Forums - different drivers tested in hdt (picture inside)

franksmith

Ex Member

different drivers tested in hdt (picture inside)
08/26/07 at 04:31:25

I had my hdt sitting in a corner of my bedroom for some time and had a pair of manger drivers sitting on top the of them for about the same time.

I finaly got the time to try the mangers in my bigfunhorns but the result wasn't good at all, way too much bass and mid bass. Obiviously the bigfunhorn are too long and tuned for my lowther which doesn't match at all with the mangers.

So I triend the two little bending wave drivers in the hdt, switched the speakers in the livingroom and sat for a short listening session.

My expectation wasn't big since the speakers are not designed at all for theses drivers but the result is very good. Sure they don't have the snap, the energy and the loud spl playing capacity of the fostex or lowther but the sound is extremely natural with a lot of presence and sweet well balanced highs, very electrostatic like.

I tough I would not get bass since the published specs of the drivers t&s implied a fs of 80hz but the drivers does not work as a regular paper cone driver and the t&s seem pretty unusefull in bass region.

Anyway, I didn't expect nothing under 60-80hz but the result is better bass than the fe206 and extention in the 35-40hz. More than enough for good reproduction quality of a double bass or grand piano.

If you come accross a pair of theses drivers take the time to test them in your hdt, you may like the result.

It's hard to explain the resulting sound but the closest thing a can think of would be quad esl with better extentions, dynamics and higher possible spl.

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franksmith Ex Member	Re: Different drivers test in hdt (picture inside) Reply #1 - 08/26/07 at 04:36:16 BTW, equipment used are regulated high current gainclone bent s&b tx-102 passive transformer preamplifier sony scd-1 player
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RFZ_Quest

Seasoned Member

Posts: 309

Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid
Reply #2 - 08/28/07 at 06:52:48

It would be nice to have that set of Manger drivers to experiment with! I have wanted to hear these for some time. You may be interested in the following links concerning DIY cabinets designed for use with the Manger drivers. It could lead to an intersting project for you to build. The latter links are to PDF files with full detailed drawings of the cabinets.

This first link goes to the page with the project. http://www.cooltune.ch/Projects/Menhir01.htm

These are for the construction data:

http://www.cooltune.ch/Projects/TMLMenhir1aD.pdf

http://www.cooltune.ch/Projects/AMVMenhir2b.pdf

http://www.cooltune.ch/Projects/AMVMenhirStudy.pdf

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franksmith

Ex Member

Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid
Reply #3 - 08/28/07 at 20:33:55

Hi,

Thanks for the answer.

The menhir are one of the reason I wanted to try them in full range.

The back loaded horns seem also a very interesting way but the horn tunning would need to be done in the low 100hz in order to produce good sounds. I'm not sure I could possibly modify my bigfunhorn for this kind of uses.

The results in the hdt is very good, i'm not sure if the menhir would be a step-up or a step-down, I would need to build them to know for sure.

I can get bass in the low 40 without problems like in the menhir frequency response, I have a little bit too much low mid so the original passives would be more appropriates than my alternate passives. It's not a big problem, with some positionning of the speaker I can get away with this low mid exageration.

The highs are not as beamy as i would think from a 8" driver, their bending wave distribution seem to work to some extent so the sweetspot exist but it's not so small compared to other fullranges and my acoustatX. I would say the sound dispersion is better than the fe206, the highs more detailed and extended.

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Brian

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Posts: 899

Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid
Reply #4 - 09/20/07 at 06:56:25

Hello Frank,
I have long been intrigued by the extra quick impulse response of the Manger driver, but I had not heard a general sonic impression. Your description "The sound is extremely natural with a lot of presence and sweet well balanced highs, very electrostatic like. ... Quad esl with better extensions, dynamics and higher possible spl." sounds appealing. A pair of these and HDT cabinets sounds like an excellent choice.
Thanks for the review!

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franksmith

Ex Member

Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid
Reply #5 - 09/21/07 at 22:07:05

Hi Brian,

Having lived with the speakers for two weeks I can say that they are very nice but the maximum spl is a limitation I would not be able to live with for long time. This limitation is caused by asking the drivers to cover the lowers octaves since the limited xmax.

It's not because i'm always listening at high spl but because of the compression you get in music like classical.

It's a problem that you would get from 95% of high-fi speakers or the combination of low power amps and regular efficiency speakers (and if you ask me, this problem would be present on any low efficiency speakers no matter how many watts you give them) . Let say the manger when asked to do low bass (full range config) are more in the range of esl-63 for loundness possibilitites. It would be enough for many audiophiles I know, it's just not enough for me

It would be nice from manger to devlop a larger low frequency driver to combine with theses units using same technologie. Matching them with other technologies from 100-150hz would probably be a nightmare

I should get my lowthers back in a week or two and I'm starting to miss them right now but I'm still listening to nice music during this waiting which wouldn't happen with normal speakers.

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Brian

Seasoned Member

Posts: 899

Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid
Reply #6 - 09/22/07 at 07:18:46

That makes good sense. I don't believe I would like the limited dynamics either.
How about the Lowthers? They are famous for their high efficiency, but if they were asked to play the low octaves would they suffer in this same way? Or do they have enough get up and go to be still dynamic even when playing down low?
In other words, do you think Lowthers would be at their best for classical with an added woofer?

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franksmith

Ex Member

Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid
Reply #7 - 10/10/07 at 17:56:54

Brian wrote on 09/22/07 at 07:18:46:

That makes good sense. I don't believe I would like the limited dynamics either.
How about the Lowthers? They are famous for their high efficiency, but if they were asked to play the low octaves would they suffer in this same way? Or do they have enough get up and go to be still dynamic even when playing down low?
In other words, do you think Lowthers would be at their best for classical with an added woofer?

The lowthers are incredible beasts. You can't like them without having heard a good implementation of theses drivers and for that you need to accept horn in your living room. I use to hate them not so long ago.

It's not exactly the place to discuss the lowthers so send me an MP if you want more informations.

So far, the manger will go back to his owner but I had a good time with them. There is probably better use for them in a 2 way system integrated with a fast and punchy bass driver as a old altec, a fostex fw405 or maybe a tad. Relieved of their 20-80hz they can play much louder and seem to be more dynamic.

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Brian Seasoned Member Posts: 899	Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid Reply #8 - 10/11/07 at 04:19:10 I guess I was going a little off topic. Thank you for the information.
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Hotsauce Seasoned Member Posts: 210	Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid Reply #9 - 11/22/07 at 17:21:58 I wasn't aware of anyone selling raw Manger drivers. Where did you get them? John C.
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franksmith Ex Member	Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid Reply #10 - 11/22/07 at 17:24:27 I got them from the canadian distributor here. There is a american one also. http://www.manger-msw.de/en/dm/index_vertriebe.html
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Brian Seasoned Member Posts: 899	Re: different drivers tested in hdt (picture insid Reply #11 - 11/24/07 at 07:17:33 e-speakers is where I first learned of Manger drivers: http://estore.websitepros.com/1736754/StoreFront.bok But it looks like they no longer carry them, although I see they still have one pictured in the logo at the top of their web pages.
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