What are "monkey coffins" exactly and what are "better" designs/alternatives?

[Fetch_Execute_Break]

Shall we next speak to the OP of the so-called... Kabuki loudspeakers?


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(even Yamaha?!?!)

... or am I being too culturally insensitive?

Looks like some designers wanted some standalone ghetto blaster loudspeakers.
There can't be any hifi rack out there that fits in terms of design.

They look ugly as hell but...I am somewhat sure that some of them sound/sounded not that bad.



I would like to thank you all folks for answering my question(s). Learned a lot about loudspeaker designs.
Should the day come and I will build my DIY loudspeaker I will name it "Peter's Nightmare".

The forums here seem very nice, I will stay.

 

[Fetch_Execute_Break]

I would complain about the tweeter.

What is wrong with the tweeter? Any good introduction about tweeters or types of loudspeakers (woven, "metal" and so on) you can recommend?
Still new to the whole audio topic.

I already know that there a different tweeter types like Plasma, Magnetic or Ribbon, but don't know their characteristics.

 

[Fetch_Execute_Break]

Say what you will about Peter (and many had a lot to say), he knew the ins and outs of loudspeakers, being associated in one way or another with Rectilinear, Ohm, Fourier. Loudspeaker gurus he looked up to included Richard Heyser, Don Keele, and Floyd Toole.

His loudspeaker reviews were always 'grounded'. But, all things being equal (which they never really are), he didn't 'like' the box. He saw it as both a price point and sometimes necessary engineering compromise. Quad, Dahlquist, Beveridge, Linkwitz, each in their turn, were some of his preferences.

A box he admired was the erstwhile Canadian Waveform, which was more of an egg shape in its last version.

Before he left the planet the Linkwitz open baffle design was his choice of choices.

The first review of a product I spotted by Peter was about Linkwitz loudspeakers.

 

[tomtoo]

What is wrong with the tweeter? Any good introduction about tweeters or types of loudspeakers (woven, "metal" and so on) you can recommend?
Still new to the whole audio topic.

I already know that there a different tweeter types like Plasma, Magnetic or Ribbon, but don't know their characteristics.

Was a joke, if iam inside this 'coffin' the tweeter goes in the wrong direction. They are usually closed back.

Sry, thats somethink you could fill probably books with. I can only give you my humble opinion, and i think that good old 'cheap' dome tweeters can perform very well. For hifi use.

 

[tomtoo]

Looks like some designers wanted some standalone ghetto blaster loudspeakers.
There can't be any hifi rack out there that fits in terms of design.

They look ugly as hell but...I am somewhat sure that some of them sound/sounded not that bad.



I would like to thank you all folks for answering my question(s). Learned a lot about loudspeaker designs.
Should the day come and I will build my DIY loudspeaker I will name it "Peter's Nightmare".

The forums here seem very nice, I will stay.

Yes its usually a nice forum. If you would have a littel more experience in speaker design, you would see imediatly that this speakers cant sound good. But they could go loud. So they are not the audiophile wet dream, more the audiophile horror.

 

[tomtoo]

The first review of a product I spotted by Peter was about Linkwitz loudspeakers.

My 2 cents, listening to music is all
about fun and emotions. Some people enjoy more this than that. Thats ok, so have fun!

 

[phoenixdogfan]

Imagine being put in that thing. And during your funeral, while they slowly let it down into the grave "Rapid Fire" by Judas Priest
is coming out of the the speakers.

At least it isn't something off The Sheffield Drum Record!

 

[rocksteady]

Shall we next speak to the OP of the so-called... Kabuki loudspeakers?


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View attachment 107608
(even Yamaha?!?!)

... or am I being too culturally insensitive?

Yeah, shocking to see the creator of the magnificent NS-1000M among those!!!

 

[mhardy6647]

Yeah, shocking to see the creator of the magnificent NS-1000M among those!!!

Yeah, huh?
Says more about their regard for ... umm... certain markets than it does about the company in general.

 

[rocksteady]

Yeah, huh?
Says more about their regard for ... umm... certain markets than it does about the company in general.

My comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but yeah, OK...

 

[mhardy6647]

My comment was a bit tongue-in-cheek, but yeah, OK...

The Japanese, for many years, didn't share their good loudspeakers with the US market.

Pioneer, e.g., gave us these:

but not these:

 

[rocksteady]

The Japanese, for many years, didn't share their good loudspeakers with the US market.

Pioneer, e.g., gave us these:

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but not these:

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That's a thing of beauty!

 

[Rednaxela]

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Upside down it’s a monkey head coffin.

 

[mhardy6647]

Upside down it’s a monkey head coffin.

Well... you've triggered me. I hope you're happy.

 

[mhardy6647]

I think that the Pioneer/"Exclusive" loudspeaker image could be considered a TAD product -- the woofers look TAD-esque. But still, from the same parent company that brought us the HPM-100.

Actually, and in fairness, the second (or third) "generation" of Pioneer HPM loudspeakers also had woofers, at least, that were very much like the JBL-esque early TAD woofers.

This is the woofer from an HPM-1100 that I refoamed many years back.





vs. a TAD 15" (AlNiCo) (EDIT - actually this one looks like it has a ceramic magnet?) woofer. Same basket, if nothing else.

(from https://audio-heritage.jp/PIONEER-EXCLUSIVE/unit/tl-1601a.html)
Paper cone rather than the weird paper/graphite/plastic cone of the HPM-1100 woofer, and accordion vs. foam surround.

(random internet image)
The earlier image of the big Exclusive monitor was, of course, from

Pioneer/Exclusive/TAD 製品一覧 パイオニア/エクスクルーシブ

audio-heritage.jp

 

[fpitas]

I think that the Pioneer/"Exclusive" loudspeaker image could be considered a TAD product -- the woofers look TAD-esque. But still, from the same parent company that brought us the HPM-100.

Actually, and in fairness, the second (or third) "generation" of Pioneer HPM loudspeakers also had woofers, at least, that were very much like the JBL-esque early TAD woofers.

This is the woofer from an HPM-1100 that I refoamed many years back.





vs. a TAD 15" (AlNiCo) (EDIT - actually this one looks like it has a ceramic magnet?) woofer. Same basket, if nothing else.

View attachment 326597
(from https://audio-heritage.jp/PIONEER-EXCLUSIVE/unit/tl-1601a.html)
Paper cone rather than the weird paper/graphite/plastic cone of the HPM-1100 woofer, and accordion vs. foam surround.

View attachment 326596
(random internet image)
The earlier image of the big Exclusive monitor was, of course, from

Pioneer/Exclusive/TAD 製品一覧 パイオニア/エクスクルーシブ

audio-heritage.jp

Yes, and TAD was more than "influenced" by JBL and Altec. Bart Locanthi consulted for TAD for years.

Bart N. Locanthi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bart Locanthi

I would really like to see a page dedicated to Bart Locanthi on this site. He's been a seminal influence from JBL (acoustic lenses, LE drivers) to HiFi in general (loudspeaker modelling, and improved amplifier output design). Something like the Ed May page would be great, even if it's a little...

www.audioheritage.org

 

[fpitas]

It may have been true in his time, but I think material and acoustic improvements since have solved the issue, or at least given the opportunity of solving the issue to manufacturers who care.

Yes, a lot of "monket coffins" have been reviewed here and measure extremely well. It was a matter of the ignorant blaming the dog.

 

[mhardy6647]

Yes, and TAD was more than "influenced" by JBL and Altec. Bart Locanthi consulted for TAD for years.

Bart N. Locanthi - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

And, of course, Locanthi also worked for Pioneer and was responsible for the original HPM line.

JBL L100 -> Pioneer HPM-100.

Sort of reminds me of two interrelated moniker stories.
Thomas Watson worked for NCR (National Cash Register) before moving to another little company called C-T-R. When he eventually renamed the company, he decided to one up NCR in name in every respect.

National -> International
Cash Register -> Business Machines

I believe I heard this story on APM's Marketplace, but I cannot document it at the moment.
wait, check that -- https://www.dvorak.org/blog/ibm-and-the-seven-dwarfs-dwarf-seven-ncr/

The almost ironically intimately related other story: In 2001, Clarke or Kubrick may have adapted the HAL 9000 computer's name from a-then big computer company's name.

I -> H
B -> A
M -> L

IBM minus one letter position (each) = HAL.
Of course, HAL was written to be an algorithm ("Heuristically Programmed ALgorithm, no less") in the book version of the 'story'.

 

[mhardy6647]

JBL L100

rando internet image: https://skyfiaudio.com/products/jbl-l100-l-100-vintage-studio-monitor-speakers-survivor-set


Pioneer HPM-100

source: https://www.mvaudiolabs.com/speakers/untamed-vintage-pioneer-hpm-100/

 

[fpitas]

More TAD trivia. The TH-4003 horn shown below was derived very closely from Don Keele's work improving radial horns. Recent JBL horns follow a similar design.