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Review 1 of 3
Price Paid:
$0.00 Summary:
This is for Newform Research's new Co-axial Linesource speakers.
I have had a set for about one year now. They are the version with 4, 7" Revelator bass speakers and a single ribbon tweeter per side. The cabinets are extremely dead and heavy. They are infinite baffle (no ports). The tweeter aligns with the center of the bass drivers (thus the co-axial) and the woofers are aligned in a "line source" arrangement.
I bi-amp these using the Behringer DCX2496 electronic crossover. First of all let me say that I am a technician and I record, mix and master music as well as listen to the normal assortment of music and videos including DVD audio, SACD, CD, movies and everything else. These are the main left and right speakers and the preamp being used is a Nuforce AVP16. The amplifiers are hi end digital (others have been used including Bryston, Yamaha, Rotel ...)
Speakers I ave owned and compared these to include Magnepan Tympani 4a's, PMC FB1's, Magnepan MG12's, B&W's etc.
These are the smartest, most elegantly design speaker that I have had the pleasure to listen to, anywhere, any time. Mr. Meyer has combined the characteristics of classic line source (woofers) with his perfectly matched ribbon tweeter design. The components are top notch quality and his selected woofer is a perfect match. The focused sound field of a linesource are seamlessly integrated through the complete frequency range using his co-axially aligned tweeter. Without ports and with a completely dead cabinet, the bass is controlled an extremely independent of the room and relative position of surrounding walls. As soon as you move to one side or behind the cabinet you notice the lack of sound and energy while the speaker plays loudly out front. This is true of the complete frequency range. No reflections off of walls = only direct, coherent sound. I no longer use room treatment in between the speakers or wall behind them since there is little or nothing to absorb. Combine this with the time alignment of the co-axial arrangement, no radiated sound upward (once again the line source and ribbon tweeter do not radiate above or below their physical positions) to reflect off the ceiling, no radiated sound downward to reflect off the floor and you have a sound field that is as sharp as near-field while sounding dynamic and spacious, no matter what distance you are listening to them from.
For these reasons they are at once neutral to the material being played (not adding anything) and wonderfully natural at recreating the sound field and recorded character of position and room.
I tried moving them into the most speaker unfriendly positions I could to test the limits of their characteristics (it's the technician in me) and they were most forgiving and best sounding speakers I have used. The exact opposite of every other speaker I have used. No longer do I have to tweak position a 1/16 of an inch at a time, struggling to compromise between bass, imaging, and sound field.
I now use them to mix and master recordings and I have yet to experience any nasty surprise when playing back the material on other systems.
The efficiency is surprisingly high and dynamics are excellent. 4 woofers and ribbon tweeter??
WAF is very good. The nice oak veneer is even applied around the tweeter which ties it into the main cabinet and it is very balanced looking.
Strengths:
Line Source and co-axial design
Virtually independent of room characteristics
Flat frequency response, again independent of the room
Imaging and sound field
micro and macro dynamics
Looks
Without a doubt the single most impressive audio purchase that I have ever made, speakers, electronics, recording equipment, bar none.
Weaknesses:
Heavy (you won't need to move them, so who cares?) Similar Products Used:
Magnepan Tympani's, Magnepan MG12's, PMC FB1's etc.
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