I feel pretty great tonight....Dennis Murphy says....

Marbles · « **on:** 13 Apr 2005, 02:53 am »

I have a lot of respect for Dennis Murphy and his XO designs. Some of my favorite speakers have his XO in them.

Anyway I shipped him my mini marble column 9.0 and here is a response I just received from him. (edited to weed out comments on graphs)

"Hi Rob What a pleasure to work with such great drivers in a perfect cabinet. I wired up the 2nd order crossover and took some measurements, and I'm listening now. These are text book perfect, thanks to the design of the cabinet, with its radical curviture to the sides. Too bad you can't get these anymore. Note that the only section of the response that changes is the top end, which reflects the inherent beaming of the tweeter further and further off-axis. There are no peaks or dips caused by interferrence between the woofer and tweeter off-axis. The cabinet is absolutely inert. I can't feel any vibrations at all. The sound is totally uncolored--they give my MB0W1 3-ways a run for the money, although the 5" woofer can't pump out bass like the Peerless 10", and the midrange is a little more focused on the 3-way because the mid driver doesn't have to produce anything below 300 Hz. Sure wish I could hear these puppies in stereo. I'll probably experiment with the l-pad setting a little, but I'm basically done. Cheers, dennis."

nOrh sure had a great thing going with marble cabinets. I wish they could have made these designs or the larger column marble speakers into a staple of the lineup, so you guys could enjoy them.

Oh well, I got mine

Marbles · « **Reply #1 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 02:55 am »

Here is a picture of the one he worked on (the pink on top is a reflection from my front door)

JoshK · « **Reply #2 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 03:05 am »

Those are 1 of a kind right? I have always thought those were the coolest.

Rob Babcock · « **Reply #3 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 03:06 am »

Ah, the dream that was...

It's a shame that the marble got too expensive to work with. Those are some beautiful speakers, for sure.

Marbles · « **Reply #4 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 03:13 am »

I have the only 2 way marble column speakers that nOrh made.

I have a pair of mini's and a pair of largers.

I think you can still get the marble 3.0's that have the same shape cabinet.

Maybe we can get Mike to make them (two ways) in synthetic marble if he can't make them in real marble.

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Jay S · « **Reply #5 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 05:11 am »

Awesome! Congrats. I am sticking with my marble 9s and getting Dennis Murphy XO has been part of the long term plan. This is getting closer to reality as I think I've nailed down my digital front end.

I ended up separating my audio and video systems so out went the need for a universal player. I've closed a deal on a used Marantz SA14 SACD player (check is being cleared) which will be sent straight to TRL for mods.

Is Dennis going to build the XO for you?

MaxCast · « **Reply #6 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 11:32 am »

Marbles, I take it that you will be sending the other for xo mods?

Did you have your 9.0 drums modded?

Marbles · « **Reply #7 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 12:45 pm »

Quote from: MaxCast

Marbles, I take it that you will be sending the other for xo mods?

Did you have your 9.0 drums modded?

I did not have my drum 9.0's modded. Dennis and I have just corresponded and I hope he will be making the other board for me as well. He doesn't want me to incur the cost or the chance of shipping damage to the other speaker though.

Marbles · « **Reply #8 on:** 13 Apr 2005, 02:21 pm »

I am now considering the nOrh marble subs, as a 65 Liter cabinet is about perfect for the TC Sounds 10" woofer.

There will have to be some minor alterations to the sub cabinet, like adding a port, and making the hole for the different driver and probably moving it higher in the cabinet.

A 3 way marble speaker with the TC Sounds on bottom and the Revelators for mids and highs would be pretty good I would bet

oris98 · « **Reply #9 on:** 15 Apr 2005, 09:20 pm »

I am using a pair of XO designed by Dennis with upgraded CAPs and inductors.. It sounded so.. good as compared with the stock XO from Norh from a AB testing. No brainer to switch once you have heard Dennis's design. I am contamplating of going active with bringing a pair of subwoofers into the picture.. As Marble suggested to me before, by isolating the woofer in the 9s for MF and crossing the LF to the subs will help clearing up the mid range. I am looking for the right active XO and and may sell my passive XO designed by Dennis later...

Any suggestions for pair of good subwoofer to match with the M9s ?

Thanks.

Marbles · « **Reply #10 on:** 15 Apr 2005, 09:25 pm »

I have heard that nOrh might be back in the marble making business.

It might be possible to get marble subwoofers from nOrh that would act as stands and the woofer section of a nice 3 way. That's what I intend to do.

Andrikos · « **Reply #11 on:** 15 Apr 2005, 10:30 pm »

Why bother buying a marble (read HEAVY) sub from nOrh if you're planning to replace the driver and put a port? Why not build it here?
Go to a tombstone business and ask them if they have scrapped tombstones for sale?

They might even drill a port/driver hole for you...
You can glue it together and voila! A sub to your specs!
Now you're giving me ideas!!!

rosconey · « **Reply #12 on:** 15 Apr 2005, 10:34 pm »

a granite and marble countertop shop can make them-

Marbles · « **Reply #13 on:** 15 Apr 2005, 10:53 pm »

Quote from: Andrikos

Why bother buying a marble (read HEAVY) sub from nOrh if you're planning to replace the driver and put a port? Why not build it here?
Go to a tombstone business and ask them if they have scrapped tombstones for sale? They might even drill a port/driver hole for you...
You can glue it together and voila! A sub to your specs!
Now you're giving me ideas!!!

While that might be fine for a rectangular sub, mine will match the column shaped speakers. I'm hoping the curved speakers might have some sonic benifit (although at those frequencies I doubt it.) and I'm sure they will have a visual one.

It is very expensive to have the driver hole counter sunk and the screw holes drilled, and a mounting ring made to hold the driver.

Besides, I'm loyal to MB and nOrh when it comes to marble cabinets.

I also think you misunderstood....nOrh would modify their own sub to fit my needs.

PeteHK · « **Reply #14 on:** 5 May 2005, 05:33 am »

I remember emailing Michael Barnes about a marble subwoofer to use as stands for my marble 9s years ago. nOrh came out with one some time later, but it only had an 8' driver and looked rather ordinary (to my eyes). I decided to pass.

It would be interesting if nOrh could put the Tumult (15') driver in a small cylindrical marble cabinet. However, shipping costs might be prohibitive (unless the cabinet was shipped without the driver, leaving the purchaser to source it).

Put me down for 2 such cabinets, if you ever decide to make them, Mr Barnes!

Tyson · « **Reply #15 on:** 5 May 2005, 05:46 am »

The only regret I've ever had in hifi is selling my nOrh speakers. D@mn they were great looking, great sounding speakers.

Marbles · « **Reply #16 on:** 7 May 2005, 11:33 pm »

I received the speaker and XO for the other speaker from Dennis today. I've been listening for the past few hours and in side by side listening, the DM XO speaker is more open and "smoother" sounding. The old one is a bit more forward sounding.

Looks like I will be swapping out an XO in the other speaker tonight or tomorrow. Too bad tomorrow is Mothers Day

I don't know how much time I'll have to work on it.

Marbles · « **Reply #17 on:** 7 May 2005, 11:35 pm »

Quote from: oris98

I am looking for the right active XO and and may sell my passive XO designed by Dennis later... ...

I'd be interested in those DM XO's. My daughter has the wood 9.0's and those XO's would be perfect for her pair...

JoshK · « **Reply #18 on:** 8 May 2005, 12:12 am »

Quote from: Marbles

I received the speaker and XO for the other speaker from Dennis today. I've been listening for the past few hours and in side by side listening, the DM XO speaker is more open and "smoother" sounding. The old one is a bit more forward sounding.

Looks like I will be swapping out an XO in the other speaker tonight or tomorrow. Too bad tomorrow is Mothers Day I don't know how much time I'll have to work on it.

I'd imagine they will sound even more different after a 100hrs on them or so as the caps need time to break in. I don't think coils break in, but caps do.

Marbles · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 May 2005, 02:13 am »

It looks like they have two small caps in them.

I hooked up the new XO board, so both speakers have DM XO's.

Instruments sound VERY realistic....

XO'd to my SVS subs, they sound good enough that I think I could be happy with the sound for a long time.

I have no idea what I'll do with them when my Salks come.

Dennis Murphy is a Wizard when it comes to XO's.......