GedLee Abbey's Feedback Wanted!

TomS · « **Reply #180 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:51 am »

Yeah, caves rule

dwr · « **Reply #181 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:52 am »

Well said JTW, and grilles are now an option for Geddes speakers. I understand the looks thing to an extent but they are speakers not furniture.

Tyson · « **Reply #182 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:52 am »

They are ugly, but the sound spectacular. IMO, just a couple of small changes can let them be dropped into the living room where more people can enjoy them.

jtwrace · « **Reply #183 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:58 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 7 Oct 2010, 01:52 am

They are ugly, but the sound spectacular.

That's ALL I care about anymore.

If I could put a turd in the room and it sound great, I'd do it as long as it didn't stink.

TomS · « **Reply #184 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 02:03 am »

Quote from: Tyson on 7 Oct 2010, 01:52 am

They are ugly, but the sound spectacular. IMO, just a couple of small changes can let them be dropped into the living room where more people can enjoy them.

At one time I thought about cutting a thin kerf all the way around, right behind the roundovers (tops, sides), then veneering behind that to the back of the cabinets. I just couldn't bring myself to take a saw or router to them for vanity's sake

I am a cave dweller so it didn't really matter in my case. As you say, it would be easy enough to do from the start and make them look a little nicer. The new baffles and grill options get you half way home.

poseidonsvoice · « **Reply #185 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 02:07 am »

I find they look fine. My Abbeys are in a piano black gloss. Coupled with my cognac finished maple speaker stands, I have no desire to change really anything, honestly. And besides when I turn out the light and watch in the theater room, do I really give a hoot about what they look like?

The WAF factor has always been an issue with Geddes speakers

. It's due to the size

. Earl has tried to mitigate this issue with mounting the woofer from the inside (see dwr's pic earlier in this thread) and of course now the poly material will take on literally any color with a mirror finish to match. Grilles are an option. It's never ever going to look thin and slender like most audiophile approved speakers. You could make the entire front baffle out of solid wood and veneer the sides and rear but the $$$ go way, way up (like Aether Audio). Some day I'll post a color picture of my speakers but the lighting doesn't do the piano black justice to be honest.

Anand.

dwr · « **Reply #186 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 02:13 am »

Anand, you are right and I am no Ansel Adams but why are these speakers so hard to get a good picture of?? The Abbeys I have were the first of the new enclosure material and are high gloss black, but as you say I just can't seem to get a picture that does them justice.

jtwrace · « **Reply #187 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 02:16 am »

Quote from: poseidonsvoice on 7 Oct 2010, 02:07 am

And besides when I turn out the light and watch in the theater room, do I really give a hoot about what they look like?
Anand.

Ah yes. It reminds me of the days that I used to deal with the guys that were buying Ferraris. They would sit on a waiting list (1 year) and someone would cancel the order. They could get a car about 1 year earlier but they would piss and moan about the color.

My response was simple. When you're sitting in the drivers seat you can't see the color of the car. Why do you REALLY care? You own these cars to drive not to stare at. The look was always

Priceless!

Hebrew Hammer · « **Reply #188 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 03:15 am »

keeping fingers crossed I may have a client that will allow me to take a few abbeys and do something crazy with them for a 7.1 application.. I hope it happens as I have been dying to play with them...

dwr · « **Reply #189 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 03:24 am »

HH, certainly keep us updated on that project.

cujobob · « **Reply #190 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 04:26 am »

I love the way my Abbeys look, to be honest...sure, they're big, but the sound is glorious. What most often makes a speaker look bad... to me... is a gaudy design or things like sharp edges or poor quality materials they reek of 'cheapness'

Sports cars are often bought as status symbols; they're mostly for show. If you bought a super high end speaker and never played it above 75 db, then perhaps you could compare to a Ferrari

I'm just messing around though...I agree that performance is what we're looking for...having both would be great, though.

I've seen the Summas, helped Earl carry one to put back on it's stand after listening to my Abbeys in his home. They're extremely large and from what I gather from Dr. Geddes, they aren't a major leap in quality from the Abbeys. Each has had some crossover tweaking done since his statements comparing them, however.

jtwrace · « **Reply #191 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 11:48 am »

Quote from: Hebrew Hammer on 7 Oct 2010, 03:15 am

keeping fingers crossed I may have a client that will allow me to take a few abbeys and do something crazy with them for a 7.1 application.. I hope it happens as I have been dying to play with them...

I hope it's Dr. Geddes approved. Other then paint or veneer I can't imagine what he would agree with doing...

turkey · « **Reply #192 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 12:16 pm »

Quote from: Hebrew Hammer on 7 Oct 2010, 03:15 am

keeping fingers crossed I may have a client that will allow me to take a few abbeys and do something crazy with them for a 7.1 application.. I hope it happens as I have been dying to play with them...

I bet that if you came up with some cool-looking stands for the GedLee speakers that you'd get quite a few people's attention.

jtwrace · « **Reply #193 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 12:21 pm »

Quote from: turkey on 7 Oct 2010, 12:16 pm

I bet that if you came up with some cool-looking stands for the GedLee speakers that you'd get quite a few people's attention.

Now that's a GREAT idea!

Please don't try to retire on making stands.

turkey · « **Reply #194 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 12:45 pm »

Quote from: jtwrace on 7 Oct 2010, 02:16 am

Ah yes. It reminds me of the days that I used to deal with the guys that were buying Ferraris. They would sit on a waiting list (1 year) and someone would cancel the order. They could get a car about 1 year earlier but they would piss and moan about the color.

My response was simple. When you're sitting in the drivers seat you can't see the color of the car. Why do you REALLY care? You own these cars to drive not to stare at. The look was always Priceless!

I take it a step farther than that. I can't see what the outside of a car looks like while I'm actually using it. I don't buy a car to admire it while it sits in the driveway either.

So, if I buy a car because of its looks, I'm really buying it for _other people_ to look at.

I'd be perfectly happy buying a car with body by Fisher-Price. That plastic they use is indestructible. I don't need glossy paint or anything like that. In fact, it would cost a lot less to get a fender bender repaired if we didn't worry about matching colors and getting everything all shiny again.

Getting back to speakers, my Nathans are gloss black. To a large extent, I think function forced form with these, and the rest was forced by cost. (The size of the front baffle, shape of the waveguide, radiused edges, and things like that were forced by function, as was the size of the enclosure. Cost governed the shape of the enclosure sides and back.)

I would be just as happy with a matte finish, and in fact for years my main speakers were ones with a matte finish. I built them from plans and drivers, and I really wanted to listen to them, but when I got to painting them the weather was really humid and they took forever to dry. I lost patience and just assembled them and started to use them. I never got around to putting more coats of paint on or anything.

The Nathans are not ugly, but they don't pretend to be furniture or techno-sculpture like some other speakers do. They also don't cost $150K.

I think it's a pretty good trade-off.

turkey · « **Reply #195 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 12:55 pm »

Quote from: jtwrace on 7 Oct 2010, 12:21 pm

Please don't try to retire on making stands.

There are some companies that do very well with stands; so there's money in it.

I was thinking more that the only constraint that function places on a stand is that it can't let the speaker fall to the floor. Other than that you're free to experiment with form. You could have everything from a cantilevered stand that can't even be seen while the speakers are in use to a piece of sculpture meant to enhance the looks of the speakers or maybe even be the center of attention itself.

jtwrace · « **Reply #196 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 12:58 pm »

Quote from: turkey on 7 Oct 2010, 12:55 pm

There are some companies that do very well with stands; so there's money in it.

Sure are. I didn't mean it that way...I mean't don't charge us too much $$$.

Hebrew Hammer · « **Reply #197 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:33 pm »

Quote from: jtwrace on 7 Oct 2010, 11:48 am

I hope it's Dr. Geddes approved. Other then paint or veneer I can't imagine what he would agree with doing...

Jay, no matter what I do, I'm sure it will piss Earl off..lol...

As I totally understand that function is a 100% with Earl's offerings, form can be applied without altering function..

And as I totally understand those who could care less on looks.. but there are 30x's more people out there that do and won't give Earl's pieces a second thought because of it... right,wrong or indifferent.. that's the case...

JoshK · « **Reply #198 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:42 pm »

Quote from: Tyson on 7 Oct 2010, 01:39 am

The only real issue I see w/the speakers is the whole WAF factor. I wonder if a few small changes could be made to make them a lot better in this area. Maybe make them floor standing by just extending the cabinet down a bit with a solid wood (or solid MDF) extension toward the floor, and a grill cloth to hide those drivers and foam. Then just veneer the sides and back to give a furniture quality look. I bet that would make them much, much more likely to pass the WAF test.

I've had a conversation with Dr G before about how most audiophiles have their system in their living room not a dedicated room. His response was something like his target demographic is those with dedicated theaters. I'd surmise that that isn't actually playing out in practice.

Wind Chaser · « **Reply #199 on:** 7 Oct 2010, 01:52 pm »

As for appearance, beauty is in the eye of the beholder. There are some pretty nice looking laminates out there. Gold or copper foil would be at the top of my list, but a 4x8 sheet is can cost well over a $1000 for the most authentic looking stuff.