I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

[DjDisturbed]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

I Do Like The "aspen" Name. I'm Open To Any Other Suggestions Anyone Has. So Far, The Names I Have On The List For Consideration Are:

Finale
Aerios
Omnius
Aspen

Droids
They look like they could be stand-ins for a Stars Wars movie set.
Wish I could have been there , looks like it was a great turn out.

[Taterworks]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

Rory,

Thanks for the wonderful comments! I think we all aspire to be respected by our peers, so it is very rewarding when others appreciate your work. I'd have to think about going into the speaker business if I thought I could sell a few pairs a year at that price!

BTW, did you have a listen after I removed the acousta-stuff from the open back tunnels toward the end of the second session? I was just wondering if you preffered them with or without the extra stuffing.

The Kharma Grand Ceramique speakers (link) - $53,000/pr.

The Marten Coltrane go for $70,000, and the quad-ceramic-woofer Coltrane Momento (otherwise similar to the Coltrane) are $165,000. (See here.)

With inflation, the cost of quality manufacturing, and with the high end industry now focusing on super-rich clientele, these prices aren't unheard of, and the Aspen/Omnius/... are even better looking than the above speakers. And while they didn't do anything audibly wrong, and lots of things very audibly right, I suppose at this price level an obsessive amount of crossover tweaking wouldn't be a bad thing, so I wouldn't dissuade you from making any tweaks suggested by measurements or listening, even though I can't think of any I'd recommend. All the ingredients for a great commercial product are there. The only other thing I'd probably want to address in a commercial product would be to paint the little exposed ring of MDF around the tweeter dome where the waveguide couples to the tweeter. I'd paint that surface white to match the cabinet. (I really liked the off-white color choice, by the way. It complemented the baffle superbly.)

Those speakers were really great fun to listen to, especially on Nils Lofgren at 95 dB live-concert levels. Thanks for building and bringing them.

Another little bit to add, since we're discussing comparisons to commercial products: If I were to offer my Firestorms as a commercial product (with a higher-quality painted finish, of course), I think the market would support a price around $1800-$2200/pr. That's a fair chunk more than the Nola Contender, but the Firestorms are larger and go deeper in the bass. And I daresay the Tang Band tweeter is better.

[dougjohnson]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

I'll be putting together a thread with more detials on the design, build pictures, etc. and what is coming in phase 2 of this project.

Please. Please. Pretty Please.
Thanks,
Doug

[Wolf]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

I'm with Rory on these, Dan.

You pretty much trumped anything you've done before in fit, finish, and sound. And you steped it up into another echelon.

That's what I think is warranted- 'Echelon'.

Later,
Wolf

[Taterworks]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

One more note: With a gathering like this with some real heavyweights in attendance and other good designs as well, I don't want to make it seem like anyone has fallen by the wayside. There were lots of good designs that were listenable and didn't seem to do much that was objectionable. I also found a lot to like about Phil Bamberg's TMs, though I think they could have benefited from having a woofer tower underneath or a vented enclosure design. (They were sealed.) They had a real immediacy about them, with great transient 'snap'.

[Wolf]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

One more note: With a gathering like this with some real heavyweights in attendance and other good designs as well, I don't want to make it seem like anyone has fallen by the wayside. There were lots of good designs that were listenable and didn't seem to do much that was objectionable.

Agreed!

I also found a lot to like about Phil Bamberg's TMs, though I think they could have benefited from having a woofer tower underneath or a vented enclosure design. (They were sealed.) They had a real immediacy about them, with great transient 'snap'.

Not agreed. Where I was at in the room, I noticed that the tracks with more than one vocalist singing in harmony seemed to be blurry on his pair. They were just not highly defined, and another attendee thought the same thing as me. Other than that- I agree- vented or with woofers would've been better.

Later,
Wolf

[dlneubec]

Re: I know it is early, but.... InDIYana??

I'm with Rory on these, Dan.

You pretty much trumped anything you've done before in fit, finish, and sound. And you steped it up into another echelon.

That's what I think is warranted- 'Echelon'.

Later,
Wolf

I like Echelon. Excellent! Keep the names coming.

Thanks for the nice comments also.

I didn't say much to anyone, but was very concerned about my voicing on these speakers. One because I had a very short time on them, just a few hours. Second, in Decemember I had an ear infection that quickly led to a ruptured eardrum (it actually popped when it ruptured!). I lost about 75% of the hearing in that ear for a time and it has not all come back yet. Also, I have a considerable increase of tinnitus in that ear as a result. Unfortunately, that was my good ear. As a child, this happened to me several times and as a result my other ear already had a considerable amount of high frequency loss. Now the good ear has as well.

I was very concerned about whether I could achieve a good balance with this speaker as a result. Feedback from guys like you, Rory and others, who I know have very discerning ears, helps dispel that concern. Thanks for the caps tips, BTW.