Selah Audio Purezza Review

[pierre]

Would love to see preference score for this, please!

Pref Score = 5.5
With EQ = 6.7

 

[ctrl]

In any case it shows impressively that it is possible to design 2-way loudspeakers without severe resonances when using BR or passive radiators.
Other manufacturers still have a lot to learn
(Whereby to be fair, one would have to measure the loudspeaker with 3dB more sound pressure in the bass range)

For example that mid and deep bass need not be dominant, that damping material is no devil's play, identical room dimensions are not a good idea (except for subwoofers, where it often doesn't matter), ...

 

[yourmando]

Pref Score = 5.5
With EQ = 6.7

Wow. With the low shelf to bring the bass up (or placing near wall as designed, or choosing the in-from-wall crossover option), the preference rating is a bit higher than the Revel Salon 2 and Kef R3.

 

[samysound]

Maybe the racetrack passive radiator allowed for a smaller box?

Hificompass has a clever design that uses 2 of the Purifi passive radiators on opposite sides to reduce vibrations, plus a diagonal sound barrier. But it does look bigger.

View attachment 81936View attachment 81937

https://hificompass.com/en/projects/2-way-systems/puri-bliss-bewg

The purifi passive radiators are pricey. The SB Acoustics (?) race track PR might be a good trade-off to keep price down

 

[Selah Audio]

To Rick:

How do these compare to the Ceramica? I realize that the Ceramicas are much more expensive in finished form, but in kit form there is only a couple of hundred dollars difference.

I guess the Anniversario might be a better comparison, since it looks like they use the same ribbon. What I am really asking, I tihnk, is one Purifi close to the performance of the combined three drivers in the Ceramica?

It's difficult to compare the two as they are quite different and I've not listened to them side-by-side. The Purifi woofer has an excellent midrange quality and one that challenges a good 3-way. Having an extra woofer (like the Ceramica) does help give you more output capability but a 3-way with two Purifi woofers would be superior.

 

[Chromatischism]

It's difficult to compare the two as they are quite different and I've not listened to them side-by-side. The Purifi woofer has an excellent midrange quality and one that challenges a good 3-way. Having an extra woofer (like the Ceramica) does help give you more output capability but a 3-way with two Purifi woofers would be superior.

And another difference would be wider dispersion from the 3-way, correct?

 

[Selah Audio]

Quality review. I can't afford them though ....yet
Edit: Ron over at NRD posted a teaser about these today.

Not the Purezza (I think someone else also mentioned this).

 

[waynel]

Wow. With the low shelf to bring the bass up (or placing near wall as designed, or choosing the in-from-wall crossover option), the preference rating is a bit higher than the Revel Salon 2 and Kef R3.

Where did you see a preference score for the Revel Salon 2?

 

[hardisj]

Great super detailed write up as always! Given the glowing review of these speakers, were there any parts of if that you thought could be better?

Following the earlier messages, in what way are better than the BMRs? As Dennis pointed out, price is a factor, but I'm interested to know how the BMRs fall behind to these.

With the passive radiator on these (funny they don't mention it on their website, didn't realise there was one till your review), how do these compare to the Buchardt S400s?

For future reviews, would you consider doing a quick comparison vs other speakers that you've reviewed before? For someone with a pair of Buchardts looking for a next DIY project, that comparison might give a much clearer idea of what to expect from one of these. Thanks!

It's hard for me to give subjective impressions on memory. I can barely remember the stuff I have to. Much less the stuff that would be nice if I could.

With that said, what I immediately noticed about the Purezzas was the midrange clarity at higher volumes. And while they initially sounded a bit treble-heavy (as did the BMRs), the LF trim tweak gave them a much more balanced sound. Honestly, based on my listening evaluations, there wasn't really anything bad about these speakers. No audible resonance. No breakup. No clearly-directivity-mismatch problems. The only area I could gripe about is that the PR unloaded at 100dB. But the BMR's woofer unloaded below this, IIRC. For a speaker(s) this size, that's not really a problem you can fault them for. It's not like they're running multiple 8's or 10's.

 

[Ericglo]

It's difficult to compare the two as they are quite different and I've not listened to them side-by-side. The Purifi woofer has an excellent midrange quality and one that challenges a good 3-way. Having an extra woofer (like the Ceramica) does help give you more output capability but a 3-way with two Purifi woofers would be superior.

Hmmm, how about a MTM or TMM with the Purifi?

As long as I am blowing the budget, how about Purezza CBT?

 

[sweetchaos]

Where did you see a preference score for the Revel Salon 2?

See @pierre 's website.
Revel Salon 2 pref score (without EQ) is 6.4
Kef R3 pref score (without EQ) is 6.5, and pref score (with EQ) is 7.2

 

[RickS]

Thanks @hardisj and really nice effort @Selah Audio! Nice directivity results that should be good for a broad range of music.

May even make me rethink my passive radiator skepticism. Expect a call Rick .

 

[yourmando]

See @pierre 's website.
Revel Salon 2 pref score (without EQ) is 6.4
Kef R3 pref score (without EQ) is 6.5, and pref score (with EQ) is 7.2

Yup, great website that I discovered from this thread.

Of course, comparing scores with EQ is a little tricky. For example, it looks like @pierre’s site is using full eq (which is great), while the Selah Purezza EQ Erin used only has 1 low shelf eq applied.

Super helpful to have those EQs based on the spin data!

 

[Selah Audio]

You beat me to the punch. I recall you testing the Purifi.

Would there be a difference with say using two SB Ceramic woofers in a floor stander compared to the Scan?

And you are correct that the Selah kit doesn't include cabinets or flat packs? The equal price difference from what I can see is around $350 less for the BMR. At your fully assembled price of $1700, it is probably easier to go that route.

I can quote cabinets but in some cases the savings are minimal versus buying the assembled speaker. If there's a cabinetmaker interested in providing flat packs I would be open to that.

 

[Selah Audio]

Here's a link for a Klippel test of the Scan-Speak woofer used in the Philharmonic BMR (kit and older assembled speakers). As far as how the bass extension compares to the Purifi used in the Purezza you can look at Erin's curves. Keep in mind that the cabinet volume for the Purezza is also at least 30% smaller which makes the comparison even more interesting.

I used the previous version of the Scan-Speak several years ago. In the 90's it was considered to be one of the best 7" woofers. If you read the review you'll note that the suspension limiting is 2.8 mm, far short of the 6.5 mm x-max (excursion). Erin can sort out the other differences from the Klippel test he did on the Purifi.

https://www.pearl-hifi.com/06_Lit_Archive/15_Mfrs_Publications/40_Voice_Coil/2012/2012_8_Aug.pdf

 

[Ericglo]

I can quote cabinets but in some cases the savings are minimal versus buying the assembled speaker. If there's a cabinetmaker interested in providing flat packs I would be open to that.

DIYSoundgroup and Speaker Hardware are the first two that come to mind. I am not sure if Steve Manning over at htguide is amenable to that or not.

 

[Selah Audio]

Wow, another fantastic review. I really appreciate all of the time it must take to do these reviews.

That's an amazingly smooth early directivity index from a rectangular 2 way box speaker design. Looks like driver size, selection & crossover design were enough for a smooth directivity handoff. No fancy waveguides needed.

From the nearfield driver measurement chart, looks like the woofer was crosses over to the ribbon at 2.4khz or so? If so, great job on not really making a blip in that region on the polar plots (at least horizontally).

Looks like @Selah Audio nailed it!

Yes, 2.4K crossover point. I went through several crossover topologies with different points and slopes until I found one I was happy with.

 

[jtwrace]

I can quote cabinets but in some cases the savings are minimal versus buying the assembled speaker. If there's a cabinetmaker interested in providing flat packs I would be open to that.

You should contact Leland at www.speakerhardware.com and I'm sure he would work with you.

 

[Selah Audio]

Great job man! Thoughts about that dip between 2-3 kHz? PS. Those Purifi woofers are indeed amazingly low distortion. I like how they can be cranked with no hint before they give up - so unlike most conventional drivers...

It's pretty common to have a dip in the 2-3K area with a flat baffle of this width. I measured from different angles to optimize and give the smoothest horizontal response.

 

[Chromatischism]

And some may prefer it, as that's a listening fatigue region.