Let's talk about Supravox

[steve s]

Originally Posted by ChrisV

Merry Christmas chaps,

Mark - just to add to the confusion....you might want to talk to Pieter T about PHY- he was using them as of ETF 2005 and wanted a change. Too congested with complex music etc.

I feel that way about single driver systems in general... but that said, I am about to take the plunge on a pair of Fertin 20EX for a seriously simplified apartment system. They have a new improved version just out, with special graphite spider, cryo silver wiring and improved cone.

Can always add a woofer later :-)

Best wishes to all for 2007
Chris

thats one of the problems going open baffle.. many.. of the drivers have relatively low magnet strengths, that and long excursions can strip the finer detail from the music .... but they do sound very good..

Some single drivers can do complex music better than any thing else i've heard....well, so far..?

lesser drivers just don't reproduce the detail and separation in complex music..

[Greg.]

No disrespect intended, but I'd love to know a bit more about you ChrisV. Would you be Chris Venhaus?

Best wishes,

Greg

[IslandPink]

Vryonides , Greg .

Are you back from NY for Christmas Chris ?

Thanks for the tip re. Pieter Trieurniet - I'll try e-mailing him.

Mark


You ain't seen me...right ?

[ChrisV]

Allo fellas,

Mark - Yes, back just for a couple of weeks. Crazy busy here, not the most restful break! I'm guessing the italicised tag line wasn't directed at me?

Greg - as Mark hinted, I'm no relation to Mr Venhaus. I'm just a lad from London who wishes he had more time to play with his toys. A move across the pond has forced me to reassess the complexity of my plans, which, as a bonus, may mean they actually get executed. Hence my experimentation with the Fertin driver.

At last years ETF, I heard a pair of exceedingly rare Eckmuller speakers. Field coil coax, about 10" or so. Not perfect by any means, but something wonderful was going on which convinced me that for my current domestic constraints, the field coil/single driver may be the ticket. It's certainly a more realistic prospect than cramming a 4 way horn system into the apartment...

I will report back on my experiences with the Fertins when they're playing. May be Feb or March depending on how quickly I can get the baffles made. But in the meantime, as a teaser, the units offer Fertin's latest improvements, the manufacturer assuring me that these constitute a genuine step forward. These include a graphite spider, cryo treated silver voice coils and an improved cone.

Actually, the spider is part of what drew me to Fertin. I've long held a suspicion that the usual yellow concertinas on most conventional drivers may not be the best, and that Lowther (or better yet , Jordan with their spiderless JXR6HD) have better ideas here. The Fertin is interesting in that its spider looks a bit like the phenolic wiggly bits you see on old drive units. My guess is that they offer less excursion but better linearity and lower hysteresis losses. Ie the behave more like ideal springs. If I depress the cone on a more conventional, less compliant driver, I get the feeling it doesnt return to exactly where it started from.

Fertin's standard offering was apparently made from PCB material, but they have just introduced a carbon fibre version which is lighter and said to sound better.

The other thing, of course, is the underhung field coil motor. All sounds like a good recipe to me.

Hope that was of some interest.

Cheers
Chris

[IslandPink]

Info on Fertin would be nice to add to the existing confusion of course ...

If anyone has about £3000 to blow on drivers, Supravox America have a nifty idea :
http://www.supravox.com/news.html

( open baffle using the 215-EXC and 400-EXC field-coil units )

Mmm, nice . Keep buying the lottery tickets .

MJ

[IslandPink]

Of course Feastrex D5nf might be the answer .
No tweeter required , 95 to 97 dB efficient , etc etc ...

MJ

[IslandPink]

Select Audio are the distributers in the UK .
I asked about a price for the D5nf and they said £850 per item as an 'introductory offer' , likely to rise in future .
NO GO at that price I'm afraid . Too much of a gamble as much as anything, with one positive review so far .
I was seeing $1200 per one in the US mentioned , so that may be the usual UK rip-off situation .

MJ

[Paul Barker]

They can get stuffed at that price. I'll carry on sat on the fence // little fostex 's and axiettes then.

[IslandPink]

I bought a case of Rhone from Tanners in Shrewsbury instead :p
Must be some way of using one or other of the Supravox alnico ones .
Where's James ???

MJ