I guess I'm just looking for some confirmation, but I have a few questions; sorry if this is long - I'll try to give all relevant info.
My system:
2 channel audio only;
Front ends: Teres tt, Moerch arm, Zyx Airy 3; nOrh cd player
Amp: all tube, phono stage, pre and 300B single ended triode (with some guts)
Present speakers: IPL S3 trans lines (15 years old, not the metal drivers); 6.5 inch SEAS bass driver, soft dome tweeter, 40 ins H x 8 ins W x 10 ins D. LDSG site rates these as two stars, i.e. not very good by today's standards.
Room: 18ft x 14ft x 7.5ft, fairly well furnished.
My tastes:
Delicacy, persuasiveness, great vocals (purity, emotion, sensitivity), tonality, realism.
Ability to work well with valves, esp SET.
Good for orchestral - but need not put an orchestra into my room or put me in the front
row of the hall! Put me near the back and that's OK.
I think I'd like to 'see' individual performers, like a soloist singing, and I don't really get
that at present.
Dislikes: harshness, poor tonality and the kind of artificial bass that makes an orchestra sound like a rock group.
I basically like the present speakers as they do nothing wrong. Bass is somewhat light but it's tuneful, fairly tight and fast, pretty good really. And when I say 'light' I guess that's by comparison to some resonant speakers that I would not want to live with.
So what's wrong? Well, I heard some cheap Eltax speakers and I'd say they are better.
They were small floorstanders with twin 5 inch drivers. In particular they seemed to have quite a bit more detail, and presented fairly smoothly; and the midrange gave a very good presentation of female vocals. I almost bought a pair ....
However, I'm good at woodwork and enjoy DIY so I've decided to go for a kit again, expecting to get improvements from (a) 15 years of progress and (b) kits, especially those in the USA, seem really good these days. I've checked all the usual suspects and have been impressed by the quality (esp compared to the UK).
I have looked in particular at small TLs like the Thor and the Ariel, as TL bass seems a good match for my tastes. I'm not that impressed by some things I read about the Thor, and the Ariel comes out a bit too large for my taste (and WAF comes into it, but I'm in agreement there). I have also considered reflex or MLTL designs like Eros (which seems very good, but I find the baffle too wide for my liking). And some NC units are very close to my spec .... but somehow nothing got me excited.
I also looked into full DIY to take advantage of higher tech materials to get higher sensitivity (Focal drivers, etc); but soon saw that these need expertise that I don't have in order to design a crossover to fix the problems, then these complex crossovers absorb power and you're back where you started!
So I'm here, as the AV/3 looks such a great match for my needs.
I guess I'm only asking as a sanity check ...
As these are 'listed' as A/V speakers, I guess I need confirmation that they really are high end audio speakers as well. They do seem like it.
They seem very SET friendly; I don't need headbanging volumes, and some of my listening is done at low level. I assume good results with a 7 watt 300B SET? Note, mine has drive nd guts (massive PSU's), to me sounds more 'powerful' than an EL34 p-p amp I have.
I *love* good female vocals and this has to be done well.
Note though, the speaker does not have to 'do' anything; just present what's there properly and neutrally, no addition, no subtraction - as the front ends are very good.
Any comment please?
Danny I assume you can supply to the UK? I know air mail costs are high but it seems worth it, not a problem to me.
I expect to build the standard tweeter and caps upgrade, but I'm half wondering about the OW1 at some time; might make an interesting development (if I feel I need it, which I probably won't). I assume someone may be able to help with Xover mods if I fancy this?
Any other comment on the idea of an OW1?
Would anyone suggest better inductors, eg going up a gauge size or two even?
I've done quite a bit of research and can't quite believe this speaker can be so good, and such a great match for my needs; hell, if I'd spec'd what I wanted for a custom design, I think this would be IT.
TIA for any info
Mike
in the UK