Nearfields for audiophile listening?

PA drivers... I'd be careful. The problem with coax drivers which use the woofer as a waveguide is that woofer movement will modulate the tweeter output.

 

It won't be a problem for a large woofer, but for near-field you're usually dealing with smaller woofers.

What I don't like about the Oberton is how uneven the treble is.

tha

I'm pretty sure that's why he tried to doctor that with the "extra" tweeter. I'd go with the driver arrangement as it is, but that tweeter needs serious equalisation.

In any case - for the price, it's a lot of hassle. You're paying for that power handling.

For experimentation purposes I'd rather recommend starting out with something like this -

http://www.parts-express.com/pedocs/specs/290-504--eminence-beta-12cx-specficiations.pdf

and

http://www.eminence.com/pdf/ASD1001S.pdf

 

yes, I will use the new oberton CX3572 which use a different compression driver then the 3562. http://www.oberton.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=416:nd72hb&catid=50:14-drivers&limitstart=1
as you can see, much more flat response

but ultimately, the compression driver is not hifi enough to use as a tweeter. it will act as a very fast mid between 1 to 3khz then use a excellent tweeter in the revelator. a friend of mine will first build this speaker then compares to his other very pricey commercial speakers. if he confirms its awesome, ill build it. I dont have the talent at all to design passive xo anyway. the tweeter will be as close as possible over the 15 inch

true, not really for nearfield. I hope they can work if Im sitting 8 feet away though.

 

I built these: http://audiovideo.fi/opas/kaiutinra...-pa-kaiuttimet-eminence-beta-8cx-beta-10cx-ja
Seriously good sounds for the money involved. Replaced my Genelec 8040's with these. Much better sound than the measurements would suggest.

Genelecs with SAM can take multipoint measurements or single point. Yes, the problems with these DSP Genelecs are that they are set and forget, so no tinkering with other parts of the chain for "tweaking".

 

As any audiophile the only thing I'm afraid is that I'm hearing the device, not the music.

As for EQ-ing, I say - either don't do it or do it as much as you can. And if you have the luxury of designing your own speakers (and room!), make sure you have to EQ as little as possible.

And I like non-traditional speakers as long as they make sense. My favorite speaker is the Linkwitz LX521 and if I had a spare 5k lying around, I'd go just for that. Currently I'm listening to a pair of Equator Q12 coax speakers and my advice is - be careful with cheap compression drivers. They measure bad and they surely don't sound good. Otherwise they'd be the magic bullet - excellent power handling, can be crossed low... what's there not to like?

If you're not afraid, I'd say listen to Marv and

And if you really like to live dangerously, try mounting a tweeter AND a small mid on a baffle. Like this -



The baffle should be acoustically invisible to the large woofer due to long wavelengths. I'm not sure if here the mid is a closed back, but maybe a small dome mid might do the trick.

 

Folks should just get a 6-8" widebander in a moderate sized cabinet and EQ to their desires. I don't think the point source thing makes a difference for large rooms (which isn't to say widebanders don't have other advantages in a large setting) but you can definitely hear the coherence and immediacy that a widebander nets you when you sit near-field. And no, the coax stuff is not the same.

 

One vote for Genelec G Three monitors. I used to run them on my desktop with Audiolab Mdac. It was by far my favourite entertainment 2.0 speaker setup to date. Sufficient amount of power in relatively compact form. Well maybe just a tad on the heavy side.

 

if I had 15k laying aorund, geithain rl901k would be my choice

 

Yep. One thing in the audio world I still really want to hear.

 

Did anybody mention the low-cost JBLs in this thread, yet,or were we being too expensive?

It's what I would buy if I were you. It is what I would have bought if they had been available here at USA prices. In fact, at their introductory prices, I'd have bought a pair just for fun.

Now... the model numbers... I'll try and find... LSR305.

IRRC,, there is a 308 too. Watch out for prices on active monitors, unlike hifi, they are often each.

NB: I never heard them, but at the price, and never having read a bad review, I really would have tried them,

 

Yeah, the small lower end JBL monitors seem like a good deal. Just don't expect wonders.

 

Reviews suggest that it may be ok to expect wonders of the <$500 kind!

 

The problem with active nearfields is that most of them use class D amplifiers which can sound stringent or thereabouts.

http://www.head-fi.org/t/784471/what-a-long-strange-trip-its-been-robert-hunter/1140#post_12881714

 

Sure, but the audiophile mind rarely limits its expectations by budget. Also room-boom and desk bounce often creeps into the resultant sound of near field monitors.

I'm not sure if I agree with Mike there. First of all - Class D for budget oriented monitors is a very understandable compromise. You have ready-made OEM amplifier/crossover packs which are easy to implement. It's either that or super crummy Class-AB chipamps. In any case - I don't think that low end monitors are amplifier limited.

As for higher end, Hypex has lately become the go-to option for many mfg's in the studio segment. I have listened to their 180W lower end offering and for the price and ease of implementation (no need to sweat about thermal design) it's pretty nice. As for nCore - these seem to be the cream of the crop and appear in some audiophile offerings as well. 400 good watts from a 2U half rack unit is pretty good, I'd build one if I'd be in the market for a good power amp.

At the end of the day - good Class D isn't much cheaper than Class AB watt for watt. The former just allows to forget about thermal design or rather - trades it for more RF considerations to keep in mind.

 

It seems like there is some headway being made in the class D space, at least as far as subjective reviews are concerned. I suspect industry is seeing it as a good value option and is throwing money at it. The Nuprime stuff is an example.

The Schiit objection that it basically yet another AD/DA conversion does hold on principle. But if the real net result is tantamount to coloration like we see in a tube amp and the subtleties of the upstream gear are not lost, and given that the RF issues can be managed, class D is all of a sudden a real contender IMO.

I do think Schiit opting out of that technology is likely coming from an informed position and a company principle (and vision) rather than a blind disregard for the class D explosion. At least I hope so, because it is a very relevant trend, like it or not. It will get cheaper, and it will get better.

 

I think it's a combination of poor early experiences, and a matter of "stick with what you know". It would take a lot of resources to develop properly.

The arena for Class D design is still rather small. Almost all commercial stuff is a chip solution, and the majority of "hifi" options source their amp/psu packages from a select few manufacturers (B&O Icepower being the most ubiquitous, but also Hypex, Pascal, Abletec, etc) and shove front/back ends and a fancy case on top. DIY options aren't much better than that. A few standalone guys like NuPrime design their own modules, and I believe some of the higher up pro audio guys do as well (Powersoft, Lab Gruppen, etc) and license modules out to others.

 

seriously, I have a couple of good class d and chip amps. Class a or ab or tube just runs circle around them for tonality, weight and realness. they can be very good, but not as good as good mosfet or tube stuff