pearl sibelius speakers

hifinutt

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following on from the are crossovers essential thread i notice paul messenger has been impressed with these sibelius speakers . heres the speel . as the frugal horn are so good wondering how much better these may be . 

whenever i have heard pearl speakers at shows they sounded good . anyone anymore experience 

The Sibelius is a single drive unit, floor standing loudspeaker utilizing an internal front loaded, quarter wave ‘V’ horn.  It  produces sound in the most natural way possible. Sound as close to a musical instrument as ever can be.  Close your eyes and you can hear the musicians in your room: every one of them. You can hear if they are on the left or the right, and if it is well recorded whether they are to the front or to the rear of the stage. 

There is simply no other speaker anywhere better able to keep everything in phase. This phenomenal result is obtained by having all the sound produced by a single drive unit that has extra ordinary characteristics. When it is combined with a pair of solid oak enclosures the Sibelius speakers are able to faithfully reproduce the full bandwidth of an orchestra or Rock band from a single source.

  Each drive unit is hand made and hand tuned in its enclosure over a period of one hundred hours in our auditioning room so that we can be absolutely sure that when they leave our workshop they are performing at their very best.

They utilize no filters, crossovers or other unnecessary electronic devices. The two output wires from the back of the amplifier are connected directly to the voice coil of the loudspeaker by means of two very sturdy gold plated terminal posts. A pair of Sibelius speakers form the perfect combination of drive unit and enclosure design to produce possibly the purest sound reproduction of all time. 

http://pearlacoustics.com/the-sibelius.php

i think they cost around 5k but not too sure on that 

https://www.hificritic.com/store/p135/hificritic-vol11-no2

 

awkwardbydesign

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I like single drivers, but I wish manufacturers would get their waffle right.  They are REAR loaded, with a front port. the amp is not wired directly to the speaker terminals if they use terminal posts, the frequency range quoted is meaningless without dB limits, and "Each drive unit is hand made and hand tuned in its enclosure over a period of one hundred hours ". Really?  All for 5k or whatever?

 
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orangeart

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I know a bit about this so can wade in. I can vouch far the fact that each driver is indeed hand made and matched. The speakers are then run in for 100 hours and only then is the stuffing/damping finally adjusted for optimum performance.

The 'port' isn't a port it's the mouth for the internal loading mechanism which is very clever, differs from the Frugal Horns and the Pensils but I can't say anymore as it's a trade secret.

The driver is made especially for Pearl by MarkAudio and while there are certainly some similarities to the line up of Alpair 10 drivers I sell there are also considerable differences. 

 
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tuga

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The Sibelius is a single drive unit, floor standing loudspeaker utilizing an internal front loaded, quarter wave ‘V’ horn.  It  produces sound in the most natural way possible. Sound as close to a musical instrument as ever can be.  Close your eyes and you can hear the musicians in your room: every one of them. You can hear if they are on the left or the right, and if it is well recorded whether they are to the front or to the rear of the stage.
This is called stereo. Any pair of speakers can do that.

There is simply no other speaker anywhere better able to keep everything in phase. This phenomenal result is obtained by having all the sound produced by a single drive unit that has extra ordinary characteristics. When it is combined with a pair of solid oak enclosures the Sibelius speakers are able to faithfully reproduce the full bandwidth of an orchestra or Rock band from a single source.
Phase audibility is not universally agreed upon.

On the other hand, single-driver speakers have many more relevant shortcomings: reduced bandwidth, either little bass or little treble, extreme beaming at the top end of the spectrum,  up-tilting frequency response from top to bottom, uncontrolled cone break-up resonances, intermodulation distortion, limited dynamic abilities when small cones are used, etc.

They utilize no filters, crossovers or other unnecessary electronic devices. The two output wires from the back of the amplifier are connected directly to the voice coil of the loudspeaker by means of two very sturdy gold plated terminal posts. A pair of Sibelius speakers form the perfect combination of drive unit and enclosure design to produce possibly the purest sound reproduction of all time.
are crossovers essential?

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/127235-are-crossovers-essential/

Yes!

A single-driver speaker may appear to be a good idea but in reality the performance potential of the topology is very limited. It's a likeable concept, I guess, and people are drawned into it by reading reviews, mostly 6loons.

If it were a car, this is what a single-driver would look like:

UPMr7o1.gif


 
G

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I must admit I really liked these at the last Scalford hifi show, single driver/fullrange drivers have come on a bit in my view.

 

Speedracer

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I must admit I really liked these at the last Scalford hifi show, single driver/fullrange drivers have come on a bit in my view.
Me too, I though the sound in that room was the best I heard all day, as did GLB who I was with. Front end was a Funk Firm Vector, also superb for its price point and beyond, I used to have one & loved it but it was hardly the best turntable there is.

 
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awkwardbydesign

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I know a bit about this so can wade in. I can vouch far the fact that each driver is indeed hand made and matched. The speakers are then run in for 100 hours and only then is the stuffing/damping finally adjusted for optimum performance.

The 'port' isn't a port it's the mouth for the internal loading mechanism which is very clever, differs from the Frugal Horns and the Pensils but I can't say anymore as it's a trade secret.

The driver is made especially for Pearl by MarkAudio and while there are certainly some similarities to the line up of Alpair 10 drivers I sell there are also considerable differences. 
I was not disputing they are handmade, just that 100 hours was spent tuning each one!  I guessed they might be running in, but the wording implied they were being worked on.  As for the port that isn't, it's still not front loading, is it?

 

awkwardbydesign

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Phase audibility is not universally agreed upon.
I think you may be confusing absolute phase (or polarity) with phase anomalies.  Try reversing the polarity of your tweeters!  

BTW, I have heard absolute polarity.  Only on one piece of music and on one pair of speakers and only on bass drum.  But repeatable.

 

awkwardbydesign

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Me too, I though the sound in that room was the best I heard all day, as did GLB who I was with. Front end was a Funk Firm Vector, also superb for its price point and beyond, I used to have one & loved it but it was hardly the best turntable there is.
Good Looking Bloke?  Gay Lesbian Bisexual?  Global Location Broker?  (My wife is Googling GLB.  :D )

 

orangeart

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This is called stereo. Any pair of speakers can do that.

Phase audibility is not universally agreed upon.

On the other hand, single-driver speakers have many more relevant shortcomings: reduced bandwidth, either little bass or little treble, extreme beaming at the top end of the spectrum,  up-tilting frequency response from top to bottom, uncontrolled cone break-up resonances, intermodulation distortion, limited dynamic abilities when small cones are used, etc.

are crossovers essential?

https://hifiwigwam.com/forum/topic/127235-are-crossovers-essential/

Yes!

A single-driver speaker may appear to be a good idea but in reality the performance potential of the topology is very limited. It's a likeable concept, I guess, and people are drawned into it by reading reviews, mostly 6loons.

If it were a car, this is what a single-driver would look like:

UPMr7o1.gif
So you keep saying, of course I agree there are shortcomings. However one has to choose a set of compromises that suit the end design goal, all speaker topologies have huge compromise built into them, it's just about choosing which set of compromises you are happy to accept for a given final outcome. 

For my part, many here will remember all my early active speaker stuff when it was only just possible to create linear phase speakers etc, mighty fine they were to, I do still produce some traditional 2 way crossover speakers too, however my hat has firmly been hung in the wide band driver camp these last few years mainly because of listening to so many and having built so many, despite some obvious shortcomings (which are much less than you state) they just sound so right. Sure if I want to blast the cobwebs while the neighbours are out and I want absolutely effortless delivery at those levels, I plug in my 4 way actives but for the most part my diminutive Frugal Horn Lites with a tiny 2.5inch driver do most of the listening I do much better. Genuine high-end stuff, using a state of the art drivers, that at least in some ways is superior to those 4 ways - which to put a commercial number on would have to be in the £10k region - for £300

Of course there is no real reason you need to be bandwidth limited as you suggest full range speakers have to be, those Sibelius speakers have a lovely deft treble and more than low enough for all but 4way / sub junkies. I'm not sure they are at many shows this year but are well worth a listen, I'll see if I can get Harely the owner over to comment if those who want to know are interested?

 
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tuga

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So you keep saying, of course I agree there are shortcomings. However one has to choose a set of compromises that suit the end design goal, all speaker topologies have huge compromise built into them, it's just about choosing which set of compromises you are happy to accept for a given final outcome. 

For my part, many here will remember all my early active speaker stuff when it was only just possible to create linear phase speakers etc, mighty fine they were to, I do still produce some traditional 2 way crossover speakers too, however my hat has firmly been hung in the wide band driver camp these last few years mainly because of listening to so many and having built so many, despite some obvious shortcomings (which are much less than you state) they just sound so right. Sure if I want to blast the cobwebs while the neighbours are out and I want absolutely effortless delivery at those levels, I plug in my 4 way actives but for the most part my diminutive Frugal Horn Lites with a tiny 2.5inch driver do most of the listening I do much better. Genuine high-end stuff, using a state of the art drivers, that at least in some ways is superior to those 4 ways - which to put a commercial number on would have to be in the £10k region - for £300

Of course there is no real reason you need to be bandwidth limited as you suggest full range speakers have to be, those Sibelius speakers have a lovely deft treble and more than low enough for all but 4way / sub junkies. I'm not sure they are at many shows this year but are well worth a listen, I'll see if I can get Harely the owner over to comment if those who want to know are interested?
You can to provide a wider bandwidth by amplifying the back wave of the driver but you won't be able to avoid the IMD, the beaming, the compression, the cone break-up resonances. Perhaps you are not listening to very demanding music.

 

woodys69

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You can to provide a wider bandwidth by amplifying the back wave of the driver but you won't be able to avoid the IMD, the beaming, the compression, the cone break-up resonances. Perhaps you are not listening to very demanding music.
:pop: :doh:

 

mothroth

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I must admit I really liked these at the last Scalford hifi show, single driver/fullrange drivers have come on a bit in my view.
Here here! I’m not a low power simple speaker guy but the clarity and presence I’ve heard at the two shows I’ve heard them at make me want a pair. Awesome sound. 

 

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