Are heavier speakers better? 

That's like that line from Jurassic Park, " Are they heavy?....Yes! Then they're expensive, put them back!"

My favorite thing is to pretend I'm Paul and say the title of the video out loud before pressing play.

Thanks for another good video. I REALLY like how you give full credit to people you've worked with and others in the industry. Good on you!

In the 1960's my father owned a pair of Wharfdale speakers (don't remember the model). Each of the two stereo speakers had six drivers, two 12" subs, two 8" mids and two tweeters. The cabinets were constructed of a double wall of 3/4" plywood with a space between walls filled with dry sand. Heavy is an understatement. I eventually ended up donating them to the local children's theater for auditorium filling sound.

You are the science guy of sound! Love it! Thank you!

Thanks for answering my question, Paul!

thanks Paul ....you make it easy .but... make my mind thinking for more inspiration....love it...super thanks you help me a lot

High-end audio = Heavy

Thanks for sharing. The French manufacturer Elipson used to make a lot of sphrical speakers, gorgeous art!

I love my old Spica SC-50 speaker with the round back. They are made from a cylinder but with a flat front baffle and a flat top. Not the best but very good for a smallish speaker. With French Audax 6.5 inch woofer and dome tweeter. They had thin foam around the speaker but it rotted. I'd like to find some replacement foam and upgrade the crossover.

Woah, that was heavy, man. Ok, the rules that everyone works with when designing speakers have been with us for many decades. The differences in speakers is in the combinations of these rules and the extent to which each one are employed. The infinate possibilities are what keeps the art alive.

When I was an audio/video salesman, one of my demonstrations was to have the customer pick up the product. TV . . . stereo . . . heavy meant bigger parts and power supplies. Hitachi used to win the weigh competition a lot . . . of course, Carver and NAD figured out how to be more effective/efficient.

The round speaker, among other shapes, was suggested in an enclosure study by Harry Olson in 1951. This was presented to the Audio Engineering Society. The PS Audio project certainly looks interesting!

I’m a noob when it comes to this audiophile hobby. But I love physics and strictly speaking from a physics perspective, the two best solutions for a speaker cabinet are 1) to get rid of the cabinet completely - e.g. open back speakers that emit in a dipole fashion (because the sideways waves will cancel themselves out)...OR 2) create a spherical or egg shaped speaker box that won’t create any standing waves (however in that case you have to deal with vibration of the cabinet itself so that adds levels of complexity to the design.) I recently came across these Egg shaped studio monitors that from a nerdy/physics perspective and from an aesthetics design perspective are pretty cool. They are the Munro SE Egg studio monitors. And to put my money where my mouth is, I recently purchased a pair of open back speakers - the Spacial Audio Sapphire M3s. They are a genius design in my opinion both from a physics perspective and from an aesthetic design perspective as it marries the two perfectly. They have a beautiful, museum quality bauhaus contemporary design that are both elegant and sound amazing. Who wants to have to re-create stone henge in your living room to get great sound? I sure don’t!!

Do you think a spherical speaker within a rectangle would be a good idea?

Paul , what year did he do the round speakers? I built a pair using a 6" woofer and a few small horns on top. This was 1978. Yes the sound was impressive.

Also heavy speaker's do not move around so much from bass because of the force from the cone.

Harbeth HL5 Speaker cabinet are made to absorb energy and they are heavy cabinet so it depends on the manufacture design and thought process in what he believes in. I have a pair of HL5 speakers and are very open transparent sound.

The heavier a speaker is normally means better quality drive units. Big motor structures weigh.. Top subs weigh a ton due to huge magnets.. My speakers are 57kg each and my sub is 63kg.. They don't get moved around much.😂

Hi Paul,How did those round speakers sound ?

Harbeth , Graham audio and spendor make great sounding light weight speakers. Beautifully made in the UK.

Paul, when do you expect the Stellar line of speakers to be released and about what price point? May wait on new purchase to give yours a try. Thanks for the great info

elipson 40-50,spherical plaster loudspeaker put on a cylindrical plaster '4th order bass cabinet

I remember seeing a cut away B&W matrix 801 at my HiFi shop years ago and was amazed at the bracing. I wonder though, if weight is added in some things just to make them appear to be substantial. The remote for my Primaluna amp weighs ¾ pound, that’s just silly and actually makes it less useful because it’s too heavy.

The monitors on my desktop weigh close to 50lbs each, though they are massive for desktop speakers.

What about Harbeth? They make them extremely light so that the cabinet resonates in a good way.

I believe Harbeth deploys a different strategy, thinking of their speakers more in terms of string instruments wherein the body "sings"

My round ones for my home theater surrounds are orbs the sphere roundness are metal there solid and light and sound great to me. Good video.

The Emit died? Get a new $25 ribbon on eBay and save a fortune... If the round speakers were ugly but was a better sound why not build a round box inside of a light square exterior box?

Love how Paul plugs...go heavy...go heavy...at the end(buy my speakers because they are HEAVY). SJ Park...allow me to save you thousands of dollars. 10k isn't needed to get a great sounding speaker. Suggestion #1...Canton A45...$3800 for the pair on Accessories4 less...Canton has been making speakers for almost 50 years, made in Germany, 85lbs each, triple 7" woofers, 7" mid, 1" ceramic tweeter...I own the Vento 890.2's WOW!! so sweet sounding...A45's are a steal at $3800. Suggestion #2...Polk Audio LSIM707...$1600 for the pair..got to look deep on the net to find that price but they are there...Polk...around since 1972...100lbs each...4 way..1" ring radiator, 3.25" mid, 6.5" mid, and dual 6x9 woofers. I own the bookshelves..........So sweet, punchy, dynamic.

I remember those round speakers, and I remember what I thought of them. 😁 if I knew then what I know now.

Solid concrete is coming shortly to the industry. Now taking orders and you get to select your choice of colors. Acoustically sublime.

Well, you didn't address the weight of the driver structure and magnets. And, what material the magnets are made of.

I’m totally biased towards heavier gear, if I pick up something that’s lightweight, I put it right back down and keep searching for heft...be it massive power amp and or tiny headphone amp lol

KEF LS50s are light but great sounding.

Heavily is usually better, but not always. For example, British speakers in the LS5 tradition like Harbeth, Spendor, and Rogers use lossy cabinets.

Still no replacement for displacement but newer materials can reduce the weight of a cab and retain rigidity.

We have the same chairs

The dude who wrote the letter could just get himself a new emit tweeter on ebay.

MDF is actually better than real wood for speakers, its better to build with mdf then add wood veneer on top

My old BIC towers weigh a ton, yet compared to my just acquired Emotiva bookshelf, they sound like crap and the new ones weigh little.

Siegfried Linkwitz's Pluto and LXmini omnidirectional speakers have enclosures made out of lightweight PVC piping : www.linkwitzlab.com/Pluto/Pluto-2.htm www.linkwitzlab.com/LXmini/Introduction.htm

Upcoming AN and upcoming Stellar series speakers. Define "upcoming"...………………………………..

my little stand-mounts weigh a ton

Yes heavy are better. Mass. Bracing. Dampening. That makes a better sound. Mine DIY are 360 lbs each

not always. heavier weight can be due to many things. heavier material, more bracing or simply because it's bigger. none of these can ensure elimination of audible panel resonance. what you want to look for is a proper bracing which is almost impossible unless they have a cutaway model to show you the inside of the speaker. a proper bracing needs at least connecting each panel to another perpendicular panel. connecting a panel to the opposite one is pretty much pointless and is a waste of time and resource. this is one of the reasons when it comes to speakers, i'd prefer DIY approach.

What about an egg shaped speaker? (chicken egg for the detail oriented among you). Isn't the egg one of the strongest 3-dimensional shapes around?

Why not enclose a round speaker in a lightweight box?

I mean you could have some very heavy cabinet's with some very shitty drivers in them, I bet some more obscure brands do it make their products seem more premium.

The new thing now is egg shaped e.g. MunroSonic Egg 100.

I don't understand, can't an engineer place a ball speaker in a box? Since people like box speakers?

You can always put a round speaker enclosure in a square box 🤓

I have 2 sets of Kenwood and they feel thin as fuck 😅

I hope I don't become an audiophile cuz damn that shits expensive

1975 Advent large tasty

1:35 Only siths deal with absolutes.

Heavy guitars are a downer though.... and usually not as good a s the lighter ones

Neurolinguistics is a strange concept.

light Speaker is an oxymoron.

You want British speakers? Look no further than Tannoy.

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