Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and Quad
12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?

If they're built EXACTLY the same, you've answered your own question,
haven't you? :=) Reminds me of the Steve Wright joke. "I came downstairs
and I'd been robbed - I think. Everything in my house had been replaced
with an exact copy."

More seriously, the more similar the construction and the technology the
more similar they will sound. I would caution that "how similar is
similar" is not an easy question to answer. One soft dome tweeter is not
the same as another soft dome tweeter. Even one particleboard is not the
same as another. Even the glue in a multi-layer construction can make a
difference, or a relatively small difference in cabinet volume or
crossover frequency. Speaker construction is a deep and wide subject.
Richard (Dick) Pierce, on this forum, knows more about it than most
people. It's perfectly possible to make two speakers that sound much
alike with very DIFFERENT construction as well.

-- Bob T.

Philip Meech wrote:

Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and Quad
12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?

I had this experience in my store a couple of years ago: PSB and Monitor
Audio each had a bookshelf speaker with the same cabinet size, and , from
the front, the same woofer and tweeter. We removed and compared the
drivers and found them to appear identical, even to factory id numbers,
though it is possible that there were internal differences. ( Vifa and
Scanspeake, etc. will produce custom OEM versions to suit a manufacturer. As
these had the appearance of oriental-sourced drivers, I doubt that, but only
the Chinese manufacturer knows for sure).
In any case, the Monitor Audio speaker was clearly better sounding. So much
so that we put the the PSB model on sale and dropped it , as nobody would
buy it when it was compared with the Monitor Audio.

The difference between them? Probably a better crossover. Maybe a less
resonant cabinet. But it is one example that apparently identical models can
sound distinctly different.

Wylie Williams
The Speaker and Stereo Store



"Robert Trosper" wrote in message
news:IqCjc.32318$cF6.1468836@attbi_s04...
If they're built EXACTLY the same, you've answered your own question,
haven't you? :=) Reminds me of the Steve Wright joke. "I came downstairs
and I'd been robbed - I think. Everything in my house had been replaced
with an exact copy."

More seriously, the more similar the construction and the technology the
more similar they will sound. I would caution that "how similar is
similar" is not an easy question to answer. One soft dome tweeter is not
the same as another soft dome tweeter. Even one particleboard is not the
same as another. Even the glue in a multi-layer construction can make a
difference, or a relatively small difference in cabinet volume or
crossover frequency. Speaker construction is a deep and wide subject.
Richard (Dick) Pierce, on this forum, knows more about it than most
people. It's perfectly possible to make two speakers that sound much
alike with very DIFFERENT construction as well.

-- Bob T.

Philip Meech wrote:

Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and Quad
12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?

in article , Wylie Williams at
wrote on 4/29/04 5:46 PM:

I had this experience in my store a couple of years ago: PSB and Monitor
Audio each had a bookshelf speaker with the same cabinet size, and , from
the front, the same woofer and tweeter. We removed and compared the
drivers and found them to appear identical, even to factory id numbers,
though it is possible that there were internal differences. ( Vifa and
Scanspeake, etc. will produce custom OEM versions to suit a manufacturer. As
these had the appearance of oriental-sourced drivers, I doubt that, but only
the Chinese manufacturer knows for sure).
In any case, the Monitor Audio speaker was clearly better sounding. So much
so that we put the the PSB model on sale and dropped it , as nobody would
buy it when it was compared with the Monitor Audio.

The difference between them? Probably a better crossover. Maybe a less
resonant cabinet. But it is one example that apparently identical models can
sound distinctly different.


The drivers in question would not have been Vifa drivers, as Monitor doesn't
use them. My guess is that you're talking about drivers from Peerless India.
The drivers by Peerless of India used by Monitor and PSB look similar, but
are definitely not the same by a long shot. Driver differences are often
hard to spot without actually measuring them. I would say that there's more
to the sound difference than just the crossover. And I'm surprised that the
PSB performed so poorly against the Monitor, given how well Paul Barton
understands loudspeaker design. It couldn't have been that the Monitor had a
somewhat hyped response while the PSB was flat?

"John Stone" wrote
And I'm surprised that the PSB performed so poorly against the
Monitor, given how well Paul Barton understands loudspeaker design.
It couldn't have been that the Monitor had a somewhat hyped response
while the PSB was flat?

I understand your respect for Paul Barton and PSB speakers. However it's
only fair to give similar respect to Monitor Audio for their achievements.
The speaker in question was from their Bronze series which has received
praise from many observers.

And it's not that the PSB was bad; just that an A/B comparison favored the
Monitor. To me the sound of neither was colored any more than one might
expect for the least expensive speaker in the line.

Wylie Williams

Were they level matched?


I had this experience in my store a couple of years ago: PSB and
Monitor
Audio each had a bookshelf speaker with the same cabinet size, and ,
from
the front, the same woofer and tweeter. We removed and compared the
drivers and found them to appear identical, even to factory id numbers,
though it is possible that there were internal differences. ( Vifa and
Scanspeake, etc. will produce custom OEM versions to suit a
manufacturer. As
these had the appearance of oriental-sourced drivers, I doubt that,
but only
the Chinese manufacturer knows for sure).
In any case, the Monitor Audio speaker was clearly better sounding.
So much
so that we put the the PSB model on sale and dropped it , as nobody
would
buy it when it was compared with the Monitor Audio.

The difference between them? Probably a better crossover. Maybe a
less
resonant cabinet. But it is one example that apparently identical
models can
sound distinctly different.

Wylie Williams
The Speaker and Stereo Store



"Robert Trosper" wrote in message
news:IqCjc.32318$cF6.1468836@attbi_s04...
If they're built EXACTLY the same, you've answered your own question,
haven't you? :=) Reminds me of the Steve Wright joke. "I came
downstairs
and I'd been robbed - I think. Everything in my house had been
replaced
with an exact copy."

More seriously, the more similar the construction and the technology
the
more similar they will sound. I would caution that "how similar is
similar" is not an easy question to answer. One soft dome tweeter is
not
the same as another soft dome tweeter. Even one particleboard is not
the
same as another. Even the glue in a multi-layer construction can make
a
difference, or a relatively small difference in cabinet volume or
crossover frequency. Speaker construction is a deep and wide subject.
Richard (Dick) Pierce, on this forum, knows more about it than most
people. It's perfectly possible to make two speakers that sound much
alike with very DIFFERENT construction as well.

-- Bob T.

Philip Meech wrote:

Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and
Quad
12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?

I bought the Dali Grand Coupe from Spearit Sound in Northhampton, MA.
They made me an offer I couldn't refuse.
I just hooked them up today. What a refined loudspeaker and it isn't evn
broken in yet. I don't find it particularly laid back
as was mentioned in the British review. As a matter of fact, I turned
off the DSP on ny HT receiver because they were too forward sounding.
The bass is unbelievable for such a bookshelf speaker. I have
temporarily escaped from mid-fi purgatory,
economically speaking.:).

Philip Meech wrote:
Comparing the Alon Li'l Rascal, the Wharfedale Anniversary, and Quad
12 L, they all use a soft dome tweeter and share similar construction
and design. Do speakers that are built the same sound the same?