Q. on shootout between time/phase coherent speaker


All

I have a couple of questions

1. What are folks opinions of strenghts/weakness (characteristics) of the famous time/phase coherent speaker lines out there (Thiel, Vandy, GMA, Meadowlark, etc etc)

2. Esp in the under $2k range.

3. Have folks backed up their impression with any scientific (measurements, and/or double blind).

I have Vandersteen 2Ce's in a HT system with Arcam AVR amplification (choose Vandy's as they have complete system and price wise a good choice)

Shriram
shriramosu
My GMA Callisto's are easy to drive, very tricky to set up, adjusting toe in by even a fraction of an inch yeilds a very different sound...pointed straight ahead they sound broken. They have a quite small sweet spot, at least compared to my previous non time/phase coherent Totem Arros, those sounded fine pretty much from any angle. and they diffinately interact with my room quite a lot...again compared to my previous speakers. They are tricky enough to set up and interact with the room to the degree that I would almost be learly of auditioning them in a dealers room unless i was very sure they set them up very carefully and calibrated them to my listening hight, otherwise you're not hearing them to their consderable capabilities.
Hi Pubul57,

I don't know the answer to your question on why Thiels and Vandy's are not so easy to drive but you are right about that. OTOH, they're not extremely difficult loads either, but the point I wanted to make is that 1st order crossovers are an attribute that makes speakers easier to drive, not vice-versa. Thiel & Vandy obviously have other factors at work. I suspect that their crossovers are not nearly as simple as 1st order networks can be. Roy at GMA makes extremely simple crossovers because he fixes impedance and freq. response issues with the cabinet, the way it should be done, not by adding artificial fixes in the xover.

The crossover of the Callisto, for example, is one cap on the tweet and one inductor on the woofer! That's it. Then there is a simple Zobel network on each driver but I don't believe that's part of the crossover per se.
Shiriramso,True time domain speakers do require more time and attention to room placement.Is there a reward? You bet your sweet little booties, if you like sound and images that defy room boundaries and images that are so real.Then the TDC speaker is for you! If you just want to casually listen and find tuning a room to be a pain, then go with the laid back Vandies.It is all with what one wants from ones system ( I've gone the rather zealous way of tuning everything in my Domain).You must ask yourself if you want to go on a audio journey? Once you start it gets very addicting!!Hope this helps Dennis
Most Vandersteens are pretty easy to drive. The exception is the 3A Signature which is a 4 ohm load. 1C's, 2Ce Sigs, 2Ce MKII's and Quatros are quite easy for most amplifiers.