Speakers: price and size

All speakers are personal. Not one size shoe fits all. Even when you thought you have found ‘thee shoe’ and say so, people get jealous. The best thing to do is try at home, listen for yourself, make your own mind up. Everything is a compromise. Enjoy! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Well we don’t all quite follow that mantra.

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Agree I’m still running Linn Isobarik although modified with newer driver’s with the S1, I have heard many modern speakers but have not liked them.

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Do transmission lines just allow deeper bass with a smaller cabinet size?

Troels Gravesen made a whole line of transmission line speakers but I haven’t heard any of them. They certainly got some good builder reviews and some are using them with very expensive equipment.

His larger high end designs now seem to have moved to actively powered bass sections with DSP. Having one of these, I can understand why. The bass is super deep and well controlled, and being adjustable allows perfect setup with any placement.

The compromise, as a builder of a similar speaker design put it, is that the build and initial setup is rather time consuming, meaning WAF doesn’t apply and instead should be substituted with AGB (almost guaranteed bachelorhood).

So true, with my size 12 1/2 choices are limited😂

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For good deep bass from transmission lines you still need decent cabinet size - but a good design generally can go lower tgan otger cabinet designs (at a cost of complexity both of development and construction). However to me, of course limited by the designs I’ve heard, their bass also sounds more natural than others (my most recent direct comparison of like for approx like price speakers was PMC MB2SE against B&W 802 (can’t remember if D2 or D3).

My speakers use bass reflex cabinets but the bass I get from these speakers is very different to the bass from all of my previous bass reflex speakers. I’m not sure why. Design, downward firing driver, driver size, or just the fact that it is driven actively? Not sure but it is tight, firm and fast, and never sounds boomy. It has demonstrated to me that not all bass reflex designs are subject to the same negative aspects as others.

It makes me think of that old thread where there was discussion on what makes a speaker fast or slow. I think the negative aspects of a bass reflex design can, in some circumstances, make a speaker sound slow, especially if the bass relies on room gain.

Does a transmission line rely less on room gain and is this why the bass can sound more natural as room interaction is less of a problem?

Hearing the bass from the allaes came as something of a shock after NBLs. You can hear it’s supported by resonance, it seems to arrive slightly late. Though you do get used to it after a while I’m looking forwards to getting back to sealed box bass even if it is bounced off the wall, it seems to fit better.

Sealed box bass is always going to be good but to get down to 25 hz (like what I’m after) we’re taking some serious driver size and power. Especially in a big room. My old svs sb13 ultra was sealed and it sounded good but obviously has a 1000 watt amp and a 13” driver. I feel that I get better bass with two 12 “ drivers in a bass reflex cab with 250 watts each. I think rather than either being better it’s probably more about implementation, setup and expectations more than anything else.

I paid a few grand for these over 25 years ago and they have just got better with age. They have stepped up with each upgrade revealing more and more each time. It also highlights the value of a good dealer who thankfully pointed me in the right direction.

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Yeah, but really… does a real wood veneer make them sound better?

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I bought the smaller iQ75 possibly the worst speaker I ever owned.

Lovely… Which Royd’s are those…?

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According to Peter’s profile they are Priors.

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Ok, so these then:

I am a former Doublet owner… :slightly_smiling_face:

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I bought a pair of Royd Apex in about 1989, they were lovely speakers, in fact they still are, my daughter has them now. They are a transmission line design, but if I had to find a criticism they are bass light for a speaker of that size, at least in any room where I used them.

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Former Minstrel owner. They sounded very good indeed.

G

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That looks like a scan Speak tweeter. If it is, it looks like the one that was in my old proac response 2.5 clone.

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Morning all, HH is correct (as he often is) they are Royd Priors. I originally bought them with my first Naim gear from Audio Genesis in Sydney, a CD3 NAC 102 and NAP 180 (olive series) in late 95. The 2 grand was a guess but allowing for Aussie dollars it sounds about right. They have been a great workhorse, I love them. They’re survived multiple moves, 11 grandkids, parties, weddings and everything else I’ve thrown at them.

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Have you checked inside for debris?

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