I realize I didn't post about why I was talking about Feastrexes and Subs yesterday.
Over the years, I've fielded many questions about the 5" feastrex drivers and how well they would mate with subs.
For instance, would the Dungeness do well if mated with the Feastrexes?
It wouldn't be necessary as the Dungeness only has frequency overlap with the 5" Feastrexes in the Uni cabinets, both going down solidly to just under 40 hz or so. They also have almost the same diameter driver, so it just wouldn't have much to offer in terms of additional bass.
The Feastrexes are extremely fast and plentiful on their own in the bass dept. and can be elusive and tough to keep up with with "any old sub."
However, I do think its very much possible to get a good pairing between a Feastrex and sub, as evidenced by a quick "plug in" of the woofer bank at Doc B's place the last time I brought them over for listening, which was pretty encouraging in terms of performance. Doc had one of the nicest sounding tube crossovers I've heard running the system. It think that this piece of hardware made all the difference that day and I'm pretty stoked to go hear it again.
Why woof?
The reason to use a woofer with the 5"ers would be to get far greater power handling and SPL's if that happens to be the taste of the listener. The ear's own EQ changes as volume increases, and the need for low bass to be louder than the rest of the mix increases as average listening levels top ~95db or so (to me) in order to be perceived as "flat" to the ear. This can be challenging for any 5" driver to keep up with above 10+ watts when its already making its own 32 hz (and few millimeters of confident, yet ultimately limited, excursion).
Now for me, personally, it is purist fullrange all the way with these drivers because I like nearfield and midfield listening with most speakers, especially the 5"ers. One SET, one voice coil. "Uni" is partly an homage the concept of "unite," "unification," both in terms of the sound of these drivers, and the strength of the design team that is behind them in Japan, and also over here in the US as PJ, PB, and Dan have all helped us immensely in the rekindling of this project.
The Feastrexes in our new cabinets are so coherent, and they make so much good bass when run full range in most listening environments that most people could rest assured that they'll more likely than not make more than enough excellent bass from even a few watts.
However, a hidden capability of these drivers that few people have ever really been exposed to is that they can make absolutely crazy SPL'S without any compression if the low frequencies are sent somewhere else. Their magic is still there as tweeters/midrange/low mid wide rangers.
Another cool feature of all field coil drivers is that you can vary the voltage slightly (+ or - 10%) in order to tune the drivers to a specific sound system. The high frequency presentation changes slightly in addition to bass character ("lean," "balanced," or "plump"), and this adjustment can prove to be a tremendous asset to be able to compensate for a slightly rolled off phono cartridge or to alternatively take the edge off of an un-optimized digital system.
The highs of the driver are slowly rolled off above 5k and this is a trait that is inherent to the sound of the drivers (like the Orcas, but there is a greater rolloff on these Feastrexes because they are intended for higher volume playback where the ear becomes more sensitive to high frequencies.)
I personally find the rolloff to be well executed. A breath of fresh air. Others who have experience with vintage drivers like the Altec 755A and E know that there is a seductiveness to this kind of sonic presentation if its done well. If the highs that are there are accurate enough, the ear still seems to be able to prioritize them enough psycologically that they are most certainly "heard." And while the roll off would appear to be pretty dramatic, the highs and even uppermost highs are paradoxically (to what these measurements would suggest) totally audible to my and others' ears as many things in the mix do definitely "shimmer" but they never "bite." There is an uncanny ease and accuracy of presentation that these drivers have at all frequencies. They "Uni-te" the music.
However, if one wanted to add a tweeter to the mix it would be very easy to do.
One could dial back the field coil voltage a bit to bring the efficiency more in line with a 92-93 db tweeter, which also softens the highs in a pleasant way to get a pre-rolloff before a crossover comes into effect, for instance. Alternatively, one could turn the voltage up even beyond 10% to get the rising frequency response of typical fullrange drivers, up even more and they make excellent tweeters! (but be careful to not go too crazy as the drivers get hot (and it's eventually impractical))
With exotic fullrange drivers like this, it can be initially tough to get used to the idea of their being malleable on a fundamental level but still with good, reliable results. In many senses, the sole fact that you've paid way more than normal for a set of fullrange drivers (not considering the cabinets), means you've probably gotten more capabilities than you might have thought.
Just like the Orcas, just like the design philosophy of Bottlehead amps, we are actually pretty open minded about how people use our speakers in the real world, so long as we are giving the vast majority of folks something that works extremely well as a simple "plug and play" pair of speakers that have an inherently good frequency response with SET's all the way down to any old amp you've got lying around.
So while for Molly and I, the 5" Feastrex in a "single driver" configuration with the beepre and paramounts is our "mega system" in the realm of completeness of resolution and holography and chest pounding, "goes through you" sort of bass presence and clarity off of 2-10 watts per channel.
But as with any sound system, even one employing 4-15" woofers (which we also have in our listening room!), there will eventually be limitations in bass power handling. The limitations inherent to the purist's single driver approach are ones that I am personally OK with for my own listening - just like the power limitation in the much less expensive, and much less loud, Orca fullrange.
Molly and I personally prefer long term low to medium volume listening to be a completely engaging yet relaxed sound especially in the high frequencies. Now - I'm not talking about "slippers and cigar" kind of backgroundey loungey musak boringness. Whether I'm sitting at the edge of my seat or bleary eyed at midnight sinking into the couch, I just want all the detail and none of the "edge." These are speakers for musical study and/or deep enjoyment or deep healing without any listening fatigue. We've built the heart of our business around these kinds of speakers and customers because we feel that this is a market sector that, traditionally, has not been served very well by the majority of modern speaker offerings.
To Molly and I, really good HiFi creates this needed "safe space" for thoughts to unfold, profound or casual, to listen actively to the music and to give musicians fewer communication barriers with their audiences. Or, more humbly, to just make watching movies and TV a more enjoyable experience.
Just like the speakers themselves are meant to be simple, transparent, and calmly go about the business of projecting their sound, it's our goal as a business to be transparent and give our all as dedicated woodworkers/manufacturers bringing our best to the production processes that are necessary to achieve this level of quality and control. It all goes hand in hand.
Cheers,
Clark
