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  1. #1
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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    Marantz Speakers

    Never heard any myself, this guy is asking 125.00 for the pair which look pretty good. Anyone heard em??






  2. #2
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  3. #3
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    Very rare speakers. I have never heard of them! Even of the TCM series!

  4. #4
    Music Junkie E-Stat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    Anyone heard em??
    No, but crossing over an 8" driver at 4 kHz will make for a weird image. The narrowing as-you-go-up dispersion of the woofer will collapse the sound stage towards the upper end of its range and then be suddenly opened up by the tweeter. I heard a similarly strange "fun house mirror" image from JBL L110s. In that case, they ran a 5" driver up to 4 kHz.

    rw

  5. #5
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by E-Stat
    No, but crossing over an 8" driver at 4 kHz will make for a weird image. The narrowing as-you-go-up dispersion of the woofer will collapse the sound stage towards the upper end of its range and then be suddenly opened up by the tweeter. I heard a similarly strange "fun house mirror" image from JBL L110s. In that case, they ran a 5" driver up to 4 kHz.

    rw
    Interesting E. I currently have a pair of the very same JBL's you speak of. I've never really cranked them up or had an amp of any significant wattage hooked into them. However, I've found their sound to be quite pleasant. The example your talking about, is this with playback at any volume or when the speaker is being pushed?

  6. #6
    Music Junkie E-Stat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    However, I've found their sound to be quite pleasant.
    Well, they are very neutral sounding - far more than the more popular L-100 Century. I heard them at a friend's house directly against his highly modified Advents.

    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    The example your talking about, is this with playback at any volume or when the speaker is being pushed?
    At any level because it is a function of the driver's dispersion characteristics. The dispersion of cone speakers narrows with frequency. The useful range is approximately at the point where the cone diameter equals the wavelength of the frequency where FR=13.2/cone diameter (in). For an 8" driver, that is 1.65 kHz. In the case of the Marantz running the woofer up to 4 kHz, sound covering the next full octave until the tweeter takes over will be compromised in dispersion (and apparent width) as compared to frequencies both below and above that. A 5" driver should be limited to 2.6 kHz and in the case of the L110, is run another half octave to 4 kHz. The sonic result is an hourglass shaped response with the upper and lower frequencies radiating optimally while the upper midrange frequencies are pinched by the narrow dispersion. It is as though the instruments that play in this range are playing on a narrower stage. The effect was immediately evident to me when my friend switched between the Advents and the 110s. While the 110s have a more extended top, I was constantly aware of their peculiar radiation pattern.

    Higher crossover points for tweeters were more prevalent when they had more limited power handling capabilities. Today, 1" dome tweeters are usually crossed over around 2 kHz - whether we're talking my modest Polk RTi-35s or $27,000 Magico Minis. The Advents were unusual in their day because the originals crossed over to the tweeter at 1 kHz putting a heavy demand on them (and avoiding the imaging weirdness). That was necessary to keep the 10" woofer in its sweet zone. Folks who used modest receivers had no problems, but as soon as others started using Phase Linear 700s, they started vaporizing tweeters. Advent's response with the otherwise identical looking New Advent was to use ferrofluid damping in the new tweeter to improve its ability to dissipate heat and raise the crossover to 1.5 kHz. The updated version proved to be more reliable.

    Perhaps I am hypersensitive to frequency specific radiation patterns because the various full range electrostats I've owned for over thirty years are completely immune to this anomaly.

    rw

  7. #7
    I put the Gee in Gear.... thekid's Avatar
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    Never heard of them but judging by the drivers which are newer looking than the ones in my Marantz Imperial 5G's I'd say these date from the early to mid 80's. Marantz speakers in general don't attract a whole lot of attention though some of the speakers in the Imperial series are considered pretty decent with the Imperial 9 being the crown jewel because it is both somewhat rare and a supposedly fantastic speaker. The series after the Imperial's reportedly had some keepers but after that not a whole lot of noise out there about Marantz speakers. I certainly would not touch them for $125.

  8. #8
    Vinyl Fundamentalist Forums Moderator poppachubby's Avatar
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    Wow. kid, I would have considered a purchase if the feedback here was positive. E-Stat your knowledge is impressive and somewhat mind boggling. I think at the end of the day, your ear is far more refined than mine. As an amateur musician, I foolishly exposed my ears when I was younger. However, in combination with what you know, your hearing is quite discriminatory. Almost a bit of a curse I would think. My question is, what can be done to combat this inherent flaw with the L110? Anything at all? Specific equalization perhaps? Any input you have would be great, thanks again, "Grasshopper" Chubby.

  9. #9
    Music Junkie E-Stat's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    Almost a bit of a curse I would think.
    Not necessarily. Music touches me very deeply on an emotional basis. But I am sensitive to oddities found in some multi-way speakers. Ironically, relatively inexpensive IEMs do just fine because they are inherently coherent as full range devices..

    Quote Originally Posted by poppachubby
    My question is, what can be done to combat this inherent flaw with the L110? Anything at all? Specific equalization perhaps?
    It is not a frequency response related issue as the speakers are quite neutral in response. There is no need for equalization. The only way to offset the drivers behavior is to listen at greater distances.

    BTW, if you listen to content that spans both the midrange and tweeter drivers such solo piano or female voice, you can more easily hear the frequency selective radiation patterns.

    rw

  10. #10
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    Any thoughts on vintage Marantz ls700? There's also some sweet looking small vintage M speakers I might pick up just for ht surrounds.

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