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Theater Four [message #49056] Wed, 08 March 2006 23:51 Go to next message
peppennino is currently offline  peppennino
Messages: 40
Registered: May 2009
Baron
Hi all!
Can someone tell me if this spks have a tonal balance suitable for classical music? Wayne P. sent to me the detailed plans and, since I'm building a pair of 300B SET, this speakers seems to be a perfect match! I have no experience with compression drivers and BIG wofers... My previous DIY speakers are all small ones (three pairs of bookshelves and a little BLH with FE103). I mostly listen to romantic, post romantic an contemporary orchestral music, folk music, world music and a little of acoustic jazz.. Has anybody compared them to medium/big BLHs with Fostex or Supravox drivers or to others Pi speakers driven by SET amps?
Thanks in advance!

Vincenzo

Re: Theater Four [message #49058 is a reply to message #49056] Thu, 09 March 2006 04:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bill Epstein is currently offline  Bill Epstein
Messages: 1088
Registered: May 2009
Location: Smoky Mts. USA
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
The Delta 15/PSD2002 combination is definitely great for large scale orchestral. If you're frame of reference is Fostex or conventional dynamic speakers you won't beleive the sense of 103 players having moved into your room.
Or a Jazz quintet.

Re: Theater Four [message #49067 is a reply to message #49058] Thu, 09 March 2006 23:48 Go to previous messageGo to next message
peppennino is currently offline  peppennino
Messages: 40
Registered: May 2009
Baron
Thanks Bill! Have you got a "standard" Th4?

Re: Theater Four [message #49068 is a reply to message #49067] Fri, 10 March 2006 03:27 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bill Epstein is currently offline  Bill Epstein
Messages: 1088
Registered: May 2009
Location: Smoky Mts. USA
Illuminati (2nd Degree)
I did have. The Theatre 4 was my first Pi Speaker 5 years ago. I have since moved on to a variation of the Pro 4 as a few of us did who were lucky enough to score at the original JBL Tent Sale.

Re: Theater Four [message #49070 is a reply to message #49068] Fri, 10 March 2006 07:54 Go to previous messageGo to next message
peppennino is currently offline  peppennino
Messages: 40
Registered: May 2009
Baron
In what this "variation" consist of?
Tks

Re: Theater Four [message #49078 is a reply to message #49070] Fri, 10 March 2006 14:42 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Manualblock is currently offline  Manualblock
Messages: 4973
Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (13th Degree)
The Theater 4's are a great all around speaker but remmember they are not Waynes most expensive design and in fact they are closer to the least expensive design. If you have a 300B amp I would suggest you think more along the lines of the stage 4's or the premium series. An amp like that will rise to the quality of the higher priced designs. And the Stage and Premium are smaller and more compact. I would say regarding the music that the seamless blending of the premium drivers are better served for classical music in general.

Re: Theater Four [message #49079 is a reply to message #49078] Sat, 11 March 2006 01:26 Go to previous messageGo to next message
peppennino is currently offline  peppennino
Messages: 40
Registered: May 2009
Baron
Thanks. And what about the "friendness" with tube amps? I read on a post that for Wayne the best spks for SET tube amps are the Theater 7, 4 and Professional 7 and 4 ones. But the post dates 2000!! Can you help me, Wayne? Ciao a tutti!
Vincenzo

Re: Theater Four [message #49080 is a reply to message #49079] Sat, 11 March 2006 08:17 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Matts is currently offline  Matts
Messages: 359
Registered: May 2009
Grand Master
If you have a 300B amp, you should have enough power and damping for any of these speakers. I think the issue comes up more with the lower- powered 45's, 2A3, and some other single-end designs like the Zen amps, which have outputs of 2-4 watts. The extra few watts you get with the 300B should make you fine. The topology of the amp may assist some too, if it's parallel feed output.

Re: Theater Four [message #49081 is a reply to message #49080] Sat, 11 March 2006 11:03 Go to previous messageGo to next message
peppennino is currently offline  peppennino
Messages: 40
Registered: May 2009
Baron
It's a SET amp. I also would like to listen to the music at low volumes, not only at a step from the clipping! It's for this that I asked which is the most tube friendly Pi speaker...
Ciao and Thanks!

Tube friendly speakers [message #49083 is a reply to message #49081] Sat, 11 March 2006 14:52 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18789
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I'be begun to realize over the years that it makes more sense to take about speaker-tolerant amps than tube-friendly speakers. It's really the same thing - the more output impedance, the more an amp acts like a current source. The more an amp acts like a current source, the less tolerant it is of impedance variations.

No loudspeaker is a purely resistive load and it isn't even an attribute I'd say was related to quality. Most of the better speakers don't have all that flat an impedance curve. In fact, most of the better speakers depend on electrical damping to perform their best. So the amp is a big part of the deal. Things like output tube, transformer and configuration come into play as does feedback.

That's why I've begun to see the levels as being too grey to really talk about tube-friendly speakers. One amp is fine with just about any speaker and the next is incredibly picky. If your amp is picky, then you might want to go with the Studio, Theater or Pro speakers. All the sevens are fairly benign. But I'm not sure I'd want to narrow my choices like that. If an amp is that picky, I'm not sure I'd be happy with the amp in the first place. Too many other excellent choices that aren't so finnicky for me to live with an amp that is.

Bottom line is I doubt your 300B is going to have a problem driving any high-efficency speaker, but only you will know for sure. It isn't a matter of watts, it's a matter of reactive loads and current sources. So probably, if your amp sounds good to you on other speakers, it isn't so delicate that it needs a purely resistive impedance to sound good.


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