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One of those (field coil) drivers said "up to 108".That's amazing (if true).
So, can we find a driver, for example an 8" wide-range driver, that can take us close, say to 70%, of the magic of what a very costly driver can do in the OB paradigm?
I realize this is a bit off topic and isn't meant to be a direct response to your question but thought you might like to consider nonetheless. I have been experimenting with a really neat 8" high efficiency extended range driver that I run in tandem with a small neo tweeter from a 3 watt tube amp. I have measured a conservative 97 dB 1w/1m from this driver. There are three interesting aspects to this driver:1) It is a hemp cone driver intended for guitar applications yet has a respectably flat response and maintains close to 97 dB over it's intended range w/1 watt. 2) The driver's Qts is .88 and performs nicely in open back; with it's hemp construction it sounds warm and clear with very fluid mids. I believe the former is paper which contributes to its pleasant sound. 3) The retail price is $69 USThe driver is an Eminence 820H and is a relatively new product. It has a 4 ohm nominal impedance but I am able to drive them w/o issue from my small SET amp. This driver crossed at around 2.2k to a small efficient dome produces none of the characteristic shout you are looking to avoid.
Hi versus rider ~ 6,000 pounds (where is the pound sign on my Apple keyboard?) for the voxative field coil drivers seems a bit low to me. Their American dealer has the Voxative field coil AC-X2 listed as $16,875 a pair... and their "ultimate" version lists for $37,800 a pair. Factor in the ancillary/supporting gear, including some form of baffle structure and the question arises: should listening to music be that expensive?Money, of course, in and by itself has no meaning. It is just numbers. However, to accumulate large numbers (lots of 'money') usually requires an extraordinary effort of some kind, and even if one just steals it, there is stress and risk involved. Just to cover the field there is also inherited "money" and winning the lottery. But look how far we have journeyed away from the essence of what music actually means to us. Originally music was shamanic... it provided an entry point to inter-dimensional 'travel' within (drumming and rhythmic singing)... it also created a group experience of shared love, shared togetherness by providing a vehicle for mingling our tribal voices (listen to the a capella group singing of the Bush peoples of Africa)... it was also used to release the burdens of any activity like planting, and harvesting... and of course it could lift the spirit to unimaginable heights of transcendent flights of feelings. There is also the role music plays in dance, infusing movement with powerful drive.If we do not sing or play a musical instrument ourselves, then we must rely on others to play or sing for us. And if we love to listen to recorded music, as Deborah and I do, then some form of playback is needed and that means technology. But must we spend thousands and thousands of dollars (those large numbers) to experience the essence of what music, and only music can do to release the spirit, like a trapped bird, from its cage?That is where the DIY Open Baffle paradigm can be of enormous help to getting us closer to the magic of what technology can do to recreate the life in recorded music, at least so far at this time.So the question for me is: Is it worth the leap in cost of the diminishing returns one hears as we attempt to get a 'little more' of this or that quality from ones OB drivers? More transparency, or detail, or resolution, or extension and so on. Put another way, is there a threshold where one hears something so qualitatively different from a more costly version of a driver, that it makes it impossible to live with the less expensive driver once this very costly driver is heard? The strange part of this is that even if the pricier driver does do that for us, one gets used to the 'shock of the new' very quickly, causing an increasing and continuous demand for ever more 'shocking' new experiences. This really has nothing to do with the music itself. It is much closer to an auditory addiction. I have heard music played through terrible audio equipment and poor little radios, that lifted me to those transcendent heights. The suggestion here is that it is all about 'perception'... it points back to the perceiver, the perceiving mind, and not necessarily to the source.So, can we find a driver, for example an 8" wide-range driver, that can take us close, say to 70%, of the magic of what a very costly driver can do in the OB paradigm?Here is another place where I think the OB paradigm works for us yet again. It allows drivers to breath... to 'live' in their natural functioning fluid state without imprisoning it in a box. This goes a long way to releasing the music so it can 'live'.Hi rjbond3rd ~ Thank you for sharing your insights concerning the Lowther 'shout'... which as you have pointed out, could be the result of poor implementation. Your reference to 'normal' listening position is of course just a conditioned idea... I am not saying that it is not a reasonable assumption... normal distances in our 'living' or 'listening' rooms reflects the way one usually arranges furniture (the male usually defers to the wife or significant other to make this decision). But perhaps you are right after all, if one considers that drivers may be designed, whether through tradition or inherent limitations, to be listened to from certain preconceived distances. I would love to purchase a pair of Lowthers from the A series. But I hesitate thinking that they may not deliver the promise of being exponentially 'better' than a much less expensive driver of a similar design.------------Just thinking out loud here.Thanks for sharing your thoughts, suggestions and insights.With Warmest Regards ~ Richard
