Posted by spkrman57 [ 131.64.9.116 ] on March 02, 2005 at 11:19:55:
Wayne,
Last night after playing around with some cheaper speakers for (non-audiophile) friends, I needed some decent music for my ears.
I found a pair of "Bolivar" speaker cabinets with original crossovers still inside. The LF was a 2nd order w/zoebel and the HF was 2nd order with 4 ohm resistor in series(original speakers were 4 ohm).
Well, I took my Alpha 8's and found a pair of Pyle dome tweeters that I have had around in several systems over the years. They are 94db/watt and seemed like a possible match to the Alpha 8(per Eminence website are closer to 94db than 97db).
Long story short, the cabinet is approx 2 cubic ft and a 2" port at around 4" long and the crossover still had clips on the wires for instant hookup.
Well, I expected that if things did not work out okay, just take the parts out that don't work and start again.
Well, using Almorro amp (SEP 6BQ5/5 watts/chnl), which I retubed with mullards for the 6BQ5's and sweet sounding(and soft) 12AX7WA Magnavox. First listening sound was less than pleasant. No biggie since the Pyles were used and broke in years ago, but the Alpha 8 was brand spanking new.
Enter my Sansui AU-7900 (75 watts/chnl) which was recently fixed and modded by (Echowars). I played some hard hitting music at around 10-20 watts/chnl for 3 hours and heard the resonance drop down and become more pleasing to the ear.
I then decided the break-in was sufficiently started so I could go back to the Almorro amp. WELL!!! these little Alpha 8's are quite remarkable. While it could not do much on "Bella Fleck - Flight of the cosmic hippo" tracks 4 and 10 are best for sub testing. The rest of the notes that are equivalent to a 4 string bass sounded very nice. Nothing like a Eminence for reproducing the sound of a Fender bass guitar.
These 1 Pi's will never match up to my 4 Pi-pro speakers, but for the money, you can't go wrong. For those of you who can't build cabinets and can't afford a cabinet builder, there are some nice older used cabinets that were built more solid than todays mass produced systems.
Another nice quality of the Eminence Alpha(and maybe some others also) is they will do well in cabinets that are not exactly to spec. It helps to be correct, but the Alpha 8 and 10 drivers will work in a wide range of cabinet sizes.
I will be curious to see how a few more days of listening will smooth out the sound even farther.
I am looking at cabinets to try out my Alpha 10's out now. It helps to have a healthy collection of cabinets and drivers to experiment with.
Thanks, Wayne
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