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Markaudio Wide Range Speaker Thread


Sub Sonic

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Recently I've been rather enjoying listening to a pair of Markaudio wide range drivers and thought the brand deserved a thread of their own.

 

Markaudio make only wide range drivers. I have played with a couple and am currently using the Alpair 5.3 (5cm cone) metal cone wide range driver in an open baffle, woofer assisted setup. Interestingly, they have no "spider" at all, the only suspension is the rubber surround, and moving mass is less than 2 grams.

 

They have a very coherent, natural sound, a huge stable sweet spot, and "see through" imaging. Electrostatic speaker sound comes to mind, except that the sweet spot is much, much larger, no "head in the vice" needed here. They also sound good wherever you are in the room. These little drivers can genuinely take the place of a mid and tweeter, have a subjectively consistent power response, and are flat to around 20kHz. Bass response can be below 100Hz depending on the cabinet.

 

I have also had the Alpair 7.3 (7cm cone) which sounded good, but was ultimately a little too "sharp" in the top end for my liking, although many others rate them highly.

 

I am currently waiting on delivery of a pair of Alpair 10P (10cm paper cone) which by all accounts are a great driver with a wide, smooth and extended response.

 

If anyone is looking to dip their toes into wide range drivers, these sound great, and relatively speaking, very reasonably priced.

 

Any discussion, comments, pics or questions welcome.

 

Cheers,

 

SS

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  • 4 weeks later...


21 minutes ago, Sub Sonic said:

There are many more drivers than that? I bought pairs of  10p and 5.3 recently.

 

http://www.darcher.com.au/store/index.php?route=product/search&search=Mark Audio

 

SS

 

Edit: they do have the new 11MS and 7MS.

Oh! I didn't mean it that way. I meant the Pluvia's latest version (P7.2HD) isn't available from Darcher yet. Surely, there are lot of other variations there for sale.

 

Hmm... what to get. Pluvia 7 or Alpair 7MS or Pluvia 7.2HD from overseas.

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Just now, Sub Sonic said:

I’d be interested to hear your impressions in due course ?

Looking forward to it. I already have cabinets built from them, just wasn't sure where I could get the drivers, apart from Darcher.

 

Thanks to Dave (Planet10), I got the cabinet measurements and have one built already, so it is just the matter of Aus postie to come knock my door wearing mask and gloves. :)

 

By the way, this will be bipole MLTL speaker with two drivers in each cabinet. The driver currently in is Dayton Audio PC-105 4", which I already had, so used them.

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I built a pair of Pensil 7's using the Alpair 7 a few years ago. I wanted a DIY speaker that didn't include crossovers. They are my main speakers in the lounge room now (all the other Paradigms in the picture are in my new home theater room). I am still amazed just how good they sound. I have now paired them with a Topping D50s DAC and DIY TPA3255EMV Power Amp. The front panels are Spotted Gum heartwood, the veneer is spotted gum and all the enclosure is made of 18mm plywood (including behind the front baffle).

 

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  • 2 weeks later...
On 25/03/2020 at 4:37 PM, bluehalk said:

Looking forward to it. I already have cabinets built from them, just wasn't sure where I could get the drivers, apart from Darcher.

 

Thanks to Dave (Planet10), I got the cabinet measurements and have one built already, so it is just the matter of Aus postie to come knock my door wearing mask and gloves. :)

 

By the way, this will be bipole MLTL speaker with two drivers in each cabinet. The driver currently in is Dayton Audio PC-105 4", which I already had, so used them.

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Well! I received my MA Pluvia 7 drivers recently and completed the build for both speakers. 

 

I would have to say that I am presently surprised by the performance of these drivers. The amount of bass from these tiny 4inch driver is really something. 

 

 

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Mark Audio 12P in a open baffle with 2x 300mm Visiton woofers in a W frame with XO at 280Hz

 

As they are now. The 12P is magnet mounted to a centre spine and the baffle is mounted to the spine with rubber grommets and a soft seal to seal the 12P

 

I have used 4 different types of FR and the 12P is by far the best.

 

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Edited by Warren Jones
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No worries here is the setup. This is about the 6th iteration and sounds amazing.

 

The baffle is 7mm plywood laminated with 6mm MDF, glue is Sikaflex polyurethane construction adhesive, available at Bunnings. Baffle is held on by bolts but nut are only finger tight enough so it does not rattle.

 

Spine and base is 18mm marine ply same as the woofer enclosure.

 

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Edited by Warren Jones
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No kids, they have grown up and flown.

 

Previous FR

Fostex FE108

Fostex FE206En modified with phase plug and whizzer brace.

Dayton Audio PS220 required notch filter to remove terrible peak (SHOUTY)

Mark Audio 12P

 

The Mark Audio is by far the best. The system has no correction. Baffle Step was done using the XO point, baffle width and driver placement in the baffle. They have been designed to work in my room so measuring out in the paddock they do not measure well but in room response is good. They are bi-amped with active XO between pre and power amp.

Edited by Warren Jones
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  • 3 weeks later...

I got myself a pair of 12Ps from the guys down in Tassie.

 

The current plan is to mount them in Classic Golden Ratio Mar-Ken12 boxes. Was on track to get learned up to use a CNC router to do the wood work via community resources but my plan got scuppered by the plague.

 

All in good time. I'll get there in the end.

 

Good to read that there a few MA fans out there. Gives me confidence that I'm on the right track.

Edited by astromo
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