Edingdale Speakers

[Greg.]

Toppsy (Colin) makes very good speakers and his latest 'Edingdales' are no exception. Having heard them at a recent fest and recognising their potential, we agreed he would travel south with his speakers so that some of us could sample them in a minifest home situation. We did this last weekend. Matthew Snell was also able to attend for a short while and there is a possibility of some WD commercial collaboration in the future. Watch this space!

Initially, before reaching Bristol, Colin stopped off at Nick's (NickB) place where we compared the Edingdales to Nick's WD25T with very expensive Seas Millennium tweeters. In comparison, the 'Edingdales' produced a far more comprehensive sound that extended properly through the whole frequency range. In comparison with the WD25T, they had fuller bass extension and were much more revealing in the lower frequency register. The WD25T simply could not do what the 'Edingdales' could. It is worth noting that the WD25T's have been upgraded with the most expensive Clarity Caps in the crossover.





Colin stayed with us in Bristol over the weekend. Initially we listened to my WAD KLS3's and Colin acknowledged they presented a very respectable sound. We then swopped in his 'Edingdales' and wow, what a difference! Upper treble was sweeter, midrange was the best I have ever heard, and bass was controlled yet fully extended. I just loved the overall presentation of the sound from these 'Edingdales'.

That was the Friday evening. On Saturday, friends joined in and all fully appreciated the quality of the 'Edingdales'. Pictures below are not too good owing to sunlight in the room at the time.





All these friends of mine have very good audio ears and we all agreed that the 'Edingdales' were superb speakers. High frequency sounds were very evident but tuneful and fully extended. The midrange sound was probably the best I have ever heard (Quad panels excepted) particularly with regard to vocals. Both male and female voices seemed almost live, immediate, totally open and completely in a space of their own. I completely loved this aspect of the 'Edingdale' performance. Actually, overall, the sound presentation had all instruments/voices in there own space. Bass response was impressive, going as low as you can in a normal sized living room but remaining extended, revealing and tight. On certain recordings, you can properly feel the rumble. In particular, the 'Edingdales' being a bass reflex design did not reveal any room node frequency hump that is normally typical in an averaged sized living room. I've worked my pants off to eliminate this problem with KLS3 but have never reached total satisfaction. In contrast, the 'Edingdales' showed no sign of this problem.

To summarize, the 'Edingdales' are very very special. I could not want for a better speaker in my system in my listening room. As a result of this minifest, three of us are trying to persuade Colin to make a pair of 'Edingdales' for us. That is a 50% positive ask commitment from those who came to the fest. I hope he can find a way to do this.

If you want to hear the 'Edingdales' for yourself, visit room 76 on the 1st floor at the Scalford Hall Show on Sunday. See you there.

[A Stuart]

The Scalford Hall Show? This -
http://www.thehifishow.com/
I presume.
Alastair

[Toppsy]

The Scalford Hall Show? This -
http://www.thehifishow.com/
I presume.
Alastair

Yes. Nick Gorham and myself are sharing a room with David Brooks.
We'll have the Edingdale speakers and a pair of my Frugal Horn Mk3's.
Amplification will be by a pair of NickG designed 300b monoblocks using TJ Meshplate 300b's and a NickG built Nelson Pass F5.
We'll have a couple of DIY preamps my own unity gain pre feeding a pair of Silk TVC's, and a NickG pre, a new NickG DAC (I think), tubed CD player, a direct drive turntable, SB Touch. Cables and equipment stand will be supplied by David.

So lots of DIY gear to listen to after you've had your ears bled by the Commercial gear on show.

[Richard]

Hi Greg, all,

Great write up Greg and lovely looking speakers, wish I'd heard them.

Bristol was er, mostly missable, I'm afraid but I did come back with one or two pointers and it was good to meet up with John, Matthew and Stanton for a pint and a natter

[Greg.]

Colin's lovely Edingdale speakers doing the business at today's HiFiWigwam.com organised 'users' (no traders) show at Scalford Hall, near Melton Mowbray, Leics.

Colin has given the system spec above. Considering the room constraints, one of the best sounds at the show. These speakers really are quite special!

[stuart a]

These Speakers sound very interesting , is Toppsy making these to order or are these one offs
Was planning on going OB but would be good to hear what these can do

[Toppsy]

Stuart,

These started life as a 1-off build for myself but with a mind if they proved good enough to perhaps offer them as bespoke builds.
Anyway, after several guys who had listened to them thought they were rather good indeed I was persuaded to offer them for sale as bespoke builds to order.

I live in Rossendale, Lancashire, just north of Manchester. I see you are in Glasgow, so a bit of a trek, but you are welcome to come down for a listen.

PM me through this forum and we'll exchange contact details to perhaps arrange something.

[Freddo]

Hello,

After reading about your Edingdale Speakers, I've got the hi-fi bug again after an absence of 20 years.

Is there any chance that sometime in the future, you might release details of the construction of the Ellingdales (internals, crossover, etc.). so that a cash-strapped reborn enthusiast in Australia might have a go at making a pair?

Thanks for a great article!

[pre65]

Don't be upset if the answer is no.

Colin has spent a lot of time (and money) developing these fine speakers and the finished project really is very, very good.

You might convince him to make you a pair of flat pack cabinets if you wave the right amount of wonga in his face.

[Toppsy]

To add to my portfolio of builds here's a couple of photos of the latest speakers just before they go off to their new homes later today.

One pair is in crown cut American White Oak the other in crown cut Maple. Both have a oiled finish.

Both sets of speakers should take on a richer look and patina as the veneer starts to age and mature in the natural light.