Carmody S2000 DIY Speaker Kit Review

[amirm]

I mentioned this elsewhere, but for how expensive the machine is, you'd think it would have an auto-centering feature where it plays a 20kHz sine wave and simply moves along a plane perpendicular to the speaker until it registers the highest SPL.

The question is at what frequency. In the field identification, I can actually ask it to show either max SPL or reference axis and the two are very different.

 

[NTomokawa]

I've always had a soft spot for speaker kits. One of these days I'll rig up a pair of multi-way towers. One of these days...

As always, appreciate your hard work, Amir!

 

[MZKM]

Temperature was 58 degrees F.

When will it be too cold to where you need to use the heater to avoid the bass droop as with the KH80?
Could that be the cause of the droop this speaker has <200Hz?

 

[restorer-john]

The Olive score turned out higher than I thought it would, which is the opposite of what happened with the F328Be.

I'll let you in on a little secret. This is how it is determined:

 

[amirm]

When will it be too cold to where you need to use the heater to avoid the bass droop as with the KH80?
Could that be the cause of the droop this speaker has <200Hz?

It is not nearly as good as January when I started to measure speakers. It is still pretty comfortable in the "lab." So we have some ways to go. But yes, I will try to keep the temps higher than I did back then.

 

[MZKM]

I am assuming the tweeter response is so low just due to the designer going a tiny bit overboard in taming it. As even though is does rise up, the PIR curve shows it is a smidge too low:

 

[amirm]

Interesting. @Rick Sykora, is there an inline tweeter resistor and if so, what is its value?

 

[Ericglo]

It is not nearly as good as January when I started to measure speakers. It is still pretty comfortable in the "lab." So we have some ways to go. But yes, I will try to keep the temps higher than I did back then.

When I lived in Raleigh, I used this kerosene heater. It worked great.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DuraHea...ides-23-800-Btu-s-of-Warmth-DH2304S/304697729

 

[LTig]

Well, this is a winner, its FR below 200 Hz looks better than the Revel 238Be ...

 

[amirm]

When I lived in Raleigh, I used this kerosene heater. It worked great.
https://www.homedepot.com/p/DuraHea...ides-23-800-Btu-s-of-Warmth-DH2304S/304697729

Are these things safe to use indoors as far as carbon monoxide and such?

 

[Helicopter]

Well, this is a winner, its FR below 200 Hz looks better than the Revel 238Be ...

If you didnt put a winky face I would have lumped this comment with the comparisons of the 338Be to the little nearfield Genelecs.

 

[NTomokawa]

Are these things safe to use indoors as far as carbon monoxide and such?

Back in the army, we used Coleman lanterns in our arctic tents.

There are always electric heaters, though. There is generally no central heating in Japanese houses and everybody has at least one electric heater.

 

[amirm]

There are always electric heaters, though.

That's what I have but it has no prayer of actually heating up the massive garage with nearly 20 foot ceiling. I can leave the door open though and the main house heat pump heats it up decently. It is also insulated well so that helps. If I get super rich from this site one day , I can put a mini-split system in there.

 

[Helicopter]

Back in the army, we used Coleman lanterns in our arctic tents.

There are always electric heaters, though. There is generally no central heating in Japanese houses and everybody has at least one electric heater.

Right. It is like a very big lantern, si safety will depend on how buttoned up and small your house is, but it is not emitting nearly as much CO and CO2 as a salamander heater.

 

[hardisj]

Alright... I'll be that guy. And, I know this may be taken personally because it is hard to not take questioning of a review personally (I know, I almost always take questions personally and have to remind myself to not do that). So, don't take it personally. We are trained to look at data and make education decisions based on what the data shows us vs our own experiences with measurements and sound. That's what I'm doing here.

That said...

The measured response above 4kHz is about 4dB down. That's not pocket change. I have blasted speakers for having 3dB boosted treble and, while a shelved down response wouldn't be as offensive, there is zero doubt this response would be much too "recessed" for my liking. That would be a no go off the bat for me. Hopefully this could be easily remedied.

The distortion on the bass is extremely high, reaching nearly 5% THD at 96dB @ 1m at 200Hz. I know it's a 4.5-inch speaker so logic says you just wouldn't push it that high... but on the flip side, even a 100Hz crossover would still net you quite high distortion levels. So, as long as you don't plan to listen to it above the mid-80's it would be OK. But that's some very high distortion, all things considered.

I agree, the stated 3kHz crossover doesn't jive at all with the NF measurements. Odd.
The directivity measurements also don't make much sense there. If you look solely at directivity you'd think the woofer/tweeter crossover is higher and/or the woofer slope is shallow. Odd, again.

I am not one to jump on the "I don't get the correlation with the measurements and the Panther"... and I totally get the Panther rating is derived based on your overall satisfaction with the speaker. But this one... this one... literally made me go "what?". To get the highest tier (or close to it?) with this response and other measurements just doesn't make sense to me.


And I swear, if any of you go "oh, the score is good", I'm gonna come through the internet after you.

 

[Vasr]

Early on in my speaker testing I realized that what is important to my ears is good response from 200 to 2000 Hz. Dips in that region can be really problematic as there is so much "life" in music in that region. Testing this speaker made me realize perhaps I don't like as much high frequency content and want a more sloped down response.

Keep doing this long enough and you will come to understand why Maggie owners who don't care about Klippel-Schmuckel have loved their speakers over several decades.

 

[MZKM]

While we are on space heater talk:

 

[Helicopter]

That's what I have but it has no prayer of actually heating up the massive garage with nearly 20 foot ceiling. I can leave the door open though and the main house heat pump heats it up decently. It is also insulated well so that helps. If I get super rich from this site one day , I can put a mini-split system in there.

I love my mini split. I highly recommend that route.

 

[NTomokawa]

That's what I have but it has no prayer of actually heating up the massive garage with nearly 20 foot ceiling.

Incandescent bulbs! Lots of incandescent bulbs!

Could maybe try a floorboard heater?

 

[NTomokawa]

safety will depend on how buttoned up and small your house is

Indeed. Whenever we had Coleman lanterns burning, we'd always open the vents at the top of the tents.