Am I right in assuming that Pure Audio Project are using modified versions of the drivers that are in my OB's?
It looks like I saved around $4500 by rolling my own.

I also saw that tidbit from Dagogo earlier today, and since I've been curious about PAP for a while, these are on my shortlist.  It is only a matter of time before I unload my Hawthorne's.  They have been wonderful to me but after my DAC upgrade I've realized that they can't take me where I want to go.  I just told my wife about these Voxativs... groundwork is getting laid.

Hey ProggRob…

I’m certainly not telling you what to do, but if you already have Hawthorne Trio’s and are looking for more speed and “rez” (I was), what you need to try, is to swap out the Hawthorne coaxial driver and the crossover and replace it with a full-ranger  (w/no xover on the full-ranger).  I could never get the snap and rez from the Hawthorne coaxial driver, no matter what I did, that I was accustomed to hearing from the Audio Nirvana 12” cast frame Alnico driver running full-range that I have mounted in a 5.6 cu. ft. bass-reflex box.  I was about to take my AN 12” Alnico driver’s out of the bass-reflex boxes and put them in the Trio baffles and give them a listen, when I came across a guy locally selling a pair of Audio Nirvana cast frame 15” ferrites.  So I bought them, worth the money, with the idea I would likely upgrade to Alnico or Neodymium AN 15” drivers someday “if” I liked the 15” ferrite AN in the Trio baffles in place of the Hawthorne coaxial driver.  

Let me just say that I don’t think I could be happier with the 15” AN full-ranger in the Trio baffles.  This will sound like hyperbole, but in 35+ years of chasing the holy grail of audio, I have never had sound this good in my room.  By “good”, for me, I mean sounds “real” – “live”, as in “they are here” or “I am there” good.  And as best as sonic memory can serve, I have never heard another pair of speakers that I honestly thought was better (overall – all aspects considered) than the sound I have now – price no object – bar none.  I am coming to learn, at least I haven’t heard a case yet, where putting passive parts, i.e. crossovers, in series between your amp and drivers, that does not retract from resolution, speed, dynamics, etc.  One of my friends, who is a true music lover, but not really an audiophile, refers to my crossoverless speakers as “snappier” than any speakers he’s ever heard.  I have a vintage pair of Klipsch at 101db efficiency and a pair of Martin Logan Vista's.  My xoverless Trio's with the AN drivers have more rez and speed than either of these - I kid you not.  I couldn't believe my ears the first time I heard them side-by-side.

Save yourself a lot of time, money and frustration, and replace the Hawthorne coaxial and xover with a 15” full-ranger from Audio Nirvana and run it without a xover.   And if this doesn’t do it for you, then take out that second mortgage for Voxativ’s or Teresonic’s, etc.

In fact… I might be able to help you out in this regard to try this –relatively inexpensively.  I’ve been itching to try a pair of Audio Nirvana’s newest Classic series drivers.  David Dicks (the guy behind Audio Nirvana and CommonSenseAudio) claims the new Classic series 15” Alnico driver is the best sounding driver he now offers.  He’s located in west St. Louis, MO area.  I have been to his place in the past and saw the operation and seen/heard several AN based speakers.  He’s a bit of a curmudgeon and holds very strong opinions about audio and especially his speakers, but he mostly “speaketh the truth” if you can ignore the arrogance – I have had good experiences dealing with him.
Anyway, I currently have three pairs of Audio Nirvana drivers.  I have the 12” cast frame Alnico’s in the bass-reflex box.   And I have the 15” cast frame ferrites in my Trio baffles.  And I bought a pair of cast frame 12” ferrites from RandyInCaintuck on this forum, thinking I would do “something” with them some day.  If you know Randy, he can offer you some insight to AN drivers as well as having more experience with a multitude of open-baffle drivers than any single person I know of.

I can share with you how (verbiage and pictures) I have adapted the 15” AN drivers to my Trio baffles.  And I could sell you one of my pairs of Audio Nirvana drivers, worth the $$, for you to try before you go down the rabbit hole - if you’re so inclined.  
The 12” cast frame ferrites are just sitting in their boxes doing nothing at the moment – I would sell these.  
I don’t think I’m ready to part with the 12” Alnico’s I have in a bass-reflex box – these drivers in this box have a “special” sound.  
I might be inclined to part with the 15” cast frame ferrites that are now in my Trio baffles and replace them with some new 15” Classic Alnico’s, which is what I’ve always kind of had in my head to do from the outset since putting Audio Nirvana’s in my Trio’s.  PM me if you’d like to discuss further.

replied to your PM

Thanks Pal.  That bass was cool was it not?  The interesting thing is that I really don't have the Augies crossed that high; around 65hz with a 24 dB/octave roll off.  I think the main difference between our two systems is the number of Augies (obviously) and the size of my midrange driver which throws in a bit more midrange support.  Even with 2 watts behind it, it can do some pretty cool tricks.  

I have some asymmetrical "wings" temporarily installed on the outside edge of each speaker, and when Pal queued up one of his special bass tracks one of the wings actually came loose and fell into the wall.  That was moving some serious air!

It is also relatively easy to swap different drivers in an OB designed like the Hawthorne Trio's.... which use a "mounting plate" to attach the driver to, and then the driver/mounting plate is then attached to the baffle.  So you only need to make mounting plates for various different drivers.  For example, I have mounting plates for the Hawthorne 15" coaxial driver, and for Audio Nirvana 15 and 12 inch drivers.  If you leave the drivers attached to their respective mounting plates, you can literally swap drivers in less than 5 minutes - four attaching screws on each mounting plate, one for each baffle - which of course, being OB, are easily accessible.

Well thanks to this post I have some TRIO 15TB NEO speakers being shipped Monday.
I did not go for the voxativ up front, if I like the sound of these I may change the driver in the future but I figure this would give me an idea of what they are and the tang band W8-1808 is a well regarded driver on it's own.
I will let you all know what I think.

So everything arrived Thursday and Friday and speakers were up and going Friday evening.
First impressions,
Wow, so clear, clean, tight,very realistic sound.
Very open and deep soundstage, huge sweet spot, not really sure where it is.
Very easy to listen to. Instruments sound so real and so smooth and detailed.
Everything is in it's own space with plenty of room between every instrument and voice.
I finally here what my Decware amp can do.
Excited to see (hear) what they will do once broken in.
Can't even imagine what the Voxativ set-up sounds like.

SonicSeeker wrote on 05/29/16 at 15:48:11:


Wow, great to hear.  I love the concept of their whole design and the baffle system is a great idea and looks to be really well built with the aluminum frames and all.  I also like the idea of being able to swap out the full range drivers when budget allows.  I was going to try to get up to THE Show in Newport, but it looks as if I'm not gong to make it as I thought.

I Would love to see some pics if you get the chance!

I have the Pure Audio Project 15s with horn and 10s with Voxativ.  They need the crossover.  If you want to make one yourself it will probably be a 2 way and not have the same response as the Series topology of the Pure Audio crossover.  The bummer of the Series is there are few and far between calculators that are going to figure the crossing points of the Inductor and Cap.   That means purchasing off brand drivers may be difficult to blend.

I don't know that life with these speakers is so much about bouncing around with the drivers.  It is more the CAPS, inductors and resistors.  As well as cables to lace the drivers to the crossover.  Changing the crossover and cable components does a lot to improve the clarity and overall performance of these speakers.  

I have been very happy with these.  Actually, the 10s with Voxativ are very nice. The 15s get all the press, but if you want to very smooth but exciting, clean and balanced sound, the 10s really shine.  They aren't near the scale of the 15s.  They require more power.  You want 40 or more watts.  A zen Triode wont do it.  I use 135 watt Altec Lansing amps.  The 15s on the other hand will work well with more like 6 to 8 watts.  2 to 3 might be a little soft. Not sure, never tried.  Just been told 8 watt or more sound great on the 15s.  135 watts on the 15th really bring the juice to the party.  Absolutely effortless.