Status Acoustics Titus 8T Floorstanding Speaker System Review

[monkish54]

Sorry, Gene.

Me too. I have been derailing this thread since the beginning. I honestly apologize.

To continue our discussion:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/diy-corner-tips-techniques/83149-well-designed-diy-speakers.html#post932434

 

[haraldo]

Congrats on fabulous speakers Gene

Yes it's quantifiable by me measuring 115dB output in bass and running out of amplifier power before the drivers or ports lost output. Yes its quantifiable that my in-room distortion measurement was below the noisefloor of my room at 95dB almost 15 feet away from the speakers. Yes its quantifiable based on the physics of driver mechanics and the amount of cone area dedicated to the mids and bass. Yes it's quantifiable based on the incredible tweeter design from ScanSpeak that has extremely high power handling, low Fs and great dispersion. Multiple tweeters weren't needed in this design as you can note from the comments in my review.

Gene, the reasoning behind the question is that: are you able to measure the dynamic compression, or lack of thereof..... and compare to other speakers
IMHO, this may be a very important measurement as the dynamic compression is one of the things that really takes away the realism of any kinds of music....

 

[Steve81]

Gene, the reasoning behind the question is that: are you able to measure the dynamic compression, or lack of thereof..... and compare to other speakers

It's possible but for a full range loudspeaker it may be a bit time consuming depending on the resolution desired; Josh does it for subwoofers at least and each sweep takes roughly a minute I believe. Soundstage also does the THD+N test at 90dB and 95dB and for some speakers gives a deviation from linearity relative to output at 70dB.

 

[Nuance AH]

Soundstage also does the THD+N test at 90dB and 95dB and for some speakers gives a deviation from linearity relative to output at 70dB.

Wouldn't it be cool if every manufacturer offered those measurements on their websites? I know I know, I'm living in a fantasy world...

 

[haraldo]

It's possible but for a full range loudspeaker it may be a bit time consuming depending on the resolution desired; Josh does it for subwoofers at least and each sweep takes roughly a minute I believe. Soundstage also does the THD+N test at 90dB and 95dB and for some speakers gives a deviation from linearity relative to output at 70dB.

Probably Gene would have to dismantle the crossover to get to do these measurements.... and now that he bought the speakers I'm not so sure he wants to do this

Although; I believe this to be extremely important....
As far as I understand Pat Mc Ginty (of former Meadowlark audio) did extensive research on this when he picked ScanSpeak revelator drivers for his Blue Heron 2, reasoning that the only drivers he could find that provided textbook performance on this area were the following drivers: Scanspeak revelator ringradiator, 4.5" revelator midrange and 7" carbon woofers.

So same with the 8T, here they obviously pick top of the line drivers in this regards and also make the dynamic ceiling so high in the midrange that... well, the review says it all.

And mark: not once did Gene use the word overpriced!
These are probably speakers that contain so much engineering that the price to pay is sensible

 

[gene]

Congrats on fabulous speakers Gene



Gene, the reasoning behind the question is that: are you able to measure the dynamic compression, or lack of thereof..... and compare to other speakers
IMHO, this may be a very important measurement as the dynamic compression is one of the things that really takes away the realism of any kinds of music....

Yes agreed but I believe its more than a simple THD sweep can reveal. When you hear how effortless brass instruments sound on this speaker at any listening level, its quite amazing. How the speaker loads sound into the room b/c of so much cone area has something to do with it as well.

 

[KEW]

I never said I wasn't. Devil's Advocate, remember?

This topic is probably better served in a different thread. Sorry, Gene.

I envision Gene exclaimed "F***", threw his hands up in the air, and walked away shaking his head about 50 posts ago!

Thanks for tolerating our BS, Gene!

 

[Steve81]

How the speaker loads sound into the room b/c of so much cone area has something to do with it as well.

So I guess for those of us with more pedestrian budgets, the question is: how close would a pair of EMP Tek E55Ti's and a pair of PSA XS-30s get us to the Status? Obviously the poor man's implementation will fall short in more than a few aspects (the build quality of the cabinets for instance looks sufficient to withstand a knuckle rap test from Superman), but you shouldn't suffer a shortage of cone area at least

 

[haraldo]

So I guess for those of us with more pedestrian budgets, the question is: how close would a pair of EMP Tek E55Ti's and a pair of PSA XS-30s get us to the Status? Obviously the poor man's implementation will fall short in more than a few aspects (the build quality of the cabinets for instance looks sufficient to withstand a knuckle rap test from Superman), but you shouldn't suffer a shortage of cone area at least

You have these, not for so pedestrian budgets, but AU$ 5500,-
way less than the status, but how close they come.... have no idea... but then you need sub assistance....
Equinox Audio Perigee

 

[KEW]

So I guess for those of us with more pedestrian budgets, the question is: how close would a pair of EMP Tek E55Ti's and a pair of PSA XS-30s get us to the Status? Obviously the poor man's implementation will fall short in more than a few aspects (the build quality of the cabinets for instance looks sufficient to withstand a knuckle rap test from Superman), but you shouldn't suffer a shortage of cone area at least

I do wish EMP would go a bit higher end!
I could see the drivers of the 41Be in an MMTMM array being a very nice and dynamic "oversized" BS speaker. Just add a sub!

 

[gene]

Listing of High $$$ Speakers

I thought it would be interesting to see a listing of some of the most pricey loudspeaker systems on the market. Kinda makes the 8T's look inexpensive in comparison

HigherFi-Ultimate - The Worlds Best and Most Expensive Audio Speakers

 

[monkish54]

I thought it would be interesting to see a listing of some of the most pricey loudspeaker systems on the market. Kinda makes the 8T's look inexpensive in comparison

HigherFi-Ultimate - The Worlds Best and Most Expensive Audio Speakers

I'd say those speakers just look RIDICULOUSLY expensive, rather than the 8T looking inexpensive. $50,000 for a pair of speakers is NEVER inexpensive, even if you're a billionaire!

If I were to be opinionated and obnoxious I'd say those speakers are for people who want a statement product and not quality sound. You don't need to spend 100K for good sound. You don't need to spend 100K for the "BEST"sound!

Those speakers are practically robbery.

 

[Irvrobinson]

I'd say those speakers just look RIDICULOUSLY expensive, rather than the 8T looking inexpensive. $50,000 for a pair of speakers is NEVER inexpensive, even if you're a billionaire!

As long as you're going to class, you might spend more time in mathematics.

Someone who has just one billion dollars (there are about 425 individuals in the US alone with that sort of money, and assuming an average immediate family size of four, that would mean about 1700 people in the US have direct access to that wealth) has more than 10,000 times the wealth of an average US family. That means, my academic friend, that if a billionaire family buys a $100,000 pair of speakers, it is similar to an average US family buying a $10 or $20 pair. How much do you think about spending $20 on something?

Of course you could compare the billionaire to the people most people think are rich, the ones with about one million dollars of investable assets. A billionaire is only 1000 times richer than one of these folks, so a billionaire buying an 8T is like a millionaire buying a $50 speaker.

To a billionaire the 8T is a trivial investment, probably not even worthy of spending time on it. He or she would probably have a contractor of some sort choose them. If the billionaire hated them, the contractor would probably just swap them out.

 

[gene]

As long as you're going to class, you might spend more time in mathematics.

Someone who has just one billion dollars (there are about 425 individuals in the US alone with that sort of money, and assuming an average immediate family size of four, that would mean about 1700 people in the US have direct access to that wealth) has more than 10,000 times the wealth of an average US family. That means, my academic friend, that if a billionaire family buys a $100,000 pair of speakers, it is similar to an average US family buying a $10 or $20 pair. How much do you think about spending $20 on something?

Of course you could compare the billionaire to the people most people think are rich, the ones with about one million dollars of investable assets. A billionaire is only 1000 times richer than one of these folks, so a billionaire buying an 8T is like a millionaire buying a $50 speaker.

To a billionaire the 8T is a trivial investment, probably not even worthy of spending time on it. He or she would probably have a contractor of some sort choose them. If the billionaire hated them, the contractor would probably just swap them out.

I love this post!

 

[agarwalro]

As long as you're going to class, you might spend more time in mathematics.

Someone who has just one billion dollars (there are about 425 individuals in the US alone with that sort of money, and assuming an average immediate family size of four, that would mean about 1700 people in the US have direct access to that wealth) has more than 10,000 times the wealth of an average US family. That means, my academic friend, that if a billionaire family buys a $100,000 pair of speakers, it is similar to an average US family buying a $10 or $20 pair. How much do you think about spending $20 on something?

Of course you could compare the billionaire to the people most people think are rich, the ones with about one million dollars of investable assets. A billionaire is only 1000 times richer than one of these folks, so a billionaire buying an 8T is like a millionaire buying a $50 speaker.

To a billionaire the 8T is a trivial investment, probably not even worthy of spending time on it. He or she would probably have a contractor of some sort choose them. If the billionaire hated them, the contractor would probably just swap them out.

Thanks for putting thinigs into perspective.

Next post in the "What are you drinking now..." thread .

 

[KEW]

As long as you're going to class, you might spend more time in mathematics.

Someone who has just one billion dollars (there are about 425 individuals in the US alone with that sort of money, and assuming an average immediate family size of four, that would mean about 1700 people in the US have direct access to that wealth) has more than 10,000 times the wealth of an average US family. That means, my academic friend, that if a billionaire family buys a $100,000 pair of speakers, it is similar to an average US family buying a $10 or $20 pair. How much do you think about spending $20 on something?

Of course you could compare the billionaire to the people most people think are rich, the ones with about one million dollars of investable assets. A billionaire is only 1000 times richer than one of these folks, so a billionaire buying an 8T is like a millionaire buying a $50 speaker.

To a billionaire the 8T is a trivial investment, probably not even worthy of spending time on it. He or she would probably have a contractor of some sort choose them. If the billionaire hated them, the contractor would probably just swap them out.

Just for the fun of it, we can flip it around the other way.

Lets say a person with the wealth of the average US family (which is not bad for a college student) was obsessive enough about audio to spend $2,000 for a pair of speakers.

This would be equivalent to a billionaire spending $20,000,000 for a pair of speakers!

 

[monkish54]

I didn't mean that it would be huge purchase for a billionaire, but that a 50K speaker is not inexpensive even for ultra hifi.

No matter how much cash you have, 50K is not a low price for a speaker. That was my point.

That said, your post was amazing and made me laugh...so I concede.

 

[Steve81]

As long as you're going to class, you might spend more time in mathematics.

I'd point out that while in terms of math, 50k or even 500k is nothing to a billionaire, human psychology is an important factor to consider as well regarding some of your statements.

How much do you think about spending $20 on something? ... To a billionaire the 8T is a trivial investment, probably not even worthy of spending time on it.

Depends on the "something". I've spent a good amount of time deciding what I'm going to have for dinner tonight (no decision yet), and the consequences of that decision are far less long lasting than the decision of what speaker to buy. I've also sat and read reviews on rechargeable batteries as another example. All this in spite of the fact that if a cashier at my grocery store asked me if I wanted to donate $20 to the food bank, I'd not have a problem saying yes without needing an hour to think about it. Ultimately, cost doesn't determine where we spend our time; our interests do. I'd also add that after watching some of Bill Gates' more personal interviews, I wouldn't be all that surprised if he agonized for days about the color of the light switches and power outlets in his home(s), let alone a pair of loudspeakers.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

Just for the fun of it, we can flip it around the other way.

Lets say a person with the wealth of the average US family (which is not bad for a college student) was obsessive enough about audio to spend $2,000 for a pair of speakers.

This would be equivalent to a billionaire spending $20,000,000 for a pair of speakers!

Wow. Cool. Monkish54 & GranteedEV are both college students who own $2K speakers (Phil2) in addition to other speakers like EMP, Pioneer, electronics, HDTVs! Kids these days are big time spenders!

When I was a freshman, I had a $20 Panasonic boom box. When I was a sophomore, I stepped up big time with $200/pr of Pioneer speakers.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

I'd point out that while in terms of math, 50k or even 500k is nothing to a billionaire, human psychology is an important factor to consider as well regarding some of your statements.

Depends on the "something". I've spent a good amount of time deciding what I'm going to have for dinner tonight (no decision yet), and the consequences of that decision are far less long lasting than the decision of what speaker to buy. I've also sat and read reviews on rechargeable batteries as another example. All this in spite of the fact that if a cashier at my grocery store asked me if I wanted to donate $20 to the food bank, I'd not have a problem saying yes without needing an hour to think about it. Ultimately, cost doesn't determine where we spend our time; our interests do. I'd also add that after watching some of Bill Gates' more personal interviews, I wouldn't be all that surprised if he agonized for days about the color of the light switches and power outlets in his home(s), let alone a pair of loudspeakers.

I agree. Billionaires are people too. And most of them are extremely smart and economically sound. It's not just about money. It's about performance and principle. They didn't become billionaires without brains and balance.

I recall one time Bill Gates said he preferred Lexus over Mercedes because the Lexus performed better for him than Mercedes.

If the T8 or other less expensive speakers outperform $20,000,000 speakers, which is very likely, I think most billionaires would buy the T8.

Billionaires don't need to prove that they are rich, but they may still want to prove that they are smart.