Interesting-Stereophile's best of year

Srajan will hopefully be comparing the Rethm Maargas to the Voxativ in his new review.
 
Hi Absolute Phase

Since you have mentioned you still prefer the Rethms, have you heard the Voxativ?
 
I really don't know if I would ever spend $30,000 on speakers. I do know that I won't ever get the chance!

But, although I have seldom even heard them, I have a fascination with the idea of horn speakers. Just out of idle curiosity, how big a room would one need to listen to a pair like this?

(I also have an unaffordable fascination for the idea of electrostatics. Hey ho... for as long as my Rs.30,000 Castles* last, my speaker budget is... nil!)



*Actually they were about GBP300, at half-price, with cosmetic marks, ex-demo
 
Clearly the field coil driver in their high end seems to be engineered very well. I am big fan of Back Loaded Horns given the performance I get from my Fostexs'.
 
Rajiv said:
Hi,

These speakers are supposed to be very good .

Atelier Rullit projects

There are a pair of Rullit 8 inch Alnico full range speakers in Bombay like the ones in the link below.

News photos | Entertainment pictures, news photos and events images

I am sorry but I cannot post details/pictures without the owners permission.

Regards
Rajiv
Click to expand...

Hi Rajiv, I have been very curious about Full range Horn systems (multiple dirvers)

Just want to get a feel of the effort/Time/cost involvedfor a resolving full range 2 way complete horn system with Field coil drivers ?


this is more of a personal interest with a 5-10 year horizon ;) as mentioned by Thad the really good ones, i cannot even think i can dream about affording.

this is a design which has really picqued my interest and the cost has made it infeasible even to think about considering
 
Hi Rajiv, I have been very curious about Full range Horn systems (multiple dirvers)

Just want to get a feel of the effort/Time/cost involvedfor a resolving full range 2 way complete horn system with Field coil drivers ?


this is more of a personal interest with a 5-10 year horizon as mentioned by Thad the really good ones, i cannot even think i can dream about affording.

this is a design which has really picqued my interest and the cost has made it infeasible even to think about considering
Click to expand...

Hi Arj,

The first thing is that front loaded horns like the Gran Gioia need a large room .You have to be at least 15 feet away for the sound to really come together.In smaller rooms it is better to use a bass reflex/rearhorn/sealed cabinet with a horn for the HF.

The Gran Gioia is a modern beautiful version of the Altec VOTT.Basically an Altec derived 416/515 woofer and an Altec 288 type HF driver in a front loaded horn with bass reflex cabinet to extend the lows.

Audiolab?@ALTEC?@A5?@System?@USED

I understand that the Gran Gioia uses drivers sourced from Wolf Van Langa's Kilmanjaro series.

Blumenhofer Acoustics News: We introduce the Gran Gioia

Blumenhofer-Acoustics | Kilimanjaro-Series | Wolf von Langa

Great Plains Audio | Great Vintage Loudspeakers

Wolf gets Altec reproductions from Great Plains Audio and converts them to field coils.The old Alnico drivers can be easily converted to field coils.In fact there is a guy in B'lore who can do this. One of the last of a vanishing tribe of great speaker repair guys.

Interesting field coil drivers in Germany

Actually putting togther a good horn system using vintage drivers is not very expensive compared to the cost of some bookshelf speakers. A speaker similar to the Garan GIOIA can be put together for a fraction of its cost using Altec drivers (Alnico not field coil).

One has to be patient to get the right drivers in India,or if one is in a hurry and has $$ good drivers can be bought on Ebay.It is next to impossible to find vintage field coils now in India,even if you find them parts are not available.

It is best to stick with Altec/JBL as replacement parts are easily available.Finding parts for Klangfilm,Vitavox ,Jensen,Western Electric is next to impossible or you have to pay $$$$ for them.

Unless you buy new field coil speakers trying to repair/restore old drivers is very difficult.Sourcing the correct parts and cost of the parts is a problem.I have some drivers that will hopefully get done sometime in the future.

New field coils are very expensive. :mad: There is a Chinese comany apparently funded by the Japanese that is making replicas of the great vintage field coils. Prices are supposedly reasonable compared to the prices of the same vintage drives The reports about their performance are good.

LM Audio

LM Audio 555W

??????????????

The link below has some truly amazing horn speakers.

links to webpages with pictures and descriptions of Audio Systems with hornspeakers - Audio Voice Acoustics

Anil has a pair of Altec based speakers.If he is willing you could take your Leben across and listen to them,and see if the sound is to your liking before you take the plunge.Tubes +Altecs :yahoo:

Regards
Rajiv
 
Interesting.

At Anil's place I found his quite Onkens were quite amazing,BUT you do need adequate space to enjoy them. They are pretty high sensitivity speakers and he uses Pass F5 as well as his NAD(IIRC) 200wpc speakers to drive them.
 
The link below has some truly amazing horn speakers.

links to webpages with pictures and descriptions of Audio Systems with hornspeakers - Audio Voice Acoustics
Click to expand...

Rajiv, those are jaw dropping :). It looks like most of these speakers are actually custom made, correct me if I am wrong. I have rarely seen such speakers on a manufacturer's website. So is that the key that we have to specifically get our speakers made or DIY to have a speaker like that ?
 
Hi,

Rajiv, those are jaw dropping . It looks like most of these speakers are actually custom made, correct me if I am wrong. I have rarely seen such speakers on a manufacturer's website. So is that the key that we have to specifically get our speakers made or DIY to have a speaker like that ?
Click to expand...

Yes most(almost all) of them are DIY or built by small specialist companies.

Abhi, this system is in Singapore.Quite a friendly person.I interacted with him when I had some Vitavox drivers.

Stereopal.com features Ken Shum from Singapore

The unofficial Vitavox website- Vitavox Owners 2 update2

I have lost his email.See if you can linkup with him.

His system has undergone several changes since this picture. He has gone to Maxonic and Goto drivers. I think.

If you ever get to Manila try to link up with these guys.

I have the drivers Altec 416/Altec 605's and the JBL tweeters to build this system .Only don't have my wife's permision to bring them into the house once they are built.:sad:

WiredState Audio Community • View topic - Altec 604/416A, JBL 2405 in HARANA V2

Check out the pictures of systems built by these guys and the TT plinths.

WiredState Audio Community &bull; View forum - >> HARANA AUDIO / SET-UP / TONO <<

WiredState Audio Community &bull; View topic - HARANA Garrard Plinth in TRIBECA-NYC in GOOD COMPANY

Regards
Rajiv
 
I have the grand Gioia as the desktop on my laptop from the day they have been launched :) You need a full house to play them. Forget using them in rooms like the ones we are stuck with in these cities.

A project once I retire ;)

I have realized that horns are my thing ! In any form or size !

Thanks for the Links Rajiv.
 
Rajiv, you told me just what I wanted to know. No time to follow your links just now, but I'll be back. Thanks.

Seems to me that the horn speaker, with its structure that is so very much more complicated than just a box, would be an ideal task for the dedicated skilled woodworker. That is, someone with skills the equivalent of a cabinet maker --- or even a boatbuilder, as they are used to working curves in wood.

I'm afraid that I have less skill than money, even if I did have a bigger room. But what an amazingly satisfying thing it must be, to bring off such a project, and to listen to the result :)
 
Rajiv said:
Hi Arj,

The first thing is that front loaded horns like the Gran Gioia need a large room .You have to be at least 15 feet away for the sound to really come together.In smaller rooms it is better to use a bass reflex/rearhorn/sealed cabinet with a horn for the HF.

The Gran Gioia is a modern beautiful version of the Altec VOTT.Basically an Altec derived 416/515 woofer and an Altec 288 type HF driver in a front loaded horn with bass reflex cabinet to extend the lows.

Audiolab?@ALTEC?@A5?@System?@USED

I understand that the Gran Gioia uses drivers sourced from Wolf Van Langa's Kilmanjaro series.

Blumenhofer Acoustics News: We introduce the Gran Gioia

Blumenhofer-Acoustics | Kilimanjaro-Series | Wolf von Langa

Great Plains Audio | Great Vintage Loudspeakers

Wolf gets Altec reproductions from Great Plains Audio and converts them to field coils.The old Alnico drivers can be easily converted to field coils.In fact there is a guy in B'lore who can do this. One of the last of a vanishing tribe of great speaker repair guys.

Interesting field coil drivers in Germany

Actually putting togther a good horn system using vintage drivers is not very expensive compared to the cost of some bookshelf speakers. A speaker similar to the Garan GIOIA can be put together for a fraction of its cost using Altec drivers (Alnico not field coil).

One has to be patient to get the right drivers in India,or if one is in a hurry and has $$ good drivers can be bought on Ebay.It is next to impossible to find vintage field coils now in India,even if you find them parts are not available.

It is best to stick with Altec/JBL as replacement parts are easily available.Finding parts for Klangfilm,Vitavox ,Jensen,Western Electric is next to impossible or you have to pay $$$$ for them.

Unless you buy new field coil speakers trying to repair/restore old drivers is very difficult.Sourcing the correct parts and cost of the parts is a problem.I have some drivers that will hopefully get done sometime in the future.

New field coils are very expensive. :mad: There is a Chinese comany apparently funded by the Japanese that is making replicas of the great vintage field coils. Prices are supposedly reasonable compared to the prices of the same vintage drives The reports about their performance are good.

LM Audio

LM Audio 555W

??????????????

The link below has some truly amazing horn speakers.

links to webpages with pictures and descriptions of Audio Systems with hornspeakers - Audio Voice Acoustics

Anil has a pair of Altec based speakers.If he is willing you could take your Leben across and listen to them,and see if the sound is to your liking before you take the plunge.Tubes +Altecs :yahoo:

Regards
Rajiv
Click to expand...

:clapping: Thank You Rajiv. There is a Lot of information here...will take me some time time understand and Digest and then get back to you !

some of other my dream speakers which i will never own are This
1278835929.jpg
the Jadis Eurythmie
and This
c1.jpg

Both are different implementations of Horns, Sadly no version is available + affordable
 
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers (Walnut Finish) at a Special Offer Price
Wharfedale Linton Heritage Speakers in Walnut finish at a Special Offer Price. BUY now before the price increase.

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