Osborne Loudspeakers Owners & Discussion Thread

[davewantsmoore 6,259]

17 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

But that's not the case according to the post to which I was replying.  They were saying it handled everything from the bottom end up, because the crossover (at 125Hz btw) did not include a high pass filter for it.

Ahh...  I see.   It's still right to call it the "midrange driver".....  or the "bass/mid".

It doesn't include an electrical high pass filter .... but the driver and the box themselves act as high pass filters   

 

17 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

why I ventured that it was 2.5 way and the speaker was really the woofer of the 2 way part of the system.

Depends on how you want to use the terminology.

 

2.5 usually refers to two identical woofers, where on has a low pass filter.    eg. two woofers which play from 40 to 1400Hz ....but one has a low pass filter stopping it from playing above 200Hz.

 

Here, it's really just a mid/bass driver, which doesn't have/need an electrical high pass filter.

[aussievintage 2,839]

The foam surrounds arrive today.  Looking good.  Fit is as expected, not quite as big on the outside diameter, but looks like plenty wide enough to attach.

 

 

Just sitting in place - not glued yet

 

[ray4410 552]

 all looking good,how are you centering the voice coil,i have rick cobbs self centering  cd if you would like to use it.

Edited September 17, 2019 by ray4410

[aussievintage 2,839]

Speakers packed up with paper and shimmed.  By raising the cone, the surround will sit nicely into the cone for gluing the inside edge.  Probably don't need to shim yet, but I did it anyway.

 

 

Gluing using a small bottle of glue I bought with the surrounds. I suspect it's just normal PVA white glue.

 

 

Both surrounds glued to the cones, but sitting raised above the outer edge while they dry.  I used the cotton bud to stroke along the edge to seat the foam edge to the cone properly.

 

 

 

[aussievintage 2,839]

28 minutes ago, ray4410 said:

 all looking good,how are you centering the voice coil,i have rick cobbs self centering  cd if you would like to use it.

 

 

I was hoping to just let the shims give me enough clearance all round.  They are a firm fit (just cut from an old record sleeve)

[Kaynin 3,626]

Has anyone compared the Eclipse towers to the Epitome towers? 

Also, anyone compared the Epitome Towers standard with the Reference?

[aussievintage 2,839]

8 minutes ago, Kaynin said:

Has anyone compared the Eclipse towers to the Epitome towers? 

Also, anyone compared the Epitome Towers standard with the Reference?

I have heard the new Epitome Reference towers at my brother's place, but only for about half an hour.  I plan to visit for a longer listening session.  How to compare with the older Eclipse Reference (non-tower) that I have now?  

 

Bigger and better springs to mind.  Very big and heavy to move about.  The bass sort of fooled me.  On one record I thought it sounded a bit light, but on the next the bass blew me away.  I would say it's a case of not introducing any false bass if the recording is lacking, but making it shine if it is there.  I guess that's what is nice about having that extra subwoofer in the tower version.

 

The high-end is harder to compare, as it's a very different tweeter to mine which have the early focal tweeter that you can't get any more (that some say was a very special tweeter).   Overall they are highly detailed and very resolving of individual sounds.

 

 

[Guest jakeyb77]

There is also 20kgs of lead inside that help to stop any resonance. Although if you see inside the cabinets you’d wonder if there would be any cabinet resonance anyway. 

I was asked not to take a photo of the cabinets inside which is fair enough. 

[Kaynin 3,626]

8 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

I have heard the new Epitome Reference towers at my brother's place, but only for about half an hour.  I plan to visit for a longer listening session.  How to compare with the older Eclipse Reference (non-tower) that I have now?  

 

Bigger and better springs to mind.  Very big and heavy to move about.  The bass sort of fooled me.  On one record I thought it sounded a bit light, but on the next the bass blew me away.  I would say it's a case of not introducing any false bass if the recording is lacking, but making it shine if it is there.  I guess that's what is nice about having that extra subwoofer in the tower version.

 

The high-end is harder to compare, as it's a very different tweeter to mine which have the early focal tweeter that you can't get any more (that some say was a very special tweeter).   Overall they are highly detailed and very resolving of individual sounds.

 

 

 

Thanks Aussie, good to hear your thoughts.  Yeah I've heard the Epitome towers a few times before, but only the old tweeters.  I won't get too caught up in the finite differences between models, so may look closely at the standard towers vs the reference and elite.  Maybe even the eclipse towers because they're still a fantastic speaker, but saving some money.  I doubt I'll spend on the Elite upgrade...

 

 

@Quark what towers do you have?  I remember listening to those and loved them...

[Kaynin 3,626]

4 minutes ago, jakeyb77 said:

There is also 20kgs of lead inside that help to stop any resonance. Although if you see inside the cabinets you’d wonder if there would be any cabinet resonance anyway. 

 

 

Very true, well worth the extra $$$ though for the lead lining, IMHO.

[Quark 756]

3 minutes ago, Kaynin said:

 

Thanks Aussie, good to hear your thoughts.  Yeah I've heard the Epitome towers a few times before, but only the old tweeters.  I won't get too caught up in the finite differences between models, so may look closely at the standard towers vs the reference and elite.  Maybe even the eclipse towers because they're still a fantastic speaker, but saving some money.  I doubt I'll spend on the Elite upgrade...

 

 

@Quark what towers do you have?  I remember listening to those and loved them...

I've got the Eclipse reference towers. No longer running the Stereoknight valve pre and mono blocs - I've gone with an Elektra Pnyx pre and HD300 amp.

[Kaynin 3,626]

1 minute ago, Quark said:

I've got the Eclipse reference towers. No longer running the Stereoknight valve pre and mono blocs - I've gone with an Elektra Pnyx pre and HD300 amp.

 

That's very interesting.  I loved them, maybe a better price point for me.

[aussievintage 2,839]

20 minutes ago, Kaynin said:

 

Very true, well worth the extra $$$ though for the lead lining, IMHO.

Both versions I have heard were lead lined.   You can barely feel a vibration on the outside when they are working.

[joz 5,545]

17 hours ago, Quark said:

I've got the Eclipse reference towers. No longer running the Stereoknight valve pre and mono blocs - I've gone with an Elektra Pnyx pre and HD300 amp.

Being a longtime fan of the Elektra combo myself, just wondering what sonic changes you experienced going to the Pnyx HD combo from the Stereonight? 

[Quark 756]

22 minutes ago, joz said:

Being a longtime fan of the Elektra combo myself, just wondering what sonic changes you experienced going to the Pnyx HD combo from the Stereonight? 

It's been a bit of a journey Joz. With the Eclipse towers and their beryllium tweeters I found the sound too bright initially when moving to the Pnyx. I've since changed out the crap Electroharmonix valves for some NOS ones and am much happier with the sound now. The NOS valves also have a much, much lower noise floor. The Stereoknight Enigma was also a little bright for my tastes until I swapped out the Electroharmonix valves for NOS ones.

 

I know Arthur reckons he built the Pnyx to suit the Electroharmonix sound, but I've always found them harsh sounding, noisy and unreliable junk.

[betty boop 15,352]

1 minute ago, Quark said:

I've since changed out the crap Electroharmonix valves for some NOS ones and am much happier with the sound now.

thats the great thing about valve s can just change out like that to find a better fit.

 

@joz no harm in rolling some in to see what think.. can always change them back out if not really your thing  

[Quark 756]

In case anyone's wondering, I'm running :

Valvo PCC88 7DJ8 in the rear sockets (these are a 7V heater)

Siemens A-Frame  ECC88 in the front sockets

 

Running the Valvos in the front sockets was way too dull.

[aussievintage 2,839]

55 minutes ago, Quark said:

With the Eclipse towers and their beryllium tweeters I found the sound too bright initially when moving to the Pnyx. I've since changed out the crap Electroharmonix valves for some NOS ones and am much happier with the sound now. The NOS valves also have a much, much lower noise floor. The Stereoknight Enigma was also a little bright for my tastes until I swapped out the Electroharmonix valves for NOS ones.

 

My Eclipse Reference have the same tweeter, but I run all sorts of valves, especially 12AX7s in my various phono preamps. In one I have an Electroharmonix in first position, then a Mullard (original, not one of those new copies).  In another I have two Electroharmonix.  In a third, I just discovered, I have an unknown thing in first position.  Must have left it there last time I was trying out spares - looks like a Ruby of all things, followed by an Electroharmonix.    In my line preamp I have two lovely AWV 12AU7s.

 

Haven't found the sound to be overly bright on any of those combos.  Maybe they work better in phono preamps.  

[aussievintage 2,839]

 

 

Job finished  AND successful.    Glued the outer edges of the foam down yesterday, and installed them this morning.  Working like new!!

 

 

[Guest jakeyb77]

2 minutes ago, aussievintage said:

 

 

Job finished  AND successful.    Glued the outer edges of the foam down yesterday, and installed them this morning.  Working like new!!

 

 

Great job!  Are the new surrounds co trolling the extension better? 

[aussievintage 2,839]

2 minutes ago, jakeyb77 said:

Great job!  Are the new surrounds co trolling the extension better? 

Much better than the temporary drivers I had in there.   I would say they are also better than they were when I first got them - not unexpected as those old surrounds were totally shot.

[Kaynin 3,626]

1 hour ago, aussievintage said:

 

 

Job finished  AND successful.    Glued the outer edges of the foam down yesterday, and installed them this morning.  Working like new!!

 

 

 

Great work!

[aussievintage 2,839]

Just now, Kaynin said:

 

Great work!

Thanks.  I was pretty apprehensive as I soldered and screwed them back in, then played the first few tracks through them, but they are singing nicely.  I didn't screw up  

[aussievintage 2,839]

On 16/09/2019 at 7:32 PM, davewantsmoore said:

Ahh...  I see.   It's still right to call it the "midrange driver".....  or the "bass/mid".

It doesn't include an electrical high pass filter .... but the driver and the box themselves act as high pass filters   

 

Depends on how you want to use the terminology.

 

2.5 usually refers to two identical woofers, where on has a low pass filter.    eg. two woofers which play from 40 to 1400Hz ....but one has a low pass filter stopping it from playing above 200Hz.

 

Here, it's really just a mid/bass driver, which doesn't have/need an electrical high pass filter.

Just to put this one to bed,  while I had the drivers out today, I looked around inside a bit more.  There is a horizontal divider inside between the 2 lower drivers, and a crossover is sitting on top of it behind the middle driver that I was replacing.   

 

It seems to be essentially two separate enclosures, and this is supported by the fact there are two bass ports on the rear, a smaller one for the top section, and a larger one for the bottom.  That middle driver really is a woofer for the 2-way section on top.  The bottom section is a subwoofer.  At least that's the terminology that seems most correct for me.

[Guest jakeyb77]

Email from Greg states they are run as a mid only. 

Next question. In the manual it’s says to use the switch in the bottom position. Does this mean push the switch so the bottom is in? 

Edited September 19, 2019 by jakeyb77