Yes, Lii Audio was very quick to respond and offer to send out another pair via air.  They also seem to be very frustrated with UPS and wondering whether they should switch to FedEx.  

It’s really amazing that it took a phone call (and then an extra 20 min to secure a human being on the other side) for UPS to admit that they had no idea where the drivers were, once their truck broke down on the 25th.  I was like there must be hundreds of packages on that truck—are you telling me the company just lost them all?  I mean c’mon, you’re a logistics company and when a truck (which they call a feeder for some reason) breaks down, you’d expect them to have contingency plans in place to send another truck —swap the contents—and continue bringing the packages to their final destination.

JBzen wrote on 10/29/22 at 09:37:37:


I sometimes hesitate to be a spoiler type, but I know someone who works for UPS. Hands on at a hub and many coworkers wear ankle monitors.

This used to not be the case, but in today's hiring climate, they still need people willing to do the work.
Some relaxation of standards has occurred.
No win scenario, but we are there.

Sorry to hear about you guys having things lost in shipment.
I really hate dealing with that stuff!

Hey all, haven’t been here in forever but I got my Fast 15 yesterday and have been playing them continuously for 24 hrs.  Happy to post updates as I go along.

Rob

Listening room pic…

Quick first impressions from Randy:

“I will have to mount the original F-15 drivers in some baffles tomorrow to do a proper A/B, but from the first couple of notes I can already tell that the Fast-15s are more detailed and extended on the top end. The bass is a bit deeper as well, but kind of loose.
Based on my experience with Lii Audio drivers, it will tighten up with some break in.
I'm guessing that these drivers are keepers.”

Resized!

Agree with Randy’s air and detail comments.  I listened to the standard F-15 exclusively for over two years and it’s pretty obvious.

Thanks Kamran, and understand your concern. I thought the yellow was pretty cool but I have homemade painted red baffles made from doubled up 3/4” premium birch plywood.  I have the ability to change color if I don’t like the appearance.

I’ll get pics up soon.  I’m going to install some decoupling material between the basket and the baffles (from Herbie’s Audio Lab) before final install as I read an interesting study on this that I want to try.

Initial impressions .....

Last night, I spent about two hours listening to some familiar music via the new Fast-15 drivers that were mounted in some "quick and dirty" baffles that I threw together for testing purposes.
I recently sold my personal F-15 baffles to a customer and haven't had time to build another pair .... so, I will have to make a similar pair of baffles for the F-15s to do a direct A/B comparison.

As shared by Kamran, my initial thought was that the bass was a bit "loose", however after the amplifier (my trusty and musical SE84UFO) warmed up, the bass tightened up considerably.

All listening was done with the W-15 bass baffle disconnected and the ZROCK2 was in bypass mode.

My experience with all other Lii Audio drivers is that they require quite a few hours of break-in to "mature" and sound their best ..... so I'm pretty sure that this will also be true of the Fast-15s.
Most of the other Lii Audio drivers start sounding good after 100 to 200 hours of playing time, but one of my customers (who has good ears) tells me that his F-15 drivers continued to improve until they hit 500 hours.

I'm looking forward to the A/B comparison with the F-15s, but based on my (imperfect) sonic memory, the Fast-15 drivers are better in the following areas -
Better high frequency extension
Better detail ..... including "low level" detail
Better separation and spacing of vocals and instruments
A larger soundstage
Deeper and more tuneful bass
Improved "realism"

Translating from one language to another is usually an imperfect art, at best.
However, here is the statement from the Lii Audio website concerning the Fast-15 drivers -
"Since creation of F-15 we have always been thinking about all possible upgrades, after years of development and experiment, we can now proudly present to you Fast-15, a new member of Fast series. This model is optimized in detail and soundstage, giving a more present imaging and fuller sound body. The bass is deeper and more elastic that the energy can be released and pulled back quickly and easily. This model also has high end extension that rolls off up to 18kHz, giving a more vivid and swift sound experience. It uses the same basket as F-15 and can be direct upgrade by replacing the driver unit."

Based on my initial impressions, I can find no faults in this description.

I hope to have a pair of baffles ready for the F-15 drivers in a day or two and be able to share some additional thoughts.
Although neither pair of drivers will be fully broken in, they will have enough playing time to be able to make a valid comparison.

Happy listening,
Randy

I’ve always been amazed by the floating soundstage and heard it again at the Fest.  One of the mysteries of hi fi.

Randy your not really helping here. Only need to get through today before the free shipping lure passes

The few times setting in your room at Zenfest was in the back row right near the door. A decent sound stage was present along with detail. I guess my ears were around 10' from the small baffles. Not sure the distance between the back curtain and back wall, but it is suspected to have limited my perception.

Palomino, enjoyed your pizza!

Are you talking about recordings with Q.  Probably not. Q can make that floating sound stage on just about any system. It is those special systems when all the stars align, when the music blossoms suspending the listener in passages of dense body absorbing bliss. If so, I can relate

John

Randy,

Thanks this is good news! May have to spring for a pair as an early Xmas present.😉

HK

Latest update:

10/31/2022
9:54 P.M.      On the Way
Departed from Facility
Horsham, PA, United States

Hopes rising…

I’m not crazy about the color either.  I see it used from time to time on other drivers but not a fan. I know it will go with some peoples baffles.

The color of the C10s would be nice.

I'm weakening with a deuce of Randies steering

Revisiting the Lii audio Facebook post of the FF15s playing the track of "Sky Burial" from Dadawa's "Sister Drum" album the post does not do the artist justice. Pulling the album up on YouTube and playing it with the same headphones as played from the post, there is so much more detail with the YouTube version.

Surely not definitive of the new F15s but more of how it was recorded on the Facebook post.

John

Hey Randy, this is OT, but I am liking your diffusers.  Have you posted any recent shots of your listening shed in other threads?

Same Old DD wrote -
Quote:


I know that some owners of the low-profile baffles are using spikes, cones or other devices under the fronts of the baffles ..... or they are using three or four under each baffle to raise the entire speaker.
One of my customers uses the Nordost Sort Kones and swears by them.
In my experience, it depends on the room and the distance between the baffles and the listening position as to how well this works.
My suggestion is to experiment to know what works best in a given room.
The one caution I would offer is that "coupling" with the floor definitely affects the tonal balance of the speakers ..... so raising them too much might have a negative effect ..... as in all things audio related, your mileage may vary .....

Best wishes,
Randy

FWIW,

I use a pair of these rubber-cork vibration pads under each front side of Randy's baffles to listen to my F-15's. They work well, raising the baffles about 1" and are cheap. YRMV.

https://www.supplyhouse.com/DiversiTech-MP-3C-Rubber-Cork-Anti-Vibration-Pad-3-x...

HK

I've seen some higher end drivers use yellow, but the Walmart image is what first came to my mind.

Yeah, I noticed that as well.  

I usually do rely on these charts too much.  I think Lii is a little loose on what they use for their marketing materials.

I rely more on what people with ears I trust say.

I’m a polite guy

I use them as guidance not absolute.

Their drivers all sound pretty good to me so I don’t spend as much time on the “specs”.

Quote:


That concrete slab forming your foundation is a big diaphram that will react with generated sounds. It seems stiff and hard but it is a plastic mass that most likely sits on a chipped stone bed sprinkled over clay. It will vibrate right along with long sound waves.

So it is best to first physicaly decouple the speakers and any other music reproduction equipment from that concrete diaphram. Then as Randy suggests keep the baffle close to floor so it can acoustically couple with the that 4" plastic concrete slab strengthing bass.

John

Congratulations!

For some reason, this does remind of a Cayin integrated amp that I bought many years ago. It had a rectifier tube right on the top of the unit with the other tubes, BUT what would you think if I told that you could pull that rectifier tube out, and the amp just kept playing? Fact was that the amp HAD a SS rectifier as well! The tube rectifier just made it look cooler I guess. I thought that was deceitful. No mention of it anywhere in the literature.

Would those rubber/cork pads (referenced above) effectively physically decouple and acoustically couple the baffles?