Sonic breakthrough in speakers, or seller talking crap?

I see nothing wrong in that listing. Sure, it's highly unlikely those speakers have a response like that in anything approaching +/- 3 dB, but the limits are not given. So, it's accurate.

As to the high end limit, good older speakers can do that. My Infinity Quantum 2s are spec'd at 24Hz-32kHz +/- 3dB anechoic.

- JP
 
Damn, man, I thought that finding a speaker 20Hz to 20KHz +/- 3db was an achievement! Maybe I should've bid on them afterall........ :sigh:
 
kenwood_lover said:
Damn, man, I thought that finding a speaker 20Hz to 20KHz +/- 3db was an achievement! Maybe I should've bid on them afterall........ :sigh:
Click to expand...
It is an achievement to find a speaker so spec'd. It's hard to get that low and remain flat. The top end is a little easier, many tweeters can go well-above 20 kHz, but not many do it well. Imho, how high the top end extends above 20 kHz doesn't matter as much as the low end; only a percentage of the population can even hear that high and it's an abnormality to hear above that. Some say going up to 32 kHz adds "air" or something subconscious to the music, but it seems for me only good for bothering bats and moths. That is aside from bragging rights of going up that high.

What speakers are you looking at/bid on?

- JP
 
i was going to bid on those ones in the above advert (marantz 5G) but didn't know if they would be any good or not. Basically, what I'm looking for is a relatively flat pair of speakers with good extended bass so that I don't need to use an EQ to correct it to flat response, because i've been told that if I use an EQ on my 10wpc tube amp then i would fry it! - i received that advise AFTER i tried it but fortunately it didn't appear to do any harm! the speakers would obviously need to be pretty efficient for my 10wpc tube amp to drive them (it drives my 101db/w kenwoods pretty well but not my 89db/w gales).
 
Well, those Marantz would most likely need some EQ to flatten out, perhaps a lot. Plus, I doubt they'd be sufficiently sensitive to do well with a 10 wpc amp, tube or otherwise, if you like to listen to levels above a low spoken voice.

How much money do you have to spend for new speakers? Since you're already in the UK, you could probably get yourself a nice pair of vintage Tannoys for half the price we have to pay here in the states. They're typically in the mid-90s for sensitivity and like tube power. I've found recent success running a pair of 15" Tannoy HPD385As off of a ~15 wpc Fisher SA-16 and am getting plenty of bass, though limited to ~35 Hz due to the cabinet. Still a very, very good setup.

- JP
 
If I knew I would be happy with my next speaker purchase for the foreseeably future, I'd be happy to spend around £250 ($500). What Tannoy models would you recommend? They wouldn't happen to be a single full-range driver, would they??
 
I wouldn't cry over those speakers.

Most likely their frequency-response plot looked something like this:
 

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kenwood_lover said:
If I knew I would be happy with my next speaker purchase for the foreseeably future, I'd be happy to spend around £250 ($500). What Tannoy models would you recommend? They wouldn't happen to be a single full-range driver, would they??
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Tannoys, the good ones at least, are dual-concentric meaning that their tweeter is horn loaded through the pole piece of the woofer. You can see what a cross-section looks like here.

The various vintage models in the UK don't always overlap with the US variants, basically we only received a fraction of what should be found around there. For $500, I don't know if you can find a pair, but some scrounging, you might be able to pick up a newer (late '70s early '80s) 10" or 12" with ceramic magnet for that price, but you won't have as much bass extension. You'll be sacrificing a bit of low-end for possibly "lifers" or speakers you could easily hang onto for life.

Poke around the Tannoy Yahoo! Group for a bit and maybe even pose your question, there's a great many people there who've forgotten far more than I'll ever know.

'Course, there are always a lot of other options particularly in regards to British made brands like Leek and Wharfedale that you'll want to consider. Hopefully someone can add more on that. I just think you'll find a better bargain for locally grown brands as they should be more plentiful around there.

- JP
 
theodoric said:
I wouldn't cry over those speakers.

Most likely their frequency-response plot looked something like this:
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A bit like my Kenwoods then???? :D
 

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Well, I just found a pair of these Marantz Imperial 5G's and they are really quite a nice speaker and very rare! They are actually american made from 1975! They have heavy MDF cabinets with nice walnut veneer that is silky smooth. The 5G's originally had sculptured foam grills that have of course all rotted away in the 30 years they have been around. I replaced my covers with a nice black poly cloth and they look very nice! The woofers have rubber surrounds and the tweeter is a very nice little phonelic ring that does a good job up to about 18K! The freq. Resp. is 50-20K +/-5DB. That is all meaningless anyway... I have come to find out. If the speaker has good balance and musicallity the Freq. Res. numbers are just that ....numbers! For the people familiar with it this little speaker has made their "Top Ten 8 inch two way speakers list"! The size, finish and the sound remind me a lot of the Dynaco A-25's to be honest with you (except the A25's are 10 inchers of course)! They are also usually a bargain on auctions because not too many people are familiar with them.

Remember this..... if you are a male over 40 you probably can't hear much over 12Khz. anyway! And if the speaker has a solid response down to around 50Hz. with good balance and tonal quality you've got yourself a winner! Marantz Imperial 5G's a great little speaker! I would grab them if I were you! :) http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/imp5g.html

Best! Franksta
 
No comment. :)

Here's the anechoic response of my speakers. There's a 5dB dip around 120Hz, and a 3dB peak around 9.5kHz, but otherwise fairly smooth (+/- 3dB 27-20k) - other than that HUGE 10dB peak at 27kHz. BTW, I run them vertically biamped with a sum total of 300 watts for each speaker.

The UK has a long and proud history of loudspeaker design and manufacture. If you're dissatisfied with your current set, you should be able to find something manufactured in the UK that satisfies your desires. Tannoys are high-efficiency, and typically a bit forward, so they should mate well with your 10wpc tube set.

I've owned both Celestion and Monitor Audio speakers, but am afraid that you'll need a more efficient speaker than those, and the BBC 3/5 variants are typically very inefficient.
 

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Theodoric, good post on the Tannoys, every day I'm surprised at what you know and have experienced.

Kenwood_Lover, those are the bigguns of what I was recommending and actually, that's a bit of a bargain compared to US prices. The Monitor Gold and older models (Reds, Silvers, and Blacks) tend to go for large sums of money, particularly the 15" drivers. I was suggesting those models that use the smaller drivers and newer models that have switched over to foam surrounds (the HPD series) that don't go for the price they should and even newer variants that have gone to ceramic magnets. You can read about the different versions at this excellent site to get a better feel for what the newer models look like, at least in regards to the drivers.

Some tips for finding decent Tannoys on the cheap, look for foam surrounds, gold-painted square frames, and shallow magnets (ceramic) in the 12" size. It still might take some digging, but these are excellent speakers still. The Tannoys are just a recommendation, there are other good options for less money such as Theodoric suggested.

- JP
 
kenwood_lover said:
A bit like my Kenwoods then???? :D
Click to expand...

Wow! A genuine 80Hz-11kHz response there, apart from the big hole in the middle! :D

Did they forget to connect the tweeter when they measured them do you think?!!!
 
Yeah I still can't understand why the fall of so rapidly after 10kHz, considering each speaker has 2 tweeters AND a dedicated super-tweeter! Can't blame the cabinet dimensions for that can they???!!! PS - Can't figure this one out - my kenwoods clearly have no or very little output at 20kHz, yet when I up the 20kHz band on my EQ I CAN hear an audible difference. Its the same for the 20Hz and 25Hz sliders too! How does that work???
 
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