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NEW Lenehan Loudspeaker


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Looks to me are irrelevant (just ask my mirror) - I buy speakers for the sound they produce. I am also lucky my wife’s WAF is extremely accomodating.

 

I can imagine Mike’s latest creation in a nice finish and would happily have them in my system if they sound good - history tells me they will.

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 can the foam be black as that would highlight the copper used in the drivers,the black foam and a nice timber veneer and I reckon they would look pretty darn good.

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Interesting range of reactions. My two cents is that a no-compromise design is a no-compromise design. It looks like a prototype and when it’s finished, I figure it will look unconventional but not outrageous compared to some of the speakers I’ve seen on here that people seem to love but I find hideous (not naming any names). I do like to see unconventional speaker designs but my beloved Amphions are a pretty minimalist rectangular boxes

 

i hadn’t seen foam on a speaker before and that was surprising but the finished ones in the photos linked looked fine. I’d worry about the durability of the bit sticking up but, again, they’re not the only high-end design with some delicate element. The copper accents look damn cool and I’m looking forward to seeing them on a finished design. 

 

I’ve only heard Mike’s speakers once at a show and to say I was impressed would be an understatement but with the likely cost, I won’t be the market for this design. Just thought I’d share my initial reaction :) 

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Yes, a "different" look for sure, but the outer appearance/shell I'm sure could be modified to look more "conventional" for those who require such (if the speaker goes into wider production).

 

This is a speaker which  has been designed with premium sound as it's first, and most important, objective (which would seem to be stating the obvious, if it weren't for reports that marketing gurus in some larger companies overseas, in the past, have apparently asked for appearance changes aimed at supposedly improving marketability,  which would have compromised the sound signature had the speaker designers not stuck to their guns).

   

With premium sound as the absolute, key objective, this is a speaker which I am very keen to hear once it gets to the auditioning stage (along with the ML5s and ML2s) once the borders open up and interstate travel is happening again.

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This speaker design (with the underlying design philosophy and objectives), with the components which have been used, has the potential to be a real cracker, and I'm really looking forward to hearing it.

 

Quick double-check....... yep OK......left out "it's", "its", and any variations of such, so safe this time.  Nearly let one slip in at one point (you can easily work out where).    LOL

 

Cheers,  Paul.

 

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1 hour ago, parrasaw said:

Yes, a "different" look for sure, but the outer appearance/shell I'm sure could be modified to look more "conventional" for those who require such (if the speaker goes into wider production).

 

This is a speaker which  has been designed with premium sound as it's first, and most important, objective (which would seem to be stating the obvious, if it weren't for reports that marketing gurus in some larger companies overseas, in the past, have apparently asked for appearance changes aimed at supposedly improving marketability,  which would have compromised the sound signature had the speaker designers not stuck to their guns).

   

With premium sound as the absolute, key objective, this is a speaker which I am very keen to hear once it gets to the auditioning stage (along with the ML5s and ML2s) once the borders open up and interstate travel is happening again.

Hi Paul, I live in the Port Macquarie area and own ML2 Ltds, if you are ever in the area you are welcome to drop in for a listen, bloody good speakers.
 

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Thank you awayward - that's a really nice offer.   That is a terrific system which you have, and one day I'd love to have the chance to have a listen.    I would like to make a similar offer back to you, for the future.

 

My system, which has worked well for 30 odd years, is showing signs of its age (like the owner!!), so just before the C-19 landed on our shores, I was making plans for a couple of trips out of town, to listen to a few different systems to decide what will become our last system.

When C-19 hit, my plan increasingly became " look to buy as much Australian made as possible", which would have been part of the planned trips before, but is now a real focus.  

 

With flying being somewhat less "inviting" and also restricted at this stage, I will still undertake a drive up north when the border re-opens, because I can then listen to, not only  some ML2s (which I have heard are brilliant), but also the ML5s (which I think would really suit my  living/listening room) and  also hopefully Mike's interesting new prototype.  Plus some Gieseler DACs etc etc.

 

Enough of that - back to the thread.

Putting aside the appearance for the moment, the new speakers, with their design intent and philosophy, and Mike's choice of components, are something I am keen to hear.  Really keen.   I gather from other comments on this thread, that I am not Robinson Caruso in that respect.

 

Thanks again for your offer,  Paul. 

 

 

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On 12/06/2020 at 9:32 PM, Lenehan Audio said:

My experiences with Bill initial Magnesium 2way speaker showed me that at last I had found a Midbass driver that was significantly superior to the Peerless Nomex devices .

 

People may be wondering, since this is a well known high quality driver, why Mike didn't try it before.   The issue is taming the breakup in the crossover and it  not having audible effects.   Seas recommends a devilishly clever fairly simple crossover in their DIY designs eg:

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/mtm-speaker-kits/new-thor-kit-pair/

 

It's a crossover and trap to tame the resonance all in one.

 

But other high quality speaker designers like George Short claimed he could always, doesn't matter how hard he tried, hear the trap - and traps tend to 'drift' after a while, making the situation worse.  It took George years to design a crossover he was happy with, and the same with Mike when building my speakers.  Massive amount of R&D.

 

But Mike has done it now so its time to make use of his research.

 

Thanks

Bill 

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Hi Again all.

 

Just chatting to Mike to see how close they are to hearing.

 

Not quite yet.  But he explained the difficulty with the crossover was ensuring the breakup was tamed and it remained phase coherent through the crossover.   Traps muck about with the phase.   You often hear how phase coherent speakers sound better - Mike has checked that many years ago and the critical thing is phase coherence throughout the crossover - outside the crossover its not so important.

 

Thanks

Bill

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi All

 

Just chatting to Mike again about the state of the new speakers.

 

It's all progressing well.   But he found something interesting.   He is optimising the shape of the foam baffle.   But found with changing the shape, the crossover needed to be tweaked.   So it's now a process of iterating the foam shape and crossover design, hence it will take a bit longer than first thought.

 

Thanks

Bill

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12 minutes ago, bhobba said:

Hi All

 

Just chatting to Mike again about the state of the new speakers.

 

It's all progressing well.   But he found something interesting.   He is optimising the shape of the foam baffle.   But found with changing the shape, the crossover needed to be tweaked.   So it's now a process of iterating the foam shape and crossover design, hence it will take a bit longer than first thought.

 

Thanks

Bill

Thanks for the update Bill.

It will take as long as it takes for Mike to be happy with his design and the sound, and then we will all be happy ? 

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I think they could look pretty cool, but I like radical "sound first" design when its done really well with AAA fit/finish. Like the Krix Esoterix which look pretty cool/odd:

Krix_Esoterix_Review.jpg.48dbc7c1a0e39a5078c7a9fb40daf131.jpg

Look forward to seeing how the design progresses..
 

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Hi Guys       sorry for the lack of interaction on SNA  ! OK  the new speaker is going well , I'm only getting around 15 hours per week on the new Magnesiums  at the moment because we are flat out with FoilFlex cable orders. 

 

This covid thing has bumped up our orders on FoilFlex and Curious USB cables quite significantly ! who would have thought hey ? !  

 

Ok the Xover changes quite significantly in respect of any change at all in the shape of the front foam baffle and even  the enclosure energy storage tuning ( by this I mean absolute minimising of energy storage . )

 

I'm determined to make this enclosure have less impact on the sound than any other speaker on the market today . I also want this speaker to be THE BEST available regardless of cost .  Yeah I know Thats a BIG statement mate !!!  Well this is my aim and if the sound is better than Bills initial Magnesium two ways (which is the best speaker so far I have ever heard)

 

 So I guess we should have a GTG so you guys can get a handle on whether this project is worth following ? The Covid thing will limit us a bit I guess but I'm sure if we were carefull we could handle say 4/5 people . Then perhaps the participants could report back on what was heard .    Maybe within 2 to 4 weeks time  Saturday or Sunday is fine with me .

 

Let me know who may be interested ?  Cheers Lads           Mike Lenehan   

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13 minutes ago, Lenehan Audio said:

Hi Guys       sorry for the lack of interaction on SNA  ! OK  the new speaker is going well , I'm only getting around 15 hours per week on the new Magnesiums  at the moment because we are flat out with FoilFlex cable orders. 

 

This covid thing has bumped up our orders on FoilFlex and Curious USB cables quite significantly ! who would have thought hey ? !  

 

Ok the Xover changes quite significantly in respect of any change at all in the shape of the front foam baffle and even  the enclosure energy storage tuning ( by this I mean absolute minimising of energy storage . )

 

I'm determined to make this enclosure have less impact on the sound than any other speaker on the market today . I also want this speaker to be THE BEST available regardless of cost .  Yeah I know Thats a BIG statement mate !!!  Well this is my aim and if the sound is better than Bills initial Magnesium two ways (which is the best speaker so far I have ever heard)

 

 So I guess we should have a GTG so you guys can get a handle on whether this project is worth following ? The Covid thing will limit us a bit I guess but I'm sure if we were carefull we could handle say 4/5 people . Then perhaps the participants could report back on what was heard .    Maybe within 2 to 4 weeks time  Saturday or Sunday is fine with me .

 

Let me know who may be interested ?  Cheers Lads           Mike Lenehan   

Hi Mike,

count me in 

 

cheers

Cameron

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  • 2 weeks later...

Of course I will be there - the magnesium's they will be compared with are mine after all.   I trust Mike who firmly believes they will be a significant step above those again.   We will see.

 

I will make sure my Chord and M-Scaler is there as well and will see how well they go driving the new speaker directly - my current magnesiums are too insensitive for the 18w they produce.   It works with the ML5's and these new speakers are nearly as sensitive.

 

Thanks

Bill 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Guys    

                 just a quick update ! I've spent another 34hours on the Xover design since my last post and yes they are devils no doubt .  Having everything burnt in is critical before making any changes as things change very slightly after run in . This is where much of the time in Xover design lies . One must apply a new idea then let the thing burn in before making any critical decision.

I hope to have a listener within another week or two .      Cheers Mike Lenehan

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  • 2 months later...

Hi Lads.     Ok there is another prototype! More conventional looking , similar to an ML2 but 15% more volume . 
The original prototype is still viable but requires a lot more design work !! So the ML2 type enclosure is proven to have very low energy storage and low waveform refractive distortion from the baffle . 
they should be running in about 1 week

check out the pic.    Cheers Mike Len393245F9-6DBC-4768-B739-7B7ECC3B02D4.thumb.jpeg.829f5d9c355196f55b101829d1f1a17a.jpegehan 

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