Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast
Results 26 to 50 of 59
  1. #26
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    7
    Quote Originally Posted by LeRoy View Post
    Have you ever heard a SET and speaker combination that did sounded good/great but was not a horn speaker?
    FWIW a horn speaker does not have to have the classic horn sound. That typical or classical horn sound that is often disparaged is primarily due to spherical or exponential curve of the horn. Most modern horn designers are fully aware of this, and instead use the tractrix curve which is far more neutral sounding.

    So the problem of a modern tractrix horn system is not fidelity or sound quality, but rather of size: the size of the horn opening determines the low frequency cutoff. If you want a full-range horn with good bass, it's going to be a BIG horn. I've heard Dr. Bruce Edgar's prototype for horn-loaded subwoofer, and it's loud with just a 60-watt amp but the cabinet is about refrigerator size.

    Regards

  2. #27
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Home Of The Fighting Gamecocks
    Posts
    1,702
    FWIW here are the rear loaded horns I built and they even me credit for using junkyard carpet padding for dampening. Amazingly enough the Frugals with only a 4.5 inch driver come very close to covering 10octaves.

    http://homepage.mac.com/tlinespeaker...v0b-300911.pdf

  3. #28
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Quote Originally Posted by LeRoy View Post
    P.G, wow, that's quite a collection of audio you got going there. Based on what I have seen SET owners and reviewers report it seems like SET amp owners have slim pickins on what type of speaker can be used with SET amps. Have you ever heard a SET and speaker combination that did sounded good/great but was not a horn speaker?
    Audio Note speakers are not horns - the LS3A is a SET friendly speaker and not a horn. All single drivers are typically SET friendly as are many crossoverless speakers like some models from Reference 3a. There are also 18-40 watt SET amps - That will have no problem with most of the speakers on the market. The watts may be low but the power supplies are not. It is not the sensitivity - it is the impedance of the speaker that can be a problem. Some 100db HE horns are more problematic than many 86db speakers.

    Here is the $1600 AZ Three floorstanding easy to drive speakers which recently got Hi-Fi Choice's top marks for speaker sound - it's a quasi-horn transmission line speaker playing funky trance like music via home brew 300B amps.

    It's a horn but it doesn't look like a typical horn - and it sounds a lot better than it should for this money.

    300B to counter what I previously said really should not have trouble - you just can't get ridiculously insane with the level.

    P1010601.AVI - YouTube

    As an aside like many Audio Note products they give away their design specs - so you can build your own for much less money if you choose. The AX 3 design schematic (unfortunately the site is in french but the math is still math and there are pictures. Audionote az3
    Last edited by RGA; 01-19-2012 at 12:15 AM.

  4. #29
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Quote Originally Posted by Ajani View Post
    Why should we assume that is true? I accept the logic that if the 1st watt sounds bad then who cares what watt number 500 sounds like, but that doesn't mean that by default the lowest powered amps (generally SETs) must sound the best. Take an interesting review by Constantine Soo of the Audio Note AN-E/D back in 2001:

    AUDIO NOTE AN-E/D LOUDSPEAKERS Review - Equipment Reviews - Dagogo

    He compares the sound of the AN-E with both Audio Note's Quest Western Electric 300B Monoblocks (9 Watt SET) & Monarchy Audio SM-70 monoblocks (70 Watt Class A SS). If not for the fact that the Monarchy eventually blew the AN-E tweeter, frankly it seems as if he might well have preferred the sound of them to the Quest. He certainly spent a large part of that review raving about the sound of the SM70 with the AN-E.
    Constanine's first line "The Monarchy Audio SM-70 monoblocks presented an intriguing alternative and were nearly victorious over the Quest monoblocks


    Nearly means they weren't. Constantine was new to AN back then and was still trying to decide whether he should put the speakers in the corners.

    The AN E/D is far more favorable to SS - which is why if anyone owns a SS amp and is going to buy an AN speaker I always say get the model with the copper wires.

    Constanine also noted less success with a bunch of other amplifiers both SS and tube. The 300B tube amps I already noted earlier are often deemed to be on the mushy side of the spectrum - they have a lusher sound and Soo uses the words philisophical - I might use the word polite. They typically have a sonic flavour and I personally would not buy an Audio Note 300B amp. Bob Neil of Amherst and I both agree that we would own an OTO (EL84) and probably the next jump would be to the Jinro 211 based much more powerful sounding amplifier. Or I would buy the AN Kit in the 2a3 version.

    One of the main reasons they came out with the HE version of the speaker was to help out their 8-9 Watt 300b amps like the Quest effectively doubling their amp's headroom so that when playing Metallica at high levels they would not run into these problems with the sound mellowing out. So you either buy the HE speaker or the higher watt SET. Remember these speakers are not technically considered HE. They're very close but they're no K-Horns. Constanine directly compared the AN E to the K-horn and he and I would agree that the AN E can't match the dynamic ease of those speakers.

    I am not saying SS can;t sound good it can sound excellent - I am sitting here with very nice SS amplifier under $2k and it sounds quite excellent. But at the end of the day - the Quest will win out over most SS amps despite their weaknesses at maximum volume levels and dynamic headroom and staging etc. The tonality and microdynamics and getting inside the notes and sounding "right" trump the pyrotechnics.

    I am greedy - I'd like both which is why despite what I have heard from the Meishue and Kit One I want those traits combined with grip power and dynamics - ideally a Gaku-on connected to an M9 or M10 - but I need a big lottery win - not just any lottery win.

  5. #30
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127
    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    ...
    Here is the $1600 AZ Three floorstanding easy to drive speakers which recently got Hi-Fi Choice's top marks for speaker sound - it's a quasi-horn transmission line speaker playing funky trance like music via home brew 300B amps.

    It's a horn but it doesn't look like a typical horn - and it sounds a lot better than it should for this money.

    300B to counter what I previously said really should not have trouble - you just can't get ridiculously insane with the level.

    P1010601.AVI - YouTube

    As an aside like many Audio Note products they give away their design specs - so you can build your own for much less money if you choose. The AX 3 design schematic (unfortunately the site is in french but the math is still math and there are pictures. Audionote az3
    RGA, this looks like an interesting project. I can make out the French mostly, (including the math and crossover component values), but I can spot the driver information. What am I missing? Or where can I can the driver info?

  6. #31
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Quote Originally Posted by Feanor View Post
    RGA, this looks like an interesting project. I can make out the French mostly, (including the math and crossover component values), but I can spot the driver information. What am I missing? Or where can I can the driver info?
    There is the problem - The drivers are Audio Note - The woofers originally from SEAS but the SEAS versions will be ferro-fluid cooled and use a different Magnet - Audio Note replaces the magnets with their own - remove the ferro-fluid but presumably one could get close.

    ALl I know though is that it would be an 8 inch paper or hemp woofer and I do know it's a SEAS. The Tweeter if it is 1 inch would be a Foster-Tonnegan from Japan.

    They are the same drivers used in the AN E and AN J. Perhaps they sell the drivers at a reasonable sum of money.

    Incidentally, the AN E schematics are also free and can be found via google with all of the cabinet dimensions. Audio Note Kits - Audio Note Speaker Kit 04

    Although if you are serious and you do plan to get the drivers - since they are the same as the AN E then it makes more sense to simply build the AN E cabinet yourself since it sounds a lot better than the AZ 3. AN Kits has a mark-up too and they're making money on the cabinets since they're supplying them pre-made - if you build the cabinet yourself then it's considerably less expensive.

    The AN E is a lot more room friendly - they don't have to be put in corners to sound good and they're perfectly fine free standing - the AZ speakers really need the corner or the box gets in the way.

    This site is from a guy who goes step by step through building the AN E.
    Mostly Audio - Building Audio Note Kit03 Speakers

    I found the AN drivers here - this is the pricing guide for their woofers and tweeters - you'd have to e-mail Brian at AN Kits to find out what the Canadian prices would be as Audio Note tends to be out of date.

    speaker kits and drive units
    Last edited by RGA; 01-19-2012 at 08:01 AM.

  7. #32
    Ajani
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    Constanine's first line "The Monarchy Audio SM-70 monoblocks presented an intriguing alternative and were nearly victorious over the Quest monoblocks


    Nearly means they weren't. Constantine was new to AN back then and was still trying to decide whether he should put the speakers in the corners.
    I didn't say he preferred the sound of the Monarchys. I said If not for the fact that the Monarchy eventually blew the AN-E tweeter, frankly it seems as if he might well have preferred the sound of them to the Quest.

    The point being that while the Quest won out overall, I'm not convinced from that article that it was solely because he preferred the sound of the Quest. He really praised the Monarchy very heavily. So it's quite possible that other persons might prefer the sound of the Monarchy to the Quest.

    My point is simply that we cannot assume that by default the best sounding amps are SET.

    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    I personally would not buy an Audio Note 300B amp. Bob Neil of Amherst and I both agree that we would own an OTO (EL84) and probably the next jump would be to the Jinro 211 based much more powerful sounding amplifier. Or I would buy the AN Kit in the 2a3 version.
    Isn't the OTO a push pull? So you prefer a push-pull over a SET?

    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    I am not saying SS can;t sound good it can sound excellent - I am sitting here with very nice SS amplifier under $2k and it sounds quite excellent. But at the end of the day - the Quest will win out over most SS amps despite their weaknesses at maximum volume levels and dynamic headroom and staging etc. The tonality and microdynamics and getting inside the notes and sounding "right" trump the pyrotechnics.
    All this ties back to my orignal point:

    I accept the logic that if the 1st watt sounds bad then who cares what watt number 500 sounds like, but that doesn't mean that by default the lowest powered amps (generally SETs) must sound the best

  8. #33
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Quote Originally Posted by Ajani View Post
    I didn't say he preferred the sound of the Monarchys. I said If not for the fact that the Monarchy eventually blew the AN-E tweeter, frankly it seems as if he might well have preferred the sound of them to the Quest.

    The point being that while the Quest won out overall, I'm not convinced from that article that it was solely because he preferred the sound of the Quest. He really praised the Monarchy very heavily. So it's quite possible that other persons might prefer the sound of the Monarchy to the Quest.

    My point is simply that we cannot assume that by default the best sounding amps are SET.



    Isn't the OTO a push pull? So you prefer a push-pull over a SET?



    All this ties back to my orignal point:

    I accept the logic that if the 1st watt sounds bad then who cares what watt number 500 sounds like, but that doesn't mean that by default the lowest powered amps (generally SETs) must sound the best
    I'm not saying SET wins by default - However I am saying that the best systems I and many others have ever heard are based around SET amps - and that isn't just a fluke. Do I think some SS amps can beat some tubes and SET - sure. But even in the SS realm I think the amp to beat and has been the amp to beat for 25 years at least is the Sugden A21a (at least within $2k of it's list price). It's a SET. Single Ended Topology, no feedback, pure class A.

    The OTO comes in two versions a Push Pull version and a Single Ended Pentode version which is what my amp is. But it does use a little feedback. Audio Note classifies it as Level 2 - Level 3 s where SET begins. (though Triode not Topology).

  9. #34
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Feanor - I found the AN E schematics - You could probably contact SEAS to get the closest driver to the one AN uses. Ditto for Tonnegan - Parts Express's owner used to work for Audio Note - so they may be able to direct you to the specific model numbers.

    But I can't imagine that SEAS has too many 8 inch hemp woofers with foam surrounds.

    There are also schematics for many of the integrated amps and preamps - like the Ongaku and M8 preamp and various others.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Sophia Electric Baby Amp-an53dj.jpg  

  10. #35
    Ajani
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    I'm not saying SET wins by default - However I am saying that the best systems I and many others have ever heard are based around SET amps - and that isn't just a fluke.
    Fair enough. Clearly there is something special about the sound that appeals to a number of audiophiles.

    As I won't be able to afford "the best systems" anytime soon (if ever), if I want to try out a SET amp I have to look at the more affordably priced ones (like what Poultrygeist uses) such as the Decware and Bottlehead.


    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    Do I think some SS amps can beat some tubes and SET - sure. But even in the SS realm I think the amp to beat and has been the amp to beat for 25 years at least is the Sugden A21a (at least within $2k of it's list price). It's a SET. Single Ended Topology, no feedback, pure class A.
    There are a couple of well regarded alternatives that I would love to compare to the Sugden:

    Monarchy SM70Pro (25 Watt Class A as a stereo amp) and just under $1K, 70 Watts and double the price if used as monoblocks. Monrachy SE100 (100 Watt Class A monobolcks) around $2.5K. First Watt (Nelson Pass) has a number of 25 Watt and under class A amps around the $2K mark. Musical Fidelity had a 32 watt Class A integrated - the A1 (2009 model) around $2K as well.

  11. #36
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127
    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    There is the problem - The drivers are Audio Note - The woofers originally from SEAS but the SEAS versions will be ferro-fluid cooled and use a different Magnet - Audio Note replaces the magnets with their own - remove the ferro-fluid but presumably one could get close.

    ALl I know though is that it would be an 8 inch paper or hemp woofer and I do know it's a SEAS. The Tweeter if it is 1 inch would be a Foster-Tonnegan from Japan.

    They are the same drivers used in the AN E and AN J. Perhaps they sell the drivers at a reasonable sum of money.

    Incidentally, the AN E schematics are also free and can be found via google with all of the cabinet dimensions. Audio Note Kits - Audio Note Speaker Kit 04

    Although if you are serious and you do plan to get the drivers - since they are the same as the AN E then it makes more sense to simply build the AN E cabinet yourself since it sounds a lot better than the AZ 3. AN Kits has a mark-up too and they're making money on the cabinets since they're supplying them pre-made - if you build the cabinet yourself then it's considerably less expensive.

    The AN E is a lot more room friendly - they don't have to be put in corners to sound good and they're perfectly fine free standing - the AZ speakers really need the corner or the box gets in the way.

    This site is from a guy who goes step by step through building the AN E.
    Mostly Audio - Building Audio Note Kit03 Speakers

    I found the AN drivers here - this is the pricing guide for their woofers and tweeters - you'd have to e-mail Brian at AN Kits to find out what the Canadian prices would be as Audio Note tends to be out of date.

    speaker kits and drive units
    Unfortunately even the Kit 02 is well outside my price range at $1550 or $2500 with the cabinets.

    As I might have mentioned on previous occasions it would be possible to construct an "AN-like" speaker with standard drivers in more standard box, but there is no assurance that it would close to the actual AN product.

  12. #37
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Feanor

    One of the reasons I am not completely sold on kits is that how many companies make BOTH a kit version and production version of the speaker in which you may compare? Answer? Audio Note. I have heard the Kit E versus a production E and the the production version is a lot better. I would buy a production AN J or K over the kit E I heard. The kits have gotten a lot better since then mind you but unless you have sophisticated matching and heat sealing machines then you're not likely to get the same sound. But some people are quite excellent at doing it. For many of the dead cabinet kits it doesn't much matter if something is a little off but a tuned instrument type of design means 1mm off and the thing goes from great to stinky real fast.

    They still sound better than most in my view and while the kits are not matched to the same tolerances - 0.6db consider that B&W's N801 is off by 2.9 db and top of the line Quad panels are off by 6db. (Ie the left speaker sounds NOTHING LIKE the right speaker). Interesting that major magazines measureme one speaker in isolation and not a pair of speakers - cause being off by 3db is a joke no wonder people have such problems with room placement and why I always bemoan driver integration.

    I was not suggesting to buy the kits - just the drivers - I can't find the English schematics but they are around the net somewhere - the entry drivers themselves would run well under budget - 13 ply Russian Birch will be much more costly than MDF but not insane and Birch looks a lot better.

  13. #38
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    Quote Originally Posted by Ajani View Post
    Fair enough. Clearly there is something special about the sound that appeals to a number of audiophiles.

    As I won't be able to afford "the best systems" anytime soon (if ever), if I want to try out a SET amp I have to look at the more affordably priced ones (like what Poultrygeist uses) such as the Decware and Bottlehead.




    There are a couple of well regarded alternatives that I would love to compare to the Sugden:

    Monarchy SM70Pro (25 Watt Class A as a stereo amp) and just under $1K, 70 Watts and double the price if used as monoblocks. Monrachy SE100 (100 Watt Class A monobolcks) around $2.5K. First Watt (Nelson Pass) has a number of 25 Watt and under class A amps around the $2K mark. Musical Fidelity had a 32 watt Class A integrated - the A1 (2009 model) around $2K as well.
    Yes there may be others - Pass makes a good one - so does Heed Audio - the other factor is system synergy - I prefer the system approach to the component approach for this very reason.

    This is why these are generalities. Over the years it has been the general case IME that the following is true

    Class A, No feedback or low feedback, Single Ended either tube or SS sounds the best. Various permutations of these approaches tend to sound better. So I would buy a Pass/Sugden amp over a Bryston or MF in a second.

    But then you have Naim - which is pure class B and people love them - Not my cup of tea but you can hear why people would like them.

  14. #39
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127
    Quote Originally Posted by RGA View Post
    Feanor

    One of the reasons I am not completely sold on kits is that how many companies make BOTH a kit version and production version of the speaker in which you may compare? Answer? Audio Note. I have heard the Kit E versus a production E and the the production version is a lot better. I would buy a production AN J or K over the kit E I heard. The kits have gotten a lot better since then mind you but unless you have sophisticated matching and heat sealing machines then you're not likely to get the same sound. But some people are quite excellent at doing it. For many of the dead cabinet kits it doesn't much matter if something is a little off but a tuned instrument type of design means 1mm off and the thing goes from great to stinky real fast.

    They still sound better than most in my view and while the kits are not matched to the same tolerances - 0.6db consider that B&W's N801 is off by 2.9 db and top of the line Quad panels are off by 6db. (Ie the left speaker sounds NOTHING LIKE the right speaker). Interesting that major magazines measureme one speaker in isolation and not a pair of speakers - cause being off by 3db is a joke no wonder people have such problems with room placement and why I always bemoan driver integration.

    I was not suggesting to buy the kits - just the drivers - I can't find the English schematics but they are around the net somewhere - the entry drivers themselves would run well under budget - 13 ply Russian Birch will be much more costly than MDF but not insane and Birch looks a lot better.
    I have no illusion that I could construct the sort of cabinets that AN requires even if I could find the Russian plywood. In any case all the the AN kits are all little or a lot too expensive for me.

  15. #40
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Helotes,TX
    Posts
    771
    Guy's, thanks so very much for sharing gobs and gobs of your knowledge and DIY skills and schematics. I am trying to soak it all up and once I get my Rogue in house I hope to gain a better understanding and appreciation for tube system synergy audio systems. The Rogue should be in no later than Monday or Tuesday.

    LeRoy
    Last edited by LeRoy; 01-19-2012 at 08:05 PM. Reason: typo

  16. #41
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    So Cal
    Posts
    7
    Quote Originally Posted by Feanor View Post
    ... if I could find the Russian plywood
    Actually "Russian plywood" is not that hard to find. I've always known it as Baltic birch plywood (to avoid political stigma). Full sheets are 5'x5'. Baltic birch plywood has also been Americanized to 4'x8' sheets, but I've only seen that at just one large lumber store. There are different prices & grades. The cheaper sheets will have a few tiny voids and unpatched knots on inner plys, but the premium stuff should be 100% void & knot free. I paid about US$36 per 5'x5' sheet of "3/4 inch" 13-ply mid-grade Baltic birch plywood a few month ago.

    From wolstenholme.com:
    > Birch plywood from Russia has been available in the United States for over forty years,
    > and still today, goes by the trade name of Baltic Birch.
    Last edited by blue_z; 01-20-2012 at 01:15 PM.

  17. #42
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Home Of The Fighting Gamecocks
    Posts
    1,702
    Russian plywood aka Baltic Birch plywood is the overwhelming favorite among DIY speaker builders. I've never seen it at Lowes or HD but it's available at most specialty wood working stores.

    I can generally find 3/4 inch stain grade cabinet plywood at HD for $26 per 4X8 sheet. It's not void free but serviceable and looks better painted. A 4x8 sheet goes a long way and HD will make all cuts for free.

    Many people erroneously think solid wood to be a good choice for speakers. Solid wood swells and shrinks while plywood and MDF are more stable.

  18. #43
    RGA
    RGA is offline
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    Posts
    5,539
    AN cabinets are made from void free Russian Birch (Baltic) 13 ply.

    Pretty sure you can get it at Home Depot.

  19. #44
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Home Of The Fighting Gamecocks
    Posts
    1,702
    Void free 13 ply Baltic Birch is impressive and way too exotic for the Home Depots and Lowes in my area.

  20. #45
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127
    Quote Originally Posted by blue_z View Post
    Actually "Russian plywood" is not that hard to find. I've always known it as Baltic birch plywood (to avoid political stigma). Full sheets are 5'x5'. Baltic birch plywood has also been Americanized to 4'x8' sheets, but I've only seen that at just one large lumber store. There are different prices & grades. The cheaper sheets will have a few tiny voids and unpatched knots on inner plys, but the premium stuff should be 100% void & knot free. I paid about US$36 per 5'x5' sheet of "3/4 inch" 13-ply mid-grade Baltic birch plywood a few month ago.

    From wolstenholme.com:
    > Birch plywood from Russia has been available in the United States for over forty years,
    > and still today, goes by the trade name of Baltic Birch.
    Thanks, I could look around. I know that my local Home Depot has a fair variety plywood -- the other thing I'd need is a decent table saw and a place to put it.

  21. #46
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127
    Quote Originally Posted by Poultrygeist View Post
    Void free 13 ply Baltic Birch is impressive and way too exotic for the Home Depots and Lowes in my area.
    That's what I was thinking. Also, as you mention, MDF is far more stable and lower resonance than any plywood, but we've got to understand that the resonance is what the AN designers want.

    And that, in turn, is why I have often pointed out that AN speakers define current "best practice" in their designs -- which isn't to say that they aren't good.

  22. #47
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Home Of The Fighting Gamecocks
    Posts
    1,702
    Baltic Birch plywood is always preferred over MDF in every build I've seen but it costs so much more.
    The great majority of mass produced speakers today use cheap MDF cut on CNC machines and covered with wood veneer. Back in the day speakers were made of particle board covered with veneer.

    Plywood sheets are best cut with a circular saw ( with a plywood blade ) on a flat floor using a squared fence. There are examples on Youtube and you can make your own squared fence guide out of scrap material.

    Most wood working supply stores offer Saturday classes on kitchen cabinet building which teach the same techniques required to build speaker enclosures. That's how I started.

  23. #48
    Ajani
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Feanor View Post
    That's what I was thinking. Also, as you mention, MDF is far more stable and lower resonance than any plywood, but we've got to understand that the resonance is what the AN designers want.

    And that, in turn, is why I have often pointed out that AN speakers define current "best practice" in their designs -- which isn't to say that they aren't good.
    I'm guessing that was a typo... Did you mean "defy"?

    If a brand is going to manufacture SET amps clearly it isn't interested in best practices. I really can't wait to compare AN's eccentric approach to textbook brands like Revel. Should be loads of fun to see which sound I prefer.

  24. #49
    Forum Regular
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Home Of The Fighting Gamecocks
    Posts
    1,702
    MDF is nasty to work with as it produces toxic formaldehyde dust. It's easy to damage the corners and very difficult to paint and finish. It weighs more than plywood and may be acoustically deader but doesn't sound as good.

  25. #50
    Shostakovich fan Feanor's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
    Location
    London, Ontario
    Posts
    8,127
    Quote Originally Posted by Poultrygeist View Post
    MDF is nasty to work with as it produces toxic formaldehyde dust. It's easy to damage the corners and very difficult to paint and finish. It weighs more than plywood and may be acoustically deader but doesn't sound as good.
    This is all true enough, however MDF is a "deader" material than plywood and therefore favored for current "best practice" speaker construction over plywood or just about any other, non-exotic material.

Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 1 2 3 LastLast

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •