apart from the difference in bass extension, what differences do you hear between the Ruby and Eddie LE?
So just to set a baseline - the tweeter and woofer use the same technology - so same DNA to stay close to the sonic signature. The crossover uses Mundorf like the Eddie LE - but just the Supreme, not the Silver. And there are also Clarity caps as part of the hybrid design.
That said, this is a really cruel question LOL! I'll start off saying I like them both A LOT. I wanted to create a for the lack of a better phrase, a reasonably priced son of Eddie. Ruby does some things that are pretty cool. The 5" mid-woof weighs less than half of Eddies. That is important as it goes higher into the midrange to match the tweeter whereas the LE has the planar mid.
Like Eddie, you can't hear the crossover point - the two drivers match and blend really well.
Dynamically, Eddie has more headroom - but Ruby is no slouch. She has incredible dynamics across different kinds of program material. Whether subtle instrumentals and voices to concert rock to a movie - she does the job well. I never had any issues about the dynamic capabilities and sheer ability to play loud. Mind you this was in rooms up to 16 x 24 with 10 foot ceilings. (Imaging is sensational!)
Ruby has solid bass into the high 40's. Eddie LE goes into the 20's. But the big difference is the amount of air that the LE can move and the additional power handling. I've lived with both as my reference for months at a time. Even without a subwoofer, Ruby is impressive.
Just for yucks, I built a cabinet with a single Eddie bass driver. I used it as a sub crossing it to Ruby at 80 hz. Seriously the speaker sounded a lot like Eddie. I have no plans to build this sub - I have plans for others in the future. (Elac makes a good reasonably priced one that I've played with.)
Ruby with the sub had more headroom by taking the responsibility away from her mid-woofer. It is a REALLY satisfying sound. While being really accurate, it's strangely forgiving of a variety of program material - with the exception of crappy stuff, of course.
The difference is really the dynamic capability - comparing the tweeters, the Eddie tweeter doesn't need to go as low. So it's optimized for the upper end and goes about 5K higher. This is not what you will ever hear - but rather engineers the range used to be managed better. The mid woofer in Ruby is VERY light and fast. It performs really well compared to the mid planar. If you A/B you'll get a bit frustrated they both sound so good. Nothing is "missing" but it's not a planar right?
I had been living with Ruby in my own listening system for about 6 months. I had her set up really well and had integrated the sub some months ago. I was really happy with the sound and didn't find myself missing Eddie. Part of what I liked was that Ruby is just so easy to listen to. While it's really accurate, like I said it is more forgiving as the Eddie LE. So here's what happened when I switched over, cold turkey, to the new LE.
At first I wasn't sure I liked Eddie. It was really bizarre. After a week I started to realize how invisible the Eddie LE was. It didn't get in the way of the music. As a builder and audiophile I listen to portions of tracks going through an arsenal checking different types of sources. You probably do this to. BUT, the other evening, I put on George Michael Symphonica and sat back in my comfy listening chair and actually listened to the entire album. THAT was a revelation!
Does that mean I like one more than the other? No. They share a sonic signature and carefully borrow from shared technology. IN FACT, the new Eddie tweeter was born from what was learned when creating Ruby with her planar tweeter.
To illustrate the flexibility - we have customers that use Eddie for the left/right and then Ruby for center and surrounds. It works really well. Of course you can use an Eddie for center to (vertically placed). In my room I don't need a sub with Eddie for the bottom end - but let me add this: Both Eddie and Ruby have their low end limitations. If you push them too far - and I mean LOUD with very low program material - they will "complain". The cone will hit the shorting ring. It sounds terrible but it doesn't blow. Of all the speakers we've sold we have only blown 1 Ruby mid-woofer - and that was John Casler, my rep in Beverly Hills. I so love John - he's a serious audiophile. I dare him to break things hehe.
Now, I can say that Ruby sounds fine as is. If you never here her with a sub you may not care. She is a true mini monitor. Now that I've heard her with a sub I really like it.
I feel like I'm starting to ramble so I'll stop here. But let me conclude - I created Ruby to make a true 2-way reference mini monitor. I feel it achieves that goal. I lived with just her for 6 months and never felt I was lacking in any way. There may be people out there that really love Eddie but look at me when I say the price is reasonable in audiophile terms (performance/value) and then tell me I'm nuts when you compare it to real world income. I get that. Although some of us are crazy. My first job paid $1600 a month and I took my first check and bought a $300 Grado Signature phono cartridge. I don't promise to be sane.
I do promise that I created Ruby for people that want a small footprint high performance product born of Eddies DNA. And now, Eddies new tweeter is born of Rubys DNA. Now I'm done
