[nature boy]

Greetings,

I attended Steve Deckert's annual get together, Decfest in early October. My primary interest was hearing two new driver offerings from Lii Audio, the F-15 and Crystal 10's in open baffle designs.  Steve had two beautiful, large 2" thick hardood baffle offerings and Randy from Caintuck Audio brought a pair of his new Lii 15 OB speakers in a smaller baffle, same size as his infamous Betsy Baffles.

While both the F-15 and Crystal 10 speakers sounded great, I was really drawn to the F-15 driver baffles. After my Decfest listening session I ordered a pair of Randy's Lii F15 baffles in Sapele and Maple hardwoods.  After only 50 hours (out of 250 hours for full burn in) I can only say these are one of the most satisfying stereo equipment purchases I've ever made.

These speakers are simply amazingly musical. The throw a tremendous 3D soundstage with excellent detail and speed.  I am now sold on open baffle designs with the right drivers.  These little open baffles also don't cost an arm and leg. A nice pair of hardwood options are less than $1K delivered.

Here are a few pictures of the speakers:






Enjoy.

NB

[DavidS]

I have a pair of these on order as well.  Have also purchased a Decware Zen Triode amp (used) - feel like I have gone over the cliff into SET and OB land.  My current system couldn't be more different with KEF ls50s and a Mivera high power class D amp.  Have the little Decware amp running my KEFs in my small room (while I wait for the Caintucks) and am quite surprised at how good a 2 watt amp can be with low efficiency speakers.  Small room being the key.  Will plan to post my experience and some pictures once mine arrive (2-3 weeks away).

One curiosity would be how the F-15s compare to the Crystal 10s or even other full rangers in open baffle - as always every move you make opens more doors and possibilties.

[jmolsberg]

clean looking NB. love the gear!

[aldcoll]

A big shout out on the acoustic wall treatment.  I would never thought a door matt could be wall mounted.

Alan

[nature boy]

Alan,

It's a very expensive, acoustically certified door mat. It's made from hemp.😄 It actually breaks up rear firing sound waves very well.

NN

[guf]

Cool i'm totally facinated by these. So you could have purchesed the 15 inch in the large baffles or these smaller ones? There was not a difference in the sound quality enough to get the larger ones?  These seem like the perfect size.   

[nature boy]

Caintuck Audio only offers the smaller baffles, either 1" thick assorted hardwoods or red oak plywood (w/ various stain options). Decware offers their Zen Master OB series, in a medium size & large size. Both are 2" thick hardwoods. They are pretty heavy, more expensive and available through the Decware website.

Alternatively, your can order a Lii Audio F-15 driver and build your own baffles if you have the tools and woodworking skills.

NB

[beowulf]

@ nature boy - great review!

What did you think about the Lii Crystal Flagship Speakers?  Also, what were some of the more noticeable differences between the F15 and Crystal drivers?  What were some of the differences with the Crystal OB compred to the Flagship speakers? 

I'm more of a details and imaging person over bass (though tuneful bass is a must) and I'm just wondering which one of the two drivers I would prefer.

Thanks!

[RonN5]

Those wood tones are really nice.... is the finish coat flat or semigloss.  At $800 give or take... they would make an interesting comparison with the Maggie LRS.  How far out from the back wall do they need to be and how far away is the listening position from the speakers.

[FullRangeMan]

Wonder how is the F15 bass under 100Hz in this OB ?

[nature boy]

Beowulf,

The Crystal 10's we're exceptionally clean sounding drivers. At Decfest Steve Deckert used them in combination with his ZRock 2 bass enhancer, which never got dialed in properly. The 10 sounded better to my ears in the Lii Audio designed cabinet, which was very large.

To my ears the F-15 sounded better in the OB design. Both drivers have gobs of detail and they image like nothing I've ever heard before. The F-15 just conveyed the music with more emotion and sounded more musical to my ears, as well as providing a better bass foundation. With a fast, well integrated sub, the Crystal 10 may win out but I was looking for simplicity.

Ron,

The wood is treated with linseed oil, no additional finish beyond that.

FRM,

I believe the F-15 specs indicate a frequency range of 50-20,000Hz.  Steve Deckert's measurements confirmed they start rolling off at 50Hz with listenable bass down to ~35Hz. However they seem to play lower. I listened to Bela Fleck's Cosmic Hippo and a lot of deep organ music during the last two weeks and the speakers dug very deep. I didn't find bass lacking at all.  Keep in mind that I need another 200 hours until full break in.  The bass continues to get tighter each day.

The speakers have sensitivity of 97dB at 1 meter into 8 ohms, so they can be driven very loud with any amplifier. So they are an exceptional match for low powered SET amps.

NB

[nature boy]

Duplicate.

[rodge827]

nature boy,

 Thanks for bringing Randy's latest creations to our attention. I DIY'd a pair of Betsy's a few years ago and liked what they did but the lack of bass caused me to unload them. What is your room size? Mine is 11w x 15.5l x 8h wondering if a pair will work in my space or do I need a larger room.

Chris

[jmolsberg]

NB

How do you compare the baffles to Omega Speakers? I have to imagine they have a fuller sound with that big ol speaker. Do you have them hooked up bare wire or? Thanks

-jm

[FullRangeMan]

The speakers have sensitivity of 97dB at 1 meter into 4 ohms, so they can be driven very loud with any amplifier. So they are an exceptional match for low powered SET amps.

How in 4 ohms? The F15 are 8 ohms, there is a 4 ohms version?

FS is 49Hz so bass starting roll off at this freq. the sugested BR box seems 260L (110x40x60) but with a bigger box and the right stuff the bass can reach lower freq.

The freq chart show treble start roll off at 12kHz, certainly at 15kHz it already lost the phase control, so dont reach 20kHz imo.

Other mistake is the MMS they show:
14.Mms 13.70 grams
13gr seems the whizzer white weight cone.
The woofer big black cone should weight at least 70gr or more.

[nature boy]

8 ohms, my mistake.

NB

[RonN5]

NB....did Randy also have a pair of his "standard" Betsy's in attendance....and if so, how did the F15s compare throughout the mids and top end?

[nature boy]

Chris,

My room is similar in size 12.5' x 15.5' x 7.5". The OB's do well in a smaller room, but need some distance from the rest wall to sound best.

JM,

Similar in tone to the Omega's. The Lii Audio cones appear to be paper, not sure if they're treated. Due to the larger 15" cones (compared to 6" Omega help cones) they do indeed sound fuller.

As FRM stated, the higher frequency range does indeed start to roll off at 12KHz. So not a truly a full range speaker. However I don't hear any diminished treble response as compared to my Omega SAHO XRS speakers. Maybe it's just my diminished old age hearing loss😁.

Ron,

I suggest you give Randy a call or shoot him an email for a comparison. He's spent a lot more time listening to both speakers. He'll give you honest feedback. I haven't spent much time listening to the Betsy's and they were not played much at this years Decfest.

NB

[RoadTripper]

I'll be making a pair of the large Decware version with the 15" drivers this winter. I made a clone of the original Betsy's using Visaton B200 drivers and they came out very well. They were very fast, very clean but overall a little lightweight. My room isn't ideal either. But it looks like a fun project.

[FullRangeMan]

However I don't hear any diminished treble response as compared to my Omega SAHO XRS speakers.

Its just a suspicion for a correct analysis we need to see the complete 20Hz - 20kHz phase chart on axis.