Jeff B. Testarossa TMM, 2-Way, RAAL/Satori

annunaki

annunaki

Moderator
Yeah, fuzz we want some real details on how they sound. ;)

I am interested in doing a similar configuration (SB RAAL combo) so I am vicariously living this experience.
 
STRONGBADF1

STRONGBADF1

Audioholic Spartan
Go the speakers set up. Wasn't sure how it would work with two pairs of speakers, one with side firing PR's and the other with side firing woofers in an AB AB configuration so went with what's below. Sounds fine to me. I just need to rerun Audyssey for the outside (HT) speakers. Also below is 1/2 component racks. The Threshold is now driving the Testarossas and the antimode is in that signal chain providing level matching and bass management.



Rick loves that song title...

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
Well so far I've played a few things through them and spent some time listening to them today. Currently they are being run full range, pure direct from the 8801 to the Antimode Dual Core 2.0 to the Threshold. The only issue I've run into is that they are much less sensitive than the other speakers so I've had to turn up the volume on the Antimode quite a bit. I just hope this doesn't result in any signal clipping, but so far so good. Placement options are pretty limited, but after a little tweaking I think I've reached a happy balance. I may still fiddle with angle a little bit, but that also means I'd have to re-run the bass management so maybe not as well. Most comments are in short, clipped sentences and are, for the most part, directly from notes I made while listening. I tend to not wax poetic and as Joe Friday would say, "Just the facts ma'am."

Linkwitz Sound Picture CD
Since I've received it, I've started all new speakers off with the Linkwitz Sound picture CD played through the Oppo.

Track: After intermission

This track takes place in a large concert hall, about 25 rows back from the stage with a large orchestra tuning for Shostakovich Symphony #10. It also includes ambient conversation and the applause prior to the orchestra starting up again. Everything sounded very natural. Ambient sounds were precisely placed, applause sounded natural, soundstage was tall, but didn't appear to go wider than the speakers nor was it quite as deep as I remember. Could be a placement issue since they are very close the back wall.

Track: Parking Garage

Having been in a parking garage not too long ago I played this track to see how closely it sounded to actually being in a parking garage. Reverb was natural, captured the echo nicely. Footsteps and conversation sounded very natural and imaging was good.

Track: Ripping Paper

One of my favorite tracks because you can have someone standing there ripping paper as you pause the track to see how close it sounds. Plus this is a sound most people are very very familiar with so you usually know immediately if anything sounds wonky. Sounds like ripping paper. Aka, a good thing.

Track: Train Pulling Into Station

Great track to quickly test the panning ability of the speakers. Plus the train whistle is fun to hear. Movement across the soundstage was excellent, train whistle was natural, RAAL sounded great reproducing it, harmonics blended seamlessly with the midwoofers. Ambient sounds were captured and reproduced really well. Felt like you were at the station waiting for the train.

Philharmonic Test CD
Unfortunately I don't remember the names of the two songs in question. All I know is that they are track's 1 and 2. I'll have to ask Dennis what they are.

Track 1

This is a cool track, instrumental only, lots of good drum action and low frequency energy. Will definitely give your speakers/subs a good workout. Unfortunaltely I found the limits of the Satori woofers on this track. Granted I had the volume wayy up and it wasn't until the final few hits that are extra hard. Up until that point, the Testrossas sound awesome and bass carried an excellent weight, while also sounding very precise. Zero sloppiness from the lower register through the midrange. Very quick start/stop.

Track 2: Keith Don't Go (I think)

Guitar solo at the beginning is excellent. Live recording, same old same old. Imaging is precise, soundstage places guitar front and center, neither recessed nor forward.

Sheffield Lab Drum and Track Disc

IMO, a must have for testing speakers. The recording quality is top notch and the improv drum solos are really really good. Drum solos by Jim Keitner and Ron Tutt. Personally I lean towards the Tutt solo. For these recordings I'm listening for how well the drivers blend together, how well they capture the reverb of the drums and if the drivers can keep up with the drummers without getting muddy or sloppy or fuzzy in any spots. I love how this track sounds on the Phil's and to say that I don't think I hear any major differences is a huge compliment to the Testarossas. I'm really impressed by the Satori woofers and the 70-20 is just as good as I remember.

Random Tracks
Partita for Solo Violin No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006: I. Preludio By Aaron Rosand

Another one of my favorites. Really highlights the tweeter and mid capabilities of a system. When played through the right speakers, the notes just seem to float in the air and are kept "light" and precise. RAAL FTW.

Spotify

I had spotify (premium) on last night for about 2-3 hours just playing random stuff. Anything from pop, classical, hip hop, country, jazz. I put these things through the ringer throwing just about anything I could think of at them at 7/10 volume. No critical listening, just seeing if I noticed anything glaringly obvious, positive or negative, from a casual perspective. At first the high end seemed a little bright and the low end was lacking a little bit, but a little placement tweaking had them sounding much much better. Overall, they sounded extremely neutral and revealing of the source material, which is exactly what I want. I don't want a pair that's going to level everything out and make badly mastered tracks sound Ok and really well done tracks sound pretty good. These fit the bill. Poorly mastered tracks sounded like sun soaked sh!t, and tracks that were mastered well sounded like it.

Final Impressions

For this whole thing I've basically tried to avoid any direct comparisons to my reference speakers and tried to let them stand on their own, but I guess it's inevitable. I would say that the Testarossas are superb speakers and the Pros/Cons below are mainly in comparison to the Phil 3's.

Pros:
- RAAL tweeter delivers.
- Satori woofers better than expected
- Imaging is precise
- Soundstage is right where you'd expect it to be, neither recessed nor forward
- Very natural, neutral speaker
- Drivers blend together nicely
- System as a whole is everything and more than you would expect at the price
- Reasonably small footprint, especially for the performance aquired

Cons:
- Doesn't reach quite as deep as I'd like
- Suspension of woofers limits output depending on material

The Testarossas are truly excellent speakers that give me 85-95% of the overall Phil 3 performance and 95% of the performance above 35-40Hz. They do everything right within their operating bandwidth and give more performance than anyone would probably imagine from a cursory glance. While I do miss the open back mid of the Phils, for most material it is a nonissue. The only other knock against them is that output wise, they are limited a little bit. However, for the vast majority of people they would be more than enough.

The overall presentation is balanced and neutral. Bass carries a nice weight to it, especially for four 6" woofers. However where they really shine are through that critical mid-range and of course the top end. Vocals are delivered about as faithfully as you could ever want, from soft and delicate, to sultry, to the powerhouses. These do not disappoint. I'm extremely happy with the speakers and even though I had high expectations because of the designer and the drivers, those expectations were easily met and exceeded. They came far closer to the performance of the Phil's than I thought they would and crossed over to some subs to just fill in a little bit of the low end and provide some relief to the Satori's at high output levels and you'd have full rangers that would sound great at just about any output level. As they are, they still sound more than good enough to leave without being crossed over which is how I'll be keeping them for the foreseeable future.

Now to go spin some vinyl through them.
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
For sh!ts and giggles. Green is 1m, blue is 2m. 1/24 smoothing.

 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
@fuzz092888

How much stuffing do you have in the Phil cabs?

The Testarossa's sound awesome! Anything you'd do differently in the construction, or process itself?
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
@fuzz092888

How much stuffing do you have in the Phil cabs?

The Testarossa's sound awesome! Anything you'd do differently in the construction, or process itself?
Currently, not much. A handful and a half in each upper cabinet.

Nope. Construction went as planned, all the cuts were perfect since they were CNC'ed. The plywood was about 20x better than the stuff you can get at HD or Lowes. Even better than the super expensive stuff I bought back home from the local lumber place. The veneer is nice and thick, completely void free, really easy to work with. Having built a few pairs of speakers and subs already I had a pretty good plan for what I wanted to do and how to get it done. The biscuits were kind of a pain. They'd be good for a smaller project, but I'll probably just do rabbets from now on for larger projects.
 
TheWarrior

TheWarrior

Audioholic Ninja
Having built a few pairs of speakers and subs already I had a pretty good plan for what I wanted to do and how to get it done.
Why ya gotta rub it in? ;-)

How thick is thick? (teehee) I would love to find something thicker than 1/32"!

Rabbets all the way! But if you used biscuits to really lock the front baffle in, I bet it was worth it!
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
Why ya gotta rub it in? ;-)

How thick is thick? (teehee) I would love to find something thicker than 1/32"!

Rabbets all the way! But if you used biscuits to really lock the front baffle in, I bet it was worth it!
Hardly rubbing it in. As a wood worker, you get to build plenty of cool things. I wish I didn't have to farm out the bulk of the work, but without the space, tools, or time having it CNC cut is the best option. Ah-well. Eventually I'll get the space. Time is another issue.

Biscuits all around. braces, side panels, top/bottom, and front baffles.

This isn't too much thicker than that, about 3/64 I think, but this is a dream compared to HD's veneered ply. That stuff is paper thin.
 
Rickster71

Rickster71

Audioholic Spartan
Cons:
- Doesn't reach quite as deep as I'd like
I was wondering if you think swapping them around so the woofers faced out and your other speakers weren't in the way... if the bass results would be different?
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
fuzz - Now that own speakers designed by both Dennis Murphy and Jeff Bagby, how would you describe the differences, if any, between their speaker voicing preferences?

I am familiar with Dennis's voicing, and I think of it as neutral sounding, even as the definition of balanced sound. But I don't have experience with Jeff Bagby's designs. From your nice write up on the Testarosas, it seems like they sound similarly neutral and are both flat across the crossover region.
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
I was wondering if you think swapping them around so the woofers faced out and your other speakers weren't in the way... if the bass results would be different?
Well, those are passive radiators so I'm not sure. It's possible, but with the other towers pictured it didn't seem to make a huge difference, but that was also in a different room when I tried. Those towers have an active 12" woofer, which puts out a lot more than the PR. I think what would make the most difference in overall sound would be pulling them out into the room about 3ft.

I don't want to give the wrong impression. By no means am I missing any bass, and they don't sound thin whatsoever. It's only in comparison to the Trilines which are crossed over to 4 18" subs and the Phils which have a revelator woofer stuffed inside a large ML-TL. There's all the bass you'd want, just not that chest thumping slam at higher volume levels. Minus cannon shots, thumping techno, or big slamming drum solos and these deliver in spades. Also to keep in mind, is that the Satori woofers are taking care of bass and mid range duties and are not a 3 way. This is still only a two way, which makes their performance a little bit more amazing.
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
fuzz - Now that own speakers designed by both Dennis Murphy and Jeff Bagby, how would you describe the differences, if any, between their speaker voicing preferences?

I am familiar with Dennis's voicing, and I think of it as neutral sounding, even as the definition of balanced sound. But I don't have experience with Jeff Bagby's designs. From your nice write up on the Testarosas, it seems like they sound similarly neutral and are both flat across the crossover region.
I've been spending most of my time down in the bassment so I don't have much time in front of the Phil's recently so I'd have to get back to you with a definitive answer. However, going off of memory my opinion would be that if you like Dennis' designs you'd like Jeff's. I think they have very similar design goals, and pay close attention to the crossover regions and how the midrange sounds.

I'm not sure the designs I've heard of Jeff's are an apples to apples comparison with what I've heard from Dennis. The Phil 3 is a big full range 3 way, while both of Jeff's designs are 2 ways. However minus the bass of the Phil's and keeping in mind that it's ported vs PR vs open back, through the midrange and top end all 3 are very similar, both in terms of sound and how they measure.

I'd also like to throw out there, that I don't think that the Source Tech Trilines are in a completely different category. I have the trilines set up with the Testarossas and prior to this with the Phils and I think they more than hold their own with these really really good designs. While they miss the sparkle of the RAAL at the top and the bass, while powerful, lacks a little of the finesse of the ML-TL one big advantage over the Phils and the Testarossas is that the Trilines are good at any volume level. You're ears will give out long before they do and crossed over to some subs and any finesse they were lacking can be made up. Not bad considering prices.

Price
Trilines < Testarossa < Phil 3
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
… However, going off of memory my opinion would be that if you like Dennis' designs you'd like Jeff's. I think they have very similar design goals, and pay close attention to the crossover regions and how the midrange sounds.
Thanks. That's good to know.

They both have very good reputations as speaker designers, but you never know if they really have similar mid range flavors until you hear them. It's always good to hear from someone who knows both types.

Is there a write-up of the design for the Testarossa? I don't remember reading one.
 
fuzz092888

fuzz092888

Audioholic Warlord
Thanks. That's good to know.

They both have very good reputations as speaker designers, but you never know if they really have similar mid range flavors until you hear them. It's always good to hear from someone who knows both types.
Thanks. Hopefully you don't hear a Jeff B design one day and think, "Is that guy f%$#in' deaf?" :D

Is there a write-up of the design for the Testarossa? I don't remember reading one.
Nope. In fact there are three designs using the RAAL 70-20 and Satori woofer in kit form, sold by meniscus that there is next to no information on. You have to contact meniscus or ask Jeff directly on PETT to get any info on them. There are a few mentions and some general info on PETT, but no official writeup or anything besides a picture and short description of the Testarossa from whatever audio show Jeff brought them to.
 
Alex2507

Alex2507

Audioholic Slumlord
Wait a minute. You mean you didn't do the lay out on the biscuits? How am I suppose to trust you ever again? :D
 
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