Listening and Learning

jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
This review has been a long time coming, so my apologies to the owner of the speakers for the delay. A couple months back I took a vacation down to Snowshoe Mountain in West Virginia for some family skiing. As the weather was warm, the conditions poor, and my ski boots unbearably painful, I decided to take a ‘small’ detour to go visit a forum member in Virginia to meet face to face and listen to his home-built speakers. By ‘small’, I mean five hours through twisty mountain roads. Word to the wise: don’t always take the shortest route Google Maps provides. After much fun but exhausting driving, I finally arrived at my destination ready to listen to some music.

I must confess that there was some bias involved. Before I visited, the speakers in question were referred to as teleportation devices. I was quite skeptical of the claim, but I was intrigued to find out just what made the owner make such statements. Upon arrival, I inspected the listening room. The windows had been covered with boards to ensure total light control and acoustic symmetry in the room. The air conditioning unit for the room was located in another part of the house and run through a closet as a baffle. Various mineral wool and acoustic foam treatments were placed precisely about the room. The house is located in a very rural area, so in combination with the treatments and the low-noise electronics, the noise floor in the room was at THX standard levels (20dB). There was no doubt; this was a very serious dedicated listening room.

The electronics stack was interesting. Nestled between more treatments (that I will discuss the significance of later), was an older H&K stereo receiver, an Adcom amplifier, a Behringer DCX2496, and an older Pioneer magazine-based CD-changer.

But what about the speakers?

They’re odd-looking, to say the least. The top-mounted Linaeum tweeter is a very strange looking device, and the large distance on the front baffle between the Focal midrange and Kicker woofer is equally disconcerting after looking at so many ‘conventional’ loudspeakers. The speakers also lack the conventional spikes, instead sitting on custom-made-and-matched isolation stands to mechanically decouple them from the carpeted floor. The knuckle-rap test was the first indication (aside from the odd appearance) that I was in for something special. It was like knocking on a concrete wall. I have never in my life experienced a loudspeaker enclosure as well-damped and dead as this. I can say with confidence that virtually any other speaker on the market is a resonant sound-box compared to these cabinets.

The owner explained to me the purpose of the various design choices. The Linaeum tweeter, although far from perfect, exhibits near-omnipolar response as frequency increases. The woofer was chosen because of its high linearity and low power compression. The midbass unit was chosen because of its lack of resonances, its then-excellent dispersion, and good linearity within the range it was to be used. The midbass is also isolated from the cabinet baffle via an internal suspension system to help combat destructive cabinet resonance. The enclosure was designed to be extremely dead to ensure that no coloration in the midrange could be added by cabinet resonance. In addition, the lower section of the enclosure was designed so the woofer does not operate in a band that coincides with the resonant frequency of any of the speaker panels, thereby eliminating any resonance issues that might occur between the driver and the cabinet. After hearing these speakers, I would say that the effort made on the enclosure was definitely not in vain. It’s amazing just how colored most speakers are.

The speakers, unlike most, utilize and active crossover, meaning that each driver gets its own amplifier channel. Equalization is applied to each driver individually to yield the best sound and desired frequency response. These speakers are designed with a frequency response curve similar to but more aggressive than the Toole curve. This means that they are not flat, but have a gradual roll off in the high frequencies that, as perceptual research by Floyd Toole has shown, is what most people perceive to be flat.

After a dizzying explanation of the internal construction of the speakers, we finally sat down to enjoy some music. After loading some various jazz, Mapleshade classical, and Steely Dan into the magazine, the lights were killed and the ceiling treatments were adjusted (bare for classical, Echobusters at the primary reflection points for studio music), I hit play.

I don’t remember the order in which I listened, nor do I recall all of the material I listened to, but a partial list is below:

Steely Dan – Aja
Donald Fagen – The Nightfly
Ani DiFranco – Reprise
Depeche Mode – Playing the Angel
Various Mapleshade Recordings
Various Jazz Recordings

I was absolutely blown away. I’ve never before heard such realistic speakers. I was transported to the original recording venue on the live recordings. The studio recordings were presented with such detail and depth that it’s hard to convey in words. The backing vocals on Deacon Blues were so full and 3D that I was taken aback. I’ve listened to the Aja recording literally hundreds, if not over a thousand times, and it was the first time I’d ever heard that kind of sound. It was the deepest I’d ever ‘seen’ into the mix on the album. Fagen’s Nightfly album yielded similar results. Depeche Mode created an electronic world that I felt I could reach out and touch. Ani DiFranco was amazing as well; her voice and the instruments were just so real. Every part of the spectrum sounded so right; every driver blended together seamlessly. They really did teleport you to the original recording. I could go on and on throwing out fluffy audiophile terms in an attempt to communicate what I heard, but the best description I can offer is this: simply real.

Such praise creates the need for comparisons, however unscientific. The two closest competitors to these speakers are the Linkwitz Orions and Vandersteen 2CE Signature, in that order. It should be known that the Orions, while good in a traditional sense, are a distant second place. They simply are not as realistic. The same goes for the Vandersteens. I feel that the 2CE signatures present a tremendous value as a loudspeaker, but they still pale in comparison to the speakers I heard in Virginia.
Like any good speakers, these models revealed anomalies in the source material. Mapleshade recordings, while good, sounded very obviously inferior to many high quality digital recordings. The tape hiss was very apparent, as was the incompetence on the part of the engineer. On several classical pieces I could distinctly hear where dynamic peaks caused tape saturation, resulting in a much less realistic experience.

After a few hours of uninterrupted listening, I had to find out just what made these speakers sound so much better than others and why the design was pursued. The designer spent many hours reading the perceptual research of Floyd Toole and other contributors to AES to learn about speaker design characteristics, different acoustical environments, and how different phenomena are audible or inaudible and how they affect the final sound. Through his research he discovered that speakers with flat frequency response (up to about 14 kHz), wide if not omnipolar dispersion, and flat power compression result in superior sound. He learned about the detrimental effects of cabinet resonance and other vibration-based colorations. Using this knowledge and research, he ended up with the present design and room setup and treatment.

Another instrumental part of the design and tweaking process was the use of controlled listening tests. Friends and acquaintances were brought in to evaluate the speakers and give feedback. The listening evaluation sheets were based on Harman perceptual principles so that the data gathered from the tests could be correlated to speaker and acoustical properties that could be modified and improved. Many measurements of the speakers were performed in the room to verify and adjust the performance of the speakers in an objective matter.

The acoustical treatment of the room is also somewhat different than one would normally expect to see. Large bass traps lie on the floor to the sides of the listening position and behind the speakers. Broadband traps are located in the corners behind each speaker, but not directly behind. The primary reflection points on the side walls are not treated. Thick absorbers are also placed around the central equipment stack to both prevent reflections off the electronics and also to eliminate stereo crosstalk behind the speakers (remember, they are partially omnipolar). Lastly, there are two foam absorbers on the primary reflection points on the ceiling that are adjusted depending on the source material. I think the most interesting part of the acoustical treatment setup is the lack of absorption or diffusion at on the walls at the primary reflection point. To demonstrate the reason behind this choice (and the lack of back-wave absorbers), the designer grabbed some extra treatments and used those to absorb those two points. To my amazement, the realism was gone! The depth and fullness of the backup vocalists on Deacon Blues went flat and returned to the “normal” stereo sound. It didn’t sound bad, but it was rather lifeless after the previous experience.
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
Listening and Learning Part 2

I learned a lot on my trip. I confirmed that science and engineering are the only way to approach good loudspeaker design. I also learned that most speakers on the market are built like garbage. I discovered that omnipolar speakers can sound amazing when set up properly. I also found out that I had come down with a major case of upgradeitis. The problem with hearing speakers that blow you out of the water is that nothing less will suffice. After hearing those, I had to have a pair for myself. Luckily the designer was willing to talk business and agreed to make a pair of omnipolar speakers to my specification, but of even higher linearity, higher build quality, and better dispersion. Why even higher? Because the speakers I heard he now considers “third-rate”. My speakers that are in the works will be “second-rate”.

What, then, is “first-rate”?

“First-rate” means a concrete inner enclosure, lots of damping, multi-layer cabinet walls, suspension systems, and all in all, damn near half a ton per speaker. No resonances will be allowed in the midbass enclosure. Dispersion will be omnipolar from 20Hz on up through the entire audible range. I personally feel that this level of build quality borders on insanity, but in the pursuit of personal stereo perfection, sometimes one makes no compromises. This project is not just a pipe dream either. The designer has constructed a mock-up of the front baffle design to test dispersion and achieved nearly perfect results.

If it wasn’t apparent, I was more than impressed. This review might sound like verbal fellatio, but I can say without reservation that on my vacation I heard far and away the best stereo that I have ever listened to. So who is the mad scientist behind these speakers? You all know him as WmAx.


A picture of the speakers in question:

 
Last edited:
D

davo

Full Audioholic
From reading your experience I would have to say that you have had a privileged experience. And that you are able to aquire speakers of such high caliber is more amazing. I suppose I could liken it to driving an Enzo ferrari and forever been jaded about any car I ever travelled in after that. :( It would be better for me to not go there. But anyway, enjoy your new speakers. :D By the way, how long does it take WmAx to make a pair?
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
From reading your experience I would have to say that you have had a privileged experience. And that you are able to aquire speakers of such high caliber is more amazing. I suppose I could liken it to driving an Enzo ferrari and forever been jaded about any car I ever travelled in after that. :( It would be better for me to not go there. But anyway, enjoy your new speakers. :D By the way, how long does it take WmAx to make a pair?
I will once I get them. I'm currently working on funds. If all goes as planned I should have them by this fall. As for time frame on building, you'll have to ask him yourself:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/member.php?u=4487
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
Ok, so I no longer have to keep sh sh about his speakers.

Really wish I could hear them.

SheepStar
 
mike c

mike c

Audioholic Warlord
does the speaker really include the black thing on top?

nice build quality!

what are its dimensions?

what is the driver configuration?

sealed?

recommended power?

I feel really sorry for myself for not being able to hear stuff like that ...
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
does the speaker really include the black thing on top?

nice build quality!

what are its dimensions?

what is the driver configuration?

sealed?

recommended power?

I feel really sorry for myself for not being able to hear stuff like that ...
The black thing on the top is the Linaeum Line Source Tweeter. It's about 3.5' tall (by my memory, WmAx could tell you exactly). The driver configuration is just 3-way, the Linaeum tweeter, a 5.25" Focal midrange (it might be 6.5"), and an 8" kicker woofer. The midbass is sealed and the woofer is in its own separate ported enclosure within the cabinet. As for power, I think the woofers get around 200wpc from the Adcom amp while the mid and tweeter are powered by the HK receiver's internal amps, though without knowing the model number I couldn't tell you the output. These specs are from memory, WmAx will be able to answer the particulars on these questions.
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Those are very cool looking speakers, especially being custom made!:eek:

I am sure my jaw would drop if I knew how much those would cost, of course I know by looking at them I cannot afford them. If I hit the lottery I will give WmAx a shout.:D
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
Those are very cool looking speakers, especially being custom made!:eek:

I am sure my jaw would drop if I knew how much those would cost, of course I know by looking at them I cannot afford them. If I hit the lottery I will give WmAx a shout.:D
Well, they probably DON'T cost a lot. Other then building material and the drivers, you don't pay for much else (other then labor).

These are DIY speakers, so they don't have retail prices (or performance).

After talking with WmAx I can agree with everything Jaxvon has said. He has shown me enclosure models for his NEW speakers, which are more elaborate then ANY retail speaker I've seen. As Jaxvon said, all other speakers are resonance machines in comparison.

SheepStar
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
I am sure it is still more money than I have or can spend. I wasn't saying they would be superlatively expensive.:)
 
Swerd

Swerd

Audioholic Warlord
And now for the $64,000 question...

What kind of speaker cables did he use? ;)
 
D

davo

Full Audioholic
Well, they probably DON'T cost a lot. Other then building material and the drivers, you don't pay for much else (other then labor).

These are DIY speakers, so they don't have retail prices (or performance).

After talking with WmAx I can agree with everything Jaxvon has said. He has shown me enclosure models for his NEW speakers, which are more elaborate then ANY retail speaker I've seen. As Jaxvon said, all other speakers are resonance machines in comparison.

SheepStar
I was thinking about getting some details/plans of the speakers from WmAx to build my own when I read this post. Now I'm more inclined to ask!!
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
Was my review really that good? No one has questions or comments? :D
 
STRONGBADF1

STRONGBADF1

Audioholic Spartan
Hey Jaxvon,

Cost of the raw materials and drivers for the speakers?

What brand of treatments were used? DIY?

Could someone with basic wood working skills and tools be able to tackle a project like this?

Could we get a look at the plans?

How would they sound in an untreated room, say like a basic living room? (point being what is really the shinning star here, the speakers or the room?)

Did you listen to any sub par recordings? If so, could you live with the results?

Is WmAx's head disproportionatly larger than your run of the mill audiophile???:rolleyes: (sorry had to take a stab WmAx...):D

and yes, your write up was very good...Thank you for taking the time to do so.

I think most questions might be better answered by WmAx himself. Thats probably the reason for the lack of inquires on this post. Has WmAx been fielding a lot of PM's because of your posting this reveiw?

Thanks again Jax,
SBF1
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
I did listen to some sub-par recordings, and it was definitely harder to listen to. A good test is to listen to the recording in question on good headphones like the MDR-V6. If you can listen on these, you can listen on really good speakers. The problem is, the fault of the recording will still be very apparent.

Glad you enjoyed the review.
 
WmAx

WmAx

Audioholic Samurai
Hey Jaxvon,

Cost of the raw materials and drivers for the speakers?
The drivers used in the system Jaxon heard are no longer in production. But, in all, the final used materials(not including waste and R&D costs) of the actual speaker drivers and cabinet materials, it was in the $1,100-$1,200 USD range.
What brand of treatments were used? DIY?
A combination of OC 705 DIY treatments, 8 lb/ft^3 mineral wool board DIY treatments, and Echo Busters foam treatments.

Could someone with basic wood working skills and tools be able to tackle a project like this?
If you had specific plans, you could build the cabinets, though they take some effort to build due to the suspension systems and excessive bracing and damping materials.

Could we get a look at the plans?
I don't develop or design speakers to provide plans to people, or to talk about(in normal circumstances) on forums. Also, because of the various complexities in the suspension system(s) and critical measurement of each driver to ensure it is within specification, and to even correct for each driver's slightly different behaviour(s), I don't believe that any reasonable quality control can be achieved with general people building according to plans.The only thing I will consider is building/engineering speakers for people, and on a very limited basis, as it kills my otherwise free time. I should also point out that I will not build or design a speaker that is very similar to the one reviewed, as this is a 3rd rate speaker at best, and my current state of progression has moved beyond such inferiority, as I have been able to improve several important technical parameters in my new prototype.

How would they sound in an untreated room, say like a basic living room? (point being what is really the shinning star here, the speakers or the room?)
The room is not a super-treated room, but it is moderately treated. The room is approximately 15' wide by 13.5' deep. A medium sized room. The room has about 135-150 square feet of treatments at any given time, but it is optimized, and used in a way to allow for a great deal of specific reflections and reverberation to still exist. The treatments are positioned to absorb mostly stray reverberation, bass, and to prevent center front wall cross-talk reflections. No 1st reflections are treated, except for the ceiling on some specific recordings. But with speakers that have a wider overall even sound dispersion pattern, the sound quality is increased compared to speakers with worse overall dispersion as frequency varies, according to highly credible perceptual researchers such as Ian Paisley and Floyd Toole, whom use many test subjects in blinded control conditions to test for subjective percieved effect of isolated variables. According to Toole's conclusions, a speaker with better off axis response will have superior sound quality compaerd to one with inferior off axis response, if all other things are equal.

-Chris
 
Last edited:
Matt34

Matt34

Moderator
Nice read Jaxvon, you did a good job of conveying what he has done even for us simpletons. I need a translator when WmAx explains something.:D


Is there a picture of the room you can post?
 
jaxvon

jaxvon

Audioholic Ninja
Nice read Jaxvon, you did a good job of conveying what he has done even for us simpletons. I need a translator when WmAx explains something.:D


Is there a picture of the room you can post?
I don't have access to a current picture of the room as it is currently set up. I'll ask WmAx to see if he can do anything about it.
 
STRONGBADF1

STRONGBADF1

Audioholic Spartan
The drivers used in the system Jaxon heard are no longer in production. But, in all, the final used materials(not including waste and R&D costs) of the actual speaker drivers and cabinet materials, it was in the $1,100-$1,200 USD range.
A combination of OC 705 DIY treatments, 8 lb/ft^3 mineral wool board DIY treatments, and Echo Busters foam treatments.

If you had specific plans, you could build the cabinets, though they take some effort to build due to the suspension systems and excessive bracing and damping materials.



I don't develop or design speakers to provide plans to people, or to talk about(in normal circumstances) on forums. Also, because of the various complexities in the suspension system(s) and critical measurement of each driver to ensure it is within specification, and to even correct for each driver's slightly different behaviour(s), I don't believe that any reasonable quality control can be achieved with general people building according to plans.The only thing I will consider is building/engineering speakers for people, and on a very limited basis, as it kills my otherwise free time. I should also point out that I will not build or design a speaker that is very similar to the one reviewed, as this is a 3rd rate speaker at best, and my current state of progression has moved beyond such inferiority, as I have been able to improve several important technical parameters in my new prototype.



The room is not a super-treated room, but it is moderately treated. The room is approximately 15' wide by 13.5' deep. A medium sized room. The room has about 135-150 square feet of treatments at any given time, but it is optimized, and used in a way to allow for a great deal of specific reflections and reverberation to still exist. The treatments are positioned to absorb mostly stray reverberation, bass, and to prevent center front wall cross-talk reflections. No 1st reflections are treated, except for the ceiling on some specific recordings. But with speakers that have a wider overall even sound dispersion pattern, the sound quality is increased compared to speakers with worse overall dispersion as frequency varies, according to highly credible perceptual researchers such as Ian Paisley and Floyd Toole, whom use many test subjects in blinded control conditions to test for subjective percieved effect of isolated variables. According to Toole's conclusions, a speaker with better off axis response will have superior sound quality compaerd to one with inferior off axis response, if all other things are equal.

-Chris
Hi WmAx,

I don't have anyplans as of now to venture into such a project but it is always interesting to read about projects like this.

In hind sight asking about plans was sort of dumb on my part but It's just gos hand in hand that when a topic is brought up that wanting to see why the cabinet is so "dead" is important. What I was really interested in was some of the methods used to damp a cabinet to such an extent. I understand that this could be complicated to lay out concisely on a fourm so just disregard that question.:)

Thanks for the reply,
SBF1
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top