High Efficiency Speaker Asylum

Posted by hagustos (A) on April 12, 2005 at 15:34:10

Hİ,
First please go to link below to see pictures of my setup.
Loudspeakers pictures are below line preamp.

http://www.geocities.com/h_agustos/personal_PAGE.html

5 years passed after these speakers were being built by me.I have been using them happily since then.
These are exact replicas of TRIANGLE OCTANT EZX LOUDSPEAKERS.
Why I did not post them's answer is they became unavailable after I built.Hope you can find seconhand.When new original was 7600USD.
Why I post them's answer is because Thorsten and others (PHY-HP),thanks Thorsten by the way for all the contributions to this and Tube DIY forum,promoting dipole loudspeakers nowadays, I want to encourage you to build or buy this approach.

For specs:
3 way 5 driver line array system.Paper midrange and basses,titanium tweeters.
Second order 12dB/octave crossovers.
Nearly fullrange midrange drivers crossing over 120Hz to 7kHz.
All the way dipole down to tweeters-Tweeter cones back are also open
94dB efficieny,minimum 4 Ohms impedance.

I built them with the exact dimensions of the originals.1500mm H X 420mm W.I used original crossovers and drivers.Main body is veneered MDF,sides are real hardwood (rosewood).Binding posts are Cardas.

Now for the sound:
First because they are nearly fullrange, they behave like that.They have a very coherent, continuous sound without apparent crossover frequency anomalies.They are fast, rivalling Lowthers, better frequency extensions and more dynamic.
They have an open, clear, naturally detailed sound and a wonderful midrange.
They are better in microdynamics than macro.
Although I prefer fine tone over soundstage anyday,they are also good for the soundstage deep and big wide.
I am using them in a relatively small room and in this room they behave like big mini monitors.Big for the sound,small for lack of exitation of room nodes and smearing of sound.
Ilistened long them in my previous house in a bigger room and they performed equally good there.(don't ask me about moving to new home because they are DIY, no boxes etc..)

I am not itching to change it still after 5 years.

They are also matching very well in sound and in loudness to my SET 300B amps.

Some cautions:
It takes nearly 6 months for driver suspensions settling, when not broken in they are a little bit bright,upfront and lightweight sounding.After that sound is continuously improving,gaining weight and body and a very fine midrange tone comes in.
Although bass extension is good (around 40s)their bass is not for heavy bass lovers.Bass is fast, detailed well defined even with SET,but needs a little bit getting used to it.When there is bass,there is bass when not present it comes from silence very quickly.It is wonderful not to have vibrations still lingers on after bass note passed but it is a little bit different from conventional speakers.
They also need some work for placement,they have a narrower sweet spot and you should try for your liking.

I am very happy with them and recommend you the dipole route.

For the line stage pre in my site please see my post "Triode wired EF804 Line preamp" in Tube DIY.
Since only one guy responded, it seems out of fashion but I also recommend that design for people who needs a high gain pre with a very high quality sound.Tubes are not expensive even though they are Telefunkens (Ef804=~20$ each + Ez 81 rectifier)
Only 3 tubes to bother and if you prefer with different pin solderings you can use EF86s.
It has clear,vivid and a very dynamic sound and what a bass.
My SET began to make real Rock after that.

Hakan,

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