Chinese abomination: $100 5 inch full range with whizzer cone and passive radiator

Discussion in 'Speakers' started by ruinevil, Oct 15, 2020.

  1. ruinevil

    ruinevil Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Likes Received:
    51
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Capital District, NY
    Home Page:
    Tried to play them with my JLH1969 amplifier, which can do 10W max... not enough power for bass. The passive radiator doesn't kick in at all. This is not a sensitive speaker.

    I also took the driver off to look inside. Appears to be 1/2 inch of low density fiberboard, which is basically compressed paper pulp. There is no polyfill or other batting inside, though there is a single brace. Given the size of the huge driver and passive radiator, it's pretty well braced all considering.

    [​IMG]

    Here's a picture of the driver. No identifying numbers on the back.
    [​IMG]

    Passive radiator from the bottom
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 19, 2020
  2. murphythecat

    murphythecat GRU-powered uniformed trumpkin

    Pyrate Banned
    Joined:
    Apr 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,201
    Trophy Points:
    93
    at least line the inner cab with some fiberglass. it really do clean up the mids

    Personally, if you dont like the sound of the driver, try to measure the screws diameter and look for Fostex, Mark Audio, Peerless or even Seas wideband replacement that could potentially sound much better then the stock drivers.

    I use a pair of fonkens fe127 in my kitchen powered with a topping tp-20 amp and it sounds amazing. The small fostex drivers sounds quite good, the bigger 8 inch model didnt sound as good
     
  3. ruinevil

    ruinevil Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Likes Received:
    51
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Capital District, NY
    Home Page:
    I already have my Fibhorn 2, which sounds pretty good for what it is.

    I'm been considering a Frugalhorn or BK-12m for years... but never pulled the trigger.

    Edit:

    Here's same measurement setup with a filling the top area with fiberglass with no grills.

    [​IMG]

    It appears to have flatted the 125 Hz spike and the upper mids.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Oct 21, 2020
  4. ruinevil

    ruinevil Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Likes Received:
    51
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Capital District, NY
    Home Page:
    I just noticed that these are really sibilant. I was listening to "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and had to turn the volume down. I didn't know that that song could be sibilant.
     
  5. MrTie

    MrTie Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A.B.E. - PA
  6. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I'd been eyeballing those to run nearfield off of EC AF - did you use them as a desktop speaker? Or dedicated bookshelf/standmount?
     
  7. fraggler

    fraggler A Happy & Busy Life

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Oct 1, 2015
    Likes Received:
    5,085
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    Those look super cool. Also interested in how they might do at a computer desk.
     
  8. MrTie

    MrTie Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A.B.E. - PA
    I used them on the desk for little bit, but my wife stole them as tv speakers as she likes the look. They work decently there, obviously somewhat bass limited and not loud loud, but alot better than nothing.
     
  9. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I'm going to try these out for nearfield desktop duty powered by EC AF. Should be here soon, and I'll post some brief impressions. I might also try them out in the main system, but powered by a cheappo class-d POS.
     
  10. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    [​IMG]

    Not sure if I should post this here or in the Desktop Speakers thread, so mods feel free to drop a dislike and move it if I'm being an idiot. Anyhow, so far so good! Although I have zero experience with fancy monitoring speakers or listening to a nearfield setup in any way, these aren't doing anything horribly wrong. They get plenty loud halfway up the volume knob being fed ca. 4.5w from Aficionado. FR seems pretty even and smooth down to about 150-200Hz, then the ports start to make things a little chesty, and the cabs start to resonate a bit. Eventually I may fiddle with some damping in addition to some stuffing. They use kinda crappy egg crate foam stuffing/damping, which probably does little compared to some actual acoustuff and norez. For anyone interested, here's the spec sheet for the drivers per Markaudio. Apparently these little drivers take like a million years to break in, so we'll see... not sure I buy that but I'm willing to be entertained. I'll try them out in the main rig this weekend, and do a comparison with a pair of Micca RB42s, too.
     
  11. MrTie

    MrTie Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A.B.E. - PA
    While I don't believe the million years thing I did follow the 2-3 days of slowly louder bass light music and felt it made a pretty big(audio grain of salt lol) difference, the surround def got less stiff.
     
  12. bixby

    bixby Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,987
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Northern Colorado
    Nice, try putting them on the second shelf or at least up to ear level if you can. Will be interesting vs the Micca.
     
  13. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    Actually while seated, and given the slight tilt backwards built into the cabs, they're pretty close to being on-axis, vertically, and about 28" from my ears to the drivers. I'll try putting them up on some blocks, tho.

    Keeping volumes down below 80dB, and having spent most of the morning listening to all sorts of stuff, these are actually quite coherent (I mean, they should be as single driver no x-over speakers, but...). Listening to Nils Frahm Solo right now is surprisingly satisfying, if miniaturized. TBH, I wasn't prepared to actually take these seriously. I'm now quite looking forward to find what they'll do out in a room with appropriate musical content; i.e., "good for classical" and all that.
     
  14. MrTie

    MrTie Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2015
    Likes Received:
    815
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    A.B.E. - PA
    The shelving cubes are gonna def make your bass more wooly.
     
  15. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    Yeah, at lower volume it's like built in 2-3dB or so loudness button. Above 80dB (at less than 1m) it gets a bit chesty, but not to a point where I'd consider it a deal breaker - also knowing it's mostly due to less than ideal placement, too.
     
  16. ruinevil

    ruinevil Acquaintance

    Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2019
    Likes Received:
    51
    Trophy Points:
    18
    Location:
    Capital District, NY
    Home Page:
    I have the Chinese whizzer in their box, ready to mail back to Amazon. Might consider the Mark-Audio.

    I haven't found full range driver speakers to be good for orchestral pieces. They do pretty well with 3-4 instrument pieces though.
     
  17. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    Now that I've had these MarkAudio Tozzi One's running in for a few months I can say they do open up a bit. I'd say they've got maybe 100-ish hours on them now. I'm actually quite surprised with how open and detailed they sound. I added some mass damping and neoprene foam to the interior of the cabinets, and replaced the eggcrate foam with some actual wool stuffing, and that seemed to improve the slight hollowness/chestiness they had stock. I'm using the chain Pi2AES -> BF2 -> Jot2 (as preamp) -> OG Loki -> Trends TA-10.1 with the same setup pictured above, but now sitting on some wooden blocks secured with Blutak, tilted back just a bit. Sitting about 1m from the speakers, and with a little bit of bass boost from Loki, these are pretty effortless sounding up until 90dB (measured using iphone mic, so grain of salt). They image really well, and with a little bass boost seem to be able to get down to about 60Hz without getting too strained. Studio mix effects are more noticeable and listening nearfield has been interesting to get a different take on layering compared to my main speaker rig. Interestingly, too, is how much more convincing they sound when using the high gain setting on the Jot2. Much bigger difference compared to switching gains on something like my HD600s or Focal Elex. There's some synergy going on! Also, I had no idea these are so expensive when purchased as complete speakers! I'd definitely say these are worth the $160 if you're looking for a minimalistic desktop monitor and don't need more than 90-ish dB continuous output. Cheap, cheerful, and highly satisfying!
     
  18. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    I think now that I've been daily driving these (and, per @bixby , I did spend some time comparing w/Micca RB42s) they pretty much annihilate the RB42s in coherence, dynamism (to a point), and realism of tone. The Tozzis image quite a bit better and do depth of field freakishly well, even if overall image size is a bit pint sized. They're making me consider building some single driver wide bands for a little detour in the main speaker rig, if I can find something that will play nicely with my Elekit. Now I think I get what not having a crossover (and a well resolving driver) does. the tozzis just sound pure and direct!

    Edit: I'd also add that since these are relatively lilliputian, I'd be happy to do a loaner tour - the more time I spend with these, the more special I find them.
     
  19. yotacowboy

    yotacowboy McRibs Kind of Guy

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 23, 2016
    Likes Received:
    10,695
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    NOVA
    Home Page:
    okay, I’m just talking to myself at this point but these little Tozzi speakers plus a trends tripath amp for a portable vacation rig are silly good. Lol-diophile!
    [​IMG]
     
  20. Richard Pena

    Richard Pena New

    Joined:
    Jan 20, 2020
    Likes Received:
    20
    Trophy Points:
    3
    Location:
    Texas, USA
    Stumbled upon this thread and I must say that you've certainly peaked my interest. And the price is right for a little experimentation! :D
     

Share This Page