Hi Phil,
Looking forward to this GTG, appreciate u putting on a gtg for sydney folks.
In auditioning speakers, u dont always get to sit in the sweetspot...fair suck of the sauce bottle as Kev 07 might say...
I was wondering if u might share with us some of the newer aspects/changes u made to the i-93, for example u use a different tweeter to the original excel(?) tweeter?
Is it this that responsible for the bigger sweet spot?? or the foam treatments aroud the tweeter...(i also appreciate that u may not want to divulge ur commercial ip)
Steve
Hi Steve, the following are some notes that are cut/paste from preliminary info just to provide some preliminary info without keeping you waiting. On the two specific questions you asked, I'll respond shortly when head above water. There is a lot in the design though so if you have more detailed questions I'd be happy to respond specifically.
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The original Signature I-93 was acclaimed as the best loudspeaker many reviewers had heard, and the best in the world by some. As good as they were, the new MK2 is a large step forward in almost every regard.
What you will hear:
Bass
MK1 - Rolling Stone said "the best bass in the world"
MK2 - Bass is better damped again and quite noticeably tighter
Detail
MK1 - Australian Hi-Fi said: "they gave its owner a better perspective of the performance than the producers of that performance".
MK2 - The ability to extract fine detail across the range is clear. The difference at midrange and higher frequencies is profound.
Imaging / Sound staging
MK1 - Rolling Stone said: "The ultimate in high fidelity performance"
MK2 - Stand up and the image rises with you, move forward and back and the image stays consistent, move from side to side and the image does not collapse - this capability has never before been encountered by VAF in any other loudspeakers - the ability of these speakers to portray three dimensions is simply spectacularly good.
Dispersion
MK1 - A tight listening window for ideal results.
MK2 - Amazingly wide and even dispersion across all frequency ranges. This ensures greater tolerance to room acoustics as the proportion of bass, midrange and treble in the reflected sound that is heard is more consistent with the proportion of bass, midrange and treble in the direct sound. Additionally, together with the improvements in imaging allow a much larger area in the room to hear audiophile grade sound.
Amplifier Matching
MK1 - Stable 3 ohm load varying less than 1 ohm across most of the frequency range with impedance at bass resonance extremely well controlled rising to only 12 and 13 ohms. Needed high current amplifiers. As the impedance variation across the frequency range was small this made them ideal for use with high output impedance amplifiers like SET Valve types as well as high current solid state amplifiers.
MK2 - Extremely easy electrical load dropping to about 4 ohms at its very lowest point making them an easy load for almost all contemporary amplifiers. The difference between the nominal impedance and the bass resonance peaks are even tighter than before so the new MK2 are even a better fit for SET Valve amplifiers or almost any contemporary solid state amplifier.
What has changed:
Cabinet
As heavily braced as the MK1 was the MK2 has almost 2 meters more in length of internal bracing panels in each cabinet. These are not just to make the incredibly inert MK1 cabinets more inert, but are divide into three separate areas inside the cabinet to trap energy from the rear of the woofers in a way in which much less returns to the rear of the woofer to re-radiate into the room. The result is much cleaner sound and faster and more even decay (they stop making sound faster)
Woofer
Already modified in the MK1, the MK2 makes further improvements. This along with revised porting and the inclusion of port damping refine further what was already acclaimed as the best bass in the world by Rolling Stone.
Tweeter
Possibly the most accurate transducer made. Six individual rare earth magnets drive an incredibly finely engineered magnesium diaphragm which is suspended on an oversized synthetic roll surround. This delivers the rare goal of pure pistonic motion with no breakup in the audio band, along with unusually low resonance frequency and very long diaphragm stroke to faithfully transcribe every sound in the audio band it is called on to deliver. Unusually, every potential resonant cavity behind is ventilated and damped.
Baffle
Extremely detailed and elaborate diffraction treatments provide unparalleled reduction of diffraction along with making a beautiful and striking visual feature - form truly follows function.
Crossover
More substantial yet more elegant. Extremely low resistance 1% tolerance resin bound air cored inductors along with close tolerance self healing polypropylene capacitors etc characterise the exceptional quality of these loudspeakers. The unusual typology impacts every area of performance from time domain, to bass, mid and treble balance and decay. As before it is configured for single/bi/tri-wire or single/bi/tri -amp use.
Signature I-93MK2cc Centre Speaker Version
A perfectly matched cc version is available with identical performance and matching finishes.
