[PaulHilgeman]

It is done, the 6moons review of the Ronin Paper Dipole is up:

http://www.6moons.com/audioreviews/nomad/rpd.html

Just go to page 2 if you already read the preview a few months ago.

Have a great weekend guys,
Paul Hilgeman
Nomad Audio

[EProvenzano]

Nice work Paul 

If you think inside the box, there are myriad options available in this price range. The FJ OMs remain my favorite pick for their unique combination of lushness and transparency. If however you want to transcend the box with its ubiquitous colorations, Nomad Audio's Ronins are a very easy recommendation, so easy in fact that I am buying this pair as my new reference speakers, to put my money where my pen is; and more importantly, to enjoy this performance every day.

Couldn't agree more.  I'm thrilled to own mine 

Incidentally, I'm chomping at the bit to biamp my RMD's. I have to agree with the author that the woofer is truly unleashed with the right solid state amp.  I've run the RMD for a short while with Bryston amps and the bass is flawless in my room.  I don't have deep enough pockets to afford a world class solid-state amp for single-amping, but the flexibility to bi-amp with SS on the woofer and push-pull on the MT should prove to be a great combo, providing limitless options to tune the sound to suit my tastes.

...but heck, you've got it covered with the Ronin A.  I would recommend anyone who's shopping for a full range speaker audition the Ronin A.

$0.02 from a happy owner.

EP

[PaulHilgeman]

And your Canadian cents are worth every bit as much as our US cents!

Did the upgrade to the external XO's go well?  I assume it did since I haven't heard much from you.

Keep me posted,
Paul

[John151]

The last line in the review says a lot:

Nomad Audio's Ronins are a very easy recommendation, so easy in fact that I am buying this pair as my new reference speakers, to put my money where my pen is; and more importantly, to enjoy this performance every day.

[FB101]

Yes and I stand by every word of it 

EP, I am glad you are experiencing the same qualities I heard in the Ronins. From Paul's reply I gather that you upgraded to the external X-over... anything that you can share on what impact it has had on the sound of the speakers?

I think that in the coming months I will explore SS amps to find out which make he rpds really shine. The A5 is quite good but I think it is possible to find even better articulation and fluidity with the same bass control and depth.

[Gbre]

Sounds very interesting - anyone out there with any experience with the RPD's and Van Alstine Ultra 350 or 550 amps?

[EProvenzano]

Hi everyone.

Sorry for my slow response. I'm out of town dealing with some not so pleasant family matters.
I promise I'll chime in again with a thoughtful response later this week.

Kind regards,
EP

[poseidonsvoice]

Paul,

Congratulations on your 6 moon review as well as your StereoTimes reward! Well deserved. If you don't mind, could you please expand upon the merits of a sealed woofer design as opposed to open baffle? A healthy discourse, for what its worth. If you have discussed this elsewhere, please give us the link. I'm curious as I've heard W-frame woofers (Linkwitz Orion), H-frame woofers (Nao II's) and GR's OB-5's which use a ported woofer. Your loudspeaker is on my short list as well. Just have to commit to a 6 hour drive to Chicago!

Thanks again,

Anand.

[PaulHilgeman]

I think I get pretty in-depth about my choices here:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=28164.20

The bottom line is that:

1.  In order to achieve deep bass, the separation path from the front of the driver to the rear of the driver must be long (say 12").   For a flat baffle and a 10" driver, this requires a 34" wide speaker (no WAF).  This also forms a resonant peak that is usually rather low in frequency, requiring a low crossover to the midrange.

2.  Folding the baffle to make a narrower speaker creates additional resonances, also low in frequency.

3.  These resonances require crossing from midrange to woofer lower in frequency, requiring more equalization of the midrange. 

3a.  Because of 1,2 and 3, many open baffle speakers cross too low in frequency and equalize the midrange too much (double jeopardy).  This puts lots of stress on the midrange by asking it to cover frequencies in the 100-200 Hz range.  This additional movement and stress increases IMD and lowers overall headroom. 

4.  In a passive design, this would result in lower sensitivity, not good.

5.  The woofer would require additional equalization for the lower frequencies

So, looking at the above, I would have to create at least a partial active/passive speaker that requires two amplifiers per channel.  I would have to cross the midrange lower in frequency, I would have less max SPL capability and overall higher distortion.

Also with the coaxial mid/tweeter it is pretty important to keep the lower frequencies out of the midrange driver.  The movement of the midrange diaphragm can create IMD in the tweeters output.  During my testing, the ammount of IMD was barley measureable when the midrange driver was required to handle frequencies in the 120Hz range but not when the crossover frequency was brought into the 250Hz range, even at extreme volumes.

Back to the question of a sealed box for the woofer, well it just integrates with the room better, has no boom or lag.  The bass is tight, defined and natural.  I think a lot of people that are used to ported speakers hear open baffle bass and are blow away by the tightness and tautness of the bass response, but few realize that this is mostly due to the roll-off and goup delay of the bass system, not JUST because it is an open baffle.  I feel that you can get all of this from a sealed box woofer and not have to worry about having equalization to get a proper response and gobs of displacement and power on tap.

These are all simply design choices that I have made based on my own research and development. 

Hope this helps,
Paul

[konut]

Back to the question of a sealed box for the woofer, well it just integrates with the room better, has no boom or lag.  The bass is tight, defined and natural.  I think a lot of people that are used to ported speakers hear open baffle bass and are blow away by the tightness and tautness of the bass response, but few realize that this is mostly due to the roll-off and goup delay of the bass system, not JUST because it is an open baffle.  I feel that you can get all of this from a sealed box woofer and not have to worry about having equalization to get a proper response and gobs of displacement and power on tap.

 

This should be required reading for everyone who is either designing a speaker or buying one.

[PaulHilgeman]

Thanks,

I think it might have come off a bit harsh though.  There are ways to make ported speakers perform pretty well under many room conditions, it just seems that quite a few mfrs. don't practice this.

Maybe:

I REALLY like sealed bass, and feel that it conveys a more realistic and defined bass experience.

That certainly sounds better .

The other problem is that most drivers are made for ported boxes.  It has really become the standard to get your bass from a 5-8" driver and most drivers in this range have suspensions and magnetic designs that make them suited to a ported box.  Unless you want to buy in the 1000+ unit quantity and get things customized, but some of us don't have that luxury.

-Paul

[FB101]

I think you did a superb job on the bass integration Paul; not once did I catch the upper bass smearing the midrange, no matter what I threw at the RPDs or what level I was playing the speakers at.

Bass presentation with the RPDs, in my experience, is really mostly a function of the electronics preceding the speakers although they always keep things in control.

Yesterday I played a CD of organ music recorded at Notre Dame in Paris and I could hear the lowest bass notes roll in the cathedral and how they echoed on the walls. What really impressed me was not so much the depth or the level of details but the ability to generate this type of quality bass without making any of the furniture shake and in a room that has no accoustic treatments (although the furniture is strategically located).
That's what I call real life bass, which is the issue I have with most speakers capable of high bass output; they don't really go well with familly life, kids, non-dedicated listening rooms and low level listening at night. The RPDs did all that very well even on bass heavy music and were able to sustain the bass credibility at relatively low levels.