[jrebman]

Here are a few initial thoughts on some of the SD offerings I saw at this year's RMAF.

I tried to get to every room that had any connection to single driver/high efficiency speakers, but I'm not 100% that I managed to do that -- I sort of got sidetracked a bit which if you are so inclined, you can read about on the ACI circle.)  There were quite a few surprises -- some exciting, some disappointing, but please try to keep in mind these impressions are mine, using my very own ears and bringing my own tastes, experiences and prejudices  along for the ride.

The first thing I'm sorry I did not get a chance to hear was the comparison of the Lowthers with and without the EnABL technology, but I did speak to a few who were there about their impressions.

I did hear the Lowthers in the OB with the bass reinforcement in the Lowther America room and found that while very dynamic and transparent, they still had that Lowther "tizzy"sound, which I appear to be hypersensitive too.  Maybe it is related to the fact that my main sensory modality is my hearing and thus the hypersensitivity.  Nonetheless, as nice a speaker as it was, it's not one I feel I could live with for any  length of time -- and I have no idea what it cost.

Ok, on to the Feastrex room... These were the things I most wanted to hear as I've always been a fan of field coil drivers, plus all the talk about eh D5nf being the current top of the pack in full rangers, I was prepared to be sucked in and intoxicated by the sound to the point where I was going to pull out my credit card and spend all kinds of money that I don't have, just to get in on the special pricing on the D5nfs that llasts until the end of this month before a very significant price hike.

Now, I realize I may be in a very small minority here, but overall, they just didn't do it for me -- neither the D5nfs or the D9e field coils, which I could simply never afford anyway.  They did some things exceptionally well -- maybe most in fact, as long as you stayed in the mids.  It's not that there was no high end, quite the opposite, plenty of top end, just not one that was very pleasing to my ears.  Overall, both speakers sounded a bit on the harsh and edgy side, and when pushed, just seemed to break up even more.  I think both speakers did a pretty good job on relatively simple things, and more compressed recordings, but on very dynamic and complex pieces they just seeed to crack, in a way that not onluy didn't sound good to me, but actually sounded quite harsh.  Now, maybe it is that these are brand new and there is still some more development and refinement planned by the company, and it also seemed pretty clear that that these will have to be put into the right kinds of enclosures for them to sound their best, and I'm not sure anybody has figured exactly what those are yet.

To say that I was disappointed is an understatement -- I really expected much, much more from these, especially given their relatively steep price tags.

I should mention that two other blind friends of mine independently came to the same basic conclusions.  There were times when these drivers were absolutely sweet and beautiful, but the range of things they could handle without going to pieces just seemed to limited for me to consider getting them at this stage in their development.

The next room was the Lovecraft Designs/Cain and Cain room.  At the time I was there the Wall of Sound speakers were playing, which was what I was most hoping to hear, so I parked my butt down and had a good listen.  What Jason has managed to extract from a single 6-1/2 Fostex 168 Sigma is nothing short of amazing.  The bass went much lower than any other SD design I've ever heard, and was extremely dynamic and musical.  These cabinets -- for anybody who hasn't seen them, are 30" wide by 40" tall and probably 6" or so deep with the driver mounted centered side to side, and if my memory serves, about 10" down from the ttop, and  firing into a tractrix horn with its exit along the outer side of the box.  I spent a good amount of time listening to a variety of tunes from classical to electronica and a bit of acoustic blues as well.  My wife kept saying how beautiful they were, and we even asked a few times about pricing, and maybe options as well, and had an idea that we would be back for some extended listening after hours.  There are a few reasons why we decided that they would not work for us -- first of all, with their 30" width and only 10 feet of wall space to work with in our living room, and a rack that is over 4 feet wide, that would leave about 6 inches between the rack andspeaker on each side, which meant that one speaker's horn would be firing directly into a wall -- not a good situation.  I have to say that the sound also had a pretty typical Fostex edginess to the top end, but my sense that some cone and basket treatments, and/or a phase plug would go a very long way to eliminating that.  The one thing that I don't think can be changed as far as the sonics go, is that it sounds like a horn -- and if you like horns, then you'd probably love this speaker.  But that wide open mouth leaves a lot of baffle and back area without any mechanical support so there is plenty of room for the wood to resonate and add that particular coloration -- mostly to the bass notes, and again, if that works for you (ssounds very good with some things) then I'm sure you'd love this speaker.  It really does manage to extract an amazing amount of sound power and bass extension out of a single 6.5" driver, with excellent duynamics, a midrange to die for, and in a reasonably priced ($3300 in standard configuration), superbly crafted cabinet.  A beautiful and capable speaker, just not my personal full cup of tea.  Maybe a thicker, stiffer baffle and back, or some other method of bracing those large unsupported panels to reduce the bass resonances, and I'd probably be thinking very hard about taking a pair home with me.  Jason is one hell of a nice guy, a true craftsman, and somebody who's work I'll personally be keeping an eye on to see what else may be coming from Lovecraft Designs in the future.

I'll stop here for now and will pick up later when I have some more time.

Thanks,

Jim

[miklorsmith]

Wow, nice work!

[ZLS]

Jrebman (Jim)

    Thank you for your excellent description of the sound of the various speakers.  I especially appreciated your honesty in stating that some speakers were simply not your taste, but others may differ. It is so refreshing to have a reviewer admit that he is not the source of all wisdom. 
    I look forward to your next installment

[reddmadder]

Hi Jim,
   I've owned the Wall-o-Sounds for about a year.
    The design is by Gordon Rankin of Wavelength Audio,I was one of 4 people who purchased them  from Terry(R.I.P)just before he really became sick.
    The drivers really need 500+hrs of break- in time to soften and smooth out,I don't know if Jason had that much time on those.
     All I can say is that it's my last speaker,unless I move into a smaller house.
    Check out my gallery and you'll see how I have them set-up.
    I used to run Fi s.e.t. amps :2a3,300b,421a and Almarro Mk2 and just recently purchased a Cy Brenneman PP Stereo 30,which really makes them sing. The more juice the better.
    As far as resonances ,I really don't hear them or am not bothered by them,either way they work for me.
    Anyway ,it's good to see that people finally had a chance to hear them.
        Joe

[opnly bafld]

Jim,
When did you hear the Feastrex rooms?
Sometime on Saturday (late afternoon?) they changed the drivers around.
I believe they put the Dimension 5 in the horns(?) in room 1002 (on the right) and put the drivers from the horns, Dimension 5nf, in the passive radiator loaded boxes in room 1003 (on the left).
IMO this improved the sound in each room somewhat. Also note the drivers were brand new and in need of being run in, I noticed a good improvement in room 1002 with the D5nf in the horn boxes between Friday and Saturday.

Even given proper break in time and other cabinet designs I think the Feastrex drivers would still have problems meeting my expectations.

Lin

[DaveC113]

I enjoyed listening to a lot of good stuff at RMAF, but in the single driver class Omegas are the best I've heard so far (I know, not at RMAF this year). I posted some comments about the single drivers I heard on the other RMAF thread. I have the XRS speakers and have listened to the Maxhemps for a few hours. Very few other speakers have the bandwidth of the Omega speakers, plus they have very good tone and decent bass impact, something I found to be lacking with others. Overall they just do a lot more things right. 

Dave

[jrebman]

Ok, my hands feel a ok today, so I can respond to a few things and add a few more.

First, Mike, thank you -- that means a lot to me coming from you, whose opinions and reviews I've always enjoyed.  Zack, thank you as well -- I'm just calling them as I hear them but trying to be reasonably objective as well.

Joe, I really should clarify, I didn't mean any negative implication, just that I heard the resonance, and notice that it does work for a good deal of things, but not as well to my ears with a few others.  The cabinet is made of Maple, as you know, and the large unsupported sections do resonate a bit, but since it is a nice sounding wood like Maple, it is pleasing.  Maybe a thicker back, or an external brace, or good quality hardwood plywood would change things -- I'm sure it would, but the question is whether it would be better or not.  I just have to wonder if a different material with a different natural resonant frequency/timbre would have on the final sound.  As I said, I was seriously considering buying them myself, which should say something.

But, thanks everybody for the feedback.

-- Jim

[jrebman]

Oops, looks like a section of that last one magically disappeared.  Anyway, Linn, I don't actually remember when I heard the Feastrex drivers -- the whole show, in terms of where I was and when, has faded into oblivion, but it was sometime Saturday -- probably mid afternoonish.  I know when I was talking to Joe in the bar the evening before he told me that one of the 9 inch drivers had been damaged in transit and they got a new one overnighted, so that could easily explain part of what I heard, and likewise, if the D5s were new, that could say a lot as well.  I'll definitely be going back for a listen next year, but I am pretty sure they won't be on my wish list -- and in good part due to their price -- just too rich for my blood.

Dave, once everything is reconfigured over here, you'll have to bring those XRSs over for a listen.

Ok, now on to the next part...

[jrebman]

There are only a couple more single driver related rooms that I was able to cover, so I'll start with the one that was the biggest disappointment, and then try to end on a more positive note.

Serious Stereo.  Serious?  Let's see, the stuff appears to be built to survive a nuclear attack, and for all I know, the amp on it's own is a real performer.  Joe Cohen of the Lotus Group (see Feasterex above) has one of their amps, so that is promising.  The speakers: well, as I said, built to last, huge, and a real feat of engineering to get that much room shaking bass response (the vendor claims clean down to 20Hz in-room response), and that's with a 15 inch Altec 604 type driver.  The bass was indeed low, and indeed room shaking, but to me it didn't have a very tight, controlled, or focused presentation.  It seemed a nbit loosey-goosey, but not so much that it wasn't at least in some ways, pleasing to listen to.  But as far as the total picture, there were huge dips and peaks in the response, not much of a top end to speak of, and the entire presentation sounded fairly veiled to me.  They were not transparent, coherent, or even handed in their response, which many speakers are not that I still enjoy listening to, but tthese sounded more extreme to me, and given their nearly 10k price tag, I wouldn't be inclined to overlook their issues.  You could get a pair of Lamhorn 1.8s with the AER Mk. II drivers for about the same money, and which I will almost guarantee will work very nicely with the $10,000 Serious Stereo 2A3 amp.  In all fairness, I do think the speaker has a lot of potential, but IMO, some serious response and clarity issues need to be addressed before I'd take another look.  The caveat here is that I know many people who love this kind of vintage, old school sound, semi reminiscent of the big horns and theater speakers from the 50s, and I would say if that is the sound you enjoy, definitely go have a listen -- they do some remarkable things -- but you better be single because those monster cabinets would never be let in most married men's homes.

Now, for the real surprise of the show -- The Audio Magus room with Trends trend-setter Michael Mardis.  I had intended to visit this room Saturday afternoon, but because I got a bit delayed in the ACI room (ahem) I didn't get there until Sunday later in the morning.  I was really just planning on going in to hear the famed Trends amps and to just hold one in my hand to check out the physical form factor, and then head off to the next room.  What I wasn't counting on was a nice conversation with Michael M., and the sound of some really interesting and very nice single driver speakers -- that had amazingly enough just been finished that morning and with the back held on by duct tape.  The electronics sounded pretty decent too -- a new upsampling DAC with a few modifications including transformer coupled analog outputs -- and the whole thing powered by SLA batteries -- actually, just one battery as I understood it.  There were also the JohnBlue speakers which sounded pretty decent especially given their very small size.  They imaged extremely well, did the disappering thing, and had a nice, but not overly refined sound to them.  I liked the others much better.

So, what are these others?  They were a pair of sideways quarter wave tubes -- wide and shallow in the same vein as the Cain-Cain Wall of Sounds, but smaller in proportion, and a different loading.  They had a single Hemp Acoustics FR8 driver that had been EnABL'ed.  Michael had dubbed them the "Grass Shacks" because they were made of bamboo plywood and had hemp drivers (you do the math), and are in actuality a design of Dave Dlugos of Planet 10 that he calls the "Demetri"

Wow, what a smoothe and very well balanced, transparent sound and with plenty of resolution to hear the smallest of details without beibng tizzy or etched.  They didn't have a whole lot of bass, and probably sounded a little lean at first listen, but a good deal of that could be that the back was duct taped on and the thing had only been built that morning.  Michael said the driver was well broken in, so that wasn't the issue.  Another contributing factor was probably the tripath amplification -- which has always sounded a little haarmonically lean in the upper bass/lower mids.  I'm guessing a  good 5 to 25 watt tube amp would really light these up -- as has been my experience with my amps and single driver speakers in my own home.  Sitting there listening to the wonderful sounds of Hawaiian slack-key guitar, I couldn't help but think that I need to build a pair of these for myself, or get Dave to make me a pair.  These were the most overall satisfying single driver, high efficiency speakers I've listened to in a long time.  No, not perfect, but nothing is.

The only other thing about this room that I want to mention is that there will be a new company which will be selling the modified DAC, as well as a few new things -- all of which sound interesting to the low power, tripath fans out there, and others who like quality, lower priced electronics that sound good.

So, overall it was a great show with a decent showing for the single driver / high efficiency afficianados, and with  more good stuff coming.

I'm hoping I didn't leave out any rooms that I actually saw, and I'm also hoping I didn't miss some others  that I should have seen, but there is only so much time to get to a whole lot of systems, and I may very well have inadvertently left a few out.  If you can think of something I missed that you saw, please tell us all about it.

I hope this was helpful to some here who enjoy this quirky space in the audio world, I had a lot of fun at the show, and I only hope there is more to see next year.

Thanks,

Jim

[DaveC113]

HI Jim, I look forward to having you check out the XRS. I agree with you about the Trends sounding a little lean, but my new (to me) Anthem Pre1 tube preamp solved that problem. Also, bypassing the Trends low-quality volume pot and powering it with a battery/capacitor bank made a big jump forward in sound quality as well. I have the new parts for the Trends ready to go too... Jupiter input coupling caps, BG type N power caps, and Caddock input resistors.    From what I hear on DIYaudio this should help a lot too.

Its too bad I missed the Trends room, Mike Mardis has helped a lot on the DIYaudio board and his website with Trends modding questions, I would have liked to thank him in person.

As far as the Hemp Acoustics drivers... unfortunatley for a lot of people, the guy who owns this company has a very bad reputation. I wouldn't touch his products with a 10 ft pole.

www.hemp-acoustics.com

Dave 

[vinylkid58]

As far as the Hemp Acoustics drivers... unfortunatley for a lot of people, the guy who owns this company has a very bad reputation. I wouldn't touch his products with a 10 ft pole.

It's too bad he has such a bad rep, I love my FR4.5C's and would like to see them evolve and become even better. I have a feeling that may not happen though.

Jeff

[reddmadder]

Jim,
   I'm glad you mentioned the fact that the W3's you listened to were Maple.
   It does make me consider that the type of wood used could have a sonic signature.
    Mine are made of Cherry and I was supposed to get brass rings for the drivers,as per Terry's suggestion, but at the time there was a 3 month wait for the brass,so I gave up on that tweak and took delivery.
      Like most things in life it's a personal choice...right now I'm working away from home and my music fix is getting satiated by my laptop running itunes with my Grado SR80 headphones and to be honest it sounds pretty good and it's mp3!!! Makes me really take stock of how to spend my hard earned $.
       Joe

[JLM]

Links to the grass shack speakers?

[jrebman]

Jeff,

Go to this link:

http://www.planet10-hifi.com/boxes-fostex.html

and look for "demetri" under the "monoliths" section.

I'd be really interested to know specs on the Mileva too -- which sounds like a similar design but for the FE-127 -- now that would interest me.

I still think that "Grass Shack" speaker would sound even more wonderful with an SE or PSE EL84 amp, but that's just my personal taste.

-- Jim

[vinylkid58]

I'd be really interested to know specs on the Mileva too -- which sounds like a similar design but for the FE-127 -- now that would interest me.

The FE127 based Mileva is a very nice sounding speaker. And yes, they sound great driven by SET 2A3 and PP EL84 triode, but beg for more power depending on room size/music type etc. For a book-shelf sized speaker, the Fonkens will give the Mileva a real run for the money, trading bass extension for a bit more definition IMHO.

I had a chance to hear a pair of modified Fostex FE166 based Demetri's this past summer at the local DIYfest. They sounded very good driven by a gorgeous 300B SET diy amp, with killer bass extension, and this was outside!

Jeff

[jrebman]

Jeff,

Good to hear that as well.  The Fonkens are already next in line and I'll probably be ordering a pair within a couple months.

BTW, my room that these will all be used in is 10' x 16' with a 3' x 6' closet taken out of one corner.  I'd be sitting about 7 feet from the speakers, so it won't take a whole lot to fill the room.  I also have a box full of 8th nerve Response treatments that I picked up for  a song, and that I'll use in this room (where WAF isn't an issue ).

-- Jim

[t-head]

Jeff,

A bit OT, but what do you have your FR4.5Cs mounted in/on?

Richard

[vinylkid58]

Jeff,

A bit OT, but what do you have your FR4.5Cs mounted in/on?

I have them temporarily mounted on small JE Lab style open baffles while I build a couple of test boxes (mini-Onken).
I had them in my diy Fonken boxes for a couple of months, they sound good but not big enough (volume) to provide satisfactory bass output. The test cabs willl be about 20 liters and ugly.

Jeff

[anubisgrau]

Was Teresonic represented at RMAF?

I'm wondering how they would perform in comparison with everthing else mentioned here....

[jrebman]

Not as far as I was able to determine or I would have gone for a listen.  These are tops on my list of SD speakers to listen to whenever I get the opportunity to.

-- Jim