Role Audio Skiff Speaker Review

[amirm]

reserved I expect a disaster.

Reserved

Did it blow up your spreadsheet , or did you both forget to post the preference score? Like to put it in the Review index.

 

[MZKM]

Did it blow up your spreadsheet , or did you both forget to post the preference score? Like to put it in the Review index.

Terrible speakers give poor motivation.

Score is -1.1 or 3.0 with sub.

One of the few rare negative scores.
I hope the owner wasn't expecting great…

 

[musicforcities]

Chassis usually have problems when they are used above their specified operating frequency because the resonances then break up And distortion increases. Only few chassis that do not exhibit this behavior are suitable for first order crossovers.
Many manufacturers use fourth order crossovers to avoid this but they have worse phase response than second order. Best option in my eyes is to use an active setup with linear phase crossovers. The subtractive time delayed approach is quite good (and easy to implement also in IIR DSPs) in my eyes as it delivers steep cutoff for woofers, linear phase and therefore delivers perfect polar response. I wonder why manufacturers of DSP crossovers (like MiniDSP) did not offer this option by default in their products. The paper was published by Kreskovsky in 2002!
But you are right. The chassis is this speaker is crab

Interrelating. Thanks.

I have a pair of old mordant short ms25i, little floor standers that have first order crossovers. They were inexpensive to begin with, and derived from some eppos designs I believe, with the bass driver molded into the heavy plastic fascia. I have to admit I like them a lot for what they are and keep them in a secondary system. I believe the drivers and case were designed with first order crossovers in mind, as the bass driver is designed to extend quite high and the tweeter has a huge motor structure allowing it to go relatively low. I think crossover is around 3500hz, and the slow roll offs seem to work. The enclosure is not inert but dense and ridged and I think the port is tuned to well. tried a second and fourth degree in them but while I am sure they were better behaved they also lost the quality that made them enjoyable, such as imaging. Those things image amazingly: I have never heard a more defined and frontal phantom center ever. Even with KEF Coaxial. No matter what is on the front wall. Of course the woofers also beam crazily so off axis is not good. Sort of like an electrostatic, the sweet spot is one head wide and then fuzzy.

But in any case, I think it’s an example of decent first order design…I’d y

 

[mhardy6647]

Well -- I'll tell ya --
I have dozens (and dozens) of extended range drivers here -- and a number of loudspeaker systems using same.
I have dabbled in fullrangers for a long time (pushing three decades -- six if you count growing up with Electrovoice twincones).
They can be fun and interesting -- but I hardly ever spend very long listening to any of them any more. Draw your own conclusions.

That said, and FWIW, the all around most satisfying ones here are these mass-loaded folded TQWTs using the (very) unprepossessing Radio Shack 40-1354 5-1/4" twincones.


The drivers have been slightly modified in that they have been subjected to dustcapectomies (without their express consent, I must ruefully add) and subsequently endowed with phase plugs.

EDIT: That's a cosmetically challenged Altec Valencia lurking behind the loudspeaker in the photo above.

 

[Rottmannash]

Well -- I'll tell ya --
I have dozens (and dozens) of extended range drivers here -- and a number of loudspeaker systems using same.
I have dabbled in fullrangers for a long time (pushing three decades -- six if you count growing up with Electrovoice twincones).
They can be fun and interesting -- but I hardly ever spend very long listening to any of them any more. Draw your own conclusions.

That said, and FWIW, the all around most satisfying ones here are these mass-loaded folded TQWTs using the (very) unprepossessing Radio Shack 40-1354 5-1/4" twincones.


The drivers have been slightly modified in that they have been subjected to dustcapectomies (without their express consent, I must ruefully add) and subsequently endowed with phase plugs.

View attachment 313509


EDIT: That's a cosmetically challenged Altec Valencia lurking behind the loudspeaker in the photo above.

The Hague will be calling.

 

[beagleman]

Well -- I'll tell ya --
I have dozens (and dozens) of extended range drivers here -- and a number of loudspeaker systems using same.
I have dabbled in fullrangers for a long time (pushing three decades -- six if you count growing up with Electrovoice twincones).
They can be fun and interesting -- but I hardly ever spend very long listening to any of them any more. Draw your own conclusions.

That said, and FWIW, the all around most satisfying ones here are these mass-loaded folded TQWTs using the (very) unprepossessing Radio Shack 40-1354 5-1/4" twincones.


The drivers have been slightly modified in that they have been subjected to dustcapectomies (without their express consent, I must ruefully add) and subsequently endowed with phase plugs.

View attachment 313509


EDIT: That's a cosmetically challenged Altec Valencia lurking behind the loudspeaker in the photo above.

It that the well known Radio Shack "Auto" speakers from the 1980s, with the huge magnet?

http://nedlab.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Realistic-40-1354-fullrange.pdf

Used those before, and QUITE decent for sure.

 

[mhardy6647]

It that the well known Radio Shack "Auto" speakers from the 1980s, with the huge magnet?

http://nedlab.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Realistic-40-1354-fullrange.pdf

Used those before, and QUITE decent for sure.

Yup.
Most of the ones I have were bought on closeout for $5 @.

 

[fpitas]

That's a cosmetically challenged Altec Valencia

I think they look better with the horn exposed. I'm sure that speaks to my biases.

 

[mhardy6647]

I think they look better with the horn exposed. I'm sure that speaks to my biases.

While I don't disagree , the problem with that one particular Valencia (a 16 ohm "846A" morph) was the exposure of the gorgeous 416 woofer to... shall we say... potential feline terrorism. Visible in the photo was my solution. A piece of white foam-core board (of the type used for presentations and posters) rather unglamorously stuck in front of the woofer when the loudspeaker wasn't in use.
I considered having a replacement grill fabricated (the other one had the gril and fretwork intact and in good condition) but it would have been a nontrivial (read: not inexpensive) intervention.

 

[fpitas]

While I don't disagree , the problem with that one particular Valencia (a 16 ohm "846A" morph) was the exposure of the gorgeous 416 woofer to... shall we say... potential feline terrorism. Visible in the photo was my solution. A piece of white foam-core board (of the type used for presentations and posters) rather unglamorously stuck in front of the woofer when the loudspeaker wasn't in use.
I considered having a replacement grill fabricated (the other one had the gril and fretwork intact and in good condition) but it would have been a nontrivial (read: not inexpensive) intervention.

Perhaps expanded metal would work? Give it a few coats of matte black and it wouldn't look too bad, sort of a PA styling. I use some rudimentary grill bars meant for car subs, but little paws might still reach the woofer.

 

[mhardy6647]

I actually sold the Valencias (if one can imagine my doing such a thing!) to a hifi comrade in Rhode Island and kept the Santiagos.
The Valencias had been supplanted by 604E Duplexes (the enclosures for which have, as you know, kind of evolved into my current Frankenaltecs)
The Valencias were not being used -- and they really and truly deserved to be (and they are!).

PS The 878A Santiagos are not all that pretty in the nude (as you also may know).

 

[fpitas]

I actually sold the Valencias (if one can imagine my doing such a thing!) to a hifi comrade in Rhode Island and kept the Santiagos.
The Valencias had been supplanted by 604E Duplexes (the enclosures for which have, as you know, kind of evolved into my current Frankenaltecs)
The Valencias were not being used -- and they really and truly deserved to be (and they are!).

PS The 878A Santiagos are not all that pretty in the nude (as you also may know).

Looks like grill cloth on a rectangular frame would work there.

 

[mhardy6647]

Looks like grill cloth on a rectangular frame would work there.

Yes, true... but one should never underestimate my laziness.