Yes but inside the cabinet both pairs of connectors go to the same passive xover network, right?
Correct, this was exactly my thought.
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Need advice on this Taobao bookshelf speaker
- Thread starter bunkbail
- Start date
Yes but inside the cabinet both pairs of connectors go to the same passive xover network, right?
Correct, this was exactly my thought.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
No. The crossover is also split in two parts, with the parts connected by the bridging pieces between the connectors.
Indeed. I think the concern was based on that not being the case.
Oh ok, got it now. So these type of speakers actually doesn't have a crossover, but two separate low pass and high pass filters.
That is what a crossover is.
Yes, pretty much. With crossover I'm used to think about a single load.
I know. It took me quite a bit of thinking to realize a crossover is really separate filters for each driver.
When I looked at setting up my home Hi-Fi system, given my budget, I consciously avoided any modern made equipment, and especially Chinese rubbish. If you are looking at getting decent speakers at a reasonable price, I'd look at Canton, or a pair of used high end speakers. You'll be amazed what you can find for the money.
I'll give you one real example I saw on eBay; excellent condition used Mission 780 speakers for $395. This made in England quality, and they sound amazing (I can tell you that because I own a pair). Mission 780 speakers eBay
I'll give you one real example I saw on eBay; excellent condition used Mission 780 speakers for $395. This made in England quality, and they sound amazing (I can tell you that because I own a pair). Mission 780 speakers eBay
Why?
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
The Chinese are particularly adept with sophisticated crossovers and implementing correct wiring on terminal plates.....
digicidal
Major Contributor
Most of those aren't actually counter-points... they're what I was saying - i.e. that it's too good to be true based on marketing at least (not that they're alone in that of course).
- 3-way design is fine, but significantly add to cost and usually (IME) decrease sensitivity, not increase it. The three speakers you mentioned are less sensitive (in most cases by [email protected],1M), have smaller, cheaper drivers (material wise at least), and with the exception of the kit-form of the HiVi's are all more expensive... even on sale.
- As I said, heavy is good - which is why well braced cabinet kits can cost almost as much as these assembled speakers do.
- The crossover not only looks great, it's without significant compromise apparently - and the one compromise made isn't likely the crossover's fault (the weird bass response). Again cost (components and assembly).
- The efficiency being specified at 89dB@1W/1M isn't an issue, but that's [email protected],1M (preferred IMO) - again not bad... it's unbelievably good actually.
- They do provide FR in chart form (just not method, polars, smoothing, etc.) - it looks like +2/-4dB 80Hz-20kHz and -21db @40Hz - an odd spec for "40Hz-30kHz" specified... it might be good, or it might be crap on the high-end as well but who knows. This is not as good - but again weird that an 8" driver in a ported cabinet with the specified overall sensitivity struggles that much at 50Hz (or even 60Hz).
- You are correct, they could be someone else's drivers with their own logo'd stickers and part numbers - that was a mistake on my part calling them "proprietary" - how about "house parts of unknown provenance"? My point was that if they aren't in-house drivers, that will again likely drive the price point up.
- Walk around a Chery dealership and tell me they paid for their IP... but fair enough, they could be the OEM and just inherited everything. I could actually see that scenario much easier.
- All I can see is in the back (although I can assume the front baffle is the same - and likely thicker). Again, this is good if it's everywhere.
- They look cheap to me - but that's totally subjective. To put that in context, I found the Monitor Audio Platinum's with the leather treatment to look cheap too and those were $5K/pair. These have a price point that makes cheap make sense, and if you like the look then it's a win-win.
Some companies in the PRC are able to create economies of scale unheard of elsewhere - often through abysmal employee compensation and a complete disregard for safety & environmental standards. The exceptions to this have products which aren't dramatically cheaper than those manufactured elsewhere and to their credit, aren't lesser in terms of build quality and reliability either. There's a huge difference between putting a well engineered PCB in a nice aluminum case (Topping,SMSL/Sabaj, etc.) and a hand assembled, 3-way stand-mount speaker... with mostly amazing specifications... yet somehow they did it for nearly the same price. As I said, I'd love to see them tested, measured and reviewed.
If I was local to them - I would definitely grab a pair to see... but I'd not be surprised to find it really was too good to be true for <$400.
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watchnerd
Grand Contributor
Oooopsie!
Is that from the same speaker at the top of this thread, or a different one?
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
All this speculation. Why not just stump-up the money and buy a pair and do a review alongside a well reviewed little Polk/Dali/PSB etc?
I've seen and heard plenty of Chinese speakers, some that were absolutely beautifully built but still sounded like crap.
Consider just about every manufacturer of previous pedigree is now either sourcing or having their drivers, x/overs and cabinets knocked up in China. Even highly respected European manufacturers have succumbed to the low-cost Eastern manufacture.
I was absolutely disgusted to see the drivers for the JBL Century L100 classic (new model) are made in China.
Give me Japan, UK, Germany, Denmark, US or Canada on my high fidelity speakers, their components and construction. Otherwise forget it. I've got a dozen or more pairs of speakers in my listening room right now and apart from some silly powered bluetooth 6.5" 2 way I bought for fun (they weren't fun), there's nothing Chinese.
I've seen and heard plenty of Chinese speakers, some that were absolutely beautifully built but still sounded like crap.
Consider just about every manufacturer of previous pedigree is now either sourcing or having their drivers, x/overs and cabinets knocked up in China. Even highly respected European manufacturers have succumbed to the low-cost Eastern manufacture.
I was absolutely disgusted to see the drivers for the JBL Century L100 classic (new model) are made in China.
Give me Japan, UK, Germany, Denmark, US or Canada on my high fidelity speakers, their components and construction. Otherwise forget it. I've got a dozen or more pairs of speakers in my listening room right now and apart from some silly powered bluetooth 6.5" 2 way I bought for fun (they weren't fun), there's nothing Chinese.
watchnerd
Grand Contributor
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
I bought an amplifier that came with a few pairs of speakers. A pair of Malaysian made tower Yamahas and those Chinese horrors. You don't want to know how bad the cabinetry was internally on the Yamahas. The Malaysian factory was always a sh#%fight right from the get go in the 90s. We had entire product lines that were all 100% returned to YAust due to QC issues. They moved just about all the lines there eventually. I never thought Yamaha would stoop to lows in the cabinetry- they were after all piano makers... The drivers inside were lovely.
The Chinese speakers were so bad I saved nothing from them and took pleasure in throwing them into the waste transfer bins. They even had plastic containers full of some type of cement inside to give them weight and stop them tipping over...
digicidal
Major Contributor
You beat me to it.
restorer-john
Grand Contributor
By no means was my list complete...
Focal, their active Alpha series monitors are made in China, their car speakers are all made in China AFAIK. They may have retained France for the "upper" ranges to keep credibility, but you wait and see, the production will ultimately all end up "re-locating to a lower cost-base manufacturing region"...
Take a look at IAG and the destruction they have wrought on previously excellent brands.
digicidal
Major Contributor
Their Utopia line (for cars) still has the "Made in France" logos on the tearsheets, boxes, etc. Not sure of the others - those are the only one's I've had experience with.
Actually it looks like only the lowest tiers of each category are "Designed in France" for all of the mid-and-high end it's all French-made (so 4 product lines for automotive as well).
Source HERE.
On a non-speaker related note... didn't know about THIS... which is mildly interesting to me (weird I didn't see it on the Dirac Live page). EDIT: Oh for $20K I'll pass thanks.
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