[James Romeyn]

Without seeing the speakers, the following makes sense: the same speaker-level input feeds the passive mid/treble and for convenience, a speaker-level to line-level attenuator for the amp input.  Such step-down attenuators are transparent to feed a bass amp and no need for picky audiophiles to be concerned about signal degradation for the bass range (arguable for mid-treble, but not bass).

There's no reason I can think of to justify the cost of a separate input for passive mid/treble and bass amp, in fact, conversely, it would add unnecessary trouble and complexity and cost for no net gain whatsoever.   

Some prefer the above signal path because it results in the same signature to the bass and mid/treble.  I don't have any opinion about that.

Mike, I mean Tyson, I'd love to hear the GR's one day           

[AJinFLA]

Damn James, you're on the money. That is exactly correct, the speaker terminals branch to parallel circuits for the passive filter and the line attenuator for the amp (no different from the parallel legs of a 3 way XO). This scheme requires only a single input and no secondary line out for the sub amp (which IMO, has the greater potential for loops and possible signal degradation).

cheers,

AJ

btw, just got home, so I'll check out your e-mail. Thnx

[EDS_]

Hello AJ,

1. Do you have webpage up?
2. If not where is the best place to find stats, measurements etc.?  I think there is a thread or part of a thread that I keep missing.

Thx,

Ed


ETA - head buried in azz, I looked carefully at a pic. answering 1/2 of my questions.

[tesseract]

Here you go, EDS_. 

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=98017.0
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=91026.0

[Letitroll98]

Almost thought it was Galactic Wastebinned....whew

No worries AJ, you're doing a good job of just answering questions asked about your product and not adding any ad copy to your posts.  This is exactly how a manufacturer is suppose to behave on the open forums.  However I'm allowed to add a blurb that having met AJ, he's as nice to deal with in person as he is on the forum.

As far as the sticky goes, I just returned from a Hurricane vacation (long story, but the jist is I drove into the hurricane rather than away from it) where we had no internet, spotty electricity, and posted with cell phones that had only poor quality wi-fi.  So I'm not the one who stickied the thread, but lets leave it here for a spell and see what happens.   

[EDS_]

Here you go, EDS_. 

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=98017.0
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=91026.0

Thank you!

[eclein]

How are these for nearfield listening?? So I have a Virtue TWO.2 amp so it would just power everything except the 8" woofer right, am I seeing this concept correctly?? and the built in plate amp does the woofers right?

I'm semi new, so I have questions, how do you connect speaker wire, good old fashion bare wire, two connections...how do you get the signal from the amp to the plate amp and then the speakers using the one amp I'm bring into this situation???
This is a fantastic idea if its what I'm thinking>>>>>

[AJinFLA]

How are these for nearfield listening??

Very good I hope.
The beauty of a coincident driver like this coax, is that it is essentially a "point source". It doesn't have a design axis integration issue like a multi point speaker.
At any position away from the speaker, you are essentially the same distance away from both mid & tweeter. Nearfield, midfield, farfield, all the same. The only difference is the speakers(any) interaction with the room. The nearer you are, the less so.
You will hear a much higher direct field ratio to reverberant the closer you get.

So I have a Virtue TWO.2 amp so it would just power everything except the 8" woofer right, am I seeing this concept correctly?? and the built in plate amp does the woofers right?

Correct.

I'm semi new, so I have questions, how do you connect speaker wire, good old fashion bare wire, two connections...how do you get the signal from the amp to the plate amp and then the speakers using the one amp I'm bring into this situation???
This is a fantastic idea if its what I'm thinking>>>>>

As noted earlier, the plate amp and mid/tweeter XO input branches are wired in parallel off (one pair of) the rear speaker terminals on the amp. I added a pic to the website gallery.



The right speaker terminals (which would be upper on the upright speaker) without the little caps (so you can see the gold plated jacks) are what you would plug bananas (plugs, not the fruit ) into. These also unscrew so that the bare wires you refer to, can be inserted...no different than just about every banana type terminal on the back of most speakers.

[AJinFLA]

I'm confused.  For a pair are there powered woofers in each speaker?  Where is the powered woofer in the cabinet and it's output?

Sorry I missed this earlier Big Red. Yes, there is an sub amplifier (300w) on the rear of each cabinet. The 8" sub is the driver underneath the 5" coaxial (mid/tweeter)  in the pic.

[eclein]

These sound great I bet---good luck with it. For $1000 I might jump on these if I had the cash....that seems very reasonable to me. I'll keep following this thread......

[neekomax]

SAM1 shipping update:

They have made it to New Jersey. Surprisingly, they are listed as scheduled for on time delivery. Tomorrow.

No damn hurricane can stop theses mighty monitors!

Also, I now have power, cable, and all that good stuff. Yay.

[Saturn94]

I had the pleasure of hearing these speakers at CAF.  Regardless of price or size, they were some of the best I heard that day.

If I hadn't just bought speakers not long ago, I would have placed my order that day!

[neekomax]

I had the pleasure of hearing these speakers at CAF.  Regardless of price or size, they were some of the best I heard that day.

If I hadn't just bought speakers not long ago, I would have placed my order that day!

Wow, judging from the type of gear they had out there, that is very high praise indeed.

Hope you're right 

Got word that the speakers have been delivered. Pretty pumped, and also very impressed that Fed Ex ground didn't even have a day's delay because of the hurricane. Pretty unbelievable, really.

Will have them ready to set up in about 3 hours. Hooray for sound!

[jackman]

Wow, judging from the type of gear they had out there, that is very high praise indeed.

Hope you're right 

Got word that the speakers have been delivered. Pretty pumped, and also very impressed that Fed Ex ground didn't even have a day's delay because of the hurricane. Pretty unbelievable, really.

Will have them ready to set up in about 3 hours. Hooray for sound!

Hey congrats!  I'm looking forward to your comments once you get them up and running.  This is a very cool and interesting design and I hope to hear them someday. 

I still can't figure out how he can sell these (active bass, concentric driver from KEF, in a nice cabinet) for $1K without losing money.   

[neekomax]

Hey congrats!  I'm looking forward to your comments once you get them up and running.  This is a very cool and interesting design and I hope to hear them someday. 

I still can't figure out how he can sell these (active bass, concentric driver from KEF, in a nice cabinet) for $1K without losing money.   

Thanks J.

Um, I tried to quickly run the rough numbers, and unless he's getting some serious wholesale parts action (which I kind of doubt), there is little to no profit at this price. I don't think you could build them for less.

I think the price will be going up sooner than later, unless AJ is the new chairman of Speakers for Humanity .

[AJinFLA]

 
I still can't figure out how he can sell these (active bass, concentric driver from KEF, in a nice cabinet) for $1K without losing money.   

I knock off liquor stores and rob banks in my spare time.

Neeko, I too am pretty amazed Fed Ex came through so quickly. My biggest worry...did they arrive unscathed/ in one piece. Guess we'll see.

regards,

AJ

[launche]

I will never understand how audiophiles think.  Someone brings a product to market at a reasonable cost (however and whatever their business plan may be) and you get audiophiles crying charge me more.  In these tough economic times I can't wrap my head around it.  People out of work, homeless, audiophiles selling gear to pay bills and still a mentality of the overpriced gear worship hi-fi culture that may just be cutting the hobby off at the knees.

Good for you AJ and I hope all goes well and you can get these in the hands of many people who will appreciate your efforts.  What's the point in having a good product if only a few will get to enjoy it.  I hope you sell 200 of them at this price as opposed to 10 if you decided to charge double just because. 

FWIW, at your price AJ if I needed speakers I'd be giving them a listen for certain.  Who knows I may even still find a reason.

[Tyson]

Most audiophile products are just re-dressing (prettifying) of standard designs and common approaches.  It's very rare that something is actually engineered or designed fundamentally better.  IMO, the design approach illustrated here is not only different, it's also better.  I hope you sell a ton of these.  Heck, I'd buy a pair if I had room for a 2nd system in my home.

Are you going to be at RMAF?  I'd love to hear these beauties in the flesh.  Or are you considering partnering with another manufacturer (say a tube amp maker) to let them use a pair in their room?  Seems like an ideal speaker to use w/ tube amps in particular, given the integrated powered sub - a tube amp would only be driving the relatively easy mids/highs, which really lets them shine.

[srb]

The regular price after the "introductory" period is $1300.  I assume this price would allow a reasonable but lean profit and allow him to stay in business.  Advertising is a necessary cost to any business.  Introductory pricing is just another form of advertising that allows each chunk of advertising dollars to directly generate a guaranteed sale.  This advertising cost is a higher percentage per unit than one would normally be comfortable with, but as far as cash flow, it's pay-as-you-go.
 
Once enough units are sold to create a buzz, generate reviews and create some word of mouth advertising, the price will be fairly adjusted.  Sounds like a sound business plan that's previously worked for others.
 
Steve

[jackman]

Jeeze guys, I meant it as a compliment.  Not trying to get this guy to raise his prices or to imply that $1,000 is a small amount of money (it's a lot of money for me and most people I know!).  I was merely pointing out this is a clever design at a very impressive price-point.  Don't know how they sound and I don't know if I would even like them, but they appear to be a very good value. 

The designer seems like a good guy and I sincerely wish him luck in his venture.  Hopefully, the exposure on AC will help launch a very  successful business! 

Lastly, I secretly (or not so secretly now that I'm mentioning it) hope the early adopters of this speaker don't feel the need to mention it in every post like some of the owners of another popular waveguide speaker (er...Geddes).  It's one thing to like your speakers but some of those guys are cult-like and creapy.