Our new arrays

opusthepenguin · « **on:** 28 May 2010, 07:01 pm »

Thanks again Rick. They sound huge. So far i like to think of them as what maggies want to be when they grow up....

Still getting used to the concept of 50 watts of el34 shaking the floor and hitting you in the chest lol

kip_ · « **Reply #1 on:** 28 May 2010, 07:59 pm »

Which ones did you get? Symmetrica? Something custom? Pics please!

rahimlee54 · « **Reply #2 on:** 28 May 2010, 08:47 pm »

Those look awesome I would love to hear something like that at some point, awesome sir.

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #3 on:** 28 May 2010, 09:05 pm »

Customs, Sb Acoustics 5 inch woofers and Fountek ribbons. We wanted something narrow and full range that would play loud with 50 watts. These exceeded all our expectations. Rick's cabinet maker made the cabinets and we finished them. We bought the tanzanite kit a few years ago and have been wanting to turn Rick loose with a bigger budget ever since. The tanzanites still amaze me for what they cost. These are the same value on a much larger scale.

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #4 on:** 28 May 2010, 09:16 pm »

Heres all the driver boxes getting ready to go to the recycling. It cracked me up seeing all them in a pile.

kip_ · « **Reply #5 on:** 28 May 2010, 10:46 pm »

Quote from: kip_ on 28 May 2010, 07:59 pm

Which ones did you get? Symmetrica? Something custom? Pics please!

Before anyone accuses me of being blind, I made this post at work when I couldn't see the images

Kris · « **Reply #6 on:** 29 May 2010, 05:02 am »

Great system. I don't see any treatment, how is that room acoustically?

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #7 on:** 29 May 2010, 01:59 pm »

Its a room. Part of the reason we wanted arrays was to minimize room interaction and because there some height disparity between me and my wife. They sound the same on sitting the the floor to almost standing up. Our room is 25 feet long, vaulted ceiling 14 feet tall. The front few feet is 12 wide, then open doorway to kitchen , where we sit the room is 15 wide with a open set of stairs beyond that on one side. Basically the left wall is straight to the back and the right wall steps out as you go back. Its the living room/theater/listening room. No treatments yet, not sure my wife would really go for panels on the wall. We've talked about it before.

kip_ · « **Reply #8 on:** 29 May 2010, 03:00 pm »

These look spectacular. Are they sealed or ported? Sensitivity/-3db point, approximate price?

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #9 on:** 29 May 2010, 03:44 pm »

Ported, I'll let Rick get the rest. I know close but never asked exact numbers.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #10 on:** 29 May 2010, 05:19 pm »

OMG, bet those leave nothing to be desired.

Bill Baker · « **Reply #11 on:** 29 May 2010, 05:22 pm »

Absolutely stunning

Rick Craig · « **Reply #12 on:** 29 May 2010, 06:12 pm »

Quote from: kip_ on 29 May 2010, 03:00 pm

These look spectacular. Are they sealed or ported? Sensitivity/-3db point, approximate price?

Andy was looking for good bass extension to give him some flexibility for subwoofer options. We decided a ported system would be best and the -3db point is 47hz. He also wanted an impedance-friendly design for his tube amps so I designed a system impedance of 7 ohms nominal and 6.1 ohms minimum. With 94db sensitivity the arrays are very easy to drive and have great dynamics. The SB Acoustics 5" woofers and Fountek ribbons blend together very well.

Pricing will depend on what options you want. In this case we did an unfinished cabinet with no veneer on the rear and bottom to keep the cost down. A kit is available as well. I'll put together the numbers and post some pricing later.

Brucemck · « **Reply #13 on:** 29 May 2010, 06:28 pm »

Very nice. You make nice arrays Rick!

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #14 on:** 29 May 2010, 07:30 pm »

I'm done buying speakers till we hit the lotto, and then well be back to Rick with a new budget lol....

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #15 on:** 29 May 2010, 07:40 pm »

Right now I don't see us running subs again for a while, if ever. Turned up, they hit about as hard as our 2 12 Daytons used to. For us not wanting to run subs was part of the design. As much as I hate to admit it it does look a lot cleaner without them too. I used to think subs were the answer, now I'm starting to think it has a lot more to do with how much air you can move than absolute extension. They turned out beyond our expectations, which were high after are previous purchases from Rick

Another point for anyone else with kids in the same boat as us, for late night listening at low levels the arrays sound more balanced turned down than any speaker I've ever heard. They do loud and dynamic with 50 watts and sound good turned down so your daughter can sleep.

satfrat · « **Reply #16 on:** 29 May 2010, 08:46 pm »

I look at that small room with those huge Array's and I wonder how you could get a soundstage out of only 12'w x 25'L x 14'h. Then I think of my 4 Lorelei's in a 11' x 17' x 7' room and the sound stage I have and then when I take a 2nd look at your room, I

.

Very well done,,,, enjoy the many moments of pleasure that you'll all surely have.

Cheers,
Robin

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #17 on:** 29 May 2010, 09:38 pm »

Im really happy with the imaging, The big difference i notice from conventional speakers sweet spot is a good 5 feet wide. Even if your all the way over in front of a speaker the center is shifted some but it doesn't sound like its all come from one speaker. In fact to listen to them theres no way to localize where the speaker is at all. The wide spot is a big deal for me since I do almost all my listening with my wife. We've got theater seating on order with a love seat in the middle so well both be close to the center.

Side note, Rick can build a set of speakers from scratch faster than Berkline can build a sofa lol. It was supposed to be 6-8 weeks about 10 weeks ago....

opusthepenguin · « **Reply #18 on:** 1 Jun 2010, 03:02 am »

Few thoughts from the weekend......

Low level detail is amazing. Its more interesting to me than even the dynamics. Dynamics at least you can get to a point with more power. I've heard some pretty expensive speakers that didn't catch as much detail as the arrays, and these were done to a budget. I expected the dynamics but the little nuances for the cost of the drivers caught me totally off guard. Theres certainly more gained with arrays besides just efficiency.

They seem louder than they are in a good way. We get them turned to where they fill the room and realize we can still talk to each other comfortably.

I'm really curious how the soundstage will work out but I need to get my cd player back before I'll have some decent insight. It went out on loan once the tanzanites sold. We borrowed some speakers for the in between time but only could stand tv on them. Id say Im happy enough with the sound now, which I am except for the fact that when we got the resolution audio I was blown away by how good it was. Right now were using the old oppo 981 dvd player.

BlueShaveMan · « **Reply #19 on:** 3 Jun 2010, 05:00 pm »

Are there any updates on price/availability of the kit versions?

Thanks