@Strat-Mangler I'm here every day reading away. I just seldom sign in and post. @Helom I can't say the midrange suffers at all compared to my mint a25s, but I haven't directly compared it to the standard a26 cabinet. My a26s are certainly more detailed and bigger sounding than my a25s. Also have Vandy 1Cis and VLRs in the house too as points of comparison. I read everything I could find on the a25s and a26s here and on many other forums as well (and especially on DIY). I'm basically a 2-way fanatic (having owned NHT Superzeroes+sub, Spica TC-50s, Totem Model 1s, and Meadowlark Hot Rod Kestrals, 2 versions of Tekton Lores and probably some others I'm forgetting). Contemplated LS3/5as and P3ERSs, but for all of their virtues I couldn't live with the lack of bass and sense of scale it provides. I actually prefer the straight up a25 for sheer, balanced musical pleasure to the LS3/5a variants. I'm also more of a tube guy too, so easier to drive 2-ways are more appealing. When I listened to the O/93s and O/96s when they came out, I realized I could get mids and scale at the same time, so I knew some (much!) cheaper version combining a big ported box, relatively simple crossover, and efficient 2-way drivers was the way to go for me.
@songforyou I notice from your equipment profile that you are using a single-ended EL-84 amp with 6 watt output. Do you find that has enough power for the A26?
as long as the Q value is maintained there should be no affects on the midrange because of the woofer's ability to reproduce an octave more bass. what could affect the midrange is increased cabinet resonance output and bandwidth. damp and brace the cabinet well and this also should be no issue.
@Salectric Yes, no, wait...yes?! I'm just in the process of completing my profile this very instant. I have multiple modest systems in the house (3 room and 1 desktop) and I rotate stuff as the mood strikes me. If you look at the picture above, I have a Unico Primo hooked up. When I first brought the speakers home, I was hoping that the F-138 would suffice but things just sounded a little lean. Tried my modded Scott and my Primo. Primo served the longest time and I also fiddled with placement. As the speakers settled in (break in is real) and placement was determined, I decided recently to try the little, but glorious, EL84 again. Presto! Sounds fantastic. The Primo is a great hybrid integrated, but the midrange on the Finale is just so wonderful it's hard live without. So my answer is yes, with the caveat that a 6wpc tube amp will never have the same grip on bass that an 80wpc solid state amp has.
Hello, and merry Xmas. I've got a new SEAS A26 kit and had plans for a larger cabinet inspired by John DeVore's monkeys. I really like the aesthetics. My Harbeth SHL5+ won't go anywhere, they are fantastic speakers, hooked to my Luxman L-550AXII. This is a project just for fun. I'm looking for a different approach, a different voice. More forward sound and fatter bass if I like to spin some heavier albums. Had Klipsch Forte III before, and from time to time I miss the massive bass slam from the 12" woofer. I have read _a lot_ about the topic here, on diyaudio, and everywhere. Still, I can't decide between a standard 28-liter vented cabinet, a 74-liter sealed cabinet - or a «DeVore-ish» ported cabinet. I understand a sealed cabinet will give me a smoother roll-off and a flatter response, but unsure about sacrificing bass extension(60-200Hz) to gain a few Hz at the low end. Thinking about the fun factor. All inputs are greatly appreciated. /Jan
Why would you buy the kit if you are going to mod the piss out of it. Doesn't make any sense to me....
Mod the piss out of it? That's not my intention at all. This SEAS kit is based on an old invention(the classic Dynaco A25). The undersized 28-liter with an aperiodic vent was probably chosen by Dynaco to keep the enclosure small. I prefer a floor-standing build, mostly because of aesthetics. There's no problem maintaining the correct Q from a 74-liter sealed enclosure. It will give a smoother roll-off and deeper bass, but less dynamic between 60-200Hz it seems. I will use the same, simple crossover. The same arrangement of the woofer and the tweeter, possibly the same width. It's about managing the trade-offs. I was just looking for some experience here. No more - no less.
If that’s the case you might want to reconsider the cabinet dimensions and venting. Similar to BBC-monitors, that frequency range is where they struggle enough as is with the original configuration. Otherwise, I’m afraid you might end up with a speaker that sounds as though it has a big trough in the mid-bass, similar to some transmission-line designs. I could be wrong about that. My pair has more damping than the standard kit, which was necessary to achieve a British-quality midrange, so maybe it’s possible to trade off some of that for greater midbass. If I could combine the midbass dynamics and extension of my Tekton Lore Refs with the strengths of the A26 I’d have my end game speakers.
I’ve owned the Lore and the Lore S (a precursor to the Lore Reference). Both were good speakers, but I much prefer the big cabinet a26. It has more refined mids AND better extension. I think the SEAS driver is simply a notch above. Eric at Tekton has done a lot to show that great sound doesn’t have to cost a ton. My one reservation is that he seems to like experimenting with designs rather than perfecting them. Way too many speakers at overlapping price points. But there is no doubt his products offer good value. Still, my choice would be (and is) a big box a26.
I wasn’t advocating a Tekton speaker over the A26. I was merely saying that I wish my A26s possessed the midbass dynamics of the Tektons. All speakers anywhere near these price points have trade offs unfortunately.
Totally agree. And I knew you weren’t advocating Tekton over the a26s. I was just trying to confirm for you, from someone with experience with Lores, that a big box a26 does exactly what you’re looking for. Cheers!
Having heard the Audio Note AN-ED Hemp and owned the AN-J LX Hemp and experiencing their excellent deep bass down to 25Hz, you can get the same response from the A26 woofer using a larger cabinet. A 151 litre internal volume cabinet with a 3" diameter X 3" long port gives you an F3 of 26Hz. The only downside is the size and weight of the enclosure which is the price we pay. The sound will be spectacular.
same drivers and crossovers and a larger enclosure volume dramatically improves the bass depth and response. in other words DIY the cabinet, online calculators available for proper sizing based on the woofer's TS parameters.
Avanti 1960 hit the nail on the head. Bass and scale are incredible with wonderful mids. No sibilance that I can detect at all. I don’t know what they weigh, but I have carried them down a flight of stairs myself. But they are big buggers. You don’t want to wedge them in a room much less than 12’ wide. That said, they are relatively easy to place and aren’t very critical of distance to the wall behind them. They don’t need to be pulled out 4’ into the room to sound good. The Dynaco a25s were made with wall mounting brackets on the back and weren’t designed to be used well away from wall boundaries like many modern speakers.
Great to hear. Your «big box A26» looks very nice. The internal volume is 40”x18”x15” right? Thanks a lot. The size doesn’t scare me too much. 95cm tall with a 35x45 footprint isn’t that bad. Another option is a 74-liter sealed enclosure with an f3 of 45Hz. It will be a different beast I guess. Possibly a dryer sound with a faster and more accurate bass response? I have no experience with designing speakers but am used to woodwork, MDF, plywood, and tools from my work as a technician at an exhibition.
Having experience with the Audio Note speakers and their efficient 8 inch woofers creating bass to 25 Hz the sound was so good that I would strive for that if I were building them, which I may.
