jandl100
07-12-2008, 07:46
More new toys at Chateau Jerry. :)
I've been fascinated and attracted by the principle of single driver speakers for ages - but those I've heard have always had cons that heavily outweighed the pros as far as I am concerned.
Yes, I can hear the purity, resolution and speed that you get from losing the crossover, but I just cannot tolerate the resonances and colourations and frequency bandwidth constraints that also come with the package.
So the idea of an (alomost) crossoverless driver handling the mids, top & tailed by a tweeter and a bass unit, has obvious attractions for me. One of the main gains for me is losing those bloody 'whizzer' cones that come with Lowther-type single drivers to give them a semblance of top end extension. Urk. Horrid things, without exception, imo.
Enter the HORNING ZEUS. Spotted these on eBay - then another forum member started a thread about them. I gave him his chance to buy them - he didn't bid enough so I nabbed 'em instead once they were re-auctioned. :smoking:
About 3 foot high - 9 inches wide - 14 inches deep. Weigh about 45lb I guess. Very nicely finished - quite an acceptable piece of furniture. The wife likes them a lot - not that that matters, of course. ;)
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/HorningZeus.gif
Fostex midrange driver and a tweeter atop that.
Rear firing 'woofer' - although in truth it goes well on up into the midrange.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/HorningZeusrear.jpg
A tapered bass horn fires out the bottom - large port taking up about half the area of the bottom surface. Needs to be on spikes / cones to give the bass horn output room to breathe.
Some tech info :
dimensions: 910mm(w)x220mm(w)x350mm(d)
recommended amplifier power: 10 - 100 Watt
recommended placement: corner area & free in the room
frequency response: 50-20000 Hz+/-2.5 dB
impedance (minimum/typical): 4ohm/6.1ohm
sensitivity: 92 dB
crossover: Subwoofer-none, tweeter-5000Hz (6dB/octave)
weight:20kg
And here's one in situ .....
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/PL505A370Zeus.jpg
____
Listening:
The verdict after about 6 hours playing around with the Zeuses was .... it all depends what you want. :)
They have a difficult act to follow with my Audio Physic Virgos IIs .... the APs major on precision (detail and soundstage) and tonal accuracy.
The Hornings are obviously a bit coloured in comparison (but most speakers are, ime) .... but for the first time ever I found my foot tapping along to a Mozart string quartet! That small Fostex paper mid is fast - it tracks small dynamic changes better than an electrostatic, I reckon!
Bass is surprisingly deep (for the size of cabinet and type of enclosure - a downward facing bass "horn") but a little lacking in tautness - I tried valves (Leak Stereo 20) and my solid state amp (MF A370) - I'm sticking with ss for the extra bass control and focus that gives. The 185wpc may seem a little OTT :smoking: but works just fine in practice.
Very position dependent - they like to be about 10 inches from the rear wall and pointing fairly severely inwards. Mids get thin and 'papery' if speaker is too far from the wall, and too coloured if much closer.
____
Further investigation (i.e. shuffling around on hands and knees and listening to the sound from various drivers / orifices! :mental:) shows that the major source of the colourations is the bottom firing bass horn port - a definite honky sound can be heard - but stuffing some BAF wadding in this to reduce midrange output but let the bass through seems to have largely sorted this problem.
The more I listen, the more I like these speakers. Stayed up way past my usual beddy-byes time the first night just enjoying the music that the Zeuses put out.
Fast, detailed ... very fast .... musical images are palpable and explicit. Fast/exciting music through these is just grin-inducing. My pudgy little arms were waving all over the place along with big scale orchestral music! Ooo - 'brass blatt' to die for. :smoking:
Bass is OK - fairly deep but not that tautly defined. Sounds deeper than the 50Hz quoted in the spec - this is probably strongly dependent on proximity to walls. Def need solid state muscle to extend it and keep it under control, ime.
Imaging is now fairly sensational - different to, and possibly better than, the superbly imaging Virgos. More in-the-room, more palpable, more 3D. Just plain better, I am tempted to say at the moment. The Zeuses need to be severely toed in, though, to get this imaging quality - point them more forward and things can get quite bloated and diffuse (although some folks like that kind of presentation of course). Basically, you can tune the imaging to meet your taste in such things.
But, yes, a bit more coloured than the very-neutral Virgos. But more transparent to the music, too, in the critical midrange region - that Fostex driver really is a lulu! I'll be experimenting with different amounts of wadding up the bass horn to see if I can reduce the colourations still further. But tbh, it's acceptable already.
I'm enjoying these a LOT at the moment. As to whether they will oust the AP Virgos, I'm not at all sure - they just have a different approach to music making. Not sure yet which is the most enjoyable - I'm obviously tempted by the new things I am hearing on some of my favourite discs to say that the Hornings are 'keepers'.
Yes, I am hearing new things on discs that have been played dozens/hundreds of times. :)
Well, many of us here know what a 'keeper' is for me ... a few months at best, usually! ;)
I've been fascinated and attracted by the principle of single driver speakers for ages - but those I've heard have always had cons that heavily outweighed the pros as far as I am concerned.
Yes, I can hear the purity, resolution and speed that you get from losing the crossover, but I just cannot tolerate the resonances and colourations and frequency bandwidth constraints that also come with the package.
So the idea of an (alomost) crossoverless driver handling the mids, top & tailed by a tweeter and a bass unit, has obvious attractions for me. One of the main gains for me is losing those bloody 'whizzer' cones that come with Lowther-type single drivers to give them a semblance of top end extension. Urk. Horrid things, without exception, imo.
Enter the HORNING ZEUS. Spotted these on eBay - then another forum member started a thread about them. I gave him his chance to buy them - he didn't bid enough so I nabbed 'em instead once they were re-auctioned. :smoking:
About 3 foot high - 9 inches wide - 14 inches deep. Weigh about 45lb I guess. Very nicely finished - quite an acceptable piece of furniture. The wife likes them a lot - not that that matters, of course. ;)
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/HorningZeus.gif
Fostex midrange driver and a tweeter atop that.
Rear firing 'woofer' - although in truth it goes well on up into the midrange.
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/HorningZeusrear.jpg
A tapered bass horn fires out the bottom - large port taking up about half the area of the bottom surface. Needs to be on spikes / cones to give the bass horn output room to breathe.
Some tech info :
dimensions: 910mm(w)x220mm(w)x350mm(d)
recommended amplifier power: 10 - 100 Watt
recommended placement: corner area & free in the room
frequency response: 50-20000 Hz+/-2.5 dB
impedance (minimum/typical): 4ohm/6.1ohm
sensitivity: 92 dB
crossover: Subwoofer-none, tweeter-5000Hz (6dB/octave)
weight:20kg
And here's one in situ .....
http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii114/jandl100/PL505A370Zeus.jpg
____
Listening:
The verdict after about 6 hours playing around with the Zeuses was .... it all depends what you want. :)
They have a difficult act to follow with my Audio Physic Virgos IIs .... the APs major on precision (detail and soundstage) and tonal accuracy.
The Hornings are obviously a bit coloured in comparison (but most speakers are, ime) .... but for the first time ever I found my foot tapping along to a Mozart string quartet! That small Fostex paper mid is fast - it tracks small dynamic changes better than an electrostatic, I reckon!
Bass is surprisingly deep (for the size of cabinet and type of enclosure - a downward facing bass "horn") but a little lacking in tautness - I tried valves (Leak Stereo 20) and my solid state amp (MF A370) - I'm sticking with ss for the extra bass control and focus that gives. The 185wpc may seem a little OTT :smoking: but works just fine in practice.
Very position dependent - they like to be about 10 inches from the rear wall and pointing fairly severely inwards. Mids get thin and 'papery' if speaker is too far from the wall, and too coloured if much closer.
____
Further investigation (i.e. shuffling around on hands and knees and listening to the sound from various drivers / orifices! :mental:) shows that the major source of the colourations is the bottom firing bass horn port - a definite honky sound can be heard - but stuffing some BAF wadding in this to reduce midrange output but let the bass through seems to have largely sorted this problem.
The more I listen, the more I like these speakers. Stayed up way past my usual beddy-byes time the first night just enjoying the music that the Zeuses put out.
Fast, detailed ... very fast .... musical images are palpable and explicit. Fast/exciting music through these is just grin-inducing. My pudgy little arms were waving all over the place along with big scale orchestral music! Ooo - 'brass blatt' to die for. :smoking:
Bass is OK - fairly deep but not that tautly defined. Sounds deeper than the 50Hz quoted in the spec - this is probably strongly dependent on proximity to walls. Def need solid state muscle to extend it and keep it under control, ime.
Imaging is now fairly sensational - different to, and possibly better than, the superbly imaging Virgos. More in-the-room, more palpable, more 3D. Just plain better, I am tempted to say at the moment. The Zeuses need to be severely toed in, though, to get this imaging quality - point them more forward and things can get quite bloated and diffuse (although some folks like that kind of presentation of course). Basically, you can tune the imaging to meet your taste in such things.
But, yes, a bit more coloured than the very-neutral Virgos. But more transparent to the music, too, in the critical midrange region - that Fostex driver really is a lulu! I'll be experimenting with different amounts of wadding up the bass horn to see if I can reduce the colourations still further. But tbh, it's acceptable already.
I'm enjoying these a LOT at the moment. As to whether they will oust the AP Virgos, I'm not at all sure - they just have a different approach to music making. Not sure yet which is the most enjoyable - I'm obviously tempted by the new things I am hearing on some of my favourite discs to say that the Hornings are 'keepers'.
Yes, I am hearing new things on discs that have been played dozens/hundreds of times. :)
Well, many of us here know what a 'keeper' is for me ... a few months at best, usually! ;)