Speaking of Speakers

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

If they're built EXACTLY the same, you've answered your own question,
haven't you? :=) Reminds me of the Steve Wright joke. "I came downstairs
and I'd been robbed - I think. Everything in my house had been replaced
with an exact copy."

More seriously, the more similar the construction and the technology the
more similar they will sound. I would caution that "how similar is
similar" is not an easy question to answer. One soft dome tweeter is not
the same as another soft dome tweeter. Even one particleboard is not the
same as another. Even the glue in a multi-layer construction can make a
difference, or a relatively small difference in cabinet volume or
crossover frequency. Speaker construction is a deep and wide subject.
Richard (Dick) Pierce, on this forum, knows more about it than most
people. It's perfectly possible to make two speakers that sound much
alike with very DIFFERENT construction as well.

-- Bob T.

Philip Meech wrote:

> Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and Quad
> 12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
> and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?
>

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

in article c6s0kd01ker@news1.newsguy.com, Wylie Williams at
wyberwil@earthlink.net wrote on 4/29/04 5:46 PM:

> I had this experience in my store a couple of years ago: PSB and Monitor
> Audio each had a bookshelf speaker with the same cabinet size, and , from
> the front, the same woofer and tweeter. We removed and compared the
> drivers and found them to appear identical, even to factory id numbers,
> though it is possible that there were internal differences. ( Vifa and
> Scanspeake, etc. will produce custom OEM versions to suit a manufacturer. As
> these had the appearance of oriental-sourced drivers, I doubt that, but only
> the Chinese manufacturer knows for sure).
> In any case, the Monitor Audio speaker was clearly better sounding. So much
> so that we put the the PSB model on sale and dropped it , as nobody would
> buy it when it was compared with the Monitor Audio.
>
> The difference between them? Probably a better crossover. Maybe a less
> resonant cabinet. But it is one example that apparently identical models can
> sound distinctly different.
>

The drivers in question would not have been Vifa drivers, as Monitor doesn't
use them. My guess is that you're talking about drivers from Peerless India.
The drivers by Peerless of India used by Monitor and PSB look similar, but
are definitely not the same by a long shot. Driver differences are often
hard to spot without actually measuring them. I would say that there's more
to the sound difference than just the crossover. And I'm surprised that the
PSB performed so poorly against the Monitor, given how well Paul Barton
understands loudspeaker design. It couldn't have been that the Monitor had a
somewhat hyped response while the PSB was flat?

Archived from groups: rec.audio.high-end (More info?)

I bought the Dali Grand Coupe from Spearit Sound in Northhampton, MA.
They made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
I just hooked them up today. What a refined loudspeaker and it isn't evn
broken in yet. I don't find it particularly laid back
as was mentioned in the British review. As a matter of fact, I turned
off the DSP on ny HT receiver because they were too forward sounding.
The bass is unbelievable for such a bookshelf speaker. I have
temporarily escaped from mid-fi purgatory,
economically speaking.:> ).

Philip Meech wrote:
> Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and Quad
> 12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
> and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?
>