Well, getting back to the Alpair 12P...
SYSTEM DESCRIPTION:
Alpair 12P 8" mids/high 300Hz first order high pass
Eminence Beta 15" woofer for OB bass 300Hz 2nd order low pass
Hsu Sub 10" woofer 20 to 50Hz where OB rolls off.
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The Alpair drivers are not bad at all for approximately $320 per pair. Madisound provided me with pairs matched at the same resonant frequency. The marketing materials on the MarkAudio website and
blather on DIYAudio make it seem like they are the second coming of Jesus or something like that - requiring the use of the most exquisite resolving tube amps with uber transformers. I can assure all of you that is most certainly NOT the case. However, the drivers are quite good and very appropriately priced for their performance. I think they are almost on par with the Fostex Sigma series drivers more or less depending upon your priorities - some things are better, some things are worse.
PROS:
- Extremely detailed mids - surrounds are thin, spider allows easy movement
- Fairly efficient - as efficient as the Moth Cicadas when in effective use
- Good smooth frequency response characteristics for a wide-bander
CONS:
- Does not extend past 10kHz - no air, so sense of space/venue is not quite there - definitely needs a super-tweeter
- Paper coloration - the paper cone is two-layer and quite thick - tapping on it produces this coloration - good thing is that one gets used to it, until one hears something better without materials coloration
Attached below:
- First Attachment: Frequency response at sitting position.* Very nice flat mids. Little bit bumpy in high bass and lower mids, but this is expected interference pattern for OB. I didn't bother to EQ the OB interference bumps out. Keep in mind this is a in-room at listening position measurement, not a microphone wand at 1 meter away. In essence, performance is extremely good, other than the HF roll-off.
- Second Attachment: FR per Mark Audio spec sheet (moral of story: never trust speaker spec sheets. I'm not getting anywhere near the treble extension spec sheet says I should; sometimes I do though - the spec sheets from Seas from example have been pretty darn accurate)
* Light digital PEQ applied as follows:
1) Subs and woofer (no more than -/+ 3db at four points)
2) Alpair 12P has -4db notch at 3700Hz and a +3db treble shelf past 10.5kHz
