Seeking recommendations for sanely-priced full-range speakers

Very true, but this thread wouldn’t exist without that detail, lol

 

Which Wharfies model are those? And why don't you use them all the time (i.e. what do the Zu's do better?). My friend and I auditioned Reva 4's-they looked lovely and sounded very good, but compared to Focal 936s and Monitor Audio Silver 300s we agreed there was a bit of separation or division between each driver, not as smooth a blend as the competition. BUT they sure looked more gorgeous. So, conflicted, he hasn't bought anything.

 

Those are Diamond 10.7's. They are 90 dB efficient, and are driven by an SS amp with over 200 WPC, which makes them sound great. But I doubt that an 8 WPC SET amp can drive them just as well. Besides, while the W's generally very good with every kind of music, the Zu's are still better at voices and acoustic jazz in particular.

 

Maybe try the Wharfs with the tubes. I agree, it might not be enough. But then again in a smaller room it just might work.

 

The W's sound fine with the push/pull PrimaLuna Four, but still better with the SS Parasound. Besides, I bought the SET amp specifically to pair it with the Zu's I already owned, so no improvisation is now needed - everything is now where it should be.

 

There is a Canadian co called Unity Audio. Their full-range speaker tower is the Inner Soul Towers. They have a very nice write-up in "Wall of Sound" a very tube-friendly mag. It is very interesting. Check them out. The Soul is around $1350 Cdn when reviewed. They have a "long" break in period, [about 200 hrs], no kidding. But worth reading about. cheers and happy speaker hunting.

 

Opps/ Just noticed the Unity Audio speakers are all rear ported. Too bad as they are well respected speaker on Canuk audio.

 

Yeah, I just checked them out. The Soul towers lose out specs-wise to the Zu's. For the same money, their Whitewater V2 monitors make more sense, and would be on my radar if they were not rear ported. Actually, for a monitor, save the rear porting, their specs are very impressive. I haven't encountered too many bookshelf-sized speakers that go down to 34 Hz.

 

Funny, in all the pictures on the website they're positioned very close to the wall.

 

Does not exist which goes that high with a reasonable dispersion pattern; physics. Previous post of mine:

Speakers that have enough surface area to move bass have enough surface area that tweeter frequencies radiated from different parts of the driver cone create interference. This creates piston "beaming" with cancellation lobes. As the frequency increases:



Full-range speakers small enough to avoid this effect, such as a 2" driver that has a ka=5 profile at 10kHz, cannot displace sufficient air to reproduce any reasonable magnitude of bass frequencies. They reach their limit when the driver must move at a significant fraction of the speed of sound, modulating high frequencies with a doppler effect. They might be okay when firing directly into your ear.

Reading: Radiation from a Circular Baffled Piston

 

I've noted that Erol Ricketts has recently reworked the PSM monitor with different drivers, so I can't comment, but they are much easier to drive on paper now. They go to 35 Hz, but they are stand mount. Don't know how the price works for you, but he has demos and B stock, too.

He no longer has a frequency response graph either and appears to be out of stock, but the specs:

Frequency Response: 35 Hz-25 kHz,+/- 3.5 dB

-6 dB referenced to 1kHz: 30 Hz.

Sensitivity: 90 dB 1/watt/m

Minimum Impedance: 12 ohms

Connectors: Superior Electric BP30-2BR-B fully insulated, gold plated five-way binding posts

Dimensions: 7.5 X 24 X 16 (W x H x D)

Cabinet construction: Cross-braced 3/4 inch MDF

Finish: Semi gloss red birch with semi gloss black front and back panels

Shipping Weight: 45 pounds each

Recommended amplifier: 25-200 watts

-10 dB referenced to midband (1kHz) response: 28 Hz

 

My SET amp is 8 WPC.

 

You might drop an e-mail to Unity Audio as that is the quickest way to get a reply. He would let you know if they would work for you. Just a thought. cheers.

 

Might want to look at Revel Concerta...I drive them with a 12 WPC.

 

Will you guys be anywhere near Peoria Illinois the first week of October? Steve actually has the Lii speakers in house (along with the open baffle builds he did with the F-15 drivers and the Crystal 10) .... he's already got them setup and says they're pretty amazing. Should be a really cool Decfest October 4th ,5th and 6th!

Read more here: Lii Audio Flagship Loudspeakers

 

Why do you need front ports, you have plenty of room for rear ports?

 

How do you figure? The rear-ported Wharfedale's that are in the front need at least 2 feet from the wall to shake the bass boom. And in the rear corners, even the bottom ported Zu's are boomy. The only speakers that are insensitive to the corner placement are the front-ported PSB's.

 

For single drivers Omega and Tekton are the brands to look into, they both have a strong following (especially Omega) and can be had for reasonable money. The owner of Omega is a great guy and will discuss with you questions, etc. Single drivers have a speed and presence that is very appealing and essentially come in 3 types: (a) amazing value DIY (Fostex, etc.) for a small speaker these are awesome, (b) reasonable priced (Omega, Tektons, Zu) and then (c) insanely priced (eg. Tocaro).

 

Not going to be there, but these speakers are on my radar, somewhere in the back of my mind. And I have a bookmark for them in my browser...

 

Yes.

Zu I already have, Tekton Perfect SET is on my list, and the Omega, while perennially making me salivate, is rear-ported, which is a disqualifying feature in my circumstances.

 

The market is really small: there are some other brands as well like Heco (I have auditioned them and personally didn’t like them) and WLM (have a very good reputation but potentially difficult to find in the US), all in all it boils down to very few choices. Although Zu can be considered full range I’m not sure they are typical so expect Tekton or Omega to sound quite different (might worth posting your observations on the differences when you get there).

 

You might look at the Golden Ear Tritons. I have the Triton 2+ and they are amazing for the price at $3500 a pair. However, there are less expensive Tritons, the 5 and 7. Mine have built in subwoofers powered by built-in class D amps. They are rated down below 20Hz with 93.25 efficiency and can be powered with a low-wattage tube amp. The less expensive ones have passive basses but still get great reviews. The Triton 2+ replaced the Triton 2. If you could find used Triton 2s they might be under $2K. I have had both the 2 and the 2+ and they are both wonderful speakers. I think they're the best deal out there and a number of reviewers agree with me. They are built in China, though, and I've heard that because of the tariffs they will be going up in price.

 

That isn't because they have ports on the rear, it is because they're boomy in that particular position.

Here, read this:

Where the port is placed is the result of a lot of different considerations, not the least of which are visual aesthetics and optimal use of the real estate available on the front baffle. Bass energy moves slowly and takes a large amount of physical space to unfold, so the few inches from the front to the back is negligible: For all intents and purposes there is no difference between a rear- and front-ported speaker. In the cuataway of the LS50 pictured below, the port is shown in the upper right hand corner of the loudspeaker.​

Source: How To Place Your Rear-Ported Speakers

 

Have you talked to Louis at Omega? I'll bet he'd build you a pair of speakers with front ports.

 

Most that attempt to use these full range drivers instead put them in funky transmission line enclosures - 8 feet of port that doesn't work like a port, more like a large open baffle simulation.