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OK, first off - my listening impression with the new crossover.
1. The Seas 27TBFC liked it.
2. After 3 songs I noticed the soundstage background was a bit darker. Nice! Since I didn't match the Caps values.
3. On Norah Jones - Come Away With Me and The Garden Of Good and Evil Soundtrack the Italian accordian seemed a bit more forward and really sounded more 'real'...
Fast forward and three hours later and a couple of Coors - The Banquet Of Beers I started comparing A/B testing The MTMWW's with my Test Drive Dummies- the Dayton pair of 8" Classic's in a DCR box and 8" Carbon fiber mids from MCM and the Peerless ring radiator Tweets from Madisound with a Series crossover in a Allison One type of box.
I was quite surprised they held up their own against the aluminums. I could actually hear the difference in distortion with the cheapy drivers but it wasn't that much. Especially the bass. The Da175's really shown here.
After a couple of Sax Cd's, like 'James Hunter - People Gonna Talk' I can't see why sax lovers won't like these speakers. They just have that brass bite.
Day 3 of listening to Pete's new crossover.
Still a bit early because I'm giving them 7 days before I commit but it looks like a keeper and finalizing my Schumakubins.
The sax is crazy good with this new crossover, well actually just a few component changes which brings up the crazy good remark earlier.
The Seas 27TBFC/G tweeters were a love/hate relationship. More hate than love, but this new crossover so far has been outstanding..
I've been A/B testing them against a series crossover design and they compare (soundstage) almost identical.
The only difference is that series crossover speakers use really cheap drivers. The distortion can be clearly heard. Not really that bad though.
The soundstage was clearly darker than the series design and the caps were not even matched in value yet. Still not. 'Taxes Yuck'...
Earlier listening to Corinne Bailey Ray it gave me goosebumps. Her voice was there center stage and singing into a mic right before me.
The bass guitar and drums were totally seperated (spatial cues) and track 4 the part where there is a 'Mmmmmmm" you can clearly hear two seperate singers in their time and space continuum..
Spooky!!!
Accolades to Pete and ARTA...
'and a bunch of other shoulders we're standing on'
-Rudy Jakubin
"My God do they sound good! They are just running sealed right now, but the bass is crazy. --- Give them a well recorded cd and they really shine, but thats true for most speakers.
Using a 80w per channel Hafler we got some pretty amazing levels. My friend is extremly happy with them, good job Pete!"
AJ
From the PartsExpress board
After about four months of slow but steady work I finally finished my Schumakubins. I spent several hours last night auditioning them with all different types of music - orchestral, rock, acoustic, a capella, jazz, blues, you name it. I was blown away with the sound - Pete really hit a home run with this design. Not just a home run but a grand slam because they do it all. The beauty of these speakers to me is their versatility. I wanted something that would be audiophile quality but that could also play full range and get loud when the need arises. The Schumakubins are perfect for what I wanted. They play the most delicate orchestra passages with exact detail, and every instrument can be identified in its proper place. Both male and female focals are reproduced with great accuracy, and so are instruments. IMO one of the most difficult instruments to reproduce realistically is the piano, so I played several tracks with piano as well. I was not disappointed. On well recorded tracks they just disappear and it's as if the musician or singer is in the room with you. That's the mark of a great design. Another thing that really surprised me was their ability to resolve very complex passages with great detail and no muddiness. Tracks with many layers of instruments and/or voices come through with every detail intact. Also, as Pete and others have said before, a sub is absolutely not needed for music listening with these speakers. The quantity and quality of bass that the quad DA175's put out is just amazing. Though they're not extremely efficient, they get plenty loud with the 100wpc my Panny SA-XR55 provides, and they seem to be beg for even more power as they soak this up with ease.
Below is a pic with them set up in my HT room. The finish is PE black ash vinyl, and the baffles and feet are painted metallic silver with two coats of matte clear. My finishing skills are limited to say the least but I am satisfied with the overall appearance and my wife even called them "pretty" (a comment unheard of at my house as far as electronics are concerned). Almost all of my listening so far has been 2 channel music, so the CC has only been played for a few minutes. I know it's not the ideal layout for a center channel, but my seating position is always on axis so comb filtering isn't an issue for me. And as I have said before, anyone else at my house who may sit off axis doesn't know or care what comb filtering is :) My photobucket page linked below has more pics from the build.
I would like to thank Pete once again for this great design, and also for all of the help and advice he gave me throughout the build. He is a great designer, but he is also a very nice guy and was always willing to answer questions no matter how stupid they might be. Overall, I couldn't be happier.
Scott S.
From the Parts Express board
I built a pair of shumakubins this summer and couldn't be happier with them. I can't imagine any design outdoing these when it comes to bang for the buck. Even in the diy arena I would think that to get better performance would require almost twice the cost in drivers. The soundstage is large and detailed, and the dynamics are very impressive. We've been out of town for awhile and when we get back our daughter said to me, "dad your new speakers are really awesome, they really thump". She always inherits my old speakers, and she is already drooling for these. She may have a long wait.
I think the baffles Roy sells on audiologic are a good deal. If I wasn't so into the whole building process I would gladly pay the price for a set of those.
RicB
From the Parts Express board