[wushuliu]

Finished a set of Alpair 6Ms this weekend along with some Dayton RS225s as helper woofers. Hooked up MiniDsp tonight - easy as pie. XO is LR 48db/oct at 250hz. Oh, sounds sooo good already. I played with the A6 (Gen1) briefly in some spare oversized enclosures a little while back and fell in love with them. Now their promise is being fulfilled. Not even 2 hours on the A6, no measurements/eq and I'm freakin' stoked.
 

I'll have pics up and more info tomorrow when the sun is out now that L.A. has stopped impersonating Seattle, along with pics of the Alpair 12 Studio Monitors I built (sound great but need a bigger space to shine, my listening position is too close I think).

Oh and an Onix SP3 should be arriving tomorrow!

[avionic]

  Nice, I have been wanting to try the same thing with the mark audio drivers.
I look forward to your comments and the pics.     

[chrisby]

Finished a set of Alpair 6Ms this weekend along with some Dayton RS225s as helper woofers. Hooked up MiniDsp tonight - easy as pie. XO is LR 48db/oct at 250hz. Oh, sounds sooo good already. I played with the A6 (Gen1) briefly in some spare oversized enclosures a little while back and fell in love with them. Now their promise is being fulfilled. Not even 2 hours on the A6, no measurements/eq and I'm freakin' stoked.
 

I'll have pics up and more info tomorrow when the sun is out now that L.A. has stopped impersonating Seattle, along with pics of the Alpair 12 Studio Monitors I built (sound great but need a bigger space to shine, my listening position is too close I think).

Oh and an Onix SP3 should be arriving tomorrow!

you might want to consider the Alpair 7 for smaller space / closer listening

I'm playing right now with a couple of preliminary HT speaker set ups -  this evenings was Alpair12s for L / R & 7 for center - great combination if you're cramped for space for the center. 


The Audyssey system in my new Denon AV receiver sure takes all the guesswork out of the set up -  it measures and averages for differences from each speaker to multiple listening positions, recommends an XO frequency for the center channel to mains, all in less than 5 minutes (including polling through the channels with no connected speakers).  The AVR 1610 is not a high end machine by any means, but this is pretty damned cool if you ask me - particularly for someone intimidated by lack of experience (or in my case - because of bad experiences) with setting up surround system.   

As it turns out the primary listening distance in my 320 sqft room is 14ft.  By themselves in this room, the 7s sound a bit smallish, but in my 2 channel audio cave (approx 60% the above space), and listening distance of approx 10ft they're more than enough, as I generally partake of music a much lower intimate volume levels than when watching "big" movies.   

First program after calibrating this particular combo was WALL E - what a delightful film, even including some of the silly stuff aboard the Axiom just before the return to home planet.   Next up is a repeat watching of Avatar - but I'll probably want to save that for the weekend.   

[wushuliu]

you might want to consider the Alpair 7 for smaller space / closer listening

I'm playing right now with a couple of preliminary HT speaker set ups -  this evenings was Alpair12s for L / R & 7 for center - great combination if you're cramped for space for the center. 


The Audyssey system in my new Denon AV receiver sure takes all the guesswork out of the set up -  it measures and averages for differences from each speaker to multiple listening positions, recommends an XO frequency for the center channel to mains, all in less than 5 minutes (including polling through the channels with no connected speakers).  The AVR 1610 is not a high end machine by any means, but this is pretty damned cool if you ask me - particularly for someone intimidated by lack of experience (or in my case - because of bad experiences) with setting up surround system.   

As it turns out the primary listening distance in my 320 sqft room is 14ft.  By themselves in this room, the 7s sound a bit smallish, but in my 2 channel audio cave (approx 60% the above space), and listening distance of approx 10ft they're more than enough, as I generally partake of music a much lower intimate volume levels than when watching "big" movies.   

First program after calibrating this particular combo was WALL E - what a delightful film, even including some of the silly stuff aboard the Axiom just before the return to home planet.   Next up is a repeat watching of Avatar - but I'll probably want to save that for the weekend.   

Hi chris. I'm about 8.5ft equidistant. Why the A7s?  all reports I read the overall gist was they did not have the sweetness of the A6. I am pondering trying the A6P, however.

[planet10]

Hi chris. I'm about 8.5ft equidistant. Why the A7s?  all reports I read the overall gist was they did not have the sweetness of the A6. I am pondering trying the A6P, however.

The A7 outdoes the old A6 in all respects. My A6P & A6M are awaiting their turn on the break-in bench. The very early A6P protos i heard are also better than the original A6, but not up to the A7.

The A7, A10.2, and A12 are very much of a family and i expect A6m to fit right in. A6p is a wild card thou...

dave

[wushuliu]

The A12 is the double reflex design available from planet10. Vs. the simple bass reflex I was using before for the A12, the DBR puts out impressive controlled, clean bass. Handled some Aliens on Blu Ray with aplomb (at moderate levels). I was very impressed. Mids and up are neutral, transparent. Top end is plenty, but did lack some air. This may have been due to my listening position which was just a little too close. For this reason as well as the size of the driver, it just did not have the 3-D stage of the smaller units. It performed similarly to my Modula MTMs designed by Jon Marsh at Htguide, which I think is darn impressive.

The 6Ms are in sealed cabs. i based the dimensions on some fiddling I did with Edge baffle software and Jeff B.'s Baffle Diffraction Simulator. The goal being to get as smooth a response as I could without any BSC issues. So far so good, but I'll know for sure when I get measurement gear. Audibly I detect no symptoms of insufficient bsc. I'll add roundovers this weekend to smoothen response even more. Eventually I'll paint the cabs.

On the bottom is the RS225 in a sealed 1cu. cab crossed at 250hz (for now). I got them when PE had the mega sale. I love the look of the RS drivers. The stellar performance and price doesn't hurt either.

[chrisby]

I think your listening distance would be perfect for the 7's

As Dave alluded, most of the reports you've read regarding the A6 were probably for the earlier version, and I can only attest to what I've heard - I'd take the EL70 over the old A6, but the new gen A12 & A7 are pretty damned sweet. 

I'll just have to await the burn-in of the 6M & 6P: then of course, we need to find an enclosure design out there on the interwebs, and someone to build them   

[wushuliu]

I think your listening distance would be perfect for the 7's

As Dave alluded, most of the reports you've read regarding the A6 were probably for the earlier version, and I can only attest to what I've heard - I'd take the EL70 over the old A6, but the new gen A12 & A7 are pretty damned sweet. 

I'll just have to await the burn-in of the 6M & 6P: then of course, we need to find an enclosure design out there on the interwebs, and someone to build them 

Ah well. There's always something better  . Shelled out too much on gear at this point to get the A7s. The Gen2 6Ms sound great so far. Gotta draw the line somewhere.

[chrisby]

No worries, due to my addiction to this vice I assume that everyone was projects lined up 3-4 deep. 

[wushuliu]

No worries, due to my addiction to this vice I assume that everyone was projects lined up 3-4 deep.

My wallet has put a stop to that. I've built about 6 2-way designs in the past 2 years as well. Don't even know how I even fell into FR-dom. BTW, thanks to you and Dave for being such great resources.

[sts9fan]

Very cool!  I am dying to explore more of the Mark Audio line.

[MJK]

The A7 outdoes the old A6 in all respects. My A6P & A6M are awaiting their turn on the break-in bench. The very early A6P protos i heard are also better than the original A6, but not up to the A7.

Dave,

I am running an original pair of Alpair 6s in one of my systems and have been very impressed so far. Where/how does the Alpair 7 out perform the original Alpair 6? Low frequencies, high frequencies, detail, SPL/W/m, transients, all of the above?

Martin

[skeeter99]

Very cool setup! I've been eying the Mark Audio drivers as well lately. I was thinking about building the SuperPensil12 and something, I dunno what but don't really want to do sealed, for my center. It'd be for my LR setup which is mostly lower/mid level listening/TV/Movies. I have a very sweet sounding HK AVR-254 receiver that puts out a very modest 50wpc. I wonder how the 12's would do in that type of environment??

EDIT: I have a Velodyne DLS-4000R in that setup that would be handling the low end for HT

[planet10]

The A12 is the double reflex design available from planet10

The design is hosted on the P10 site, but Scott Lindgren deserves the credit for the design, which was commissioned by Mark.

dave

[planet10]

I am running an original pair of Alpair 6s in one of my systems and have been very impressed so far. Where/how does the Alpair 7 out perform the original Alpair 6? Low frequencies, high frequencies, detail, SPL/W/m, transients, all of the above?

The A6 was my favorite from the 1st generation Mark Audios. But the current generation -- all of them, with the multi-formed cone (Mark says greater than 10x the precision in the shape) and the special spiders, as well as other improved detailing -- are more refined than gen 1. Everything the old ones did well, they do better, and the failings of the old are fone. Greater downward dynamic range, better soundstage/imaging, more extended (and smooth) HF. I found an edge on the HF remininisent of the JX92 (and FF125/165) in the A6 & A10. This is totally gone with the new drivers -- I was able to eliminate that with treatment on the A6, there was still a touch of it in the A10. 

One caveat, like wushuliu i find the A12 doesn't throw as generous a 3D image as the smaller drivers. So far the A7 is my favorite, i haven't treated my A10.2s yet, and the A6M/P are unknows.

The direct comparison was A10 vrs A10.2 (note that my A10.2 are hand built production prototypes, production units are awaiting break0in bench aong with A6). No contest to my ears.

dave

[JohnR]

the new gen A12 & A7 are pretty damned sweet. 

Hi Chris (or Dave) - is there a Gen 1 A7? I've become a bit confused about the models in the Mark Audio line now.

I was going to put a pair of CHR-70 Gen 1 into boxes, but given the work involved (I'm just pretty slow with boxes) I may spring for the A7s and give the CHRs to a friend who wants to make a pair of speakers.

wushuliu - sorry to sidetrack your thread Good to hear you've had success with the miniDSP too. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts if you try different crossover slopes or frequencies.

[planet10]

is there a Gen 1 A7? I've become a bit confused about the models in the Mark Audio line now.

Gen 1: CHR-70, A5, A6, A10, CHP70
Gen2: EL70, A7, A12, A10.2, A6p, A6m

CHR-70.2 has some gen2 upgrades, CHR-70.3 will be Gen 2. As best i can tell CHP currently available in Japan & Germany is also somewhere between generations.

I was going to put a pair of CHR-70 Gen 1 into boxes, but given the work involved (I'm just pretty slow with boxes) I may spring for the A7s and give the CHRs to a friend who wants to make a pair of speakers.

A7 is the same size as CHR but considerably more refined sonically. Not as robust thou. If you want to rock, 2 pair of CHR70 or EL70 are the way to go.

dave

[JohnR]

Thanks Dave, that clears it up for me.

A7 is the same size as CHR but considerably more refined sonically. Not as robust thou. If you want to rock, 2 pair of CHR70 or EL70 are the way to go.

No problemo, if I want to rock I go big. I'd be interested to hear how refined a single driver can get.

Thanks again 

[planet10]

I'd be interested to hear how refined a single driver can get.

very refined. Add woofer support and they can get pretty dynamic too.

dave

[Mr Content]

Thanks Dave, that clears it up for me.

No problemo, if I want to rock I go big. I'd be interested to hear how refined a single driver can get.

Thanks again 

John, come up if you want to how refined a single driver can be

C