They look great! I have recently browsed the Supravox catalogue - member Airbearing also uses a Supravox fieldcoil unit in his speakers, it could be a promising bet - but could not find anything over 99 dB/W. even field coil. How do you match the bass drive to the medium?My humble setup:
Kondo Japan Souga + M77 (thank you, @Rhapsody!) that plays through these custom horns:
They are built around the 1940s (yes, 1940s) RCA 1443 high voltage field coil midrange. Frequency response: 300 - 7500 Hz, and > 110dB efficient.
Fostex TA500MkII horn super tweeters and Supravox 12" field coil drivers in a LaScala style folded horn walnut enclosure round out the setup.
Low end comes from a 500W transmission line sub.
This is more than enough for my small room.
The (ugly!) solid state power supply you see behind the speaker is being replaced by the mercury vapour power supply you see below (unfortunately, the first version caught fire!).
As much as I love these, it's been more than 5 years since I designed and commissioned them. For my next room, I will just order from @Rhapsody. Bob has done all of the hard work, and delivery won't take 5+ years.
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Speakers for Kondo Ongaku... Please Help
- Thread starter Uwiik
- Start date
Surge had said: (but looks like he deleted which is good)
"Avoid a design that is not time and phase aligned. You can tell that the Diesis Roma Triode is not time-aligned - look at the midrange driver position relative to the other drivers. Also, the only horns that you should consider are conical. All of the others color the sound."
Surge also had said "Audition before you buy"
The second comment makes sense, and certainly is good advice in this hobby for all purchases, though it is not always practical and sometimes we take leaps of faith based on reviews, advice, recommendations from those we trust.
The first comment, however, is not accurate as the Roma has the same 9" from the throat of the horn driver to the 15" woofer it mates with. Absolute time alignment ala Wilson? I can't say. I think the comment is disingenuous, as is "only consider conical". Until you sit and listen, you are at best making a guess. I've heard the Roma, as has JYACO above. I personally found the ROMA to extremely engaging and musical. I did not spend hours upon hours trying to pick apart the speaker, but Surge's comment suggest the speaker isn't worth considering at all—where I feel "disingenuous" is not out of place. Until you hear for yourself, its all rumor, opinion, and hearsay.
In interest of disclosure, I will be one of the Rhapsody remote listening room locations, and will have the ROMA available for auditions. One of the reasons I chose to go this route is because I really, really wanted to hear ROMA again. Now I will have that opportunity in my own room, and be able to compare and contrast with Alsyvox and Bayz. I look forward to the occasion to share that experience with those who do want to "audition before you buy".
And Surge, your horns look amazing. I'd love to hear them!
"Avoid a design that is not time and phase aligned. You can tell that the Diesis Roma Triode is not time-aligned - look at the midrange driver position relative to the other drivers. Also, the only horns that you should consider are conical. All of the others color the sound."
Surge also had said "Audition before you buy"
The second comment makes sense, and certainly is good advice in this hobby for all purchases, though it is not always practical and sometimes we take leaps of faith based on reviews, advice, recommendations from those we trust.
The first comment, however, is not accurate as the Roma has the same 9" from the throat of the horn driver to the 15" woofer it mates with. Absolute time alignment ala Wilson? I can't say. I think the comment is disingenuous, as is "only consider conical". Until you sit and listen, you are at best making a guess. I've heard the Roma, as has JYACO above. I personally found the ROMA to extremely engaging and musical. I did not spend hours upon hours trying to pick apart the speaker, but Surge's comment suggest the speaker isn't worth considering at all—where I feel "disingenuous" is not out of place. Until you hear for yourself, its all rumor, opinion, and hearsay.
In interest of disclosure, I will be one of the Rhapsody remote listening room locations, and will have the ROMA available for auditions. One of the reasons I chose to go this route is because I really, really wanted to hear ROMA again. Now I will have that opportunity in my own room, and be able to compare and contrast with Alsyvox and Bayz. I look forward to the occasion to share that experience with those who do want to "audition before you buy".
And Surge, your horns look amazing. I'd love to hear them!
The 285-EXC are 102dB
285-EXC mk2 Extended bass-midrange driver 70W / 93 at 102dB / 8 Ohms - Supravox
Evolution of the 285 GMF, this loudspeaker offers qualities of reproduction close to the version ferrite (GMF) because they have the same moving element. On the other hand the oversize engine of excitation makes it possible the 285 to pass the barrier of 100dB SPL. Its magnetic field is...
www.supravox.fr
Thanks Bob!
I also didn't realize that you were the one who posted the photo of the Diesis Roma Triode. Since I've known you for many years, and I'm a customer, I 100% trust and value your opinion and I know the products you sell are all world-class. So if you sell it, I'm sure it's top-notch for the price and category that it's in.
There's so much art in these products, more so than many would like to admit. That's why measurements and science matter far less than what has been achieved as a whole, and how it sounds and makes you feel. So yeah, I was wrong to dismiss them just because they are not time-aligned... and actually it seems like they are time-aligned!
The 285-EXC are 102dB
285-EXC mk2 Extended bass-midrange driver 70W / 93 at 102dB / 8 Ohms - Supravox
Evolution of the 285 GMF, this loudspeaker offers qualities of reproduction close to the version ferrite (GMF) because they have the same moving element. On the other hand the oversize engine of excitation makes it possible the 285 to pass the barrier of 100dB SPL. Its magnetic field is...www.supravox.fr
Thanks - I did not realize than the 285 series have a cone diameter of almost 30 cm (12") - it looked smaller in the photos. As far as I remember Airbearing used 400-EXC in his speaker, but it is not currently manufactured and none of the 380 series is currently available in the field coil class.
Confusion buster alert...
Bob V., of Rhapsody.audio fame, shall hearby be known as Bob.east.
I, Bobvin, who will be hosting a Rhapsody Listening Room in Portland, Oregon, shall hearby be known as Bob.west.
Got it?
To confuse matters more, Bob.east’s new address is on Portland Ave in Brooklyn
Surge1. Do you now get it with BobVin and me? BobVin posted the RT pic and Bob is the Portland upcoming Rhapsody Listening Room
We did all this to confuse people and draw attention to ourselves.We also have a Jerry in Palm Desert - RLR and Jerry in Chicago RLR.
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Aha! I had not realized that before, but now I do. That’s kind of funny! At least you are working together and not competitors!Surge1. Do you now get it with BobVin and me? BobVin posted the RT pic and Bob is the Portland upcoming Rhapsody Listening Room
We also have a Jerry in Palm Desert - RLR and Jerry in Chicago RLR.
Yes, all of the seven RLRs will have Rhapsody.Audio products on display and for customer demonstrations. The actual purchases will go through Rhapsody in NY.
In the off chance somebody thinks I’m fooling when I mention I thought the Diesis Roma were exceptional, back in 2019 when I first heard them I visualized them in my own room—literally. A little photoshop magic and I dropped them into my room as you can see.
As my pockets are not bottomless, and I always have the MoF (Minister of Finance) to contend with, becoming a RLR has meant offloading my amps, preamp, and Wilson speakers. The amps sold in a couple days, the speakers are on Audiogon, and the pre-amp will be shortly. So the picture below is going to need further tweaking to drop a Pilium Achilles stereo amp where the ARC mono’s were.
Roma in ‘a winter... bellissimo!
As my pockets are not bottomless, and I always have the MoF (Minister of Finance) to contend with, becoming a RLR has meant offloading my amps, preamp, and Wilson speakers. The amps sold in a couple days, the speakers are on Audiogon, and the pre-amp will be shortly. So the picture below is going to need further tweaking to drop a Pilium Achilles stereo amp where the ARC mono’s were.
Roma in ‘a winter... bellissimo!
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Rhapsody.Audio- Listening Rooms (RLRs)
Rhapsody.Audio would like to announce that within the next 3-4 months there will be multiple new locations where several of the product lines that Rhapsody.Audio represents will be available to audition via Rhapsody.Audio Listening Rooms (RLRs).
Initially, the RLR’s will have the products available for demonstration mentioned below. Upon opening, the DFW RLR will have a very similar product offering as that available at Rhapsody.Audio in Manhattan.
Over time, all locations will be expanding their portfolio to a comparable scale as that of NYC/DFW.
The RLRs will be available to host auditions by appointment. All product ordering and delivery logistics will be processed and supported from the Rhapsody.Audio NYC location.
Product assistance and installation will be supported by Rhapsody.Audio NYC along with the RLRs depending on customer location.
The RLR locations are:
Portland - Rhapsody.Audio RLR
Products available to audition (coming soon)
-Pilium
-Alsyvox
-Diesis
-Bayz Audio
Dallas/Fort Worth Rhapsody.Audio RLR
Products available to audition:
-Alsyvox
-Diesis
-Bayz Audio
-Pilium
-VYGER
-Kondo
-Taiko Audio
-VYDA
West Palm Beach & Miami (2 Florida locations) Rhapsody.Audio RLRs
West Palm Beach will open initially. Miami will follow when the RLR is ready to host customers.
Products available to audition (initially):
-Alsyvox
-Pilium
-Aurender
-TelluriumQ
Chicago, IL Rhapsody.Audio RLR
Products available to audition (initially):
-Alsyvox
-Pilium
-Aurender
-TelluriumQ
Long Island, NY Rhapsody.Audio RLR
-Kondo
-Alsyvox
I'll be trying a digital 4-way crossover (4-way multi-amping with an extra pair of bass drivers) and digital room correction with my Animas in the next few weeks. I'm aiming to high-pass the Anima bass horn at around 70Hz, so it'll become a mid-bass horn effectively - the extra bass drivers will handle things below 70Hz and will be digitally corrected to be flat down to 20Hz. The extra bass drivers will be driven hard and might be distorting somewhat (who cares?), but the Anima's from the mid-bass up should be nice and clean, as they won't be driven at all hard.
And, I find the thought of having the amps connected directly to the drivers with no passive crossovers in the path very compelling. I'm hoping for a sharp uptake in dynamics (not that they're currently lacking).
No idea how things will work out, but thought I'd give it a go. It'll all be reversible if it's a total disaster
. But I have a feeling it'll work out well...Otherwise, even totally stock, I really like the Animas. They're my end-game speakers.
Mani.
Curious how that works out... please do post about your experience.I'll be trying a digital 4-way crossover (4-way multi-amping with an extra pair of bass drivers) and digital room correction with my Animas in the next few weeks. I'm aiming to high-pass the Anima bass horn at around 70Hz, so it'll become a mid-bass horn effectively - the extra bass drivers will handle things below 70Hz and will be digitally corrected to be flat down to 20Hz. The extra bass drivers will be driven hard and might be distorting somewhat (who cares?), but the Anima's from the mid-bass up should be nice and clean, as they won't be driven at all hard.
And, I find the thought of having the amps connected directly to the drivers with no passive crossovers in the path very compelling. I'm hoping for a sharp uptake in dynamics (not that they're currently lacking).
No idea how things will work out, but thought I'd give it a go. It'll all be reversible if it's a total disaster
Otherwise, even totally stock, I really like the Animas. They're my end-game speakers.
Mani.
Sure. I'll start a new thread to stop this one getting corrupted.
Incidentally, I have a pair of genuine F4 monos in my office system, which I love.
Mani.
Incidentally, I have a pair of genuine F4 monos in my office system, which I love
.Mani.
The F4s are so great. Fortunately I wasn't able to find a commercial unit, which led me to build my own "special edition" versions (and launched all my diy interests/activities).Sure. I'll start a new thread to stop this one getting corrupted.
Incidentally, I have a pair of genuine F4 monos in my office system, which I love
View attachment 77979
Mani.
And sorry if I missed it above, but what speakers are those?
They're the Tune Audio Marvel... the smaller sibling of the Tune Audio Anima, which I have in my main listening room. Nice speakers, but quite a few notches down from the Anima in sound, even driven by the F4 monos.
Mani.
If you want a cheap solution go for Orangutan O/96, if you want the best than go for Kharma.
Make sure the speakers are sensitive enough to be able to produce 105 dB peaks at your listening position.
