Single Driver High-End Speakers! Only 1% Know Why They Rule for Home Audio

[@Jayiyagi]

*Thanks for stopping by! Let me know your experience with single or coax drivers in the comments below? What do you like or dislike about single drivers?* Note: Another thing I forgot to mention is the price. It is no small change at $7000 euros. However, that is well justified due to the scale of business (it's a small boutique brand) and the painstaking process in making a transmission cabinet fitted to this high-end (also expensive) driver. Alternatively, you can purchase the driver by itself and build your own cabinet if you wish to save money (positive outcome is not guaranteed, as I've eluded to many times in this video, speaker cabinet is sometimes more than half the game with these single driver designs) Driver can be purchased here: www.stereopolis.com/collections/speaker-drivers 0:00 Crossover-less Speaker? 3:45 Benefit of using a Single Driver 6:57 Best Speaker Cabinet For Single Driver 10:38 Speaker that Sounds "Pure" 14:15 Best Amplifier For Single Drivers 16:47 Female Vocal Speaker Demo 18:07 Guitar Instrumental Speaker Demo 19:52 Bright or Warm Speaker? 22:31 Soundstage of Single Driver Speaker 23:50 Best Low Volume Speaker Product Links: Closer Acoustic Forlane: www.stereopolis.com/products/closer-acoustics-forlane-loudspeakers-pair Closer Acoustic OGY: www.stereopolis.com/products/ogy-birch-plywood Related videos: Closer Acoustic OGY review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6PZZpygmJusndU Monacoustic Platimon review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hZuncmalbN2Imacsi=kNU4FlY24xRXJVv3 Dynaco ST70 review: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rJiyf6V3jdOSqdUsi=6fKIInrGim0Ud7WG Orchard Starkrimson Ultra: Coming Soon Support on Patreon: www.patreon.com/jayiyagi follow on Instagram: instagram.com/jays_iyagi/ follow on Facebook: facebook.com/jayiyagiofficial Follow soundstage take 2 reviews: kzbin.info/aero/PLPOzvlhtSqn5xdc__ftuSt4Rxy_wm5Af0 Speaker stands: amzn.to/3ssRhI3 Better speaker stands: solidsteel.it/my-product/ss-7-vintage-hi-fi-speaker-stands/ acoustic panels I use: ua-acoustics.com/ acoustic curtain: amzn.to/31d1zAM BDI Cabinet I use: bit.ly/2OJRwQQ amzn.to/3chBuFZ other BDI Cabinets: bit.ly/3ctxXV1 amzn.to/30bsUCH my fav hifi tweaks: (Isoacoustics devices) amzn.to/3j5FGvM 0:00 Crossover-less Speaker? 3:45 Benefit of using a Single Driver 6:57 Best Speaker Cabinet For Single Driver 10:38 Speaker that Sounds "Pure" 14:15 Best Amplifier For Single Drivers 16:47 Female Vocal Speaker Demo 18:07 Guitar Instrumental Speaker Demo 19:52 Bright or Warm Speaker? 22:31 Soundstage of Single Driver Speaker 23:50 Best Low Volume Speaker #hifi #audiophile #homeaudio

[@KarelSmout]

I was in the market for floorstanders, and looking for pretty flat full range, with a lot of detail in the treble. Hence I was checking something in the realm of ribbon or electrostat, like Elac - or maybe the likes of B&W. But time and again I felt the drivers didn't integrate that well to a coherent sound, and I ended up listening to tweeters, couplers and woofers instead of music. Then I stumbled upon coaxials, and after checking the 'usual suspects' (Kef, Tannoy) found Fyne Audio F501. Here I found the soundstaging, detailed treble (coaxials are mildly horned by default if the tweeter is in the throat of the woofer), and the full range of a 2.5 way. Brings seemless integration as well. The flipside? It is not the most balanced speaker in frequency response. I'd have to upgrade to the higher tiers for that.

[@davidturney2942]

They don't have to be expensive commercial examples. I've experimented with most speaker types (including ESLs) and always gone back to single driver speakers. Granted, I use a pair of subs as a foundation, but nothing else provides the sweet mid-range presence and clarity of my Frugel-Horns. Forget 'background music' - if there's music playing you are involved. And they don't have to be expensive Forlane or Sibelius examples. (If low power class-A also floats your boat, it dovetails perfectly with powered subs doing the heavy lifting.)

[@vic95v]

yooooooo, any upcoming review for the starkrimson ultra?:D

[@OrchardAudio]

​@@vic95v His review description says it is coming soon.

[@seanb3303]

Jay, here is another secret. A crossover’s job is not just to divide frequencies…it’s to also provide Baffle Step Compensation filtering to combat the physics of the rising response. This is why single driver speakers with no filtering or DSP will sound mid range forward…the only other way to get around that is to mount the driver on a wall. Some people love mid range forward speakers and some people find that coloration to be shouty.

[@Jayiyagi]

Thanks for filling that in. Yes this wasn’t a full explanation of what crossovers do. It’s a simplified version of course. Although I didn’t find the Forlanes to be mid-centric or mid forward, I understand what you mean

[@seanb3303]

@@Jayiyagi it would be cool if you could put a single REW measurement up…just real quick like how andrew Robinson does…i think a lot of people would find value in that

[@Jayiyagi]

Yes I did that for a while and right now, I am in the process of upgrading my measurement rig as I noticed my current mic is going out of calibration due to its age. I hope to publish some basic data with my reviews in the near future if everything gets here in time...

[@jamesbrotherton5487]

Mark Audio drivers have baffle step compensation built in but they don't provide an ideal baffle width spec..

[@stackoverflow8260]

Bad horn speakers (except most JBLs) tend to be shouty, God I can't stand that.. I have previously run away from those speakers because my heart started racing!

[@datdudeinred]

If you really wanna hear what "pure" means you have to build voigt pipes with a full range driver & directly connect it without even using binding posts. If you wanna learn there is a really great channel called "real world audio" he made one & he will explain it far better than I would.

[@realworldaudio]

Thank you for the shout out! ; ) You described it pretty well, just go as direct as possible, from tinsel wire to amplifier.... ; ) Apart from the added clarity, there will also be a noticeable jump up in efficiency as well. Do not expect a miracle, but be prepared to reap a 1-1.5dB benefit. Cheers, Janos

[@seantheberge5456]

I built a set of voigts back in '98 and ran them on a 7027 PP tube amp. I loved the sound. Sadly I lost my rig, in a house fire. Seeing the Forlanes makes me want another set.

[@mpi5850]

I have their bookshelf - the Oggy. Full range transmission line using a 4 inch driver. I run them with a PrimaLuna, with a REL sub, and love them. That being said, in my main system I have large towers with 8 inch bass drivers, 6 1/2 inch mid, and tweeter, and these also sound fantastic. The little Oggy’s are perfect for a smaller room. The only problem with this tower version is it’s way overpriced, and the competition at this level is very steep.

[@Mr-SRG]

I absolutely love the imagery of my old Kef Reference speakers that I bought around 1998. Simple straight forward clean sound with a huge sound stage from a single coaxial in each speaker.

[@eltoncrim3699]

Sound stage, imaging, micro details, are all off the charts good. Image is as great as my modded Maggie mg 12s. Like Maggie’s they need subs for better dynamics. They are very efficient so you don’t need a huge amplifier. I run a 40 watt amp with mine . I,m using 12 inch single driver speakers

[@TuneHead]

I've recently dipped my toes into single driver DIY speakers and have had my eyes / ears open to that word "pure". Using TangBand W8-1808 drivers (in custom made, TangBand recommended volume cabinet) combined with dual SVS SB1000 Pro sub's is amazing. Yes, not great for high volume but up to 75db are wonderful.

[@BackwardsCompatible-Not]

Haha - thanks Jay, I’ve finally made it as a 1%er !! I’ve happily been using various pairs of Omega single driver speakers for years ~ both with SET a,ps and even one of Kiho’s fine little Brunoco 6L6 Terra amps. Keep up the great work.

[@johnmcdevitt9797]

If you subscribe to the idea of music therapy, I think single driver type speakers are the best for music therapy! Inherently revealing is great for tuning the sound signature of the system to personal preferences. Notice how higher end and well engineered speakers designs are focused on the time alignment of the drivers with a well engineered single driver the time alignment, phase coherency, preservation of signal nuances becomes the hook, you could call it presence and it becomes very addicting. Less can certainly be more with the best single driver designs. I noticed something different listening to single driver speakers, the analogy being time released medication. When I listen to multi driver speakers, I get this immediate gratification, intense peak and short in duration. With single driver speakers I feel it less intensely however it lingers on my mind the vibe stays with me longer if that makes sense?

[@rvaillant]

I once built a 4” Fostex single driver tower like that. I called it a Horn Shop Wannabe, being my attempt at a Horn Shop clone. This ended up being one of the best imaging speakers I heard. Unless something is done for baffle step loss, ie parts in the signal path, then around 800 hz down will play lower in volume. I used a digital eq. These speakers look very nice, well, except for the odd shape.

[@Jayiyagi]

oddly enough (yes, pun intended), the odd shape is intentional and some find it attractive including my girlfriend xD

[@rvaillant]

@@Jayiyagi Yes, of course the shape functional. Still a thing to be accepted, besides the 7 k Euro price. That would be close to 10 k in Canada.

[@realworldaudio]

For anyone wondering about the amplifier choices, I can second the the Dynaco stereo 70 is absolutely magical with single driver speakers. I had the fortune to listen to some material where I heard the live concert as well, and the Dynaco/Voigt pipe had less detail level than the top of the line high end 20 years ago (when I heard these - BAT/Focal/Wilson). However, in BOTH instances the Dyna/VP absolutely murdered the high end with tonal accuracy. In the case of the piano recording, I could immediately tell who the pianist was, and the piano had the same tone as the piano he played. With the guitar, I could immediately tell which guitar did Taltosh play on from his collection (he has about a dozen guitars, and at that time I heard him play a lot). On the Dyna/VP it sounded remarkably close to him actually sitting between the speakers and playing the guitar. (We took turns - play a track from CD, and then he played it live.) The two were just extremely remarkably similar! Live was a little "shinier" sounding, otherwise had to nitpick to tell apart. On the high-end there was way, way more detail, but it sounded NOTHING like him playing live. Even his playing technique sounded very different, and everyone hearing would have sworn that he used a very, very different guitar to record the session. In fact, it sounded as if he used his most extemely different sounding guitar... My advice in short: if you want to reproduce unamplified guitar/flute/piano/vocal/violin, then with a stereo 70 / single driver speaker combo it will sound tonally faithful to the live, and will have very similar effect on you as having the instrument play in your room. Going SOTA high end you will hear it under a microscope, and it will be quite different in TONE, INTENT, and EFFECT than the live event. For the first time in my life I was so happy that I was a broke graduate student who could not afford the latest high end, and was forced to restore the stereo 70 and to build a pair of single driver speakers.... going for the high end route would have taken me really far off the mark. While visual artistry that high-est end provides is quite remarkable, listening to these systems (even now) always remind me of the HDR analogy from photography. Yes, the HDR technique recovers additional stops of dynamic range, but at the cost of making the photo turn into an artistic pencil-drawing rather than a real photo.

[@thorstenwieszniewski6875]

And the biggest difference makes the addition of a MiniDSP Flex. You really need it! 😉

[@PhillioDoede]

Listening on single driver speakers right now; Singularlies (a DIY 8" TL tower design) and the description of these sounds pretty familiar. Great soundstage, and depth, and really good at highlighting differences in electronics for sure.

[@fonkenful]

There’s a substantial sub-set of that 1% you speak of who’ve been happily experimenting with single driver / wide-band / full range drivers - they go by lots of names - in all sorts of enclosure designs for literally decades. I myself started that journey at the beginning of this century, until retiring from active DIY building about 5 years ago. Even my current home theatre system is completely single driver speakers, as the comprehensive bass management utilities in modern AV receivers allow for passing off all the heavy lifting that is their weakest area, and unless you’re listening for sustained periods at hearing damage SP level, an array of 7 channels of quality FR drivers with sub-woofer support in a modest sized room - mine is 340sq ft - can deliver very satisfying performance.

[@everardwilliams2918]

I think of the term "Pure" as a reflection of the least amount of contamination. In this case the contamination is with the crossover parts (quality and sound) and amount of additional wire required to make a crossover work. ( inductors ). The "Pure" term is often used on SET because of the lack of complexity in their build. Transparency is a whole different term and even that could do with an agreed upon deffinition.

[@JohnDurward]

Hi Jay. I found this review very interesting as recently I’m developing a range on Single driver speakers… I finally appreciate your insightful reviews! Thanks 😊

[@cpaint69]

For those who commented that the advantage of a full range driver is that it covers the full range of vocal and makes it sounds "pure". Try doing a 2 way with Purifi 5.25" woofer and crossover at 4kHz (that covers the full vocal range) to a SB Textreme tweeter, and I guarantee it will sound much better than this.

[@sdads7531]

Egotistical comment. Lots of blah blah blah without ever doing real listening. Can you give me a refund if it doesn’t sound better? Laughable comment

[@mjjm6220]

I own the Pearl Acoustics Sibelius and as my daughter says, the music is clean. And I like the looks of the Sibelius better. All speaker frames should be round.

[@net_news]

the Sibelius are one of the most beautiful speakers ever created. So simple they are perfect.

[@HappyHighwayman]

Do you run a subwoofer?

[@faludabutt8253]

Ya, try playing rock on it 😁. Sibelius is only for playing quartet. Single drivers are only for simple music with fewer instruments. Hence no cross-over required.

[@MDchaz]

I really enjoy my Omega Compact Alnico Monitors connected to my Decware amp. Very efficient speakers.

[@askara.3671]

Hi, Jay. As usually, you made very interesting and educative review. Have you ever had a chance to to listen to Liisong speakers? There are single driver speakers as well as two way open baffle ones of this brand . I found their Liionidas extreme sounding amazing. It would be very interesting to hear your opinion on those speakers. Also, there is Canadian company Maco Acoustic preparing to launch Macaria speakers using Liisong drivers.

[@Jayiyagi]

Yes I am very aware as the speaker designer is a good friend of mine. I am just waiting for them to finalize their tuning

[@The-Spotlight-Kid]

I've heard a handful (or v.little more) of single driver speakers over the years, (some homemade but rubbish) The pair I really did like most, I first noticed lacked some high-fr' sparkle compared to my own 2-ways but further listening showed they had something more important that's very hard or impossible too find a single word to describe why I liked them & just as hard finding a set of words to describe why. I would have bought them s/h from the dealer's room i was used to & only money stopped me. Apart from graphs that often say little about the sound you'll hear at home, we can only use words from other common experiences like pure, transparent etc, none fit perfectly, my first feeling of hearing single driver speaker pair sounding good, (large heavy Lowthers) was a feeling of direct contact with the music, lively (as I heard said about these one) but not fatiguing at all. (which still doesn't say much to those who've never heard Single driver'd good sounding ones.

[@rmzidann]

I went from a multichannel Classe CAV 150 back in the late 1990s to a 2 watt Decware amp and a DIY Fostex Full range speaker with no crossover. It was the best sound, most transparent and most rewarding sound I ever heard.

[@keithhorton4990]

Jay, one of your better reviews, IMHO. Great job explaining the uniqueness of this speaker

[@Jayiyagi]

I appreciate that!

[@The-Spotlight-Kid]

Pure sounding speakers, in my perception of the word, makes bad recordings sound bad, & good, good. It does equate to transparency imo but I like some guts & warmth in the low-end sub-350'ish Hertz range, I hate thinness down there but don't know if my preferred sound is "pure" or transparently accurate, so I can only trust my ears as frequency response graphs from anechoic chambers bare little resemblance to how they'll sound in your own room, especially at the lower to lowest end.

[@chrispdx5755]

Great video ! Will you review some Zu Audio offerings ?

[@Jayiyagi]

perhaps in the future. Not in the plans at the moment

[@Justwantahover]

I have single drivers that are ran completely open, on top of the box and a boxed woofer firing down, onto the the floor. And the bass vent is in a ring, around the open top driver. A coaxial bass vent with the open driver. The $9 open 5" FR driver is also modified with cutaways to simulate a free edge cone. 😅 They aren't "lean" in the medrange cos the woofer warms it up. They are holographic off the scale, being as point source as a 2-way can get and bass with balls, the floor is a bass horn. They are also dipole eakers, combined with point source for the best, most holographic image I ever heard. With only one speaker going it still sounds like both speakers and it can be hard to tell! And it still sounds "stereo". 😅

[@MrRourk]

Voight pipes with a great 6" full range is magic for most small rooms.

[@waxmonkeys3841]

Single driver acts more as a point source, will have better imagery. However sound wise it's a jack of all trades master of none. Drivers specifically designed for specific frequencies will out perform a single driver trying to do them all. In fact you well get best results in the average range of its frequently range witch will be somewhere in the high midrange. Yes you can adjust performance with cabinet design, but can only do so much.

[@user-xg6zz8qs3q]

This is all theory. I have the OGY speakers and it's amazing how clear and coherent they sound compared to competing speakers like the LS50. The LS50 sounds more dynamic but despite its ruler flat measurements it sounds kind of thin and artificial (in comparison). And other speakers (especially Dynaudio) just sound veiled in comparison. For a small room at low volumes I can't think of a better speaker than OGY. Especially if you watch movies and dialog clarity is a concern. I think that people underestimate how hard it is to synchronize tweeters and woofers together. And how cabinets with resonances impact the sound. I am also not a fan of metal dome tweeters (especially in affordable speakers). And there's no "jack of all trades" speakers. The OGY lacks dynamics but its midrange and treble are so clear and cohesive. It's perfect for acoustic music. The LS50 is so dynamic for its size but it lacks body in the midrange and doesn't sound cohesive with acoustic music. The LS50 feels like a tiny speaker being pushed to the limit in an undersized box. Detail is shot at your face. Bass is shot at your face. And the midrange sounds like it's coming from an iPhone. The OGY is so darn close to perfection but the lack of bass is an issue for most music. You may find yourself enjoying other speakers more in many scenarios.

[@DrSinisster]

Ive had my Omega SAM’s with their 6.5” Alinco Single driver. It has some High Freqs break up prolly over 18k, which has little impact, but the Bass is Scary Big, when it is their it really comes in like a looming monster in my room. Not much below 40hz Id say. I dont really need it too so Its great for me.

[@IliyaOsnovikov]

I may believe that such full range driver could deliver some great mids. But how much bass can it actually deliver? I doubt it can match in that regard a good 12", 10" or even 8" woofer. Also I doubt that any full range speaker can match a finesse or a directivity of a good tweeter.

[@MrMwalker43]

Hey Jay - I know it’s getting old people saying how much they appreciate your reviews. I interested in you making a video on the Starkrimson also. How do the compare to AGD. Great job!

[@Jayiyagi]

oh, you are too kind, it never gets old. Thank you for your viewership and I look forward to providing insight to the Starkrimson and of course, compare it to the AGD

[@BostonMike68]

The problem with 3 way designs is that they are crossed over in the vocal range and you have more phase issues to deal with in my humble opinion. Thanks great job

[@TriAmpHiFi]

. You are correct. That's why in the world of, no passive crossovers in 3-ways, there is a common button to invert one of the mid-ranges as a solution. However, if the drivers can be arranged close enough, there's no need. Huge horns & voluminous bass cabinets place drivers pretty far apart in large sound systems. Reggae, Funk & Brass 🔈🔉🔊

[@petermonahan2140]

Thank you for the lucid descriptions and including the fact that the listener is always a variable to consider when trying to describe speaker "sound quality". I also noticed a big difference in using different amps with Klipsch speakers and I assume this is because they are very sensitive like the single drivers you reviewed.

[@erickim7494]

Try a Cube Nenuphar single driver speaker with the NAT!

[@E.Williams-z9y]

I have single driver HHR Exotics Walsh speakers. They have no electronic crossover nor port. The radiation pattern is omni-directional in horizontal plane. The design is effectively a mechanical crossover. German Physiks also make a Walsh driver but add a bass driver.

[@ichigobankai2343]

Famous full range drivers MARK AUDIO are used in the Sibaliace speaker and in many DIY projects.

[@eltoncrim3699]

Built my own a few years ago. They are transparent as in highest resolution. No loss of signal and they have a coherence that multi driver speakers cannot match.

[@Beos_Valrah]

I would say well made coaxial speakers can match the coherence of full range, single driver ones. Have you compared these two concepts?

[@jaywatterworth]

Excellent presentation. Very informative and interesting. One of your best.

[@seantheberge5456]

Another reason single drivers work so well is that the absence of a crossover makes the speaker easier to drive for the amplifier. Drivers produce back EMF as well as Choke coils; capactitors, especially electrolitcs can a little of their own signature to the sound as well. Remove the cross over an the amplifier only has to deal with the back emf of the driver. It just a little bit of magic.

[@hifitommy]

hi Jay, as a lover of transmission line speakers (i spent MANY hours in front of IMF and Fried RPSMs which are flat to 16Hz), I can see where you would be taken by these speakers, with the additional benefit of no xover. of course I would be using a sub and possibly an Axiom supertweeter to open up the top end. it comes to mindthat you may want to test the Pearl Acoustics single driver speaker.

[@mariocassar3117]

You succeededin baffling me…..pure in pure and pure.!

[@grommie]

Thanks for the upload. For some reason you mentioned i have active coax speakers. It beats all other passive speakers i have heared in shops. These are the only speakers i heared that doesnt sound sharp or thin. And details are not disapearing in the cabinet. I can do surround and stereo, and its so homogenic.

[@philvale5724]

Hi 👋, Jay’s , I think you find that the cabinet is made out of engineered oak, and it is only the baffles inside that is made out of Birch ply, They do look very nice , And well constructed, About 40 years ago, I built my own transmission line, loudspeaker cabinets, last year I had to change my units as one of them are blown, i’ve now installed a pair of 8 inch SEAS 150 subwoofer, and a 3 inch, Tweeter , and they sound amazing, something I have noticed that you have magical instruments in your room, this is not good for when you are sound testing, as the instrument was set up, harmonics, and will interfere with your listening experience, you always come across with a wealth and knowledge, And I look forward to your next product review , Phil from the moulin,

[@Jayiyagi]

I thought it was the other way around. Engineered oak for the inside and birch ply for the rest? Also if you are referring to my guitar, I don’t have my guitar there when I play my system. I just put it there to make the video look nice :) thought it fit

[@philvale5724]

Hi 👋, Jay’s , something else I noticed, as they did not put any soundproof deadening quilt inside, hopefully next year I will be building another pair of transmission line loudspeaker cabinets, and experimenting with the tunnel inside, as mine is parallel going throughout the cabinet, And I’ll try and get some sound testing equipment, As when I built mine, the guy who was helping me with the electronics i.e. crossover, I gave him the mic and some other bits and pieces, he was into Linn equipment, and I rebuilt a pair of his bookshelf speakers, He was surprised that the sound has changed dramatically, I cover them with about 10ml thick Padauk, , I listen to my music , on a Linn LP2, tape deck made by Nakamichi DR2 , and NAD PreAmp , I am hoping to get a pair of MonoBlocks next year, but I don’t have a lot of money to spend on them, it will be interesting to hear the difference, Phil from the moulin,

[@golfjunkymusicjunky8370]

Old News if you’re living in Europe.. Jean Hiraga le petit speaker.. easily to build your self…wonderful sound…..

[@antonsyd7077]

Not everybody wants to get their hands dirty)

[@fabieneldridge3414]

My Klipsch are transparent ! K-horns rule. The better the source playing the better it sounds. The pair of Klipsch Belles playing with them adds to its transparency ! It rocks being pushed by Old Marantz 2325 . For over thirty years, I have been rocking them. I’ve heard all kinds of speakers ect. I’ve never heard anything worth the money to change. It still will make the hair on your arms stand up and thump your Heart with Bass ! It fills my 28x26’ music room ! Celebrate Life ! Live entertainment levels at quarter volume.

[@look8234]

The concept of purity often revolves around how effectively a cleaner sound can be conveyed. In other words, it's about preserving the original quality of sound while minimizing distortions or interference.

[@isaacsykes3]

You need to listen to the Pearl speakers. I feel like you might be pleasantly surprised. Also, purity could mean true to the "source" meaning whatever is upstream, not necessarily the artist's intentions, because we don't know that. But you get it.

[@realworldaudio]

I think he reviewed the Pearl a year ago.... and found them very positive.

[@latecomerr]

I have a Sebielous made in Belgium by Harvey Lovegrove! it is fantastsic!

[@rd264]

fantastic.

[@Cencolor]

BTW Jay, good content. Thanks. Just a thought: Maybe a bit of backlight on your equipment/speakers set would look terrific.

[@donjohnson3701]

Looks like around $7000 euros, not available in the US yet. The Closer site has an interesting SET 300B amp. I have a 4” transmission line speaker that I use with a Prima Luna amp for low volume listening (not a party speaker). The sound stage and imaging is very good with acoustic and vocal tracks.

[@Jayiyagi]

They are available to the US as well but it's a direct to consumer model. You can email them for more information on this.

[@egis7908]

Jay - I am curious about the use of a single driver speaker with tube vs digital amplifiers. Are there apparent differences when using one or the other? Thanks much for your insight. Obviously with ~ 90k subscribers, you are a well established and knowledgeable reviewer. My interest in the combined Ogy and the BOB seems to 26:35 26:35 spot on for my room that has little treatment except soft furniture (no diffusion or absorption or traps). The amplifier I use is the Hegel H390, a company and product you are most familiar with. Thanks very much for your thoughts.

[@j-rod6420]

My problem with these single driver speaker companies is the price they charge. I'm not saying there are no potential benefits to a single driver but if you want to experience this, build your own save 6k.

[@user-xg6zz8qs3q]

The OGY is a strong value contender at $1500. It surpasses the LS50 in imaging, treble, midrange and overall cohesiveness. But the LS50 sounds more dynamic. I agree with you about the tower speakers. 7000€ is too expensive. It's an invitation to DIY a pair of speakers. MDF isn't that expensive. Single drivers range from $50 to thousands of dollars. The cheaper units from Mark Audio at $50 sound great.

[@frankd.b.9233]

Back in the day it was 3 amplifiers and 3 drivers, high/mid and low, and that was called an active system, so to have stereo you need 6 amplifiers and no filters because that was already built into the amplifier, the good old days with Quadriphony [ 4 speakers with 3 drivers each, in each corner or something...] see ya

[@hermanknief]

I'm curious about your comment about the use of the term "full range" driver in regard to the speakers inability to run 20Hz-20kHz (assuming a ± range). How many Multi-Driver speakers can truly run 20-20k? Not many that I am aware of, at least for a reasonable cost. I believe in industry terms, a driver that can repro at least 60Hz-8kHz is considered full range. Some, like Zu, Omega and OGY have done well to extend that range.

[@jamesmansion2572]

Its not all coming from one spot. Upper bass upwards - yes. But so does a coax. There is low bass coming from the port or TL terminus,. And you didn't talk about phase, or that most applications will have an electrical network for baffle step and/or frequency shaping. But that will hopefully be less intrusing on phase and group delay than a conventional crossover.

[@Jayiyagi]

Please understand that I cannot explain everything in a single video but I did mention coax. Of course, lower bass is not localized so when I say everything is coming from one spot (point source), it implies that its mid to highs. I did talk about coherency and how they do not have the phase problems amongst others that do have this potential problem that needs to be addressed, but you are correct, single drivers and coax do have an advantage in being phase coherent.

[@mnmlist1454]

Is the Closer Acoustics OGY good at low level listening ?

[@sean_heisler]

Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Orchard Audio Starkrimson! Hate being that guy, but you might be rushing that name, it’s like two words - Star Krimson. Sorry, bro, trying to help!

[@Jayiyagi]

Thanks man. Ye, I am totally butchering names as usual lmao😂

[@sean_heisler]

@@Jayiyagiha ha. It’s a challenging name for sure! It’s like Christmas when your videos come out, man. Thanks!

[@Jayiyagi]

@@sean_heisler your too kind. I'm working on getting more videos out but always a challenge

[@rosekruck6958]

Build the Petit from Jean hiraga l‘audiophile with the fostex Fe 103nv. But you have to burn in the speaker for about 300h before the First listen 😂

[@corymarcotte5853]

You’re making me laugh… “PURE”

[@joenovak6393]

I had signed up for VIP for MACO Acoustic. There upcoming MACO Open Baffle has me curious. I was looking at Liionidas Extreme, but this MACO look's real nice.

[@Justwantahover]

I use electrolytic caps on my single driver speaker filters. This makes a way more silky treble sound, than ceramic caps on single drivers (not talking about tweeters, which are the opposite choice of caps).And high treble tracks don't sound as brittle, with electrolytics on single driver speakers. I know e caps are supposed to suck but I went with the sound I liked. I never tried polycaps, though. They are probably expensive, I suppose. My e caps cost $2 for a 2.2 mf cap. 😅

[@diyfullrangehifispeakers]

guess I'm on the 1%. Great review Jay?☮️🇦🇺

[@Tbonyandsteak]

There are also a different design that is not a single driver, not a multi different frequency drivers speaker. Like a 6 full tone pared serieal that is pared parallel. It have no Crossovers, got lot of bas. Can take lots of amps due to it wired serial and parallel. Can be made in close cabinets. Some made where the speakers are in a line or where the units are pointing in different direction. Like an omnidirection speaker.

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

The beaming doesn't cause the harsh frequencies. It's the amplitude level of those high frequencies. They are just too loud in comparison to the almost non existent bass frequencies and the louder mid range.

[@Jayiyagi]

interesting take. However, Amplitude wise, it is actually the opposite. It's rolls off faster than traditional tweeters. You can see that in their measurement, and although not posted here (to be posted once I have my measurement rig upgrade done) I will post it when I can

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

@@Jayiyagi After 10K it drops off like a cliff, but the harshness comes from that peak at 8K

[@peterpida1840]

Well the thing is if you have good neutral speaker in great acoustic treated room, then everything from rock to orchestra sounds great. No issues anywhere. That means, this isn't neutral speaker, if its too brittle with rock. So the sound is coloured.

[@Freedom89984]

For bass you need a good and large bass speaker, for nice mids you need a good integration of bass speaker and tweeter and for high notes you need a tweeter. A well made crossover will help to create a nice and balanced speaker with a good frequency response. A single driver can’t do this perfectly. Although Pearl acoustics is close with it’s Sybelius.

[@smallbatchsessions6892]

Have you listened to the Pear Acoustics speakers yet? Wondering how they sound to you ? Thanks

[@michaelkaliski7651]

Valve or tube amplifiers introduce odd harmonics into the audio just because of the way they work. The odd harmonics make sounds appear much richer and with improved tonality that is very pleasant to the ear. The sad truth is that the best sounding amplifier and speaker setups actually have some of the worst real world distortion levels, but they sound really good!

[@suwatt6019]

Thank you for noting that single drivers are not good for metal. Thanks.

[@dhruvmeena96]

Single driver problem is the directivity issue and a better solution is coaxial where you get cone deformation in high excursion causes disturbance in tweeter waveguide... So they aint ideal speaker as pure in sound. They need full axis support to get best sound

[@matytinman]

Coaxial and with two first order crossover, quality components

[@garywong8361]

Is a Perfect match for Tube amp with full range speaker, I'm using it about 15 years

[@lsaideOK]

I don't think 80db is all that loud, especially if we're talking about peaks. When I play music that is generally at 75 dB's, it can easily hit 85 dB peaks. And, although I generally listen at low to mid volumes, there are times I want to turn things up. Up until the end, speakers sounded really good.

[@Jayiyagi]

I didn't mean 80db peaks per se. I had a friend over from Nova Scotia and we were cranking it up to maybe 85db+ (not peak) and it still sounded awesome but wanted to let people know that this isn't a party rocknroll speaker that can push 100db+ no problem.

[@lsaideOK]

@@Jayiyagi well, if it hits 85 DB, not peaks, that would be fine for me. My days of listening at over 90 dB are over. Thanks for the clarification.

[@Justwantahover]

I build speakers with single drivers and I opt for a filter cos it's effective in that it's equalised (especially with budget drivers). And another advantage, it works out cheaper (even with the extra filter parts) by a large measure, cos self equilised FR drivers are off the scale in price. And you can tweak the sound ever so slightly to your tast. And this is what makes filters magic. One ohm can make the difference between sounding 2D and the most holographic soundstage you ever heard. Thats a good reason to like filters as well as being more pocket friendly. My FR + woofer speakers sound like the Nautilus demo on YT! It's about the only demo of the Nautilus on YT. It gives you an insight on how mine might sound. But I also mod the cones of the $10 FR 5" drivers by slitting the inner edge with a razer blade, 8mm long, and around, at like 3mm out (with 5mm gaps that are not cut). Also repeat, at 1cm out! If it has a dust cap, get rid of it and put soft mesch over it or build a phase plug (better option). We want no enclosed cavities at all to combat resonances. We want only the best sound. The slitting mod makes the best treble I heard! And if you opt for a killer open driver, do this: Make thin crescent cutouts half way out from the center (and around). I made five 1" long, curved cutouts around the cone (like extremely skinny bananas, 4mm max width) around a predrawn circle, midway between the inner and outer edge of the one. This is to simulate an open edge 3" cone! 😅 Only use drivers with no whizzer, cos they don'f work so well open (causing too much lower treble). Or you can remove the whizzer. My drivers are these modified 5" open driver on top of the box and a woofer in the box. When you blend the woofer with it, it's nice and warm cos of the woofer. Crossover frenquency is about 300 hz. With 100 mf cap on the open driver it goes down to that easily by itself cos the filter does that trick. You could not listdn to them without the filter cos it's totally open. It's dipole and holgraphic off the scale! If you try it I would be very happy, now you know how. My filter is just 4 parts and for my modified Jaycar AU $8.90 5" FR drivers. 100mf cap and 0.05 uh inductor and 2.2 ohm resistor in series. And that array is in parallel with a 2.2 mf cap. I twisted the components together directly (without solder) cos that sounds the best (for me). Avoid ceramic caps, electrolytics sound great on open FR drivers (less brittle, more silky treble than ceramics).Try polycaps, I never have cos I can't affort them and I love my cheap electos on my speakers. And an inductor etc. on the woofer (of course). If you try making some, you will hear music at another level. So spatial and so holgraphic! It sounds so good that I reckon it would just about beat anything and this could be a musical game changer. But I show everyone, just for the music! And the experience of dipole point source (ish) open sound along with the warmth of a "normal" speaker. Panel speakers have a broard source and so can be out-of-phase with itself. But single driver speakers have a source that is one point. This is how the voice sound is so pin point and defined. Completely open sounds like it has no resinance and every single word is so clean and defined, with treble detail in the voice to die for (from the mod). You can actually "see" their tonsils. It's the best treble I heard and also it's point source insane treble (that costs nearly nothing). Just a bit of doctoring. 😅

[@stephenschmitt8630]

Hi Jay, I have question: how does the Starkrimson Ultra compare to an amp you had sold before, the PS Audio M700 monoblocks ICE modules class D ? Not sure that my PS Audio gear is that good with any speaker. Thanks much!!

[@corymarcotte5853]

Wonder what they would be like using single driver with passive radiator?

[@scrunts666]

I love those wooden phase plugs.

[@christophmartin5381]

Widerange speaker have indeed many disadvantages. Beside one advantage that the whole range will be produce by one single "point" everything else is a disadvantage. Intermodulation is a huge issue with those speaker. Precise and effortless bass is nearly impossible. There are some other issues. And looking at the real important range for sound imaging we speak about a range starting from 50-300hz up to 3-5 kHz. So there is no need to except so much compromises with just a single chassis.

[@sdads7531]

Lots of blah blah blah without ever hearing the speakers. You are clearly the 99%

[@SnailBurner-tl3ob]

it looks like the rear soundwave is well controlled inside the cabinet.

[@veroman007]

have owned this design before and all i can say is the price is out of line. the Sibelius is much cheaper than this and i assume at least as good but these prices relegate this to a niche market. one could spend that much on an incredible pair of multi diver spkrs and get better sound and more flexibility. just my opinion of course. how they addressed step baffle loss w/o a x-over baffles me .

[@sloboat55]

Excellent vid.

[@Jayiyagi]

Thank you

[@daleboylen6427]

Some of what you claim here is true. Some not so true. In a single driver, phase shift won't be caused by an electrical crossover- there isn't one. The signal remains free of crossover parts distortions/haze too. However, any driver has mass, suspension, and damping (by the suspension's resistive losses and the amplifier). Thus, it is a "damped harmonic oscillator"- in a Physics 101 book. A damped, harmonic oscillator also has a high-frequency limit, imposed by its moving mass- which equals phase shift in the highs, or time delay. It has phase shift in the low frequencies, because it has mass bouncing on a suspension (it's a mass/spring system), as described above. And since it cannot be an infinitely-rigid cone, it has cone breakup too, which imposes a ragged phase error across the roll-off region, a raggedness that changes with loudness too. In my experience, a simple 1st order crossover is by a wide margin, the best way to go, if properly implemented. I'm happy to provide the science behind that statement to you (again)

[@einarbk885]

beaming has nothing to do with volume. all full range drivers beam in the high-end. always. 20hz-20khz: 1000:1 which is why almost all speakers are multiway.

[@warrenmullett]

I’d like to try the Sibelius loud speaker.. 😊

[@artanderson8827]

The best single driver speakers I have heard are open baffle speakers. After you hear the bass from an open baffle design, you are unlikely to ever want to go back to a box speaker again. Box speaker bass sounds muffled and slow compared to a good open baffle design. Food for thought.

[@Jayiyagi]

open baffle designs done right can also be fantastic. Thanks for sharing

[@lukarubinic4504]

i love fullrange drivers, but Jay i see on the shelf behind sabaj a30a i there be a review maybe?!

[@dennisliavas4463]

Hi J How did you get your Forlane review pair? They are made in Poland. Any dealers in North America?

[@Jayiyagi]

Directly from Closer Acoustics. You have to buy direct from them

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

Yes that speaker sounds transparent but at the same time, it seems to emphasizes a harshness in the midrange area that makes it hard to listen to. There seems to be a peak in the response that rises above 4K and peaks at 8 and 10K. There's no warmth to this speaker.

[@Jayiyagi]

I personally did not find any emphasis on midrange areas that was hard to listen to or any harshness for that matter. I also found the midrange to be tad warm with the dynaco but def not "warm" all the way. But of course, you may be hearing things I don't hear or your mileage may vary. Thanks for your insight!

[@hiresaudiocosta873]

@@Jayiyagi Warmth comes from 100-225 hz area. This speaker drops off dramatically below 500, so there is no warmth. I measured it myself with a phone RTA app while holding it against my headphones while the guitar was playing. It was so harsh sounding to my ear, I had to see what was going on. From 600-3K is a peak in the midrange and an even higher peak starting at 4K and ending at 8K on the top end. I took a photo of the response, but cannot post it on this forum.

[@JesseShotland]

What's the price on these? Can't find any info on their site!

[@Drew-do9wx]

Those speakers look fantastic

[@johnwisniewski9899]

hi Jay I am a big fan of yours. Your journey into testing Hifi is great for all of us. Its interesting this review of this speaker, but have you ever listened to any omni driver speakers like Ohm Acustics out of Brooklyn New York? They have been producing omnis sense the late 60's they are very resonably priced and produce a huge sound and sound stage you should contact them and get a pair to review.

[@quant2011]

How they compare with Bastanis? Down firing bass horns?

[@m.j.s.3838]

Love my Cube Audio F10 drivers. I built full Voigt pipe cabinets, similar to Tech Ingredients’ “The World Second Greatest Speakers”. My subs are gathering dust, unplugged. I haven’t tweaked them yet-mainly upper stuffing and panel damping changes-but at present they do need some eq., through iMac/Audirvana in my case. They produce a huge, wrap-around sound field in my treated room.

[@yilunong2291]

How do these compare to the OGYs?

[@CharlesDowiot-qv7pp]

Jukeboxes years ago Had 1 single full range speaker 💫

[@MsCorbacho]

Voxativ 9.87 …….why are those so expensive ,…really my dream forever speaker ! 😢😢😢😢😢

[@klepp19]

I'm considering the Voxativ Ampeggio!

[@MsCorbacho]

@@max.racing that would go for almost every other full range then ,. That sort of comparisons is academic at the minimum , the one is not the other , so problably they will sound very different

[@MsCorbacho]

@@klepp19 thinking about the same , There is something very special going on with the voxativ drivers

[@jeffkalina7727]

Why not do a comparison of 3-4 full range speakers? Get the Pearl from Harley.

[@neps4th]

i think you are getting "Crossover baffle step compensation" confused with acoustic parameters of ports and such.

[@Justwantahover]

Play this on your single driver speakers: "No Ordinary Love" by Alexandra Miller.

[@ronkiely6183]

I found the track you suggested and played it on my single driver speakers and it played very well even at high volume. My speakers are Mark Audio MS11 drivers in DIY transmission line cabinets (made by me). They are however not perfect and suffer with what almost all single driver speakers do at high volume and that's Doppler Distortion. I like my single driver DIY speakers most of the time until I try and play " Hyperballad by Bjork" at even moderate volume she sounds like she's under water.

[@NeilBlanchard]

Of course the main *disadvantage* of a single driver speaker - is that it is compromised at the frequency extremes; in the treble in particular. The mass of the single driver is *much* higher than a tweeter - so it can't have the same extension. And the single driver is going to lose dispersion angle as soon as the wavelength of the frequency is smaller than the working diameter of the driver. And any compromises made to the driver to help it in the treble, then limit its ability to get bass extension. The cabinet is built with Baltic birch (on the inside) and covered with oak. They say no internal damping. Is is ported? Is it a transmission line? Or is it sealed? *[Edit: it has fairly thin looking Baltic birch baffles, that seem to be forming chambers?]* Is the claimed 40Hz extension an F3, or F6, or F10?

[@user-xg6zz8qs3q]

It's a transmission line. All speakers from Closer Acoustics are transmission lines. I have the OGY speakers and I can tell you that they have the best treble I ever heard. Clear and not harsh. A lot of 2 way speakers with metal domes sound harsh. The issues I experienced are: the speakers don't play extremely loud (not an issue in a small room) and I want more bass (a sub fixes that issue, but you'll lose some of that detail and cohesiveness if the sub isn't setup perfectly).

[@michaelcampbell9459]

Who is the female vocalist and song title used in demo?