[Rick Craig]

Rick,

     What are you thoughts between the Tre Supremo and the Tempesta/Tempesta Xtreme?  Does the Tempesta win out in clarity with the Tre Supremo providing better dynamics and further reach into the low end?  Would you take a Tempesta + good sub over the Tre Supremo?

It really depends on your personal preferences and system needs. What speakers do you currently have? Front end equipment?

[vettett15]

Rick, I was really just curious what you thought of the two designs.  I'm running a diy design, fountek ribbon, 4" tang band mid (open baffle for the mid) and 7" dayton woofers.  Just using a Pioneer avr right now.  If one was looking for absolute accuracy which one is the best? 

[Rick Craig]

I've never compared them side-by-side but could easily live with either one. The Tre Supremo is maybe a tad more forgiving but still very detailed. My personal preference would the Tempesta with a pair of our TC12 or TC15 powered subs. I like the advantage of having some active control because my room (like most others) has some bass peaks to be contained. In my opinion any speaker company going for state-of-the-art with a design should include active subs - even better is some DSP (DEQX,etc).

[vettett15]

Rick, thanks for the info.  You seem to have so many designs out there (all of which are great i'm sure) it's just interesting to know what the differences are.  You aren't planning on attending the Axpona in jacksonville this year are you?

You think there would be much advantage of building a Tempesta that is fully active?

[doug s.]

Shipping out today to California...

these look sweet!  but...  ...wouldn't it be preferable to have the mid & tweet in a smaller cabinet, and have the two woofers combined in a lower taller cabinet?

and, what about putting 3 or even 4 woofers in the lower cabinet?

thanks,

doug s.

[Rick Craig]

these look sweet!  but...  ...wouldn't it be preferable to have the mid & tweet in a smaller cabinet, and have the two woofers combined in a lower taller cabinet?

and, what about putting 3 or even 4 woofers in the lower cabinet? It would be possible to design a different cabinet combination - we do that kind of customizing all of the time.

thanks,

doug s.

3-4 woofers won't work in this design.

[doug s.]

3-4 woofers won't work in this design.

thanks, but, what about my first question; the one that i was actually most interested in.   

wouldn't it be preferable to have the mid & tweet in a smaller cabinet, and have the two woofers combined in a lower taller cabinet?

thanks,

doug s.

[Rick Craig]

thanks, but, what about my first question; the one that i was actually most interested in.   

wouldn't it be preferable to have the mid & tweet in a smaller cabinet, and have the two woofers combined in a lower taller cabinet?

thanks,

doug s.

Yes, it could be done that way but there's not an advantage to having a smaller mid/tweet cabinet.

[pslate]

What would you think about using modular approach to cut down cost of a dipole? Sealed Illuminators in the bottom portion, then a simple custom portion for the top tweet and mid?

[Rick Craig]

What would you think about using modular approach to cut down cost of a dipole? Sealed Illuminators in the bottom portion, then a simple custom portion for the top tweet and mid?

Sure it could be done; however, the width of the upper section is critical to the range where the mid can operate as a dipole. It's also possible to do the mid with an open back but I prefer a dipole over that. With an open back the subenclosure will have a resonance which partially defeats the purpose of what you're trying to achieve.

[navin]

Shipping out today to California...

Beautiful cabinet work Rick. I thought the Tempesta (and by extension the Extreme) would be a bass reflex speaker. I dont see the port in any of the pictures. Is the Extreme sealed box?

[Rick Craig]

Beautiful cabinet work Rick. I thought the Tempesta (and by extension the Extreme) would be a bass reflex speaker. I dont see the port in any of the pictures. Is the Extreme sealed box?

Ported with rear ports.

[krustykat]

I think that I'm a cheap bastard when it comes to audio equipment.  I wanted new speakers, but everything I  heard and lusted after was much more than I wanted to spend.   I listen to all sorts of music: Jazz, Rock, Pop, Acoustic, Bluegrass & Electronic, so I needed a set of speakers that were very neutral and wouldn't force me to listen to "what sounds best".   In my never ending search to get the best bang for the buck, I came to Rick's web site and this forum and ended up buying a set of Tempestra Extremes from him. 

<blah blah blah>My listening room is small, about 13' x 15'.  Its acoustically treated, with a balance of panels and open wall space which keeps a bit of life in the sound.  I'd been living with the same speakers for the last six years and grew used to their peculiarities in my environment. I optimzed their placement in my small room for semi-nearfield listening.  Their 3d imaging in the near field setup was quite good and reflections and dropouts in my room were kept to a minimum with this setup.  My current system has a VPI Classic, Benz Ruby 3 cartridge and Simaudio LP5.3 phono amp for my analog section. My CD/Blu-Ray/DVD setup is an Oppo BDP-95 with Modright 2 channel tube output stage upgrades.   Digital is handled by a homebuilt silent music server with a SOTA usb card feeding an Ayre QB-9 DAC.  Power is provided by an Ayre Ax-7E integrated Amp all of which now runs into the  Selah Audio Tempesta Extreme speakers.  Power and Interconnect cables are a mix of Shunyata, Transparent, Silent Source and Black Sand. </blah blah blah>
 
Once I decided that I wanted to proceed with the speakers, Rick estimated a delivery date and was spot on with his timing.  I ordered the Tempestra extremes in the standard Cherry veneer in order to save a few dollars.  I must say that the finish, while not exotic, is of a very high quality.  Rick lives near me and he delivered the speakers and helped me set them up.  It was quite an enjoyable evening chatting with Rick while we hooked up the speakers - I think we talked much more than we listened.

The first thing that you will notice about the Tempestra Extremes is that the cabling for them is different than most other speakers you've ever seen. I have bi-wire speaker cables coming from my integrated amp.  The speaker cable splits  between to the top connectors on the upper unit and the lower connectors on the bottom unit. It was a very tight fit and took Rick and I over a half hour to connect.   An additional set of jumper cables is required between the two speakers.  Rick provided some zip wire for the jumper cables, which I'll be upgrading as soon as possible. I may also replace the speaker cables as there is a bit of stress due to the size and angle that the spades need to connect. Now that I have new speakers, I need to obsess about somthing different! So, word to the warry, the fit of your speaker cabling and matching with the jumpers is somthing to take into consideration if you are interested in these speakers.


I've only been listening to them for about a week now and I probably should listen a lot longer before I post, but I just couldn't wait to share.  One of the things that you'll first notice is that the decays are lingering and natural, giving a fuller texture to the music, much more ambiance that you would expect.  You really get an feel for where the music is being played, you can just picture what the music hall looks like.   The tonality is smooth and liquid like, no peakiness or edginess to the sound - Its what I seem to always hear in REALLY expensive speakers. The upper midrange is exquisite -  female vocals are killer.  The speakers have good bass extension, the depth of the bass was about what I expected for this size speaker, with a slight bit of warmth in the mid bass but not bloomy or boomy. The soundstage is wide, with the location of instruments being less precise but more solid than my previous speakers.  Listening fatigue is a thing of the past.  All in all it's a very seductive sound. 

I've got to replace the zip cable, play with the foamey things on the tweeters, figure out if I want the grills, etc.  Once I've had time to play around with these things and had some more time to listen and get more developed opinons on thier sound I'll be posting again.

[navin]

I think that I'm a cheap bastard when it comes to audio equipment...My current system has a VPI Classic, Benz Ruby 3 cartridge and Simaudio LP5.3 phono amp for my analog section...a SOTA usb card feeding an Ayre QB-9 DAC...cables are a mix of Shunyata, Transparent, Silent Source and Black Sand.

So, word to the warry, the fit of your speaker cabling and matching with the jumpers is somthing to take into consideration if you are interested in these speakers..

Wow you have all that equipment and you call yourself cheap? Wonder what you'd call me. 

I intended to drive the Tempesta-Exreme using an AVR (the baby Arcam) and Atlas Ascent 3.5 for the bass http://www.atlascables.com/ascent-3.5.htm and Ascent 2.0 for the mid/hf
http://www.atlascables.com/ascent-2.0.html

[jonbee]

I've only been listening to them for about a week now and I probably should listen a lot longer before I post, but I just couldn't wait to share.  One of the things that you'll first notice is that the decays are lingering and natural, giving a fuller texture to the music, much more ambiance that you would expect.  You really get an feel for where the music is being played, you can just picture what the music hall looks like.   The tonality is smooth and liquid like, no peakiness or edginess to the sound - Its what I seem to always hear in REALLY expensive speakers. The upper midrange is exquisite -  female vocals are killer.  The speakers have good bass extension, the depth of the bass was about what I expected for this size speaker, with a slight bit of warmth in the mid bass but not bloomy or boomy. The soundstage is wide, with the location of instruments being less precise but more solid than my previous speakers.  Listening fatigue is a thing of the past.  All in all it's a very seductive sound. 

Congratulations! I'm a bit envious of the "Extreme" config. Very cool.
Your impressions mirror mine almost exactly. Your comment about these sounding lke very expensive speakers is right on the mark.
Your comment on the upper mids is spot on - among the stellar qualities of this speaker I think it is this aspect that most sets these apart from others- Rick's choice of the 2" Accuton handing off to the RAAL is a masterstroke. It seems most other designers use the 5" Accuton to allow for a lower crossover to a larger woofer, but the ear is particularly sensitive to the range the 2 incher covers, and it nails it. The smoothness and clarity in that range reminds me more of a planar than a dynamic speaker.
For me, they got notably better with time. I noticed that at about 80 hours playing time they really opened up, and continued to sound more open and relaxed past the 200 hour mark. Interestingly, Accuton recommends 300 hours breakin for their drivers.
They really show changes in the other pieces of the system. Things like moving the same power cords around in the system are audible- not in your face, but clear. I've been able to very effectively adjust the sound using cabling and such. For me I'm finally satisfied with the fine tuning, and I've had my Ts for one full year. No sign of "upgrade-itis" at all. I feel really lucky to have this level of sound and craftsmanship for the price paid.

[vettett15]

Krusty,

      Congrats on the new purchase, i'm sure you won't be disappointed by Rick's work.  Perhaps I missed it in your post but what were your original speakers?  Any more comparisons between the old and new?

[krustykat]

The old speakers were B&W 703s.  They were fine speakers and served me well for many years.  What drove me to upgrade was the B&W's treble, which I gather is typical for B&W speakers.  It really gave music an attention grabbing sparkle and sheen, but after about 1/2 to 1 hour you became very fatigued listening to them.  They were also very demanding about where you positioned them - 1/8" toe-in/toe-out made a difference.  I could live with the criticality of positioning, but only one listener could have a "sweet spot" .  Subsequently I've setup the Tempesta Extremes with less toe in, which probably accounts for the larger and less defined soundstage but a much more forgiving sweet spot.  Much more fussing about speaker positioning is in order!   The finish of the Tempesta Extremes is nice (stock cherry cabinet) but the B&W's is first rate.  I can't hear veneer and I sometimes close my eyes when I'm listening, so that's not so important to me.

[doug s.]

krusty, you may wanna try this, for retaining a defined soundstage, but still having a larger sweetspot - try toeing the speakers in so much that they cross a couple feet in front of the listening position.  you get a defined soundstage when dead-center, but as you move of to the sides, the speaker furthest from you is pointing more directly at you than the closest speaker, which helps keep a decent soundstage when off-center...

doug s.

[navin]

Rick's choice of the 2" Accuton handing off to the RAAL is a masterstroke. It seems most other designers use the 5" Accuton to allow for a lower crossover to a larger woofer, but the ear is particularly sensitive to the range the 2 incher covers, and it nails it.

I think most other manufactuers fall into the belief that if you are looking at a 3 way the middle speaker must cover 5-6 octaves with a bass unit and hf unit covering the extreme ends. They end up with a mid that covers something like 200-3000Hz (4 octaves). This is diffcult as the driver has to be linear over the entire range.

What Rick realised is that the Illuminator 7" covers the lower mids better than most midranges so why not use the best driver for the job. Rick does something similar with the center speaker that uses the Morel dome as a mid. The Morel dome and the Accuton 2" mid are normally not crossed below 600-700Hz (more often 700-800Hz). So insted of 4 octaves (this really means that the driver has to be somewhat linear for 6 octaves - an octave above and below the fundamental crossover frequency) the 2" dome covers 2-2.5 octaves and it is much easier to have a driver that is linear over 4 octaves that 6 octaves.

[saeyedoc]

$4,300/pr. w/shipping to the mainland USA.

I've been considering the Tempesta, but the Extreme seems like the way to go. For about $600/pr more than the Tempesta with good quality stands, it seems like a no-brainer. Still has the same footprint.
With the additional woofer, is it any more sensitive than the regular Tempesta? Are there any down-sides to this type of configuration vs the stand-mount?