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Swissonic A305

A new 3-way with FIR crossover and rotatable mid-tweeter unit, hope to see some measurements and comments from @KLang1 soon.

www.thomann.de

Swissonic X8

Active 3-Way Studio Monitor Drivers: 8" woofer, 4,5" midrange and 1" tweeter, Power: 180 Watt tri-amped Class-D amplifier - 30 W tweeter / 50 W midrange - 100 W bass driver, Rotatable baffle for midrange and tweeter, Frequency range: 40 - 20,000...
www.thomann.de www.thomann.de
 
That looks very interesting for the price. However it's a little weird to have a LFE of only 40Hz on a 3-way with an 8" woofer. Granted, the woofer doesn't look like it has a lot of excursion, but but just due to size I'd expect at least 35Hz.
 
thewas said:
A new 3-way with FIR crossover and rotatable mid-tweeter unit, hope to see some measurements and comments from @KLang1 soon.

www.thomann.de

Swissonic X8

Active 3-Way Studio Monitor Drivers: 8" woofer, 4,5" midrange and 1" tweeter, Power: 180 Watt tri-amped Class-D amplifier - 30 W tweeter / 50 W midrange - 100 W bass driver, Rotatable baffle for midrange and tweeter, Frequency range: 40 - 20,000...
www.thomann.de www.thomann.de
Click to expand...
The ones for sale only arrived in our workshop a few days ago. I'll measure one of those and post the results next week.
 
KLang1 said:
The ones for sale only arrived in our workshop a few days ago. I'll measure one of those and post the results next week.
Click to expand...
So apparently this woofers sensitivity is increased compared to the sample speaker I used to set up the DSP. I don't like it, but that's what you get when you don't want to pay big dollar for better QC.
Fortunately we added high (2kHz, Q0.35, +-2dB) and low (110Hz, Q0.7, +-2dB) shelf filters to adjust the speaker to ones taste via the dip switches on the back. With the low shelf set to -2dB it is possible to mostly remedy the increased sensitivity of the woofer. The attached measurement is already with this -2dB low shelf filter active. I wish I had set it to +-3dB :D
Also I have to add another disclaimer: It's really tricky to merge the near- and farfield measurements of a 3-way speaker. The farfield measurement was corrected for groundplane effects and the nearfield measurement of both midrange and woofer was corrected for baffle step. I'd love to see a real anechoic measurement or a nearfield scan extrapolation of the X8, but for now this stitched measurement is the most accurate thing I can provide.
 

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KLang1 said:
So apparently this woofers sensitivity is increased compared to the sample speaker I used to set up the DSP. I don't like it, but that's what you get when you don't want to pay big dollar for better QC.
Fortunately we added high (2kHz, Q0.35, +-2dB) and low (110Hz, Q0.7, +-2dB) shelf filters to adjust the speaker to ones taste via the dip switches on the back. With the low shelf set to -2dB it is possible to mostly remedy the increased sensitivity of the woofer. The attached measurement is already with this -2dB low shelf filter active. I wish I had set it to +-3dB :D
Also I have to add another disclaimer: It's really tricky to merge the near- and farfield measurements of a 3-way speaker. The farfield measurement was corrected for groundplane effects and the nearfield measurement of both midrange and woofer was corrected for baffle step. I'd love to see a real anechoic measurement or a nearfield scan extrapolation of the X8, but for now this stitched measurement is the most accurate thing I can provide.
Click to expand...
That looks quite serviceable, with the exception of some unfortunate diffraction around 10KHz.

I'm happy to hear that the A-series make use of SigmaDSPs (ADAU1701?) and tempted to purchase one to see what can be achieved in Sigma Studio. If those eight DIP switches are attached directly to the GPIO, then there are adequate combinations (256) with which to implement almost any desired function.
 
Last edited:
Weeb Labs said:
That looks quite serviceable, with the exception of some unfortunate diffraction around 10KHz.

I'm happy to hear that the A-series make use of SigmaDSPs (ADAU1701?) and tempted to purchase one to see what can be achieved in Sigma Studio. If those eight DIP switches are attached directly to the GPIO, then there are adequate combinations (256) with which to implement almost any desired function.
Click to expand...
A-series as well as the X8 use the 1701, but only the A-series can be reprogrammed permanently with SigmaStudio. The three pins to do so are still on the board of the production version. DAC0 and DAC1 are connected to LF as + and -, 2&3 to HF.
 
KLang1 said:
A-series as well as the X8 use the 1701, but only the A-series can be reprogrammed permanently with SigmaStudio. The three pins to do so are still on the board of the production version. DAC0 and DAC1 are connected to LF as + and -, 2&3 to HF.
Click to expand...
Is the 1701 in the X8 configured by an MCU or is the selfboot EEPROM write protect simply enabled?
 
Just wondering, this x8 set is now on sale for 396 euro... Is it worth it ? Im not expecting miracles here but still 3way 8", there's nothing on the market for that price.
 
Formant said:
Just wondering, this x8 set is now on sale for 396 euro... Is it worth it ? Im not expecting miracles here but still 3way 8", there's nothing on the market for that price.
Click to expand...
At that price even I am tempted now just for a fun test and possible addition to my loudspeaker collection.
 
thewas said:
At that price even I am tempted now just for a fun test and possible addition to my loudspeaker collection.
Click to expand...
Thomann has it 198 euro a piece only today, so you have to be quick, theres a decent review on the page itself and some insight from Klang user here.. other than that theres nothing on build quality or how well it does reference. So i was hoping Klang could chime in and give his value on the take.
 
Formant said:
Thomann has it 198 euro a piece only today, so you have to be quick, theres a decent review on the page itself and some insight from Klang user here.. other than that theres nothing on build quality or how well it does reference. So i was hoping Klang could chime in and give his value on the take.
Click to expand...
Incredible price
 
So i bought these and breaking them in, my room is the size of entire family home so +2db lf... I cant measure anything(sorry) and couldnt compare them in all fairness with other 3way nearfields im experienced with (KH310/Axys Repro II) for obvious reasons. Never heard Kali in8 but nothing but meh from rp10-3(noise), but for now theyre on a desk and there's audible noise from the mid driver when you put year to it, barely audible in normal sitting position at the desk.
Relatively due conditions but, i find the spectrum for me optimal at 1,5m distance so i dont see amount of noise being an issue theyll be set up like that.
Considering an mcu is fixed, am i right to assume there's no way to lower the output of the mid driver to attempt to lower the noise ?
I hope to get a slightly wider sweetspot at a 1,5m triangle but im not complaining, imaging comes across natural, you're not going do mastering on them but fine for mixing.
Moreover, fine for 400 a set...
 
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