Since I spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer I decided to build
a pair of high quality desktop speakers. After researching a number of driver
choices I settled on Alpair drivers from Markaudio. The Alpair line of
speakers have a good reputation, seem to be high quality and have reasonable
prices. There are a number of very good Alpair drivers to choose from. The
3.5" Alpair 6P and the 4.0" Alpair 7A both looked compelling. I settled on
on the 6P since it would work in an enclosure size that better fit on my desk.
The Alpair 6 is available with paper (6P) and aluminum (6M) cone material.
While both looked promising it appeared that the paper coned 6P may be a
bit better in near-field applications.
I decided to use solid hardwoods for the cabinets and an interesting but over the top design. For the woods I selected Rosewood for the top, bottom and sides and Zebrawood for the front and back panels. I decided to build the cabinets using a CNC milling machine. This allowed me to do complex dados, inlays and contouring that normally would not be possible. This ended up being a slow and tedious process but the results were great. I found that milling hardwoods works very well if you use slow feed rates and plan the cutting direction to avoid splintering. The machined surfaces were smooth enough that only light sanding was required. I can't say enough about how pleased I am with the sound of these diminutive speakers. The f3 frequency is a surprisingly low 62 Hz. The bass is fairly deep and articulate. Much better than would seem possible for such a small speaker. As might be expected with a single driver speaker the midrange is clean and natural. What strikes me most is that these speakers simply don't do anything wrong. There are plenty of better speakers, but I never find myself feeling the least bit dissatisfied, even after listening for long periods of time. Naturally these speaker are quite limited in sound output. They are totally adequate as a near-field, desktop speaker. But they would be inadequate in a larger room or at a greater distance. I am driving the speakers with a modified MHDT Constantine DAC and a DIY Nelson Pass ACA single ended class A amplifier. The ACA is an amazing amplifier and the Alpair/ACA combo is magical. |
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