Originally posted by fjhuerta
Hi Mike,
Sure, I can. Hold on...
http://www.margules.com.mx/index_margules.htm
It's the A3.2 loudspeaker. Two way, three drivers, first order network crossover.
I'm thinking about comparing them with B&W's and Energy's because that's what I can buy around here. I'd assume buying local stuff should save me some money - but I really, really don't want to mess up things this time. Big problem is, I can audition the A3.2 at home, but I cannot do the same with B&W or Energy. Those, I have to buy - and I don't have a money back guarantee.
How can I make a meaningful comparison, when I cannot audition to some of the speakers I want at home? :confused:
Hi Javier,
For whatever reason, I'm unable to get a picture of them. Everything else shows up except them. :(
In any case, I was able to read their description of the speaker. Not much can be meaningfully said by just reading a description of someone else's work without both seeing and hearing it. However, There are some general things to consider with MTM type configurations.
By design, the listening axis is directly in front of the tweeter. Move much up or down from there and things can change significantly.
This particular speaker apparently uses a pair of 5.25" drivers around a 1 1/2" dome tweeter. What isn't said (and I can't see), is whether the speaker is sealed or ported. You also haven't said whether you intend to use a sub with it. Mating a sub to a sealed satelite is much easier than mating a sub to a ported satelite. That's something you should consider.
Stiff cone materials such as Kevlar, Carbon Fiber, and all metals, have substantial break-up modes that aren't always swamped out by the x-over or by use of conjugates. The reason for this is because you're dealing with a natural resonance that is inherent in the material itself. One's that are often 10, 15, or 20db in magnitude.
Think of the driver cone being a cymbal. Using a conjugate to dampen the cymbal's natural sound is almost like holding the cymbal with two fingers. You may change things - even substantially in relation to what the original was - but when you strike that cymbal you will still hear it. The same is true with hard cone materials. What is apparently well damped at .5Watt, may be audible at 1Watt, and unbearable at 1.5Watts.
Another question to ask is whether their first order network is electrical or acoustical. Let's take the typical dome tweeter as an example. The vast majority of them will have an inherent 2nd-order roll-off. Place a capacitor in front of it and you have a first-order network electrically, but the acoustical roll-off of the dome tweeter is now 3rd-order. Now, this scenario may still be true even if you add conjugate networks to deal with other issues. The bottom line is that this speaker may be a true 1st-order (acoustical), system, and it may not be.
All that aside, you clearly like the speaker. Unless there's something very wrong with either the design itself, or the engineering behind it (which I have no reason to believe that there is), there's no reason to believe you wouldn't have many years of enjoyment from them. I can tell you from 25 years of designing loudspeakers - the last 10 professionally - that the biggest difference between Margules Audio (or Shamrock Audio), and B&W (or anyone else for that matter), is quite often the money to market and promote the products you make.