Has EB2 toppled ATC SCM11 in mid range budget. Speaker Advice for Roksan

[plastic penguin]

EB Ricky:drummerman:

Makes the soon to be anounced EB active floorstander very good value at around £1350 ...

Hang on a minute! Who said an EB active floorstander was gonna happen, and who said, if it happened, it was going to be £1350??. Wasn't me.

So what is next on the horizon?

 

[drummerman]

Stay with us and focus ... focus. Most of it has been worked out, we're just debating packaging and freight

 

[Andrew Everard]

EB Ricky:Hang on a minute! Who said an EB active floorstander was gonna happen, and who said, if it happened, it was going to be £1350??. Wasn't me.

Apparently you and Ashley James are already working on it.

He may even show you his Bristols if you ask nicely...

 

[Big Chris]

I want to know how much you'll charge me for a pair of EB2s in piano black gloss finish Ricky.

 

[Andrew Everard]

He could, of course, just take the black gloss finish off a pair of ADM9.1s - after all, all the development work has been done

 

[drummerman]

Andrew Everard:He could, of course, just take the black gloss finish off a pair of ADM9.1s - after all, all the development work has been done

Now you're just being a silly thing.

I will enter the EB actives in the reader awards so time is of the essence Rick

 

[chebby]

chebby:Are the EB2s inspired/modelled on the original (Peter Comeau designed) Heybrook HB1 speakers?
The dimensions are similar (if you switch around the depth and width) and the original HB1s were sealed box too.

Added to this, there is your association with Peter on the EB1 design so I was just wondering...

Sorry to repeat myself but my post landed at around the same time Ashley and Drummerman and EB started developing those new active floorstanders and it got lost in all the excitement.

 

[Richard Allen]

chebby:

AVI's amplification design expertise resides with the owner Martin Grindrod and the electronics manufacture is sub-contracted to LS-Design (UK) Limited in Gwent.

And Tony Gibbs at LS Design is no cuckoo either when it comes to electronics design. Clever man indeed. Haven't been to see him in 5 years now.

 

[Richard Allen]

chebby:

Are the EB2s inspired/modelled on the original (Peter Comeau designed) Heybrook HB1 speakers?

The dimensions are similar (if you switch around the depth and width) and the original HB1s were sealed box too.

Added to this, there is your association with Peter on the EB1 design so I was just wondering...

Peter Comeau's input for EB was early website design and the tweaks to the EB1 crossoer. At this point, Peter got the job at IAG and left me to run EB and Arcaydis on my own. That's why both brands were pulled in under 1 umbrella. All cabinet design was mine. As for the HB1, never seen one up close and don't really want to thanks. All my designs come from my head without the contamination of other people's designs. I don't consciously copy.

 

[Richard Allen]

drummerman:Andrew Everard:drummerman:No but fitting an amp pack, even for a passive powered speaker would'nt be a diy job for many either so they probably would have to go back anyhow. In any case, I did say an 'all powered' system which could be either passive powered or active.

I don't think it really matters at the moment

Just trying to make the point that you'd also have to design a crossover tailored to the drivers and how they work in the enclosure to go upstream of the amplifiers, and of course you'd need two amp packs for a two-way speaker and so on...

cost of development, testing, compliance with safety legislations etc etc.

hence my suggestion of teaming up with someone that has done most of that work already.

Makes the soon to be anounced EB active floorstander very good value at around £1350 ...

And then you have to re-submit for CE approval and that's another £4000 just for that particular change. Then you have to think "Can these guys work together and do they really want to??"

 

[drummerman]

Can you?

I'd love to have a nice, active and good looking/sounding floorstanding system. Around a couple of years ago I nearly got some ADM's and whilst they were the closest to what I wanted, for a variety of reasons, I never made the purchase and in some ways, still regret that. Since then, circumstances changed a number of times, with the start and failure of my cafe. Dur ing that time, when I had a couple of offers on my business, I contemplated a Naim system (did'nt work at my home) and then to go a little further with an ATC amplifier/speaker system. That never happened to the afromentioned reasons.

Honestly, if someone came up with something like I described in my link earlier in this thread, I'd probably jump on it, not literally though 'cos it would hurt as it's tapered and I'm not inclined that way, no offense to anyone

If this is within the realm of the possible why not use this forum to do a little 'market survey' to see if there are others. Can't see that would interfere with rules as you're not trying to directly sell anything and some of your business decisions seem to have been influenced as a direct result by reader suggestions here anyhow in one form or another.

Here you go ...

floorstanding active speaker, 85cm or so, pyramid tapered towards top, similar to meridian. Different finishes including gloss. Powerful enough for decent size rooms and volume, tweeter and woofer frequency switch attenuation, built-in pre-amplification with DAC and enough inputs for a couple of analogue and a few digital devices, remote controlled, a dimmable front display for volume and selection (or a nice led bar ala leema etc). Perhaps with optional extras such as a room correction eq/module, streaming device, plint, maybe in clear acrylic with decent stainless steel spikes or decoupling feet.

Speaker £1350, other bits extra

If not perhaps Epoz, AVI or somebody like QAcoustics would be interested

 

[drummerman]

c'mon guys, you're closed for the w/end??

There must be someone out there that can do something like that for that price and people that want an active f/stander for sensible money!?

 

[Anonymous]

DM, that sounds like quite a technical challenge, let alone coming in at that price. Consider the AVIs that Market at just over a k, add the sub and you're at 2k. Maybe a competitor like you describe could come in at around £2k but with the EQ as a USP. Being a floorstander I suspect they'd be more popular.

 

[chebby]

drummerman:c'mon guys, you're closed for the w/end??

There must be someone out there that can do something like that for that price and people that want an active f/stander for sensible money!?

I am guessing many of us are not on a crusade to turn everything active (despite how good active speakers can be) and at least one of us (Ricky) is too busy right now building speakers to keep up with the demand created by a run of great reviews.

I am happy that someone has gone against the ubiquity of ported/reflex speakers and successfully produced another infinite baffle design of some substance and at an affordable price. (Most of the sealed box designs - excepting some ATC models - are tiny and quite expensive in comparison.)

I have nothing against the idea of active speakers (I am on record here seriously considering ADM9.1s very recently), but it is not the right solution for everyone.

 

[drummerman]

Igg, indeed a challenge, otherwise there would be one already. Far fetched? Don't think so, AVI are close (ish) and EPOZ, although powered passives, have another take on it. Combine, mix, mingle, grow a little ...

Chebby, no crusade and I didn't say it would be for everyone, is anything?

Perhaps no-one would want such a speaker, no idea, but I would and it would get rid of a lot of plain looking boxes. Agree though, EB are probably not the people for something 'radical' as that and to busy fullfilling existing order books.

 

[John Duncan]

And when I met Richard (or Ricky, I'm not sure which), he did point out that something with a plug on it required a lot of expensive EU certification, which may put it beyond the resources of some small companies, particularly when they're doing rather well with their existing product line, thank you very much.

 

[The_Lhc]

I think what drummerman wants is actually the Meridians but for half the price (or less if possible).

 

[drummerman]

Agree.

Just seems there's a void for a more complete active system, more domestically acceptable with less short comings than what's available at less than high-end prices.

I perhaps mistakingly think that system integration, whether active or passive, is the future though there will be always those that prefer the separate box way, including dealers!

 

[drummerman]

the_lhc:I think what drummerman wants is actually the Meridians but for half the price (or less if possible).

Do you know, I can't remember the last time I've seen a meridian system in the flesh nor have I googled the specs but they have certainly been going for a long time.

But you're not so wrong, something along those lines, slightly downscaled with everything he/she/me needs to make it a good looking, great sounding hub that doesn't take the living room over completely.

 

[The_Lhc]

Trouble is, I suspect if it could be done for the sort of money you're talking about, it probably would have been.

 

[Anonymous]

I prefer the change crossover/add power amp solution rather than having everything built into the cabinet. Apart from the obvious advantage of servicing if a component fails, it would allow different amp manufacturers to build for the speakers and for us impoverished few to make the transition more gently since we could start with passive then go active later.

I'm generalising now, but active speakers usually don't have the best amplification, partly because they can disguise this through better control of the drive units and partly because, with a few honorable exceptions, they're not catering for the hifi market.

 

[Anonymous]

JohnDuncan:And when I met Richard (or Ricky, I'm not sure which), he did point out that something with a plug on it required a lot of expensive EU certification, which may put it beyond the resources of some small companies, particularly when they're doing rather well with their existing product line, thank you very much.

And there's the rub!!. But, I think I can get close so don't despair. Certification costs in the region of 3K so you have to make sure you've got it about right before you launch. CE certification actually JD.

 

[Anonymous]

And there's another rub!!. if you do an active design, you deny the customer the choice of amplifier that you can use. : quote. Dr. Graham Bank. Research Director Celestion. Circa 1995.

Need I say more??

 

[Andrew Everard]

Tarquinh:I prefer the change crossover/add power amp solution rather than having everything built into the cabinet. Apart from the obvious advantage of servicing if a component fails, it would allow different amp manufacturers to build for the speakers and for us impoverished few to make the transition more gently since we could start with passive then go active later.

You mean as the likes of Linn and Naim did decades ago...?

 

[Anonymous]

Andrew Everard:

Tarquinh:I prefer the change crossover/add power amp solution rather than having everything built into the cabinet. Apart from the obvious advantage of servicing if a component fails, it would allow different amp manufacturers to build for the speakers and for us impoverished few to make the transition more gently since we could start with passive then go active later.

You mean as the likes of Linn and Naim did decades ago...?

Nothing wrong with old designs or principles Andrew.