Edingdale GT, the ultimate Edingdale? Probably

[chris661]

Just a thought - careful with mounting inductors near a steel plate. Best cast, you might alter the inductor value a bit. Worst case, perhaps some transformer coupling...

Looking forward to hearing these when they're ready.

Chris

[IslandPink]

Looking for Hammond wood case supplies, its surprising where you find pictures of the stuff one makes.
http://www.acoustic-dimension.com/hammo ... hassis.htm

Ha ! - when was that ?

[pre65]

Looking for Hammond wood case supplies, its surprising where you find pictures of the stuff one makes.
http://www.acoustic-dimension.com/hammo ... hassis.htm

Ha ! - when was that ?

Eight years ago I think.

[Nick]

http://www.longdogaudio.com/d3a-driven-2a3/

[Toppsy]

Wasn't in the mood today to finish off the second speaker base, so instead I made up some bespoke binding post plates:





and for the dedicated Apple users:

[Scottmoose]

They look great, as ever Colin.

[Toppsy]

They are finished






and photos rotated for you Apple users:






The crossovers have been built and mounted on 6mm ply boards sized that they can easily be fitted into the steel chassis' when they arrive. Though I have received a copy invoice and receipt of payment for the chassis from Philip at Bluebell still nothing to when I shall get the boxes

I hooked them up last night and for a couple of hours to help bed things in. Though the drivers are nicely run in the crossover components are all new so there should be some additional improvements as these get some 'burn-in' time.

Scott is coming over to Topps Towers later today so I'll report back on our listening experience after his visit. Initial impressions from last night's listening confirms they are probably the best Edingdales to date.

[Mike H]

Just a thought - careful with mounting inductors near a steel plate. Best cast, you might alter the inductor value a bit. Worst case, perhaps some transformer coupling...

This has happened to me. Had to put thick card gaskets under the transformers to stop it but still not a complete answer. I vowed to use only aluminium in future where transformers are involved.

[Toppsy]

I don't see me mounting the XO components in a steel chassis to be a problem. All the components will be (are) mouned on a 6mm ply board with cable ties securing the components to the board. The ply board is sized such that it has a 1/2" clearance all round to the metal case. Ply blocks will be epoxied to the steel base in the 4-corners and the ply board srewed to this. So no componets at all will be in contact with the chassis and will have a minimum 1/2" clearance to the steel. AndrewL has suggested it might be worth while earthing the chassis though.

[Greg]

Hmm, well you’ll have to suck and see. Personally, and I have mounted crossovers externally for several speakers, I have always gone with ABS plastic boxes. Likewise, Paul Coupe, RFF always uses wood. It’ll be interesting to see how you get on.

[Toppsy]

If it's good enough for Audio Note...………"Audio Note E SPe - HE signature speaker + external crossover"

[Nick]

Audio note have a habit of using Aluminium chassis.

[Scottmoose]

I suspect it will be OK; the magnetic fields from the crossover inductors shouldn’t be particularly large as these things go and I gather the box has reasonable internal space, so with a bit of care over component placement I doubt the transfer functions will be affected. If so, then it gets adjusted accordingly.

Excellent afternoon with Colin yesterday listening to the GTs. Beautiful work as ever; veneer join from the full wrap is invisible; I couldn’t find it without some kind of magnifying glass, and the large roundovers on the vertical edges reduce the visual mass; they’re a very nice looking cabinet.

Probably Colin's best speaker. Certainly the best Edingdale. Combination of the lower diffraction box with extra stiffening, the midbass drivers, the new tweeter and filter. Particularly the tweeter, as like the SR this is essentially an Avalon style approach to 2-way design and the crossover frequency is a lot lower than commonly used, so the tweeter is handling more of the range. Better / more consistent power-response as a result, and it’s also in a band where we also struggle to localise sound, so you get better integration. Still has the usual dynamic range & low distortion all the Edingdales have & improves on both.

That beryllium dome is something of a culture shock if you're used to soft dome tweeters; we ran a couple of live recordings we both thought were simply harsh before. Turns out they aren't; what you’re not getting is the slightly higher distortion of the cheaper tweeters or their resonance & slower decay time. On paper, you wouldn't think it would be audible, but it is to my ears, and it’s consistent from low to very high levels; there’s no real change in the overall character that I could find. They’d actually make a really nice midfield – farfield monitor for studio use; you get a real feel for the recording space or mix (as relevant). On a couple of what I thought were familiar live tracks, the actual soundstage captured turns out to be a lot larger than I'd realised (and no, there's nothing off with the phasing). Frankly, I’ve not heard anything under £10K I’d rather have in performance, and if I doubled that, I’d probably still say the same. Personal to me, obviously, but Colin’s put a lot of thought (and money) into these and judging by yesterday afternoon, it's paid off in no uncertain terms. Not cheap -worth it? In performance, yes. Significant improvement, several steps beyond what the cheaper speakers are capable of. Really impressed, and I'm genuinely proud of having some minor input into them too.

I'm off to rob a bank.

[Toppsy]

Yes Scott it was good to meet up again and I must say a really good afternoon listening to lots of different genre of music both studio recordings and live recordings. Thanks for the feedback.

As you mentioned these state-of-the-art beryllium tweeters are something special and coupled with the also state-of-the-art Satori mid-bass units make for a truly engaging speaker. I agree they are definitely the best Edingdale (nay restate that to the best ever speaker) we have produced.
Because the tweeter is so transparent and there is no breakup or shrillness when the volume is cranked up the only downside I can see to the speakers is it encourages one to turn up the volume as listening at the higher volumes is not fatiguing in any way. Small price to pay though and I simply love what they are doing.

These speakers prove to me that it is worth paying the extra for top quality drivers. I must also add that Scott you have done a fantastic job with the filter design. It simply delivers a seamless transition from the HF to the LF.

Regards the XO'ers in a steel chassis after due consideration and just to be on the safe side I have left a message with Philip at Bluebell, that if its not too late, can I change them for Aluminium. Means I'll have to spray paint the chassis as the Ali ones only are supplied in bare metal finish.

[Nick]

I doubt the transfer functions will be affected

There is more to analogue design than transfer functions. Stick a lump of iron next to a air core inductor will affect its distortion profile. That's why you use a air core in the first place.