New Danley Studio Monitor: TDH-3

[Tom C]

Yah, that’s an excellent FR, but without a full spin not too helpful when deciding if to purchase.

 

[Ilkless]

Not very competitive compared to the likes of the Reflector Audio Square 2, let alone Genelec Ones

 

[Pearljam5000]

$6600 and passive?
No thanks

 

[holdingpants01]

Yah, that’s an excellent FR, but without a full spin not too helpful when deciding if to purchase.

there's nothing excellent about it, fine (for a passive speaker) at best, the Y axis of FR is 90dB so it may look ok but it's still heavily smoothed to 1/6 and 1/2, beaming highs, a weird bump at 80Hz, there are a lot of better passive speakers around and not as expensive

 

[aprats]

Not very competitive compared to the likes of the Reflector Audio Square 2, let alone Genelec Ones

You’re comparing it to two active speakers that apply heavy DSP—better to compare it against other nearfield passives.

 

[aprats]

there's nothing excellent about it, fine (for a passive speaker) at best, the Y axis of FR is 90dB so it may look ok but it's still heavily smoothed to 1/6 and 1/2, beaming highs, a weird bump at 80Hz, there are a lot of better passive speakers around and not as expensive

Which passives, particularly ones intended for nearfield studio use?

 

[Pearljam5000]

Why bother with a passive when actives exist for about the same price

 

[Ilkless]

You’re comparing it to two active speakers that apply heavy DSP—better to compare it against other nearfield passives.

Why shouldn't I? Live by the sword, die by the sword. Live by an expressed commitment to engineering and empirical fidelity, die by it when the product is poor for the usecase and market segment.

 

[Tom C]

there's nothing excellent about it, fine (for a passive speaker) at best, the Y axis of FR is 90dB so it may look ok but it's still heavily smoothed to 1/6 and 1/2, beaming highs, a weird bump at 80Hz, there are a lot of better passive speakers around and not as expensive

You are correct about the smoothing and the scaling. But it does look pretty flat to me. The bass hump is common, and easily EQ’d if it’s too much for the listener.

 

[aprats]

Why shouldn't I? Live by the sword, die by the sword. Live by an expressed commitment to engineering and empirical fidelity, die by it when the product is poor for the usecase and market segment.

That’s fair, though going as far as saying it doesn’t fit the usecase feels extreme. Most studios will have trinnov or at least Dirac, and Danley intends these speakers to be powered by their pascal module power amplifier that comes with DSP presets. Is your main criticism horizontal directivity?

 

[staticV3]

Is your main criticism horizontal directivity?

The only measurements we've seen so far are frequency response and directivity, and both are suboptimal.

Who knows what THD, MT, and compression may reveal.

At the price that they're asking for, this does not bode well.

 

[Tom C]

Yes, the off-axis response isn’t good. Didn’t look at that before.

 

[kemmler3D]

I gotta say for the money I thought Danley would do better. Hard to justify in a studio at that price unless the maximum SPL / distortion is just crazy good, which is something they're known for.

 

[FrantzM]

Hi

I am past the stage of Guru-worshipping,. However, Tom Danley however knows a lot about about loudspeakers.. More than the average, or even celebrity speaker designer.

So far no 3rd party, Klippel or equivalent equipped review... Let the numbers speak, then we'll know.

I was at a point where i could not fathom ever buying a non-active speaker ....All the speakers (7 satellites + 2 subs) , in my system are active... until 2 of my JBL LSR305, just died... It would cost more than the speakers to have these shipped and repaired. and back to me.. where I live...
So for some, even at ASR, Passives are the better alternatives.


Peace.

 

[Pearljam5000]

Hi

I am past the stage of Guru-worshipping,. However, Tom Danley however knows a lot about about loudspeakers.. More than the average, or even celebrity speaker designer.

So far no 3rd party, Klippel or equivalent equipped review... Let the numbers speak, then we'll know.

I was at a point where i could not fathom ever buying a non-active speaker ....All the speakers (7 satellites + 2 subs) , in my system are active... until 2 of my JBL LSR305, just died... It would cost more than the speakers to have these shipped and repaired. and back to me.. where I live...
So for some, even at ASR, Passives are the better alternatives.


Peace.

But if you buy good actives that cost a little more than JBL they could last you for years

 

[AudioJester]

But what happens if the passive speaker has a problem?

The better solution - either active or passive - is to buy locally with support, if you can. I can take my actives and passives for local service/warranty within 20mins drive.

If 2 active speakers died at the same time I would look for other problems.

 

[kemmler3D]

Hi

I am past the stage of Guru-worshipping,. However, Tom Danley however knows a lot about about loudspeakers.. More than the average, or even celebrity speaker designer.

So far no 3rd party, Klippel or equivalent equipped review... Let the numbers speak, then we'll know.

I was at a point where i could not fathom ever buying a non-active speaker ....All the speakers (7 satellites + 2 subs) , in my system are active... until 2 of my JBL LSR305, just died... It would cost more than the speakers to have these shipped and repaired. and back to me.. where I live...
So for some, even at ASR, Passives are the better alternatives.


Peace.

The benefits of passives are real, but at $6600 per pair for small-ish monitors they had better offer something special. So far we haven't quite seen what that is. The phase response is very nice of course, but is that it?

 

[Pearljam5000]

I'd rather Add $1400 and get the 8351 instead

 

[aprats]

I have a pair on their way to me with some nice hardwood stands from deep lake audio (Andy is a class act to deal with).

Obviously I don't have a klippel, but we’ll see how they fare subjectively (gasp). I’m hoping for good things. Danley and Ivan are great designers, it could be that the spec sheet shared with me was old and used for development—it’s dated 2023 and has vastly different specs from what’s on their website. They might have made some tweaks for the better, who knows?

It’d be great to hear from the Danley team on this thread. Are they members?

 

[FrantzM]

But what happens if the passive speaker has a problem?

The better solution - either active or passive - is to buy locally with support, if you can. I can take my actives and passives for local service/warranty within 20mins drive.

If 2 active speakers died at the same time I would look for other problems.

Passive, from my experience are easier to service.. You change a driver, a crossover part, heck the entire crossover if it comes to that.
Active???
If I were to buy locally ... I'd have to listen to music and enjoy my movies though those Boomboxes with LED of all colors playing along with the music... You know , something like these

Peace.