Open Baffle Speakers

Jack said:
Joe

I have been through a lot of speakers in my time, though not in the price range on this forum, and the only ones that gave me goose bumps were all 1st order crossover designs. The Snell Type AII's that my son has then the Vandersteens and the Reynauds. Before you venture off into the world any further of "reviewers" favorites I would only suggest that you contact John and Bob Neill and hear what the Vandersteen's and Reynaud's have to offer in a better than public demonstration setting. Both brands are more about the "soul of the music" than what sparks a reviewer's interest, though a Vandersteen speaker has been in the Stereophile Class B ratings for over 20 years. I have followed the reviewer favorite for years and always been disappointed so now I just follow my ears. I also understand that other peoples favorites may not be mine.
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I agree about the 1st order crossover designed speakers. The SF Strads are 1st order crossover designed speakers.
 
Jay said:
I'll chime in here as the current owner of Joe's former Nola Micro Grand Reference speakers. I love them! Very natural, easy to drive, beautiful (to me), with a great soundstage. They are the type of speaker that acts as a window to the recording venue as opposed to transporting the artists into your room if that makes sense. They sound phenomenal with live music and I'm always surprised at their ability to fill my 22' x 32' room with sound from a 30 watts of triode tube power. One other benefit is they have a large sweetspot so my wife hears good music next to me or when we're moving around the house. I'm considering a new speaker purchase bc I'm nervous about the exposed drivers / stand mount nature with a baby due in January, but I keep putting off as I don't want to part with them! Two years I've had them and haven't heard anything that makes me want to move on....
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I am still happy to read that Jay.
 
I tend to agree with Jay. I heard them and they were VERY nice, but I don't think I could fall in love with them. But I can see how many would.
 
I will hear the metro gold on Friday and Zellaton at Ces. Nola appears to mix and match ribbon tweeters with albico based mid and woofer drivers. Zellaton has the same membrane layer and design on all the drivers. I wonder which gives more seamless integration of it parts into a uniform sound. Both have an upgrade version with Dueland and mundorf capacitors. My main concern is will I b eliminating side wall refraction and creating rear wall issues. I can only have rear of speaker two ft from wall. Carl M of Nola said lose my bass traps which currently reside behind my CR-1. Would love anyone's views on what is adequate rear wall distance for this type of open baffle design.

Nick
 
Nick - you nailed it regarding the Zellaton drivers. Even the tweeters are the same. It's ultimate old school German fanatical attention to detail. The sound is so pure that everything else really sounds broken. One caveat though as they need really good quality amps like Gryphon, CH Precision etc.
 
I think my Viola Symphony has enough speed, resolution and current. Just hope rear wall proximity doesnot mess things up. I hear Nola metro Friday and Zellaton jan 7. Curious which will sound more cohesive.
Nick
 
elegy said:
Nick - you nailed it regarding the Zellaton drivers. Even the tweeters are the same. It's ultimate old school German fanatical attention to detail. The sound is so pure that everything else really sounds broken. One caveat though as they need really good quality amps like Gryphon, CH Precision etc.
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Very curious...I have heard great things about Zellaton, but not that many people have heard them. I have looked at their website...I understand they are coming out with a new statement speaker. But until then, which of their speakers have you heard? How is the dynamic capability of their largest speaker? One of the things I love about bigger speakers when well setup and well driven is that they give an effortless across the full spectrum at anywhere from volume 1 to volume 55. Thanks for any guidance here.
 
at the CES, they will have their reference level. My need for a small footprint requires me to look at their emotion, grand and grand purist which eliminates a passive downfiring woofer and adds in some upper level xovers and capacitors from Dueland.If show demo is impressive I will go to NYC to hear these smaller models.


Nick
 
Just finished demoing the Nola Grand Gold in San Fran. Setup was not what I hoped for but very revealing.
I had asked for 7.5 ft equilateral triangle with front of speakers about 3 ft from rear wall to mimic my environment. Got there and speakers were 6 ft from front edge of speaker to rear wall. Soundstage was more deep than wide and seemed to eminate 2-3 ft behind speakers. Not nearly the resolution of my TADs but nice. When I asked for speakers to b move closer to wall he politely refused and said all soundstage would b lost and said the micro grand would b a better size for my room size. On bass heavy pieces the woofers showed lots of cabinet resonance. Clearly nice speakers just not for my room. Still glad I went and still await CES.

Nick
 
Thanks for your thoughts Nick. The TADs are HIGHLY resolving. That's for sure. :)
 
veindoc said:
Just finished demoing the Nola Grand Gold in San Fran. Setup was not what I hoped for but very revealing.
I had asked for 7.5 ft equilateral triangle with front of speakers about 3 ft from rear wall to mimic my environment. Got there and speakers were 6 ft from front edge of speaker to rear wall. Soundstage was more deep than wide and seemed to eminate 2-3 ft behind speakers. Not nearly the resolution of my TADs but nice. When I asked for speakers to b move closer to wall he politely refused and said all soundstage would b lost and said the micro grand would b a better size for my room size. On bass heavy pieces the woofers showed lots of cabinet resonance. Clearly nice speakers just not for my room. Still glad I went and still await CES.

Nick
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That's really disappointing that they wouldn't demo them as you wish! :(
If they wanted to make the point, they could have moved them for you and then moved them back. I find it amazing when dealers get stuck in a rut and forget that customers have ears too.
Anyway, I heard both Nola and Zellaton at RMAF. Actually, the Nolas were excellent paired with ARC electronics (I've been using ARC ref gear for several years till recently) but the room was very wide/big and totally different from what I have at home. I also find them unappealing aesthetically, though they were very coherent and imaged well during my visit.
I was in the Audioarts room many times over the weekend, mostly because I had found their room one of my favourites from 2012 with Nagra and Zellaton, and I was interested to learn more about the Trinity gear. This year they were in a smallish room but the Zellatons had no issues and excelled with dynamics and clarity. They were paired up with a whack of gorgeous CH Precision gear beyond my current budget. There was no room treatment at all. Soundstage was super both in width and depth. Speaks were approx 5 feet off the back wall from what I remember. I would love to hear the reference dueland in NYC someday. As a current Nagra user, if I had space and $$, that would be my dream speaker. Have fun at CES. What Zellatons and Nolas will be there?
 
Thnx Tunes
Only ref. level of both brands. Gideon let me demo Jazz several months ago. Good guy who plays great music. He claims these speakers r easy to set up but rear wall proximity with any port or baffle is typically an issue. I now know Raidho and Nola really get good with rear wall large gap. Side wall more of an issue with my TAD but room treatments have greatly improved this issue. CR-1 has only a front firing port. If Zellatin somewhat damped looking rear baffle has modest rear wall interaction I am happy to go to Manhatten and hear the exact model I am considering. The Nola away from wall had a soundstage that was like 3 ft behind speakers. My room I like width and depth but like to b in the 3d envelope as I do almost(7.5ft) near field listening. The Nola were as if the sweetspot was in a distant location. Not my cup tea primarily for my space and listening likes. Intrigued by both Zelleton and ocean way Montecito. I report after show

Nick
 
You can find the Jamo R909 for very reasonable prices nowadays. In Europe you ca find a new pair for under 4000 Euro and make no mistake: thee are top notch speakers!
Jamo-R909-IFA05.jpg


Reviews:
6moons audioreviews: Jamo Reference 909

Jamo R909 review from the experts at whathifi.com

Jamo Reference R 907 (£6600) - Loudspeakers

Jamo Reference R 907 loudspeaker Page 2 | Stereophile.com
 
I agree with "Tunes". Grand's are incredible speakers and they will never overload a small room. My Emotions are 3 ft from rear wall and 1.5ft from side walls. Zellaton drivers are so fast that room issues are not as prevalent as they are with other speakers. I've heard Ocenway many times and they are simply boomboxes for the Asian market. Just not my cup of tea. Any Oceanway speaker will overload and sound boomy in your room. Another great speaker but sadly not imported into the US is Pawel Acoustics from Switzerland. Also older Symphonic line with Zellaton drivers are amazing. Viola is a good amp with great grip but it won't have the refinement of CH A1. I just got my Jan TAS and looks like reviewer Alan Tafel has replaced his Goldmund gear with CH, which he prefers. But Viola is definately a good starting point. I want to heat the latest Nagra though.
 
I will hear Oceanway as it is in Viola room at CES. Nagra may have a new more powerful amp debuting at CES.
I hope Zellaton open baffle design differs from what I heard with Nolas wall interactions.
Nick
 
Nick,
What nagra amp info do you have re CES?
I'm using VPAs and really happy. Wonder if nagra will have an updated 845 based amp?
 
Just sold my GR-Research Super V's which are open baffle. I built them myself then another set for a friend. I sold mine to another friend and have yet another friend who owns them. Why? They sound great! Dipole bass that is so articulate, so fast and room friendly to boot. The waveguide tweeter is good too although not a good as the tweeter on the SCM's I've got passing through. Wow is that a great tweeter, damn.

I've always had an affection for Vandersteen 5's and love the Nola sound too.

Now I'm back in the market for speakers. Danny's Richie's best of show open baffle 2 array monsters?
 
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