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Is Purifi audio a game changer?

NYfan2

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I was already impressed by the Purifi 1ET400A class D-amplifier but after I saw the interview that Erin from ErinsAudioCorner had with Lars Risbo from Purifi I was even more impressed. https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...i-interview-live-in-erins-audio-corner.19598/

Somewhere I read, the 1ET400A amplifier is an evolution of the designs made by Bruno Putzeys before Purifi, but the Purifi transducers are a revolution in transducer design.
And I think that is correct, the search for imperfections in the design of a transducer and the solutions to solve these imperfections are astonishing.

So now we have to wait untill the company's that built loudspeakers start to use the Purifi transducers, wouldn't it be great to have very good loudspeakers like the Grimm audio, Dutch & Dutch, KII, Genelec, Neumann, Revel etc. with the Purifi transducers?
But what do you think? Will these manufacturers switch to Purifi? Or will only the smaller company's do that and will the big manufacturers stay away from Purifi because of marketing reasons, denial of the quality of Purifi etc.?
Let me know what your opinion is.

I'm new to ASR but I've 30 years of experience in professional audio.
For who's interested: https://www.audiosciencereview.com/...n-asr-from-the-netherlands.19999/#post-658342

Best regards, Marc.
 

andreasmaaan

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But what do you think? Will these manufacturers switch to Purifi? Or will only the smaller company's do that and will the big manufacturers stay away from Purifi because of marketing reasons, denial of the quality of Purifi etc.?
Let me know what your opinion is.

Virtually none of them will switch to Purifi for drivers IMHO, firstly because they're rather hideous ;), and secondly because they appear to be only incrementally better (or arguably no better) than other SOTA drivers available on the market that are no doubt far cheaper for these other manufactuers to buy or produce (and more visually appealing).
 

murraycamp

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I will defer to those more knowledgeable, but it occurs to me that the overall SQ of the speaker has more to do with the overall engineering, waveguide or horn design (if applicable); crossover design, cabinet resonances and design, etc. than chasing better distortion numbers on drivers. IMHO, YMMV, HTH, etc.
 

Massimo

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Kii Audio has no plans to replace their transducers from Seas nor amplification from Hypex with Purifi components. It's intriguing that on the one hand Bruno Putzey's is on a mission with Purifi to push drivers (which are very expensive) and amplification which focus on reducing hysteresis distortion while at the same time offering a high end active speaker through Kii Audio which uses very inexpensive components, none of which are concerned with hysteresis distortion. The transducers in the Kii Three sell for around $20 a piece. Compare this to Purifi's transducers which sell for around $350 a piece. How much would Kii Audio need to increase the cost of the Kii Three to cover the huge increase in the cost of the transducers?
 

phoenixdogfan

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My understanding is the Purifi is more of a midwoofer than a midrange, and is far more suitable in two way closed boxes than anyplace else. Because of its low sensitivity, it's not useful as a midrange which will knock it out of consideration for many contemporary designs, most of the best of which are three ways.
 
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NYfan2

NYfan2

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Thank you all for your reply.

The price of the Purifi transducers is also a concern for me. Maybe wholesale prices can go down when they start mass producing the units?

I wasn't aware that Kii Audio uses such inexpensive components. I would expect a bit more expensive components for a loudspeaker that costs almost € 14.000,- ($ 17.000,-)
 

Shorty

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My understanding is the Purifi is more of a midwoofer than a midrange, and is far more suitable in two way closed boxes than anyplace else. Because of its low sensitivity, it's not useful as a midrange which will knock it out of consideration for many contemporary designs, most of the best of which are three ways.
Its low sensivity shouldn’t be a problem for an active speaker, surely?
 

andreasmaaan

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Nevertheless, it would be somewhat wasted in use as a midrange driver only. There are smaller and/or cheaper drivers on the market with similar midrange nonlinear distortion performance, and which offer other advantages to manufacturers (lower cost, closer C2C spacing, better off-axis performance at higher frequencies, etc).

I really have trouble seeing the 6.5" Purifi earning its keep in any configuration other than a passive-radiator two-way (or perhaps a sealed two-way if the design is an active one); in that particular context, though, it obviously excels.
 
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Ron Texas

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It's just not possible for a new conventional driver to be a game changer. Something with a new technology, perhaps
 

briskly

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Purifi transducers are a revolution in transducer design.
The solutions might be better than what came before from an improved understanding of the system dynamics. But the basic phenomena under consideration (surround deformation, iron nonlinearity, the magnetic force in the gradient) were common knowledge among driver designers.
So now we have to wait untill the company's that built loudspeakers start to use the Purifi transducers, wouldn't it be great to have very good loudspeakers like the Grimm audio, Dutch & Dutch, KII, Genelec, Neumann, Revel etc. with the Purifi transducers?
But what do you think? Will these manufacturers switch to Purifi? Or will only the smaller company's do that and will the big manufacturers stay away from Purifi because of marketing reasons, denial of the quality of Purifi etc.?
For performance, the existing Purifi units only fit a few of the lower range models from Revel, Genelec, and Neumann.
For Grimm and D&D, the Purifi woofers are not aligned too closely with the design goals. As for the Kii, the transducer is expensive for what it does. Careful consideration of the limitations with more inexpensive woofers can do plenty when integrated into a system.
 

mSpot

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wouldn't it be great to have very good loudspeakers like the Grimm audio, Dutch & Dutch, KII, Genelec, Neumann, Revel etc. with the Purifi transducers?
But what do you think? Will these manufacturers switch to Purifi?
Speaker manufacturers are always evaluating transducers for future products, and no doubt some of them are testing the Purifi. They will make the call about whether it makes sense in their product line.

BTW, the DIY community has been exploring Purifi builds for many months:
https://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/352063-exploring-purifi-woofer-speaker-builds.html
 

Massimo

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Perhaps the Purifi transducer is not suitable
Its low sensivity shouldn’t be a problem for an active speaker, surely?

Granted, perhaps the Purifi transducer may not suit the Kii Three. But there is still the question of amplification. I would think that with Bruno Putzeys placing so much importance on reduced hysteresis distortion in amplification, not just drivers, that there would be a strategy to replace the Ncore modules in the Kii Three with Purifi modules.
 
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Shorty

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Perhaps the Purifi transducer is not suitable


Granted, perhaps the Purifi transducer may not suit the Kii Three. But there is still the question of amplification. I would think that with Bruno Puyzey placing so much importance on reduced hysteresis distortion in amplification, not just drivers, that there would be a strategy to replace the Ncore modules in the Kii Three with Purifi modules.

The Purifi unit in a Kii loudspeaker would require a new design - if only for psychological reasons.
As far as I understand, Purifi’s work on reduced hysteresis distortion focuses on transducers, not amplifiers. But I may very well be wrong, it‘s all very much above my pay grade.
There’s an interview with Purifi’s Lars Risbo on, among other things, hysteresis in this clip:
 

Massimo

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The Purifi unit in a Kii loudspeaker would require a new design - if only for psychological reasons.
As far as I understand, Purifi’s work on reduced hysteresis distortion focuses on transducers, not amplifiers. But I may very well be wrong, it‘s all very much above my pay grade.
There’s an interview with Purifi’s Lars Risbo on, among other things, hysteresis in this clip:

Purifi are equally focussed on reducing hysteresis distortion in their Class D amplifier. There's lots of detailed technical info in their blog.

https://purifi-audio.com/blog/
 

Wes

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No, but a small, inexpensive full-range speaker with the distortion levels of the Purifi amps would be a game-changer...
 

mSpot

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No, but a small, inexpensive full-range speaker with the distortion levels of the Purifi amps would be a game-changer...
You want small, inexpensive, full range, and low distortion?

Reminds me of what they say in the construction business, "on-time, on-budget, high quality — pick any two".
 
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Gorgonzola

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A game changer? I was for me. I have VTV's version of the Purifi with VTV's own buffer and a Sparkos SS3602.

If I could talk about sound differences without incurring ridicule, I would say that the Purifi is significantly superior to my previous Hypex NC252MP in transparency, resolutions, and dynamics. But I suppose that is just my imagination, right? :confused:
 

Wes

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Dunno, did you do a listening test?
 
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