you don't mind I ask of course.

I do expect that there will be flooded with warm welcoming posts such as " Rusty, if you don't know Mithat, you shouldn't be here." " where have you been, Rusty?"  "Rusty, you know nothing about audio if you've never heard of Mithat."

Sorry, I only posted here because AVA used to deal his Biro speakers and I was curious about what the AVA diehards had to say about him.

He's in Istanbul now but comes to Minnesota couple times a year to visit family.
Hes been out of the speaker business for a while but had some leftovers lying around.

he did say that when he gets some time hes looking to design some stuff for the DIY community but I think its geared more towards electronics.

Thats all I know Rusty

[rustneversleeps]

Thank you for the clarification. But it's too bad, because I am looking for some DIY speaker projects.

[avahifi]

Actually, it was the dry up of the tweeter availability that forced us to stop building the L/1 speakers.  Mithat even came up with an excellent replacement design, but could not get it to work well in a standard off the shelf cabinet.  It pulse tested great and measured great in a cobbled up L/1 cabinet, but in the only practical cabinet we could fine (nearly identical dimensions and volume) the midrange just went nowhere.  Real voodoo at work here.  Mithat just did not have time to refine the design here as he is a full time college professor in Istanbul, and does not have good sources for parts there to keep up the work on it there.

Mithat remains my close friend and still works on new things for us.

Regards,

Frank Van Alstine