The Rhythm Prisms

panomaniac · « **Reply #40 on:** 25 May 2010, 03:12 am »

A system that can retain its character and resolution while you turn down the volume - is a very good system indeed. It's a hard test. You're on the right road, for sure.

OzarkTom · « **Reply #41 on:** 25 May 2010, 01:08 pm »

It was a huge pleasure tp meet Duke and his fine Prisms at LSAF. As am audiophile for 40 years, a high-end dealer for 15, I have my preferences of what works and what don't. When I first stuck my head in the room and saw the horns, I immediately judged the speaker and walked by the room. Every horn speaker I have ever heard always screamed at me one way or the other, I hate horns.

But since I was there for a couple of days, I found myself back into his room. Duke sure made me eat those thoughts. Smooooooth, musical, and detail.....it was awesome. I went back more than a few listens, I knew they were going to start screaming at me eventually, I was wrong. And what a value. You can buy these with that little Virtue One.2 amp for less than 3K. If you are just starting out or have Hi-Fi burn-out, just get this package and you will have that musical magic that many systems costing several times more fails to give.

Thanks Duke!

pbrstreetgang · « **Reply #42 on:** 4 Oct 2010, 02:27 am »

Any more thoughts on these that are out in the field?

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #43 on:** 4 Oct 2010, 03:04 am »

I went. I doubted. I was undoubted. Very nice, dynamic and detailed sound. Something I think a person could live with for a long time.

James Romeyn · « **Reply #44 on:** 4 Oct 2010, 03:09 am »

I appreciate, believe in, and recommend one of Duke's speakers tests: notice the aural effects in a room next to the speakers. It's funny, but when you think about it, you don't need to enter a room to know whether it's live or reproduced. As John Atkinson wrote several months ago, you can tell walking down the street, a few buildings away, through an open window whether it's recorded or live, even if "live" is an amplified electric guitar. It's a good test. Duke knows his stuff.

RMAF is pretty centrally located. You could do worse than buying a plane ticket to Denver, esp, (cough, cough) because it appears Duke's launching new technology (I think it's an appropriate word) at the show.

The Jazz Module and Dream Maker are among my favorite audio bargains, especially considering its moderate power requirements.

pbrstreetgang · « **Reply #45 on:** 4 Oct 2010, 03:53 am »

For sure going to RMAF would be nice but I cannot as I am on weekend shifts.

James Romeyn · « **Reply #46 on:** 4 Oct 2010, 04:14 am »

Quote from: jimdgoulding on 4 Oct 2010, 03:04 am

I went. I doubted. I was undoubted...

That's a hoot, Jim!

Parkfly · « **Reply #47 on:** 3 Nov 2010, 02:38 am »

Quote

Any more thoughts on these that are out in the field?

Here are mine:

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=87553.0

Parkfly.

gonzoyoyo · « **Reply #48 on:** 15 Nov 2010, 11:23 am »

I am interested by these speakers, and I am wondering if they are suitable for any kind of music.... Thank you for your input.

panomaniac · « **Reply #49 on:** 15 Nov 2010, 11:39 pm »

I did not hear them play big orchestral works, but the other styles I heard on them were quite good. Solid bass but never boomy.

gonzoyoyo · « **Reply #50 on:** 16 Nov 2010, 03:30 am »

Thank you. Do they perform well with rock, jazz, etc????
Regards.

Duke · « **Reply #51 on:** 16 Nov 2010, 08:44 am »

Hi Gonzo,

Well my opinion is probably (cough cough) a bit biased, but aside from pipe organ or heavy synth the Rhythm Prisms aren't really limited by music genre. Rock, jazz, etc. is a piece of cake. They can of course be positioned to maximize boundary reinforcement and the bass tuning adjusted accordingly, if you do want to explore pipe organ and/or heavy synth.

panomaniac · « **Reply #52 on:** 18 Nov 2010, 02:59 pm »

Quote from: Duke on 16 Nov 2010, 08:44 am

Rock, jazz, etc. is a piece of cake.

I would say yes, for sure. Big, full sound. Plenty of satisfying weight and power. High resolution, but not "lightweight" at all. Great dynamics, too.

gonzoyoyo · « **Reply #53 on:** 21 Dec 2010, 09:03 am »

They remind me of some Tannoy speakers... Would the sound be comparable?

Duke · « **Reply #54 on:** 22 Dec 2010, 05:11 am »

Quote from: gonzoyoyo on 21 Dec 2010, 09:03 am

They remind me of some Tannoy speakers... Would the sound be comparable?

Which Tannoy speakers? I'm under the impression that most, if not all, Tannoys use a concentric tweeter, which is a significantly different approach in my opinion.

In theory the concentric format inherently does some things better, and having a separate waveguide or horn inherently does some things better. I've worked with concentrics a bit, and at one time showed a pair at an audio show but never went into production with that model because another company came out with a kit that was very similar.

I can only recall hearing one Tannoy speaker, which was a large high-efficiency 12" or 15" two-way concentric in a vintage-style cabinet.

pslate · « **Reply #55 on:** 19 Jan 2011, 07:26 pm »

How might the Rhythm Prisms compare to a stand mount monitor? I am thinking something with relatively low sensitivity and big sound from a small container without waveguides (as is popular these days). I know this is a pretty subjective question, but I wondered if anyone had some thoughts on the topic. Just wondered how this might compare to a traditional Scanspeak revelator or illuminator set up, what the advantages are with each approach.

Duke · « **Reply #56 on:** 20 Jan 2011, 07:25 am »

Quote from: pslate on 19 Jan 2011, 07:26 pm

How might the Rhythm Prisms compare to a stand mount monitor? I am thinking something with relatively low sensitivity and big sound from a small container without waveguides (as is popular these days). I know this is a pretty subjective question, but I wondered if anyone had some thoughts on the topic. Just wondered how this might compare to a traditional Scanspeak revelator or illuminator set up, what the advantages are with each approach.

That would be a most interesting clash of philosophies!

The high-end conventional (Scanspeak) approach has the theoretical advantage in best imaging for one, as well as inner detail.

The Rhythm Prism approach has the theoretical advantage in sweet spot width, macrodynamics, and compatibility with a wider range of amplifiers.

That leaves a whole lot of potentially disputed territory: Naturalness of timbre, freedom from listening fatigue, freedom from coloration, bass extension and quality, impact, midrange clarity, coherence, suitability to a wide variety of music, sounds the most like live music, sounds good at a wide range of loudness levels, lets you hear the most variation from one recording to another, and probably a lot of other stuff I can't think of right now.

Now, why would naturalness of timbre be in dispute? Conventional wisdom no doubt holds that a small high-quality woofer and tweeter will sound more natural than a big prosound woofer and horn. Well, my theory is that the reverberant field matters a lot more than is generally appreciated, and my design pays a lot of attention to getting it right. Whether that will tip the scales, I can't say for sure without an actual comparison.

Likewise with freedom from coloration. A horn is inherently a higher-coloration device than a dome or ribbon tweeter, if we look only at the on-axis response. But once we factor in the off-axis contribution, a good waveguide-style constant-directivity horn may end up being highly competitive.

There are some very good conventional-style stand-mount speakers on the market, and it's rather presumptuous of me to expect a prosound-type speaker to compete with them on their home turf. More than likely each speaker would have its relative areas of superiority, leaving the final choice a matter of personal preference and prioritiy to a certain extent. But in my opinion at least (which cannot possibly be biased!!), there's enough uncertainty about the relative merits of the two opposing philosophies in a small-room domestic setting to make a direct comparison potentially quite interesting.

I'd like to hear the thoughts of others who are, theoretically at least, less biased than myself.

pslate · « **Reply #57 on:** 20 Jan 2011, 02:04 pm »

Thanks Duke for the kind reply to a not so easy question

Well said too. In a perfect world I would have an excellent electrostat, standmount, and constant directivity speaker. Let me know if you hit up AK Fest!

Russell Dawkins · « **Reply #58 on:** 20 Jan 2011, 07:52 pm »

I would jump at the opportunity to compare a good example of the high efficiency, controlled dispersion approach to a top end conventional 2 way with lower efficiency and the changing dispersion through the crossover region.

I gather that the latter would offer slightly lower distortion through the range covered by the bass/mid, but only at low levels. Once the levels pick up to "approaching live" I would imagine the distortion advantage would go to the pro-sound-type driver.

I would imagine basically the same for the naked vs waveguide-loaded HF driver - lower distortion at low levels but higher at high levels for the unaided dome/ribbon, although it would appear that the Raal ribbon might be an exception, both in efficiency and high power handling.

Richard in Idaho · « **Reply #59 on:** 31 Jan 2011, 04:53 am »

Couple of questions.

Where are your speakers made?

Can someone listen to you speakers there in Preston. If it ever warms up a bit I would like to drive over to your area.

Thanks