[datman]

Well, I have finally done it.  I have ordered a pair of Musical Affairs Grand Crescendo SAG speakers.  They use the concentric 12'' PHY Silver driver which I believe is pretty much full range (the tweeter crosses at 11K).  I have always wanted a predominantly single driver speaker ever since I heard a pair of Beauhorns at the Stereophile show at least 10 years ago.  The memory of those speakers haunts me still.  Unfortunately, because of the size of my room, I could not use a Lowther based speaker. 

This is going to be quite exciting.  The Grand Crescendos are 97 dB efficient so I might even switch to tubes.  WHO knows?  I will report a soon as they are delivered in April and have had a chance to listen to them. 

It is a bit of a crapshoot because I have not yet heard them.  Ah well, no risk, no reward.

[JLM]

Interesting specifications:  http://www.musicalaffairs.com/prod/grandcrescendo2_en.php

4 mm thick panels

total cabinet weight 8.5 kg (less than the driver)

semi-enclosed open baffle design


Yes, please do let us know how they sound.

[lcrim]

datman:
Do check back in to let us know how this workrd out.  I've been looking at these these as well as the Solovox from Auditorium 23 which also use the PHY-HP speakers in a modified open baffle arrangement.  The cost of very nearly $10,000 is a very daunting prerequisite, at least to me.  These are built in much the same manner as musical instruments, they are meant to allow the construction to resonate just as a violin or acoustic guitar does. 

[kbuzz3]

I have a pair of tannoy coax and do like the single drive sound.  As an aside, for some totally unscientific reason I think that the desire to tune a cabinet rather then strive mightly to make it inert makes really good sense.
 

[Les Lammers]

I have had the Auris II speakers with PHY KM30 SAG drivers for 6 years. They are world class and will provide you a lifetime of audio bliss. The cabinet work will knock your sox off...art in wood. You will definitely want to go low power tubes. *I* suggest an amp with a beefy power supply to get a good grip on that big Alnico magnet.  An amplifier with an inadequate power supply will cause the cabinet to vibrate/resonate excessively. Don't dismiss quality low powered push pull or single ended pentode amps. What are you planning to drive them with initially? Your digital source will be very important as the drivers are mercilessly revealing. Consider a used/demo 47 Labs Shigariki set up. Or a good transport and decent non upsampling DAC. The best sound I got from them was with a Shindo Monbrison pre and Cortese amp using a 47 Labs Flatfish and Progression DAC. Simply stunning. Bought that gear used/demo but sold it a year later because *I* decided that was stupid money to have invested in audio. I have dumbed down my system and will soon be selling the Auris. Yeah, I'll miss them, but I am moving and will have a much smaller room.  The drivers will take a while to settle in, so be patient.  You may have to use some damping material at the bottom of the cabinet depending on your room when you set them up. I used unprocessed combed wool felt. Speaker cables? I used the PHY wire for a long time but am currently using Nanotec Strada #79, $50 a meter.

Hope this helps you on your journey,

Les

[anubisgrau]

What are you planning to drive them with initially? Your digital source will be very important as the drivers are mercilessly revealing. Consider a used/demo 47 Labs Shigariki set up. Or a good transport and decent non upsampling DAC. The best sound I got from them was with a Shindo Monbrison pre and Cortese amp using a 47 Labs Flatfish and Progression DAC. Simply stunning. Bought that gear used/demo but sold it a year later because *I* decided that was stupid money to have invested in audio. I have dumbed down my system and will soon be selling the Auris.

Les, I remember you've purchased Softone CDP and you raved about it together with a Paradisea (or was it Promitheus?) DAC. Your thoughts were it left 47 Labs combo in dust.

I'm wondering what are your thoughts now. I am actually very interested in Softone Model 3 CD player.

Thanks!

[Les Lammers]

I really like the Softone/modded Paradisea combination and plan to keep it a long time. I can't say it left the 47 Labs in the dust but I do not at all regret selling it. When I was looking at digital I was concerned about the number posts I read about transport mechanism problems after a few years. The Softone is well built and the transport mechanism is one of the best so... I think music servers are the future of digital but I still want a good single play rig because HD's will eventually crash.