The Cleopatra - A new Speaker by First Note - Proudly made in INDIA

[magma]

heres an article about the new cleopatra speaker
"First Note Labs" New baby

quite a few musicians in calcutta including Asit da, vasu and a couple others have loved this speaker along with the reviewer

Please note : this was NOT a paid review
Infact the reviewer was at harmonie ( place where the speaker was initally dispalyed ) for a completely different purpose ( i.e testing ) when he chanced upon this speaker lying on the side and wanted to hear it

here are direct links in case you cannot read the above images

page 1
http://i.imgur.com/SqcmWGa.jpg
page 2
http://i.imgur.com/PGijYnC.jpg

Speaker has been developed by an ex forum member in partnership with ARN
and i am proud to be associated ( albeit in a small way ) with this project as well
I am hoping the next prototype ( well a better finished version ) probably will be with me soon for Mumbai members to hear

the bafle is made from a single "pali" of solid teak ( 3 inches ) and the driver is a custom built unit by a reputed manufacturer according to specs by first note labs

Since this is a proto
a lot of aesthetic issues need to be ironed out though
of which the creator is aware

 

[Hiten]

If I am guessing right, congratulations to the Designer ! Knowing him this would be a very very well made speaker.
Regards.

 

[srinisundar]

Why I am against every post which were misguiding and am i the only person contending it?:sad: Then i will be labelled rebel.

How can we call proudly made in India, drivers are coming from abroad ???

I heard this speaker at ARN and still stand upto my view, the bass is missing very clearly, however it is subjective for anybody they need it or not. Missing base note is not acceptable for me at least. However it sounded really good with prominently on voice which every singer like producing his voice to best.

Yeah ex-hfv member designed that speaker is "cranky" and he is very knowledgable.

 

[magma]

Yep
He is probably one of the most "technically" sound people I know on the Indian audio ckt

Sri
Yes the driver is not Indian
But sir if you look at it this way

That if every raw material of a finished product needs to be made in India
Then there will be very few world class products that we can call Indian

Even cadence or rethum then cannot be called Indian because both uses parts not from India


By extension
Probably even the gear you own
May come made in Germany or uk etc
And may have some raw material part come in from china

For example probably every German or European
Amp comes labelled made in Germany etc
Are you saying all their parts are sourced from Germany only

 

[Hari Iyer]

I hv not heard this speakers and will npt comment about it SQ etc.

But I can say with a bit of experience that Indians in general are racists of the highest order. They just can't digest the fact any Indian prpduct can ever be good. Launch the same speaker from Europe or US and have a white person talking and click images with it the product automatically becomes awesome and all kind if gpod reviews and discussion begin.

 

[Nikhil]

Why I am against every post which were misguiding and am i the only person contending it?:sad: Then i will be labelled rebel.

....

Not a rebel but maybe a little too critical (just kidding)

A single driver speaker is made with some known limitations. A single driver cannot be expected to cover highs, mids and lows equally well so designers pick highs and mids to cover the region where most of the music lies. If you pick lows and mids then you are going towards a sub woofer design (just as an example).

So the question may arise why single driver given the limitations? Quite simply no crossover which means the benefit of no nasty resistors and capacitors in the signal path. The driver sees just what the amp is sending. Some think this is worth a lot. The sound tends to be "quick" and rich in tonality. Amps needless to say need to be "fast" to match the drivers, etc.

Typically this is a speaker for a more "evolved" listener - someone with a taste for jazz trios or Hindustani classical maybe. Mostly vocals and maybe an accompanying instrument or two. The music you chose at Bangalore to audition this speaker (Pink Floyd) is electronic with lots of low level information. Perhaps a system augmented with a sub woofer(s) would be better suited.

Just my 0.02 ... hope you don't mind.

Regards.

 

[mpw]

Congratulations to the designer and to the folks who tested and assembled this.

A speaker or audio in general is something which cannot satisfy everyone.

Have heard a few single drivers like many of you would have - they can sound very good with certain genres of music and if thats the goal then its target achieved i would say.

For me - i wanted to know why the name Cleopatra - were there not any less beautiful Indian queens to pick a name from ? :lol:

If Make in India ( and not Made in India ) is to be the theme - then the name must be a nice Indian name too i guess

best regards and good luck..

 

[Amitkg]

Why I am against every post which were misguiding and am i the only person contending it?:sad: Then i will be labelled rebel.

How can we call proudly made in India, drivers are coming from abroad ???

I heard this speaker at ARN and still stand upto my view, the bass is missing very clearly, however it is subjective for anybody they need it or not. Missing base note is not acceptable for me at least. However it sounded really good with prominently on voice which every singer like producing his voice to best.

Yeah ex-hfv member designed that speaker is "cranky" and he is very knowledgable.

No, you are not alone! There are quite a few, who think, this speaker sounds flat and life less. I didn't get the opportunity to hear it. But, few FMs, who I am in touch with personally, told me point blank that this speaker falls miserably in every aspect. Initially, I was gung-ho about its origin, Kolkata; as I am a Kolkatan. I spoke to few FMs over the phone and all of them gave negative feedback. Surprisingly, nobody wanted to post his opinion on the forum, because nobody wanted to be labelled 'rebel. Come on! 200K for this speaker???? Sonodyne also makes speakers ( I'm not talking about Sonodyne Sonus series) that cost more than 100K. Does this speaker sound better than Sonodyne's Avant?
I won't be surprised if our forum members, in huge number, join the herd and speak highly of this new entrant.

 

[Hiten]

There are audio enthusiasts who like wide band speaker driver due to imaging and no phase or time alignment issues of typical 2/3 way speaker system. Amplifier Power is not wasted in crossover so low power amplifiers (Class A) can be used. Ample Class A power comes at a price, so I think this is a good design approach. Only criteria is they should be well made. For which I can trust him. For bass even typical two way may benefit from a sub-woofer.
Each one has liberty to pick a product or a 'high fidelity' approach they like. Be it wide band single driver to active three way speaker or S.E.T. amplifier to digital amplifier.
Regards.

 

[prem]

It's great to see another Indian speaker. Anyone knows what drivers are used?

 

[prem]

Srinisundar, I don't understand your point at all. There are very few driver manufacturers in the world. If you want single driver, there's Feastex, Lowther, Fostex and a few more. You will have to end up using one of these. What other option does one have?

 

[Rajiv]

Hi,

Prem, the drivers look a lot like the 8 inch L Cao drivers from China.



Regards
Rajiv

 

[rajagopal_j]

A single driver speaker is made with some known limitations. A single driver cannot be expected to cover highs, mids and lows equally well so designers pick highs and mids to cover the region where most of the music lies. If you pick lows and mids then you are going towards a sub woofer design (just as an example).

Don't Agree, there are enough single driver implementations which perform quite well but they are very few in number I agree. For example the original lowther pm8s in the original solid walnut wood back loaded horn. I have a friend here who owns them and they are simply stellar. He also happens to own a pair of Fostex Fe206e in an Open Baffle designed by Decware which is quite close but falls a bit short of the lowthers. Our own mod Anilva has built a fostex Fe206e in the fostex suggested BLH cabinet which sounds superb and can give the lowthers a run for its money. Why I own a pair of Lyrita harmony ones with 6" fostex drivers which are really good (not superb, but really good) when paired with Lyrita GM70 amps.

The cleopatra is no where near in comparison, its a little tough to compare when you are missing details, sweetness in voice and bass is awol.

Typically this is a speaker for a more "evolved" listener - someone with a taste for jazz trios or Hindustani classical maybe. Mostly vocals and maybe an accompanying instrument or two.

The requirement of any listener I believe, correct me if I am wrong, is to be able to listen to the sound of an instrument exactly how it sounded when it was played. Irrespective of whether the listener was evolved or not.

This speaker fails big time.

The music you chose at Bangalore to audition this speaker (Pink Floyd) is electronic with lots of low level information. Perhaps a system augmented with a sub woofer(s) would be better suited.

I don't think Srini mentioned that the audition was with Pink Floyd. In fact no pink floyd tracks were played. There were quite a few tracks played from Sridhar's mac, some tamil music initially, till we got him to play our CDs. Allan Taylor Color to the Moon - The bass guitar was missing in fact, one of sridhar's customers whom we had just met turned and asked us "Isn't there supposed to be a bass track in this song?".

It's great to see another Indian speaker. Anyone knows what drivers are used?

L.Cao 8" chinese drivers. DIYers have had decent experience with the alnico version mounted on a wide open baffle. What I heard at ARN was either a ceramic driver and/or a very bad implementation. If you search on google you should be able to find the FR Graph for these drivers, they are not impressive. In fact the manufacturer suggests a filter network to tame the driver, but Nelson Pass has praised the alnico version of the driver so there must something to it.

Review as I heard the speakers: There was good amount of details missing, midrange was thin and tinny especially male vocals, clearly defined bass (like a bass guitar) was totally missing. The speaker finish and material was really good though.

There was something seriously wrong with the sound. Either the speaker is not designed well or it was not setup properly with matched equipment. All in all it was a flop show.

 

[mpw]

Typically this is a speaker for a more "evolved" listener - someone with a taste for jazz trios or Hindustani classical maybe. Mostly vocals and maybe an accompanying instrument or two.

Regards.

is that food for thought ?

regards

 

[prem]

Thanks Rajiv and Rajagopal. Had never heard of these drivers. Will try and read up a little on them

 

[arj]

Which room was this played in ? would have liked to hear it.

Also for those who know the tech behind this..how does a Bass guitar go missing from a speaker unless it was due to any low level signal which falls below its range due to a crossover ? and this being a single driver should not be the issue unless the driver was not Broken in.


Overall really glad that there is another india speaker

 

[bhagwan]

Just some things I found;
Hence posting it here :-
match pair 2pcs L cao HiEND 6.5inch fullrange speaker -in Speakers from Consumer Electronics on Aliexpress.com | Alibaba Group

 

[bhagwan]

Tsao sound FA8 alnico magnetic full-range speakers (Walnut) TQWT floor box - iBuyLa.com

A few variants are available.
How they will sound, I have no idea.

Maze Maze empty bookshelf speaker box-inch full-range speakers fever HIFI3456 inch 6.5-inch full-range diy4 - iBuyLa.com
Just take a look @ this enclosure.
What it can do for the price.. The Chinese are amazing...

 

[srinisundar]

Not a rebel but maybe a little too critical (just kidding)

Regards.

Nikhil... Thanks.. We have to be critical if we recommend something to others, since day by day we are hearing a lot of things and so called senior members we have to clearly put in fact what is missing or available so budding audiophiles will try to become seniors in first listening itself.. Not wait for so many years of testing and changing their rig.

What can we do now, itz become an habit to compare and throw some unwanted comments openly since heard beautiful systems in members houses which plays perfectly to an extent to my knowledge which i gathered from senior members in the section what to look for real music from the capable systems.

No, you are not alone! There are quite a few, who think, this speaker sounds flat and life less. I didn't get the opportunity to hear it. But, few FMs, who I am in touch with personally, told me point blank that this speaker falls miserably in every aspect. Initially, I was gung-ho about its origin, Kolkata; as I am a Kolkatan. I spoke to few FMs over the phone and all of them gave negative feedback. Surprisingly, nobody wanted to post his opinion on the forum, because nobody wanted to be labelled 'rebel. Come on! 200K for this speaker???? Sonodyne also makes speakers ( I'm not talking about Sonodyne Sonus series) that cost more than 100K. Does this speaker sound better than Sonodyne's Avant?
I won't be surprised if our forum members, in huge number, join the herd and speak highly of this new entrant.

Thanks !!! I am not alone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAyKJAtDNCw

 

[Nikhil]

is that food for thought ?

regards

Depends on your apetite ...