[Willie]

Ordered Concentric-8s when they first became available a couple of months ago. Erich sells this kit with pre-assembled Baltic Birch cabinets and pre-built crossovers.

A friend of mine finally finished the cabinets with a black satin conversion varnish to match my Cheap Thrills. With luck I will get them assembled this weekend and get a review up on Erich's website next week. I will be using these as surrounds in a soon to be built new home theater.

 

[Samps]

Wow, 13 components in that crossover!

 

[pgwalsh]

Subscribed!

I'm very much looking forward to hearing your thoughts on these. I don't see the baltic birch cabinet anymore, but other cabinet types.

 

[randyc1]

....Curious to hear how these sound as Mains ??? Thinking of LCR for these .

 

[Willie]

I don't see the baltic birch cabinet anymore, but other cabinet types.

The birch cabinets are specified if you select the cabinet pic with the Duratex coating.

Willie

 

[Erich H]

There are Baltic birch surround cabinets. The ones for L/R/C are bamboo, bamboo with Corian fronts, or solid Corian. The all Corian models are quite heavy and pretty darn neat looking. Eventually I'll get some photos of those.

 

[pgwalsh]

The birch cabinets are specified if you select the cabinet pic with the Duratex coating.

Willie

I saw that, but yours don't look angled.

 

[mtg90]

If you have some available you might want to add some polyfil (or other semi loose damping material) to those cabinets. I know Erich includes the acoustic foam, but moderate fill in the cabinets won't hurt.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts as well.

 

[mrc12973]

While OP finishes his build, I was wondering if anyone can speak to whether or not there are significantly noticeable differences between the Concentric-8 and the Volt 8/Volt 10 LX for the purpose of surrounds. For L/C/R most likely will go with F-15 Sentinels.

 

[Willie]

If you have some available you might want to add some polyfil (or other semi loose damping material) to those cabinets. I know Erich includes the acoustic foam, but moderate fill in the cabinets won't hurt.

I finished one tonight before I read this. I lined every inner wall the acoustic foam. I will add some poly to the next one to see I can hear much of a difference.

Just for grins I paired the one I completed tonight with a Fusion 8 to listen to it in a stereo sound stage (with a sub). A little weird for my ears to do that actually. I will get a second one done Monday and then listen to a wide range of music to get a taste.

Willie

 

[mtg90]

While OP finishes his build, I was wondering if anyone can speak to whether or not there are significantly noticeable differences between the Concentric-8 and the Volt 8/Volt 10 LX for the purpose of surrounds. For L/C/R most likely will go with F-15 Sentinels.

The Concentric-8's dispersion is more uniform then the Volts especially at the top end of the spectrum. The sound quality is also much better (frequency response smoother, distortion is lower) and I feel it is voiced more like the Fusion-15 (I worked on the C-8 right after then F-15).

The downsides are that the extra quality comes at a price, and that sensitivity is slightly lower then the Volts.

Now used as surrounds the decision becomes tough to make, if you have the money to spend and want the best performance and quality the decision is easy. If you are trying to keep to a budget I might say go with the volts and use some of what you'll save on extra room treatments.

 

[randyc1]

Any updates for us Willie??

 

[Willie]

Finished them tonight.

Initial impressions are that the high frequencies are very "in your face" at higher volumes. Clarity is awesome.

Listened to some Cream at Madison Square Garden 2005 BD tonight as well as the 1st movement of Beethoven Symphony No. 7 from Vienna Philharmonic BD, and a Julian Bream recording of Bach's Chaconne. Classical guitar reproduction was superb. Not every speaker always reproduces this quite right. The woodwinds in the Beethoven (especially the English Horn) stood out as they should. Also listened to some Joe Bonamassa live from Shepard's Bush in London tracks. His Les Paul sounded great as well. Overall I have to say instruments sound full and authentic to me. Dialog is clear.

All good. However, I am not sure I would want these as mains; I would need to add some strong mid-bass cabinets to them.

I am under construction so all I could do for movies was listen to them in a 2.1 configuration with a phantom center and surrounds. Dialogue was clean and open.

I would have to characterize the highs as edgy. I think as surrounds go they should be outstanding. I would guess they will need some break in. These produce a pleasing sound, but the highs may be to pronounced for some. I like them.

Pics tommorrow.

 

[mtg90]

If you don't mind making a minor modification to the crossover, I know you may not want to open them back up, you can solder a 12 ohm resistor (PE # 015-12) in parallel with the existing 4 ohm resistor which will bring the highs down a little.

This would be if you still find that true after some break in. The woofers do need a bit as they can be stiff out of the box.

You did not happen to have any room correction enabled did you?

 

[randyc1]

mtg90,... what is your opinion on how these sound ?, you must have compared them to some other of your designs ?

 

[Willie]

If you don't mind making a minor modification to the crossover, I know you may not want to open them back up, you can solder a 12 ohm resistor (PE # 015-12) in parallel with the existing 4 ohm resistor which will bring the highs down a little.

This would be if you still find that true after some break in. The woofers do need a bit as they can be stiff out of the box.

You did not happen to have any room correction enabled did you?

I was not using room correction. These are being driven with a Denon 4311 paired with an Outlaw sub-woofer crossed at 80. The room I am listening in is temporary and not at all treated or well suited for good audio.

To be clear, these are very pleasing to my ear. I don't feel a need to bring the highs down (although I might add the resistor to two of them to see how I like the difference). I am content to wait till they are installed in my theater before I do any further evaluation; by the time they make it to my theater they will have plenty of hours on them.


Willie

 

[rcohen]

The Concentric-8's dispersion is more uniform then the Volts especially at the top end of the spectrum. The sound quality is also much better (frequency response smoother, distortion is lower) and I feel it is voiced more like the Fusion-15 (I worked on the C-8 right after then F-15).

The downsides are that the extra quality comes at a price, and that sensitivity is slightly lower then the Volts.

Now used as surrounds the decision becomes tough to make, if you have the money to spend and want the best performance and quality the decision is easy. If you are trying to keep to a budget I might say go with the volts and use some of what you'll save on extra room treatments.

Any thoughts comparing 8-10 C8s or V10LXs for an Atmos setup?
If they would be used with good room correction, how significant is the sound quality difference?
I've never built speakers before. Are the C8s a lot easier to build? How much time would it save?

Any plans on offering more enclosure options for either C8s or V10LXs geared toward Atmos?
For example, low profile wall enclosures that could be hidden in a pillar or behind fabric walls, and less (or no) downward angle to be placed at head height, for more separation between surrounds and heights.

Any discounts available when ordering 8-10?

Thanks!

 

[Viperoni]

Looking good!

 

[AudioJosh]

I want to order some of these (6) for my HT as well. Working out logistics.

 

[pgwalsh]

I want to order some of these (6) for my HT as well. Working out logistics.

I have 2 on order, but Erich is going above and beyond and having unstained bamboo cabinets made for me.