Planar Speaker Asylum

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Planar Speaker Asylum

Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics.

71.67.188.239

In Reply to: RE: in this day and age of 6 figured speakers posted by Green Lantern on September 13, 2016 at 19:53:59

Legendary Infinity IRS V system and the necessary electronics to drive it (mostly McIntosh) for sale in TN.

https://www.audiogon.com/listings/full-range-infinity-irs-v- (Open in New Window)

Follow Ups:

RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - dromney 13:11:09 09/19/16 (1)
I heard these demo'd in the 80's. Probably the best sounding speakers I have ever heard. Certainly impressive.
- RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 15:09:32 09/19/16 (0)
  I played with them at Lyric. An experience you never forget. I'd be curious to hear how they hold up to modern efforts.
RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - BDP24 14:39:05 09/17/16 (19)
There were a pair of Tympani T-IVa's (they must have been updated T-IV's, 'cause they didn't have the wooden side rails). The asking price was $4500, they sold (in a day) for $3850, I think it was.
- RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 15:10:52 09/19/16 (0)
  Wow -- good I got my IVA's when I did!
- RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Satie 15:05:47 09/17/16 (17)
  I think the days of Tympani speakers going for a song are well done with. The surviving ones are not that many and $4k for a factory spec restoration is now pretty much it. If you get a better price then it is because the tweeters are shot or there is delam everywhere.
  
  But these speakers I referenced are Infinity IRS V and their servo bass units are unbelievable. The combo of BG Neo8 drivers and maggie ribbon I think could outperform the original IRS EMIM line array, but Graz' new membrane replacements for the EMIM apparently seriously kick up the performance..
  - RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - BDP24 18:34:45 09/17/16 (16)
    I had a pair of the Infinity RS-Ib's for a while, which was a mini version of the IRS, with the same EMIM and EMIT drivers but fewer of them, along with two woofer columns each having six 8" servo-feedback woofers instead of the IRS' 12". For their time they were good, but I actually think the GR Research/Rythmik Servo-Feedback OB/Dipole woofers are quite a bit better than the Infinity's, and Eminent Tech LFT-8b's better than the RS-Ib mids and tweeters, overall.
    - RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Satie 20:21:41 09/17/16 (15)
      I sold my DR-9 to a guy with an RS IIb who was biamping with two DR 9 wired in mono and one in stereo. He replaced the EMIMS with Neo8 and liked it allot while Graz' was repairing the EMIMs with his new foil diaphragms. He ultimately liked the repair job new EMIMs better than the Neo8 but complained to no end about the cost and said Neo8 were a better value than the repair work unless you do it yourself.. .
      
      One of the options I was looking at to upgrade my T IV mids was to strip an old LFT8 of its mids vs. a RD50 driver or a line of Neo8. The waterfall plot on the Neo8 convinced me there was more potential there and I liked the higher sensitivity and the flexibility in line array length. But the open frame of the LFT mids was really attractive.
      - RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - BDP24 13:39:03 09/18/16 (14)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by Satie on September 17, 2016 at 20:21:41
        
        The NEO8 is a whole 'nother matter! I look forward to hearing them as a 6-driver line array installed in my Tympani T-IV's (ala Satie and others) should my new (and in all probability final) music room prove able to accommodate the Tympani's. If it doesn't, I'll have to be happy with my Quad ESL's and ET LFT's, both augmented with the GR Research OB/Dipole subs/woofers!
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 15:07:49 09/19/16 (12)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by BDP24 on September 18, 2016 at 13:39:03
        
        My IVA's are in a 12' x 14' room. I had bass and imaging trouble at first but I switched walls and now the sound is jaw-droppingly good with them running in split configuration:
        
        (The diffusers aren't doing anything, just sitting there -- I haven't tried mounting them yet.)
        
        The do have a bit of a mid bass boom, to be expected with Tympanis in a too-small room, but I'll just equalize it out. Also none of the side wrap that you usually get from the second reflection at the corners, since it's blocked by the main panels. And the room doesn't have any HF absorption yet, so slightly bright (but not painfully so). Imaging is superb with lots of depth and dynamics are excellent.
        
        Still have a lot of experimenting to do but they're so good now I'm reluctant to touch them -- I just sit and listen!
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Norman M 17:44:47 09/19/16 (5)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by josh358 on September 19, 2016 at 15:07:49
        
        I'd expect it to sound very good. Your arrangement is very much like one shown in the instruction manual. ;-)
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 18:44:00 09/19/16 (4)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by Norman M on September 19, 2016 at 17:44:47
        
        You've discovered my secret. :-) I just followed the instructions. I haven't had time to play much which makes it amazing that I'm getting such good results -- it's a very rough setup, the right hand woofer is leaning like the Tower of Pisa (uneven floor and I want to experiment some before I shim it up).
        
        I'm not sure what's going on with the current setup but it seems to have a nice synergy to it -- there's no direct reflection from the backwave that would normally make two bounces at the corner, I tried taping a mirror up and you can't see the rear of the Mo-T panel.
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - BDP24 19:34:19 09/19/16 (3)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by josh358 on September 19, 2016 at 18:44:00
        
        It was for the mid-bass I got the T-IV's Josh. I had a pair of T-I's back in '73-4, and I missed the Tympani's abilities with drums, piano, and acoustic bass shortly after I sold them (to get Fulton Model J's). My T-IV's came up for sale in Portland, OR, where my sister lives, so I snapped them up to use as (sub)woofers for my Quad ESL's. I had the seller deliver them to my sisters house to save the cost and possible damage of shipping, figuring I'd bring them back to S. California with me the next time I was up in Portland. As it turns out, I moved up instead! My room here is smaller than my one in CA, but sounds WAY better. That one was 13' X 19' (with a 10' ceiling), but with a bay window, and the room had severe echo flutter and high frequency ringing. Worst room I ever had. Though smaller, this one I have now sounds much better.
        
        Like you Josh I may end up placing the two woofer panels staggered behind the M/T one. And I'll be trying the woofer panels with both my Quads (original 57's) and ET LFT-8b's, as well as with the T-IV M/T panels, bi-amping with a First Watt B4. Fun!
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 04:42:37 09/20/16 (2)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by BDP24 on September 19, 2016 at 19:34:19
        
        Sounds like we're both coming from a similar experience -- I had a pair of I-D's for years. Then I moved and didn't have a large enough room for them, so I lent them to a friend. And I couldn't fit them here either but I figured I could use the IVA's in split configuration.
        
        I've always loved the Tympanis because they seem to me a great compromise between the superior clarity of electrostatics and the superior bass and dynamics of dynamic speakers, and because like other Maggies they have an overall musicality that I find lacking in many speakers.
        
        The LFT-8b mids might be a good match, I'll be curious to hear how it turns out. Not so sure about the Quad 57 just because of the difference in radiation pattern, but I'll be curious to hear. Someone here has combined the Tympani woofers with Martin Logans (and a rotary woofer!). I think if I were doing a hybrid system (which I'd love to do in another life). I think I'd try mating them with the Acoustats, since they're another line source (I was just reading an interesting thread on the Planar Circle by a former Acoustat dealer who said that the DD servo amps sound much cleaner than the transformers).
        
        Meanwhile, though, I understand that the Neo 8's are just short of electrostatics. I'm going to have to lay in some new amps before I try mine, though.
        
        meanwhile, I'm wondering what would happen if I filled the gap between the Tympani woofers and the ceiling . . . mine is only 7' high . . . and I'm losing some deep bass because a radiator prevents me from putting the woofers against the wall.
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Satie 08:58:40 09/20/16 (1)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by josh358 on September 20, 2016 at 04:42:37
        
        Re space the radiator leaves to the wall can be filled in with a styrofoam board cut to fit the space. Just wedge it in for starters.. .
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 17:17:55 09/20/16 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by Satie on September 20, 2016 at 08:58:40
        
        Good idea. I'd thought of a barrier there but hadn't thought of using styrofoam. Much experimenting to do . . .
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - BDP24 16:14:23 09/19/16 (5)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by josh358 on September 19, 2016 at 15:07:49
        
        I'm real happy to hear that Josh, 'cause my sealed room is only 13' X 14.5' (with an 8' ceiling). In the past I would have considered that entirely too small for Tympanis, but I'm gonna give it a try anyway. The room is laid out perfectly symmetrical (two doors and one window) if the long wall is used as the width of the room. The T-IV's can be 5' from the long wall, firing towards the opposite wall 8' from the panels. The listening chair will be right up against the back wall, my head about a foot from it. With the bass panels placed right up against the side walls, the tweeters can be 8' apart and 8' from my ears. I like an equilateral speaker/listener arrangement, so that's great. Really the only thing wrong is the room is too shallow---I would like three to five feet between my ears and the wall behind them, but I'm out of luck.
        
        For whatever reason the room sounds pretty darn good, from what I can tell without a real system playing in it. I have a bunch of ASC tube traps (9", 11", and 16"), and a DSPeaker Dual-Core to tame the room modes I am sure to have. We shall see!
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 18:39:09 09/19/16 (4)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by BDP24 on September 19, 2016 at 16:14:23
        
        Your listening arrangement would be a lot like mine -- speakers 5' out from the front wall, sitting close to the rear wall. You may have better results with split configuration. I had planned on it from the start, but I tried them first in the in-line setup and it just didn't work in my room. Not enough image width, and in the small room the speakers blocked too much of the backwave. I had them on the narrow wall, though, only 12', so you may do better.
        
        If you have them touching the side wall, you're going to get some pretty fierce bass! But the DSPeaker should tame it, along with the midbass boost you get from using Tympanis in a small room.
        
        The way I have them in the room now, the M-T panels are 5' off the front wall and the woofers about 3'. That puts me about 6' from the M-T panels. (The room is a lot more functional with the M-T panels only 4' from the front wall, but when I pull them out to 5' they develop amazing depth. I'm hoping the diffusers will let me put the M-T panels closer to the wall.)
        
        But wow, that Tympani midbass -- by chance, I was listening to a recording of Idomeno, and the tympani (lower case) just knocked my socks off. That combination of clean, natural planar bass and near-dynamic slam is just amazing. All thoughts of how crazy I was to put a pair of Tympanis in a room that's better suited to Mini Maggies evaporated the moment I heard it. And overall tonality is just amazing. I have a stack of Neo 8's for the midrange, but they're sounding so good now I'd be delighted to live with them as is forever.
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - AkuAnkka 10:16:03 09/20/16 (3)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by josh358 on September 19, 2016 at 18:39:09
        
        Great setup you have there Josh!
        
        I'm just surprised on two things you said:
        
        1) "You may have better results with split configuration". I have always thought that the best possible configuration is side-by-side for all three panels, and split configuration is kind of a compromise with not-so-good sound quality
        
        2) "M-T panels are 5' off the front wall and the woofers about 3'". I have always thought that 6-8' is a *minimum* space between the Tymps and the front wall, to get the best out of them.
        
        But it seems that the world is not so black & white after all, when is comes to Maggies' positioning...;=)
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - josh358 17:16:57 09/20/16 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by AkuAnkka on September 20, 2016 at 10:16:03
        
        Hey, sorry if I wasn't clear, I was referring specifically to undersized listening rooms, where in my experience anyway split config works better than the in-line configuration and you can't pull the speaker 8' out without hitting your nose! I also have a projector so have to have enough room between them to see the screen.
        
        That being said I suspect that Roger is right that split configuration can be excellent in the right circumstances. Certainly it's working for me. I've only just started experimenting with this location and have really had the speakers in only a few places so far.
        
        Setting up Maggies is daunting, setting up Tympanis is the square of daunting, and setting up Tympanis in split configuration is daunting^3! But I know what worked with the MMG's and in my experience, the further the speakers are from the front wall, the better. About half way out into the room was good -- that's about 6'. I did try the M-T panels out further at firstm but they didn't sound good, probably because of a phasing or timing issue. As it is, at 5', I had to flip the phase of the panels. Ultimately, I'll be using the MiniDSP to bring them into time -- that should result in an improvement wherever they're located. But I'm going to have to lay in a new amplifier first.
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Satie 14:40:53 09/20/16 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by AkuAnkka on September 20, 2016 at 10:16:03
        
        I think that 6-8 ft is the ideal range, but that assumes the room has enough space beyond that point. in a 12 X 14 ft room you don't have anywhere to sit if the mids are pulled out over 6 ft - you would be wearing them as headphones....
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Roger Gustavsson 12:27:36 09/20/16 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by AkuAnkka on September 20, 2016 at 10:16:03
        
        It is not just a matter where the speakers are positioned in relation to the walls, it is also a matter of where you sit. The split configuration is not automaticly a compromise.
        
        RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. - Satie 08:09:35 09/19/16 (0)
        
        In Reply to: RE: Another as good as it gets speaker and proper electronics. posted by BDP24 on September 18, 2016 at 13:39:03
        
        My TIV are in a 17X20 room, would probably benefit from a bit more space but more space might reduce bass.How large is your room? is it roughly symmetrical?

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