Perlisten Audio Speakers: Any experience auditioning?

[Vineethkumar01]

Hi
Recently, I came across this company called Perlisten audio and their speakers (https://www.perlistenaudio.com/technology/speaker-technology/#comparespeakers).
I see that the specs that they state look very impressive (the spectral characteristics of the speaker's radiation is published in public domain in terms of on-axis response, listening window response, power response, directivity, etc, for every product. Also detailed info regarding overall spectral flatness and nonlinear distortion among other information are stated). For example, I see that this specific model R5T, the PDF (https://www.perlistenaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/tech-sheet_R5t_20210216.pdf) shows many important specs. Also, I see that the cabinet incorporates good acoustic design like rounded edges, waveguided tweeter along with some configuration of midrange for pattern (directivity) control etc. This all seems like somebody studied Floyd Toole's textbook and made some speakers.

Due to all this, I am very interested in hearing about how all this translates into subjective perceptions about the sound of the speakers.
I see that the model R5T is available at Avenue sound (

) as per their very recent video..
If any forum members have experience hearing these speakers or are planning to audition, please update your impressions.

Thanks
Vineeth

Disclaimer: I don't have any affiliations whatsoever with this company or avenue sound. I am just interested in hearing more about how an objectively good looking speaker sounds.

 

[Kannan]

The speakers look stunning.

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

They didn't seem interesting to me reading your link. Very pedestrian. Lost interest.

Then I saw you write Floyd Toole, if they did design it according to his book then utter trash. I want no part of it, not for free, not if you paid me.

 

[Vineethkumar01]

I don't care about the company or their marketing jargon. I also don't plan to buy these speakers.
But I am interested in the fact that the company chose to publish some measurements about their speakers which to me is a good trend. As per my current knowledge about speaker design (which is limited), reliable frequency domain and time domain data is good to have while designing speakers/comparing speakers. But this is just my personal opinion.
I don't advice anyone to go and buy these or any other speakers just after seeing some graphs. But I am interested in hearing about how good these speakers sound/different people's perceptions about it.
Looks like Erin's Audio corner will be reviewing it soon. Already he has done an unboxing
(

)
Hopefully we'll get some decent third party impressions and reliable spin data once he does a review (as companies can do all sorts of things to make their graphs look good)

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

IMO objective data has very limited use. One should listen with their own ears and decide. "Spin" data is not useful. No data tells you how it will sound so in the end it has no value. I do agree, no one should buy A/V gear based on graphs/data or online reviews.

 

[Vineethkumar01]

IMO objective data has very limited use. One should listen with their own ears and decide. "Spin" data is not useful. No data tells you how it will sound so in the end it has no value. I do agree, no one should buy A/V gear based on graphs/data or online reviews.

Thank you for sharing your opinion.
I do agree with listening and buying part. I disagree with your "No data is useful" part.
When I want to try designing a speaker, because my hearing/knowledge about speaker design and about perceived sound is not advanced enough, I cannot decide crossover points for drivers, what kind of speaker cabinet alignment I should be choosing, what kind of amplifiers I should choose, what kind of cabinet shape/features and other things I should be using without solid data. So for me measured data and subjective opinions are very useful to have both to design something and to compare it with something else.
But as said earlier, this is just my opinion.
You can have your own opinions.

Thanks

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

Why are you making your own speaker? Are you a commercial entity? Or is it for your personal use?

 

[Vineethkumar01]

Why are you making your own speaker? Are you a commercial entity? Or is it for your personal use?

I make speakers because it is one of my hobbies. So i like to build them and learn more about them.
Whatever i make have so far been for my own personal use.

 

[panditji]

Thanks for sharing Vineeth. They look nice and if their specs ate to be believed, they probably sound great.. Do keep sharing such links...

 

[Decadent_Spectre]

I make speakers because it is one of my hobbies. So i like to build them and learn more about them.
Whatever i make have so far been for my own personal use.

If your making speakers as a hobby it makes sense you'd want to take an objective approach however if I understood you correctly you are trying to correlate what sounds good with objective data. If this is the case then you must remember that individual psychology, hearing capabilities and most importantly personal preference varies greatly. If you are seeking to learn what objective data correlates to good sound subjectively then there is no answer. Certainly you can have measures well but sounds good to everyone will not happen. At best you can have sounds good to you.

Music in and of itself has various genres, these genres have a generic "style" and various distribution of frequencies vs level vs time and people have varying tastes across genres. If it was as easy as selecting "good" sound for everyone then there would just be one song worldwide that everyone heard on one predefined objective system since that was the most appealing to our senses. This will never happen.

Neither will objective data translating to good sound.

 

[prateekatasniya]

Hi
Recently, I came across this company called Perlisten audio and their speakers (https://www.perlistenaudio.com/technology/speaker-technology/#comparespeakers).
I see that the specs that they state look very impressive (the spectral characteristics of the speaker's radiation is published in public domain in terms of on-axis response, listening window response, power response, directivity, etc, for every product. Also detailed info regarding overall spectral flatness and nonlinear distortion among other information are stated). For example, I see that this specific model R5T, the PDF (https://www.perlistenaudio.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/tech-sheet_R5t_20210216.pdf) shows many important specs. Also, I see that the cabinet incorporates good acoustic design like rounded edges, waveguided tweeter along with some configuration of midrange for pattern (directivity) control etc. This all seems like somebody studied Floyd Toole's textbook and made some speakers.

Due to all this, I am very interested in hearing about how all this translates into subjective perceptions about the sound of the speakers.
I see that the model R5T is available at Avenue sound (

) as per their very recent video..
If any forum members have experience hearing these speakers or are planning to audition, please update your impressions.

Thanks
Vineeth

Disclaimer: I don't have any affiliations whatsoever with this company or avenue sound. I am just interested in hearing more about how an objectively good looking speaker sounds.

Looks impressive..
How much smoothing is done for the graphs? Is it mentioned?
Vertical directivity is pretty narrow. And it's shown from 1khz and above. Don't know how it would affect the sound.

Btw... Anyone telling that objective isn't important should try designing speakers without taking any measurements and by using only their ears.

 

[Nitin K]

The speakers have a fantastic finish. The founders were from reputed companies with a lot of experience behind them which they may have put in these speakers. Objective measurements are generally a starting point before buying and then the subjective tastes can take over finally.
Thanks for sharing this Vineeth.

 

[Kannan]

 

[keith_correa]

BTW, unrelated to the topic of this thread so apologies for this but, someone really ought to explain to that Avenue Sound guy what an unboxing video really should be. That whole video was a dizzy blur to me. Oh, and also tell him his accent is terrible. Indo-Irish?

 

[Kannan]

The woofers look to be SB Acoustics top of the line Satori series.
Also the bookshelves I guess start from 7500usd.

 

[Vineethkumar01]

If your making speakers as a hobby it makes sense you'd want to take an objective approach however if I understood you correctly you are trying to correlate what sounds good with objective data. If this is the case then you must remember that individual psychology, hearing capabilities and most importantly personal preference varies greatly. If you are seeking to learn what objective data correlates to good sound subjectively then there is no answer. Certainly you can have measures well but sounds good to everyone will not happen. At best you can have sounds good to you.

Music in and of itself has various genres, these genres have a generic "style" and various distribution of frequencies vs level vs time and people have varying tastes across genres. If it was as easy as selecting "good" sound for everyone then there would just be one song worldwide that everyone heard on one predefined objective system since that was the most appealing to our senses. This will never happen.

Neither will objective data translating to good sound.

Thank you.
I agree about everyone having differences in preferences, difference in what looks good, differences in what sounds good, that different genres of music might sound good with speakers having different spectral/time characteristics etc.
What i look for in objective data are good basic trends that tells me about the overall acoustic design and how it is has been complemented by the electronic/electroacoustic components used in making a speaker. For example, reliable "spin" data can tell me about the on axis/off axes responses smoothness and whether the deviations are within reasonable tolerance levels for most music/most people. If there is a 10dB hump in the frequency response around the 1-5khz region of the frequency range compared to other parts of the spectrum, it is not going to sound good to me on all kinds of songs that i am going to hear as per my personal preferences. Many other people find the same to be true too. Way to test this using just a simple EQ.

Smooth on and off axis curves, and other derived information like power response and directivity tells me more about a speaker's lack/presence of unnecessary resonances, how good its crossover has been able to handle the directivity handoff between drives sharing the same cabinet, how the overall sound radiation characteristics are going to be in the space it is put in. This in turn gives me very general ideas about the kind of rooms a particular speaker can be used by most people. One can test this by comparing between wide vs narrow directivity speakers.

Impedance characteristics and sensitivity tells me about how "good"/"powerful" of an amplifier a speaker needs to be connected to w.r.t the loudness levels I want the speaker to play.

Non linear distortion measurements at different loudness levels tells me about the associated peak loudness levels possible with the lack of such distortion, which in turn tells me how "good" the speaker will sound at low and high volumes. One easy way to test whether one likes non linear distortion or not is to introduce clipping (digital/analog) and hear it. That right there gives odd harmonic distortion, which I find particularly objectionable in hearing.

I might not be able to discern more about all the above factors just by going to a showroom and listening to it for some time using some songs. I may find it some time after I buy it and live with it for sometime. Hence, objective data helps me make more informed purchase decisions and gives me more knowledge about "goodness" of sound.For all the above and more "Spin" data is among the most reliable currently available ways to get some of these data. So I find it very valuable and respect people who give it away usually for free.

However, I do not agree to a 'Harman" target response being the desired response being the best possible target response for everyone or using any "preference ratings" that differentiates between "good" and "bad" speakers. I acknowledge that all this could be due to my lack of more knowledge about the matter.

In this particular case of speakers discussed in this thread, I look at their form and see that their general design trends supplement generally intended functionalities. I take a look at their objective data and find "good" behaviors in many objective aspects. Now I am interested in how they sound like for most people. Hence the purpose of this thread.

I am not in any vain quest to create/study about the perfect speaker which sounds "good" to everyone

 

[keith_correa]

The woofers look to be SB Acoustics top of the line Satori series.

To quote them:

All transducers are developed from the ground up by our engineers, based on decades of research...

Maybe SBA is an OEM for them.

 

[raghupb]

Don't know much about the curves on paper, but the curves on the speaker look stunning
For those who can buy them, it will cost a pretty penny Per-listen

Cheers,
Raghu

 

[Vineethkumar01]

Looks impressive..
How much smoothing is done for the graphs? Is it mentioned?
Vertical directivity is pretty narrow. And it's shown from 1khz and above. Don't know how it would affect the sound.

Btw... Anyone telling that objective isn't important should try designing speakers without taking any measurements and by using only their ears.

I couldn't find any info about smoothing levels, we may get to see better objective data once Erin's audio corner does measurements.

 

[prateekatasniya]

Thank you.
I agree about everyone having differences in preferences, difference in what looks good, differences in what sounds good, that different genres of music might sound good with speakers having different spectral/time characteristics etc.
What i look for in objective data are good basic trends that tells me about the overall acoustic design and how it is has been complemented by the electronic/electroacoustic components used in making a speaker. For example, reliable "spin" data can tell me about the on axis/off axes responses smoothness and whether the deviations are within reasonable tolerance levels for most music/most people. If there is a 10dB hump in the frequency response around the 1-5khz region of the frequency range compared to other parts of the spectrum, it is not going to sound good to me on all kinds of songs that i am going to hear as per my personal preferences. Many other people find the same to be true too. Way to test this using just a simple EQ.

Smooth on and off axis curves, and other derived information like power response and directivity tells me more about a speaker's lack/presence of unnecessary resonances, how good its crossover has been able to handle the directivity handoff between drives sharing the same cabinet, how the overall sound radiation characteristics are going to be in the space it is put in. This in turn gives me very general ideas about the kind of rooms a particular speaker can be used by most people. One can test this by comparing between wide vs narrow directivity speakers.

Impedance characteristics and sensitivity tells me about how "good"/"powerful" of an amplifier a speaker needs to be connected to w.r.t the loudness levels I want the speaker to play.

Non linear distortion measurements at different loudness levels tells me about the associated peak loudness levels possible with the lack of such distortion, which in turn tells me how "good" the speaker will sound at low and high volumes. One easy way to test whether one likes non linear distortion or not is to introduce clipping (digital/analog) and hear it. That right there gives odd harmonic distortion, which I find particularly objectionable in hearing.

I might not be able to discern more about all the above factors just by going to a showroom and listening to it for some time using some songs. I may find it some time after I buy it and live with it for sometime. Hence, objective data helps me make more informed purchase decisions and gives me more knowledge about "goodness" of sound.For all the above and more "Spin" data is among the most reliable currently available ways to get some of these data. So I find it very valuable and respect people who give it away usually for free.

However, I do not agree to a 'Harman" target response being the desired response being the best possible target response for everyone or using any "preference ratings" that differentiates between "good" and "bad" speakers. I acknowledge that all this could be due to my lack of more knowledge about the matter.

In this particular case of speakers discussed in this thread, I look at their form and see that their general design trends supplement generally intended functionalities. I take a look at their objective data and find "good" behaviors in many objective aspects. Now I am interested in how they sound like for most people. Hence the purpose of this thread.

I am not in any vain quest to create/study about the perfect speaker which sounds "good" to everyone

Fantastic!!!
Well said.