Cabrini Redux

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Cabrini Redux

These are now in Northern Indiana, if anyone around there wants to get them after Mr. Morris.

[isaeagle4031]

Re: Cabrini Redux

Yes they are in my possession now and I plan on giving them a proper thrashing over the weekend! So whoever is interested in them next pm me and we will work out the details.

[isaeagle4031]

Re: Cabrini Redux

Well I need to do a review on these. I tested them on 2 different systems in 2 very different rooms. The first was my own dungeon setup and I used an Beringher 1500 for power. The second system was my friend Mike and his Emotiva front end and Crown MacroRefrence. So no shortage of power! Music selection was various but we used quite a bit of live recordings, not easy for most speakers in the midrange.

The bass while not greatly extended of course is there and smooth. They will make a great addition with a decent small sub setup. The midrange is a little forward for my taste, but it is not necessarily a bad thing. More on that in a minute. The tweeter really surprised me. I was not expecting it to be as smooth as it is honestly. Driver integration is quite good. It is rare I think to get this kind of response with so little filtering, regardless of the drivers. And lets be honest, these are not the creme de lau creme of drivers! But JR did a great job with the crossover. Hats off sir, great work!

The midrange is again just a little much for my own taste but for a beginning system or even an advanced setup, a little flavor to taste (ie bass/treble controls) will smooth it out easily and give a little smiley eq effect that will flatten everything out. At home, I mixed in my refrence sub and they blended seamlessly. I did not cross the Cabrinis over at all just let the natural roll-off do its own work and it worked very well. I can definetely see many pairs of these being built. I know I will be building them. Despite their price, these are good solid speakers. You won't find anything at BB for this money that will compare, period.
Good job JR! Ya done good!

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Cabrini Redux

Thanks for the feedback, Chuck.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Cabrini Redux

At this rate, I guess I will make Chuck bring them to InDIYana and see if anyone wants to take them home from there!

[isaeagle4031]

Re: Cabrini Redux

That is doable unless someone wants to try them before hand. Calling Matt, Mike, Bryan, Craig! They really are very nice and I have enjoyed them immensely but room is becoming rather slim currently so I need someone to grab them up and give them a listen.

[Mike220]

Re: Cabrini Redux

I can bring them home on sunday if i can still stop out at your house this weekend Chuck?

[isaeagle4031]

Re: Cabrini Redux

Of course Mike. We can give them a listen and a few others a good work out as well.

[S7910]

Re: Cabrini Redux

At this rate, I guess I will make Chuck bring them to InDIYana and see if anyone wants to take them home from there!

I'd be willing to pick them up from InDIYana for an evaluation if they are still in the area then.

[isaeagle4031]

Re: Cabrini Redux

They will be heading to the Chicagoland area on Sunday.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Cabrini Redux

I can bring them home on sunday if i can still stop out at your house this weekend Chuck?

I got dibs on these when you're done JR said I could.

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Cabrini Redux

I think these will be making an appearance at Indy. Still want them to make some more rounds, however.

[dynamo]

Re: Cabrini Redux

I really like these. Nice and clean looking. Wish I could ear them!

[johnnyrichards]

Re: Cabrini Redux

These are currently in Chicago with BK.

I would be curious to see what others who have heard them have to say - I know CraigK, Matt S, and Mike have all had time with them now.

[bkeane1259]

Re: Cabrini Redux

I published a spotlight page on this project. I had to twist JR's arm to send me the material but since I've been listening to these speakers for over a month now, I thought it was appropriate. http://www.midwestaudioclub.com/spot.../cabriniredux/

First off, while I will admit that these need a subwoofer, the modeled F3 of 73Hz seems to be a bit high to my ears. The bass impact on the Cabrini Redux is surprising. They seem to hit much lower than simmed -nice and tight and you can push the system fairly hard with no woofer breakup or muddy midrange, evidenced by torturing the Cabrini with the high resolution version of Lorde - Pure Herione. The ability of a system to remain "coherent" even under more extreme conditions is a talent I have noticed in several of JR's designs. It's all nice when a speaker sounds good at low/moderate volume, but how about when you crank it up? I've heard too many systems completely poop out and this doesn't seem to happen with JR's designs. Kudos to you, JR, for that.

Imaging is quite nice, right up there with much more expensive stuff I've heard. Vocals sound pretty natural to my ears, especially male vocals. Some of the female stuff I listen to sounded just a tad dark, which got me to focus in on cymbals and such to try to figure out exactly what I was experiencing. BTW, my ears are garbage above 15k, so take this with a grain of salt. I added a couple ticks of treble on my vintage Marantz receiver and it evened out fine. Looking at the raw FR on the tweeter, I suspect I'm actually hearing that high end roll-off. For somebody who has normal hearing, maybe this will not be an issue and not require any tone control tweaking? I dunno....I'm definitely not bashing this $70 budget build at all....it's $70 for the parts, people....$70.

I don't often get a chance to listen to a real budget build but having the Cabrinis has been a lot of fun. Considering that you can buy the PE flat pack cabs, there's very little actual work required to turn this project into reality. It sure kicks the living crap out of big box speakers for anywhere remotely near the price point of the Cabrini. Chalk up another one for DIY. This would be a great way to dive into DIY speaker-building for a beginner.

Thanks for letting me audition them!!