IPL speakers

[Deleted member 160668]

Hi all,

I spent a fair bit of time yesterday doing some homework on potential speaker/amp upgrades for later in year. I was leaning towards PMC 20/23 (2nd hand), or new 25/23.

Ive come across various old threads about IPL self builds and how ‘amazing’ they are for the cash.

Does anyone currently on here have first hand experience of these? If so, thoughts please.

I’d pay to get them professionally built as otherwise I’d end up with an expensive doorstop, but even still they’d be approx 1/2 cost of new 25/23’s!

 

[chebby]

http://www.iqspeakers.co.uk/speakers

 

[Deleted member 160668]

Thanks. Saw that and pinged Colin an email yesterday, so hopefully he’ll respond at some point soon. Seems to be inactive on this forum as not logged in for while.

The one bit of his website I was most interested in ‘speakers these have replaced’ doesn’t load.

So keen to see if anyone else has any other knowledge.

 

[nopiano]

I replied on your Abrahamsen thread too. Did you see a recent thread along the lines of “ what do you look for in a loudspeaker “? Quite a few, including me, said a reputation or pedigree was important. I’ve have ‘homemade ‘ loudspeakers before - does anyone remember Nightingale NM1 by John Jeffries of Eastbourne?

For value now the IPL and similar will be great. But if you want a change in few years, they’ll be hard to sell. It’s a bit like buying an unusual car brand - cheap to start with, but worth little when trading in.

 

[cs2011]

I used to own some of the IPL S3TL transmission line speakers which used SEAS drive units, before Ivan switched over to HiVi (Chinese) drivers. They were OK, but limited by the cabinet topology used, which resulted in a very lumpy response below about 300Hz. I spent a lot of time experimenting with the amount and distribution of the stuffing material, taking response measurements on a spectrum analyser. The result is heavily compromised, you either have a lumpy but extended bass, or a smooth but weak bass.

The latest IPL transmission lines use much the same layout, which has its origins in the Bailey configuration first published in Wireless World in the 1960s. As such, they will suffer the same limitations. The problem is that Ivan hasn't moved with the times. He hasn't taken on board the excellent work carried out by renowned American acoustics expert Martin J. King, who has developed vastly better transmission line configurations, and accurate software to design them.

I'm in the middle of designing such speakers myself, using the MJK software, and probably using drivers from SB Acoustics. The SB drivers are in a completely different league to the HiVi units, and similar in price too.

 

[Al ears]

I replied on your Abrahamsen thread too. Did you see a recent thread along the lines of “ what do you look for in a loudspeaker “? Quite a few, including me, said a reputation or pedigree was important. I’ve have ‘homemade ‘ loudspeakers before - does anyone remember Nightingale NM1 by John Jeffries of Eastbourne?

For value now the IPL and similar will be great. But if you want a change in few years, they’ll be hard to sell. It’s a bit like buying an unusual car brand - cheap to start with, but worth little when trading in.

+1

Wilmslow Audio and other self-build speaker providers do some wonderful designs but you have to get them as keepers as you can, and most certainly will, lose money on attempting to sell them on.

 

[insider9]

I believe the immense value of IPL speakers is when you build them yourself. The minute you pay for someone else doing it value diminishes a lot. If that's what you're considering get a pair from ebay I've seen many pairs of older floorstanders going for not much over £100 if you can collect.

I have not heard a pair though but know we have forumites using them.

 

[jonathanRD]

paulkebab has some IPL S2tlm's and had S4's before them. Finger's crossed he will see your post.

 

[paulkebab]

and I agree with all the above comments. VFM is unquestionable, but as has been said you're not going to get your money back unless someone specifically wants them. Colin at IQ started to buy and build the kits himself and had quite a bit of success there, and he has them on demo too, so I think that's where I'd be heading first. If I had the correct room size I'd buy another pair of S4tl's tomorrow, they were amazing but the Vincent amp upgrade revealed some big bass modes. I downsized to the S2tlm which work a lot better in my room and if you look at the IPL website Ivan has recommended room sizes for each speaker, take this advice by the letter! On cs2011's comment, I had a pair of M3's with the Seas drivers and they were good, but nothing to write home about so they were sold on to someone who liked them more than me. Whatever the pedigree of the HiVi drivers now used, they are far better and the ribbon tweeter is just so smooth. I like more treble than most and there's no edge or sharpness to it, whatever level you try to push it to. I've had the amp running at pretty much full volume for a half hour stint and they still sounded damn good. Being a 2-way means midrange doesn't smack you in the face but detail is excellent even at low levels, although your amp might be relevant here. Looking at the PMC's the S4tl is the nearest equivalent by physical size but room size is the decider. I went to Wilmslow Audio and was impressed by a D'Apollito type speaker they made but was a bit small for my (then) room. They cost quite a bit more than IPL but that's the price of so-called progress. As always, pays money takes choice.

 

[plastic penguin]

Colin's success was on here.

Agree they will be hard to move on. In the short tem they look like good value, but keep them a good few years... how many people would want a second hand kit speaker?

 

[paulkebab]

does anyone really want a s/h speaker??

 

[insider9]

does anyone really want a s/h speaker??

Sure, I do. Why would you not want a s/h speaker particularly if it was cherished by its original owner? There's so little to go wrong with speakers they're a safe bet when buying s/h as long as you know who you're getting them from and whether they care for their gear.

And the more expensive original RRP the more likely it is an enthusiast you're buying from and that they were never abused.

 

[Al ears]

does anyone really want a s/h speaker??

Sure, I do. Why would you not want a s/h speaker particularly if it was cherished by its original owner? There's so little to go wrong with speakers they're a safe bet when buying s/h as long as you know who you're getting them from and whether they care for their gear.

And the more expensive original RRP the more likely it is an enthusiast you're buying from and that they were never abused.

Indeed, most of my speakers including my current two pairs are second-hand. Nothing wrong with that and a good deal of money saved that has gone elsewhere such as my amplification, which is new.

 

[paulkebab]

have been second hand and no issues with any of them, I was just being a bit dry in reply to PP.

 

[Native_bon]

See from my signature I do own a pair of IPL speakers. Clean bass and deep at it. Also got a non fatiguing sound, with clear extended high frequencies. IMO you may need to spend up to 3 to 4k to get same performance from mass produced speakers. The thing that most stands out for me is the lack of bass boom.

Well the only down side is not sounding their very best at relative low volume levels.

 

[paulkebab]

I would agree with your views on the low-level detail, mine are the m variant which might make a difference. I had that issue with the S4tl Kevlar but the Vincent amp had the biggest effect on that problem.

 

[Native_bon]

I would agree with your views on the low-level detail, mine are the m variant which might make a difference. I had that issue with the S4tl Kevlar but the Vincent amp had the biggest effect on that problem. 

Yes seems that's the case. I'm just not prepared to add more boxes to my set up at the moment, got my eye on the Arcam 850 if the price comes down eventually or just before it sells out. For now I'm content with the performance I'm getting. I know I could put a 5k amp with the IPL's with no problem at all.

By the way your amp seems like really good value for money. Are they built to order if you don't mind me asking.

 

[paulkebab]

they're ready to ship from the London distributor. The latest incarnation carries a DAC so even better value. There's no headphone output or turntable facilities though, it's an amp only but it's a belter. I think they still do a try-before-you-buy which is how I got mine.

Edit the latest one has a headphone out too.

 

[Hifimatt]

Hi all, I no this is a old Story but I would like to say I
Have the IPL S5TL and I love them very much and I’ve had them for about 15 years now,