About to buy a pair of XTZ 99.36.

[Steve81]

Wait, I thought JL Audio makes great subs? No?

They aren't necessarily perfect:

JL Audio Fathom f110 Subwoofer Review — Reviews and News from Audioholics

Cons

Premature high frequency rolloff above 80Hz
...
I found it a bit puzzling that the f110 exhibited around -5dB of rolloff at 100Hz despite I had the LPF on the subwoofer disabled. This was especially vexing since the f112 measured flat to 100Hz in our testing which utilizes a larger driver. This measurement anomaly seemed to contradict the JL Audio -3dB at 120Hz published specification. Above 80Hz the f110 exhibited an 18dB/octave rolloff. When I questioned JL Audio engineering on this they said it was deliberate as the sub simply sounds better and plays cleaner by introducing this roll off. Using a high mass driver (with a large, high inductive voice coil) like the W7 JL Audio employed here, its understandable why. I personally feel the part of the reason why some subwoofers tend to sound “faster” is related to its output above 80Hz and how it preserves the harmonic content of the bass frequencies. Because of this issue, I deducted ½ point from my final performance rating for this product. It is a good idea to experiment with the crossover in your A/V receiver / processor by setting it higher than 80Hz and/or possibly defeating it, especially when placing two f110s as a stereo pair configuration near your front main channels like JL Audio recommends.

 

[DS-21]

Wait, I thought JL Audio makes great subs? No?

So who makes great subs?

JL makes subs that excel in some areas, and are unacceptably poor in others.

Build quality: excellent.

From a technical perspective the BL linearity of their W7 platform is damn near perfect over a disgustingly long stroke. Suspension is well-optimized as well. Inductance linearity over stroke...not so much. Absolute value of inductance (normalized by Re) is too high, as well.

However, they still haven't figured out that they need to get some shorting rings in there. Therefore, they have a big inductive upper bass peak (EQ'ed out in their amp) and premature rolloff.

Basically, if I needed a tiny, well-built, off-the peg solution for ULF use only (say 40Hz down), the Jello (an affectionate coinage I stole from the late Bill Burton) would be my first pick, because of the huge throw, durability of the driver, and that insane motor linearity over stroke.

A 13W7 with a copper sleeve to lower inductance and control inductance variation over stroke might be the best woofer ever made. But right now, alas, such a thing doesn't exist.

 

[JerryLove]

My mains are running JL 8w7's with a Behringer DCX flattening out their oddities (the speakers are active-crossover); been quite happy (other than wishing they were 10W7's)

 

[ousooner2]

1. I don't understand why some say the Neo3 isn't a good, but plenty love the Philharmonic 1. It seems to be a solid driver, but I don't know enough about it, etc to say whether it's suitable or not like DS-21 is saying.

2. Another issue I have with the 99.36mkII is that the w18 is crossed all the way up at 3.5kHz. That's a decent range that the speaker is beaming. Also brought up was the 4kHz peak. Granted it's a 12db slope being used, 4kHz is what...like 2db's down. Still very prominent. That was one of my issues and I think some of you might be able to clarify some of that if I'm wrong

3. What the hell is a midrange mushroom? lol

4. Again, I was fairly interested in these as most thought they were $800/pr, but I dont know how I feel at $1600/pr. I don't want to spend that anyways

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

4. Again, I was fairly interested in these as most thought they were $800/pr, but I dont know how I feel at $1600/pr. I don't want to spend that anyways

Your only hope is for XTZ to send you a pair for review.

 

[Steve81]

3. What the hell is a midrange mushroom? lol

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/903123-post31.html

The graphs in the post should explain what he means.

 

[DS-21]

2. Another issue I have with the 99.36mkII is that the w18 is crossed all the way up at 3.5kHz. That's a decent range that the speaker is beaming.***

3. What the hell is a midrange mushroom? lol

See your #2 to start for the stem part of the cloud.

Basically what I've termed the "midrange mushroom cloud" is what polar pattern looks like on way too many crappy-sounding loudpspeakers from so-called high end audio purveyors. (And most so-called high end loudspeakers are bad sounding, or at least low-fidelity reproducers. Unfortunately.) It is a narrowing of response at the top of the mid's passband, combined with a large broadening of response at the bottom of the tweeter's passband. It can be avoided by sensible design, but most high-end companies seem to have marketing arms insufficiently familiar with the sound of live unamplified music.

As for the BG Neo3, I don't have much experience. My main experience with BG planars is the old "Acculine" car-fi units, and that was a long time ago. The only thing I really remember about them is how much more sensitive to backwave reflections they are compared to cone drivers.

 

[Steve81]

Basically what I've termed the "midrange mushroom cloud" is what polar pattern looks like on way too many crappy-sounding loudpspeakers from so-called high end audio purveyors.

Hi DS-21,

Assuming I haven't made your ignore list by now, just so I can clarify what I'm seeing:

This as you've mentioned previously is bad: (flush mounted tweeter, 6.5" mid-woofer). As I'm seeing it, the "mushroom" starts with the rise around the 2kHz mark, correct?

This should be a bit improved (same manufacturer but higher end model, tweeter is in a waveguide, 5.25" mid-woofer)

 

[AntonW]

Hi!

I read this in the thread that the DS-21 said that you could not combine the seas with fountek. I can not agree with that. I have no technical explanation for it, just what my ears tell me.

I had a friend who took his Dynaudio Focus 220 II to my house so we could compare them to my 99.36. The Focus 220 is a speaker that costs almost twice as much as the 99.36. We listened for a few hours (and drank a few beers) and changed every now and then. We listened to all kinds of music. From Beethoven to Frontline Assembly. Focus is a better speaker, but not by much. Some things are better on the XTZ, eg soundstaging and resolution in the treble.

I think much of the sound depends on the rooms characteristics. Here the XTZs room tuning concepts has an advantage over the Focus.

All speakers are basically a compromise. What compromises you choose is up to the designer to decide what he thinks affect the sound the least. Then when choosing speakers as a customer you choose them to suit one's taste.

//Anton


BTW: Ousooner2, Alice in Chains are a favorite of mine!

 

[AntonW]

Hi!

I just got an email from a friend who works in Norway this fall. He saw that 99.36 had won a test in a Norwegian magazine, WATT. The other speakers in the test was, Audiovector Ki3 Signature, JBL Studio 190, Paradigm Monitor 7, Elac FS 68.2 and Focal Chorus 716 V, I asked if he could fix a translation of the test. He would see if a colleague was able to translate it. It was not all too shabby speakers it won against.

//Anton

 

[theJman]

Agreed; a few of the names you mentioned are quite good. I'll be interested to read that as well.

 

[AntonW]

Ok! Finally i got a translation of the review... As if some Norwegian colleague of my friend would have better things to do.

Seriously! Thanks Jan-Erik for the translation!

Here it is!

XTZ 99.36 MkII

Very good sound for the money

Should we point at the speakers in this test and pick out the one you think does a lot more than the other, it is easy that the finger is in the direction of XTZ 99.36. It actually looks both stylish and expensive, and the impression is reinforced when you remove the fronts and check what kind of drivers are used.

Everybody talks about these speakers, and it's probably not so strange. The price is kept low because they are only available online, and maybe they ought to cost 14-15000Nkr. This is good news for XTZ and their customers and not so good news for the competition. The model we have for review this time is the relatively new mk2 model.

Good drivers

The ribbon tweeter the designer uses is supposedly the same as in the previous model, but a new filter allows it to get better working conditions. The frequency response goes up to 40kHz and here is one of one of the hottest discussion in terms of sound. Given that we will not hear anything at 40kHz, then what is the point? The interesting thing is not how loud you listen, but that the drives breakup (which always happens regardless of material) are as high in frequency as possible, and thus far away from the audible range.
The mid driver is something as extravagant as a 6.5 inch magnesium driver from SEAS. The magnet of these are very large, in fact the entire 1.9 kg and there are well in excess of the others in this review. Now weight ain't everything, but it does make the drivers engine very strong. The bass is from model series SEAS Prestige is like the mid range 6.5 inches. We can not remember having seen similar drivers in any speaker under ten thousand, ever.
The improvements concerns flatter frequency response, lower distortion, better damping of the cabinet, better bracing and improved internal wiring.

Sound.

Whatever XTZ say about the bass in these speakers it is the mid range and treble performance that impresses the most. There are others in this review that can do bass, but where these speakers stand out are in the mids and highs.
Jennifer Warnes have never sounded fresher at this price range, and there has not Karunesh or Johnny Cash that we frequently use as test music either. That this sound quality is available for a few thousand kroner over the speakers we tested in previous edition is hard to believe. Can not afford it right now, it really is worth two or three months with a little sparse diet (perhaps it is good for the body too?) to be able to add three to five extra thousand kroner on the table and bring these speakers home.
The Excel elements from SEAS doing one great job in the mid range and it is first and foremost credible, light footed, great resolution and very, very quiet. For between each transient it is almost strangely still. The world falls to peace of a millisecond before the next transient arrives at the ear.
The difficult integration of the ribbon tweeter and the mid range is successful and seamless. Just the way it should be.
The accuracy in the reproduction also affects the focus and perspective of course. In this case, the sound is deep, wide and large, and each instrument is beautifully drawn and have a great focus.
The bass has good weight, is solid and at times ruthless. It does not go very deep, but it's hardly a complaint in this price range. The dynamics of the bass is good, but you are also dependent on a good, strong power amplifier. Do not fall for the temptation and buy an amp with two channels for much less than ten thousand. On the other hand, it tolerates considerably more expensive amplifiers without its potential is used up.

Conclusion.
If you have speakers in this price range, it is very difficult to avoid XTZ 99.36. It does so many things right, and is priced so nice that they are the closest you can get to a deal in the jungle of speaker.

We like:
Huge sound
Great finish
Homogeneous och great balanced

We don't like:
You get to spend too much time in front of them


//Anton