[mcullinan]

Thanks for the description!
How much are these beauties?
Mike

[Rick Craig]

What kind of fountek is that, doesn't look like neo cd3.0 since the flange is square. What's the pricing? How does it sound compared to Tanzanite?

Looks like a Neo Pro5i

http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_info.php?manufacturers_id=132&products_id=1557

I'll have final pricing next week when the crossover is finished. As far as the sound the Accuton mid has more detail and the bass is more extended than the Tanzanite. One thing I forgot to mention is that this is a different woofer (C95) than what we used in the Esatto (C92). The C95 is designed specifically for ported cabinets and the C92 sealed. Unfortunately we came across a speaker from another ID company where they had designed a large sealed cabinet and installed a C95. The results were awful, but I guess that's what you get from a company that doesn't bother to test things like we do.

[Rick Craig]

Thanks for the description!
How much are these beauties?
Mike

About $2500/pr. with shipping.

[Jed]

Rick,

Please don't ever let me order a speaker with a non-round driver, ever again... omg what a pain cutting that baffle!!

Sounds like you've got a bunch of speakers you're working on Zero.     I'd be interested in your take on the Accuton drivers with the Fountek.

[Zero the Hero]

Hey Jed

These are actually the only speakers I'm working on currently. I was considering a number of designs, including a few of yours, a couple of Troel's, among others. Ultimately, my infatuation with Accuton led me to contact Rick regarding his designs, since I've noticed he's done a few custom designs using their drivers. Well, one thing led to another, and here we are... gee I feel like I've been caught cheating 

I've never built a 3 way and always wanted to try one, and I really wanted a design using Accuton drivers, centered around the C50 mid. I thought about topping it off with a Raal, but could not justify the extra expense with a 2" mid.

[Jed]

Well, one thing led to another,

You're still talking about speakers, right?   

The Accuton combo with Fountek should be stunning.  I look forward to reading about your impressions on them. My experience with Accuton was the C79/C88.  Both are very good, so I imagine the bass and mids you selected will work really well together.

[Zero the Hero]

Hey guys, gals, anyone who might be interested,

I got these drivers and crossovers from Rick last week and was able to throw them in boxes last night and listen for a couple of hours. I'll give some preliminary opinions now, but I need some more time to get concrete impressions.
First, my current speakers are a DIY design of Dayton Ref 7"s and B&G Neo 3; Cryolites if anyone interested in looking them up. Relatively budget compared to this Accuton design, but good drivers in their price range. Still, it took Audyssey MultEQ XT dsp to get the most out of them; without it the soundstage was shallow and mids were very recessed. With Audyssey however, those speakers sound very good to my ears. Everyone I've ever read about that uses Audyssey tends to comment about how it widens a soundstage- not sure how it does it.
Hooking these Accuton speakers in the same location, I played full range with no sub and no dsp to get the full feel of what they're capable of. First, the soundstage is ENORMOUS. Far wider than the room itself (9 feet). Is this the 2" mid in action? Maybe. Highs are crystal clear, fast and clean. Better than the B&G's? Probably, and I really like those planars. I can't really comment on bass yet as I'm used to listening with a sub, plus the suspension could probably do with a bit more loosening.
I will also say that although I was afraid I would not be able to listen to sub-par recordings with these due to what I've read about these drivers, I do not believe that will be the case. I listened to Hole's cover of Gold Dust Woman at 128mbps MP3 at relatively loud level with no ill effects - sounded pretty damn good actually.
Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms - universally regarded as very well recorded album, and I've always agreed although something always bugged me below the surface. Listened to a few tracks on these monitors, and I realized what is. The sonics are so clean, they're practically sterile. It's almost as if the music was manufactured, not played. These things are so clean and so ... fast?... that you can find yourself focusing on the lack of "grain" rather than music. Tunnel of Love off Making Movies on the other hand brought tears to my eyes, as did Yes' Heart of the Sunrise.
I'm a growing fan of classical violin, and Janine Jenson's Four Seasons by Vivaldi on SACD (2 channel) was as lifelike as I've ever heard. I thought my previous speakers were good at violin, and they were, but these are audibly better (not hugely, but audibly).
Piano, on the other hand, I don't listen to live enough to really know. Still, I believed that the sound was lacking on my old speakers as it often sounded muted and... slightly dead. I was apparently right. Well, I think I was. There is a huge difference in the sound of recorded piano, and while I still dont know if this is more or less accurate it sure sounds a hell of a lot better! The initial attack is cleaner and more pronounced, and I think there is a quicker decay allowing more focus on the notes that are playing. This assumption is from listening the the Zenph re-recording of Glen Gould's Bach: The Goldberg Variations.
I still need to play with room placement (as much as I can in a 9 x 12 room) and toe-in and such, so these are just initial impressions. Very favorable so far!

[kip_]

Why go for a ported enclosure with a subwoofer? Also, what's the sensitivity on these babies?

[Zero the Hero]

the room does double duty as a home theater (yes, a small one for now...) so the subs are there. I may likely run these full range for music, but I like having flexibility. I also like using ported with subs to allow smoother 4th order rolloffs both ways using my receiver x-over.

I'm not sure about the sensitivity, I'd guess no more than 85.

[Zero the Hero]

Ok, so these were playing all day yesterday (while my kid watched Ice Age 1 and 2 on blu-ray) and I listened to them for about 4-5 hours afterwards.
First; there is no shortage of bass. They're not going to replace a pair of 12" self-powered subs, but they do play low and they play with some serious authority, all the while sounding tight and clean. Kick drums at intro of "Hello" off Courtney Love's America's Sweetheart sounded as real as feasibly possible from a pair of 7" drivers. Deep bass from Flipsyde's pop/rock/hip-hop hybrid album We the People was reproduced. Bass solo at beginning of Black Sabbath's NIB sounded awesome, as did the drum track "Rat Salad" off Paranoid.
Next, I have solidified an impression about the Fountek tweeter. If you tell me that the Raal is a better tweeter I'll believe you, but I don't see how it is possible. After nearly 5 hours of listening at elevated SPLs, I had no sign of fatigue and could have gone on longer if not for the fact that I had to go to bed. Every cymbol, snare, hi-hat hit was crystal clear and yet not "in your face" or harsh. I don't know what the best songs are to test the tweeter capabilities, but continuing on the Ozzy theme the title track off "Diary of a Madman" (the original release, not the controversial re-issue) is chock full of cymbol crashes and other high-frequency usage; and man, sorry for the cliche, but I heard stuff I've never noticed before over and over.
Speaking of Ozzy, did you know Randy Rhoads recorded his solos in triplicate to make them sound fuller on the albums? Do you know what it's like being able to discern those seperate tracks finally?
One thing I don't really understand is since if I'm able to hear so much extra detail on all these recording with these, why I haven't really found a recording that sounds "bad"? I threw everything I could at it, from Lynyrd Skynrd's Second Helping to Led Zep Physical Graffitti, to System of a Down to Hendrix, and the only album I couldn't really listen to was Metallica's Death Magnetic (although I don't think I could listen to that CD release on a Bose system, with it's glorious 2.5 db dynamic range and continaul distortion from clipping). So how can a speaker so clean not be so analytical as to render crappy CDs unlistenable? Regardless; these are the greatest things I've ever heard and hopefully will keep the upgrade bug away for quite some time. At least for music... next to work on my home theater speakers once I seperate the rooms

[ecramer]

Yea The fact that they play so clean if its on the CD it is definitely going to be hearing is the love hate relation ship with Accuton drivers. I love mine but when you find a bad recording you know is bad big time. Hey thanks for the heads up on the C. Love cd i missed that i am a fan of her work. Would love to hear those monitors.

ED

[Zero the Hero]

ah, you really need to get that CD if you're a fan - terrific stuff!
I was a bit skeptical when Rick suggested a 3/4 cubic foot ported box for these when modelling in WinISD suggested a smaller enclosure, but I'm glad I listened. Thanks Rick!

[Zero the Hero]

well, I've got a new problem now thanks to these speakers. Bags- under my eyes. Really, I cannot seem to stop listening. It's way too easy to sit there with my Squeezebox remote and say to myself; "just one more song on the playlist, then I'll go to bed". Getting so bad that I've started to get really sleepy driving home. What's the cure?