The "hillbilly wood butcher" has been busy again .....

Here is my latest project :





Larger photos here and here.

The project on my website.

Happy listening,

Randy

Hi Lonely Raven,

Thanks for the kind words .....

I plan to bring a couple of my OB creations to the Zen Fest in October.

Hope to see you there.

Best wishes,

Randy

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+1  awesome looking setup and I would love to hear some as well.

Randy,  I looked at your set up.  Are those heil Air Motion transformers?  I have/ had a pair bought in 1980, of ESS AMT 10b's that had those in them...they were wonderful paired with a 1978 Kenwood 90 wpc integrated amp  I wish I could have tried them with the Torii or any other tube amp...i'm sure they would be glorious.  I think their efficiency is about 89 dB...correct?  Could you comment on what speakers you have pictured and how they sound.  Which decware amp are you using...if any. Mark.

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Hi Mark,

Yep ..... those are indeed Heil AMT drivers.

From what I understand, they are quite a bit more efficient than 89 db.
Depending on who you talk to, the range is somewhere between 92 and 100 db.  Based on my experience, the older ones are more efficient than the current production ones ..... but I wouldn't be too dogmatic on that thought .....

To me, they are one of the audio wonders of the world and I have not heard any high frequency drivers that are better.
There is a lot of controversy as to the best way to use them ..... from about 700 hz and up with a steep crossover (the original ESS implementation) or as a tweeter or super tweeter with a first order crossover.  I have done a lot of experimenting and have concluded that either way can sound superb if done well.

The really crazy thing is that the best results I have had (open baffle) are using the Heil drivers with the very inexpensive Wild Burro Audio Betsy 8" drivers ..... crossing them over around 5000 hz with very good quality caps.  The Betsy drivers have a "hump" in the midrange that just happens to mate very nicely with what the Heil drivers are doing and it's the best sound I have had in my room for a long time.
$100.00 "full range" drivers mated with $700.00 tweeters ..... insane .....

The other open baffle drivers in the "family portrait" are Audio Nirvana 10" Classic and 12" cast frame ferrite magnet full range models. They sound very good to my ears, but my favorites are still the Betsy / Heil combo.  The bass drivers in the larger baffles are Hawthorne Audio 15" Augies .... driven by plate amps.
It's a total open baffle system and I love the sound .....

I am in the process of getting another Decware SV83 based amp from a friend who is "thinning out his herd".  We both have several nice amplifiers but I always feel that something is missing if I don't own a Decware amp.  I have used an SV83 based Decware amp with most of the open baffle speakers in my collection and the sound is very good.  IMHO, the little Decware amps are still top shelf pieces and will make music like few other amplifiers available.

I am not a "head banger" and my taste in music leans toward acoustic instruments and vocals.  The low powered Decware amps reveal things in the music that most other amplifiers do not ..... especially with higher efficiency / minimal crossover loudspeakers.

Best wishes,

Randy

Hi 4krow,

Sorry about the late reply ..... I have been busy lately and not keeping up with the audio forums as often as I should .....

As to your question about the AN drivers ..... in my opinion, they are excellent drivers, but not so much in an open baffle configuration.

David Dicks HIGHLY recommends putting his drivers in boxes and after a great deal of experimentation I would have to agree with him.
I have owned several of his drivers and they have superb detail and high frequency response ..... but in an open baffle of any reasonable size they are lacking "weight" and response in the lower midrange and below.

I have found a few driver combinations that work really well in my "low boy" (22 1/2" x 18") open baffles ..... but don't think that the AN drivers are the best fit.  Having said that, I haven't tried any of the 15" drivers which would probably be the best choice for open baffle use.

Best wishes,

Randy