If your close to this man......BUY HIS SPEAKERS!

[Florian]

I have no affiliation and dont know this person BUT

Buy these speakers. Seriously, if i where close then these would be gone by now. Feed them tube power and a good setup and source and walk over speakers costing 10K and more. !!

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lan&1159551247

[Feanor]

I have no affiliation and dont know this person BUT

Buy these speakers. Seriously, if i where close then these would be gone by now. Feed them tube power and a good setup and source and walk over speakers costing 10K and more. !!

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls....lan&1159551247

It would be an 8 hour round trip, but ...

[Florian]

Its a FANTASTIC speaker, 8 hrs is not much. I drove 15 to pickup a power amp ! ;-)

[SlumpBuster]

Only about 15 minutes away from me. Too bad I'm not in the market for new speakers.

[Florian]

Maybe i can convince this guy to crate them and ship to germany. What a deal, cant believe people dont buy it on the spot.

[SlumpBuster]

Sorry Flo, I could never have a speaker that looked like a screen door hanging out in my house. To me the way a speaker looks is just as important as the way it sounds.

Just teasing. Sorry, had to take the piss and see if I could make you cringe even with a whole ocean between us.

Actually, my wife and I were just discussing a dedicated listening room in our next house, just for me. Right now I have to share the HT room. Maggie's will be high on my audition list. I even got wife approval when I showed her pictures of the Maggies. " As long as your not out drinking with loose women," she said.

[nightflier]

Florian,

For those of us not in the know (I only have a pair of the lowest-priced Maggies right now). What makes these speakers so special? I'm not trying to knock Acoustat or flat panel speakers, but these are from 1988, and only cost about &1800 back then, right? Maybe I need a little education about these.

Again, not meaning any disrespect...

[Florian]

Well Acoustats are very special. They are a single panel (in this case double), and they use different graphite coating as a crossover (sorta) to send different frequencys to different sections of the panel (one). You have no electronic crossover, single film (very thing) and they are quite dynamic and not a bent panel like ML's which bundle the sonics to the back. Also the panels are robust and the speaker is very reliable. Its the resolution, speed and dynamics which are frighting. They are awfully close to Apogees! 4 panels like this design is much more dynamic then a normal double panel and you get the heigt.

The sound is transparent, magical, very high in resolution and they simply sound magnificent

[nightflier]

Sounds like I might have to make a road trip (well maybe)....

[Florian]

Sounds like I might have to make a road trip (well maybe)....

In terms of resolution, integration and micro dynamics they will blow away a big new Maggie :-) You should really really give this a try

[E-Stat]

Well Acoustats are very special. They are a single panel (in this case double), and they use different graphite coating as a crossover (sorta) to send different frequencys to different sections of the panel (one). You have no electronic crossover, single film (very thing) and they are quite dynamic and not a bent panel like ML's which bundle the sonics to the back. Also the panels are robust and the speaker is very reliable.

I used various Acoustats for twenty five years before moving to the Sound Labs. There is a crossover in the sense that they use a pair of overlapping transformers (like my current SLs) to optimize full range coverage. The graphite is the conductive coating.

The Spectra 22 is a hybrid with woofers operating below 100 hz. That is why they were not as expensive as the full range models like my older 2+2.

The sound is transparent, magical, very high in resolution and they simply sound magnificent

Naturally, I'm "biased" in my opinion, but I do find electrostats magical. I find the coherency and resolution of a single drive system of low mass to be addictive. The Acoustat family does have a certain house sound though - not entirely neutral.

There is a website with a wealth of information about various Acoustat models. I couldn't link directly to the Acoustat page - choose speakers --> electrostatic --> brands --> Acoustat. There is a interesting link for a factory tour (when they were still in business) that shows how the panels were made. One of the former engineers still answers user questions.

rw

[Florian]

Well this Spectra doesnt come with the sub, so its actually fullrange correct? I know the big 2+2 my friend has, they actually use different coating on the panel to send dedicated frequencys to different sections of the panel. ;-)

By the way, you got a PM :-)

[Florian]

Kick ass....its got a picture of my Apogee Grand on the main page :-)

[E-Stat]

Well this Spectra doesnt come with the sub, so its actually fullrange correct?

Yes, but only down to 100 hz.

I know the big 2+2 my friend has, they actually use different coating on the panel to send dedicated frequencys to different sections of the panel. ;-)

The Spectra family (developed after my 2+2s) did use some electronic scheme to divide the frequency response to improve dispersion, but it was not done via the coating. That simply makes the diaphragm move between the stators.

Trust me, I've had my old units apart. I'll see if I can find Jim Strickland's white paper on his dual transformer approach. Similarly, I had the good fortune of meeting Dr. West recently and know well the similar dual transformer approach in the Sound Lab family. The SLs, however, use superior toroidal transformers for that purpose.

Edits:

Regarding tranformers, here is a response from the engineer who mentions the dual transformer scheme:

"Answer by Andy Szabo (September 1, 2001): From your description of the problem, it seems that you have a problem in the low frequency portion of the interface. There are three possible components: the 1-ohm resistor in series with the low-frequency transformer, the low frequency transformer itself, or the 50K-ohm resistors on the output of the low frequency transformer. But before you begin checking components, make sure the low-frequency tap is properly connected. The resistors are easy enough to check with an ohmmeter. Temporarily disconnect the low-frequency tap to get an accurate measurement of the 1-ohm resistor. This 1-ohm resistor is a 25-watt wire wound, and the 50K-ohm resistors (2 per interface) are 50-watt wire wounds.

The low frequency transformer (the largest of the three transformers) is tough to check by measurement. "

Here is his discussion on the electrical division of the Spectra family:

"Each Spectra panel is electrically divided into two parts, not three. The two halves are physically identical to each other, and physically identical to all other sectors in the speaker. The difference is how each sector is wired to the interface. For illustration purposes, let's look at a Spectra 22 or 2200, which is the smallest implementation possible for a full range Spectra. This speaker has two panels, and therefore four sectors. For the left hand speaker, starting at the left edge, the first sector is lows only. The second sector is mids and lows only. The third sector is full range, and finally, the fourth sector is another mids and lows only. The speaker effectively becomes narrower as frequency increases. The right hand speaker is wired as a mirror image of the left."

rw

[Florian]

I do trust you ;-)

I really wanna know how this works exactly. :-) :-) :-) I was thinking of buying a U1 from the States and shipping it here. I never reached Soundlab tough, i think they had a holiday.

-Flo

[JoeE SP9]

Hey guys! I highly recommend these speakers. Please check my equipment list and you will see those are the speakers currently residing at "Savants Respite". My pair came with the woofer box. It contains 4x6" woofers and the crossover network to connect to the Spectra 2200's. The Spectra's can be run full range or crossed over to run from 100Hz up. The woofer can be run straight in or from 100Hz down. There is a switch on the back of the interfaces and the woofer for selecting the internal crossovers or an external one. Although the Spectra's can be run full range the bass is a little week without the woofer. I have had my current pair for 8 years. I have no real desire nor any sense of urgency to replace or upgrade them.
One of my best buddies has a pair of Maggy 3.6R's. He has said my old Spectra's are in the same league as his Maggy's. My opinion is that my Spectra's sound slightly better because of the seamless response from 100Hz up. In my case it is 85Hz up as I use an external crossover. The woofer cabinet is a very credible "woofer" it is not a true subwoofer. "Stereophile" rated these speakers as class "A" when used with the woofer. The Spectra's with a decent sub or two will simply walk all over anything with real world pricing that uses a box. If you like the Magneplanar sound you will like the Spectra's.
They are rugged reliable and will play loud enough to satisfy most people. They are 4 Ohm speakers and like voltage not current. Any decent amp with 100 watts or so is sufficient. The better the associated gear the better they will sound.
PS: I looked at the pictures on Audiogon. Don't let the frayed grill cloths deter anyone. They are nothing more than a tube of fabric. Buy new fabric and sew up your own. I did and used my mother's sewing machine. It was easy as there is only one seam.
PPS: I would try to get the price down to $600 to $700. Mention the cost and bother of replacing the grills. I own 2 pair of Acoustats. The only maintanence they have ever needed is the diaphragms tightened every six months or so. You do it with an ordinary hair dryer. I also vacuum clean them once a year whether they need it or not.

[jt1stcav]

Well, I had a pair of inexpensive Magnepan MGLR1s years ago and I was thrilled with their sonic characteristics powered by 300 watts from my McIntosh MC7200, so I reckon these Acoustats would be the nutz! If I had the funds to build another 2-channel system, I'd love to try 'em out since I do miss the transparency and openess of planars.

But I'm puzzled by what Flo said..."feed them tube power"...well, my flea-powered 300B SET amp wouldn't cut it (the 4 ohm Triangle Zephyrs almost tax my 8 WPC amp at over 90dB as it is now). What high powered tube amp would relate to high quality watts to drive those Acoustats (I assume they're not very efficient; in the high 80s perhaps)? The majority of high powered tube power amps I know of are out of my price range!

[E-Stat]

What high powered tube amp would relate to high quality watts to drive those Acoustats (I assume they're not very efficient; in the high 80s perhaps)? The majority of high powered tube power amps I know of are out of my price range!

A good SS amp should work fine as they do need some current. I used a Threshold Stasis for many years. As for high powered tube amps, I used my current VTL MB-450 monoblocks on them with 500 watt (@ 4 ohm) output. Unfortunately, they are a bit pricy.

rw

[jt1stcav]

Yeah, I figured as much...high current SS would be the only affordable way for me to go at this point (bought all my used Macs at decent prices).

Lucky for me, in lieu of planars (which I still love), I also love the direct, highly sensitive, in-your-face dynamics of horn-loaded loudspeakers with low-watt tube amps. I've also used my dad's old Klipsch Cornwalls for many years, but they're too big for my small room. In the near future I may just replace my beloved Triangle towers with a pair of TOTL cherry Klipsch Reference Series RB-75 bookshelf monitors, and use the Zephyrs for a 2nd system...someday.