chrisCo

Not sure what's going on but take a look at the picture of Home Theater Direct's Level 3 Center Speaker with black finish. A bad link or the preview of things to come?

htd.com/levthrecensp.html

(Its gone this morning. What I saw last night while surfing, the picture of the black finished center had different drivers - white cones, no "phase plugs" and a different tweeter, maybe a ribbon but I'm not sure. The caption was the same, not available till late April.)

Nhan_H

Hmmm...sounds interesting. Thursday nights are usually good bar nights

chrisCo

bump. look again.

RyanJE

Yea whats up with that. Chris told me they were going to do this some time this week. What do you guys think about the new ribbon design?

Nhan_H

Chris, I had known about this for a while now. I was just messing with you I couldn't really say anything, since they held me to secrecy

Chris at HTD sent me a pic of what the L3 center would look like after I sent his a link to this post. For this price range, I don't think anyone else is offering this type of speakers. I was hoping to get a demo pair from them for the little Dallas GTG some of us will be attending in May, but I'll have to keep my fingers crossed. Either way, I'll be getting the new L3 center for the bedroom

Check out the new 3s:
http://www.htd.com/lethsp.html

RyanJE

I was talking to Chris the other day and heres what he said about why they are changing the design. Unfortunately theres no specs on the site yet.

"Hi Ryan,

This is actually going to be the first major design change in seven
years to all of our products. The cabinets will all look the same (we
didn't want to go too drastic with the first change we make) but the
drivers and tweeters will be different. We are moving to a new ribbon
tweeter in the Level Three speakers that has very similar
characteristics in sound quality to the current silk dome tweeters that
we use but they will naturally play all the way up to about 40 kHz which
will enable us to get the full frequency range (up to 20 kHz) without
having to tweak the crossover in any way. The current silk dome
tweeters we use play up to 18 kHz and the only way we can get them to go
all the way to 20 kHz is by making adjustments in the crossover. The
new Level Two speakers will keep the silk dome tweeter.

The new drivers will be made with fabric and ceramic; this is a new
design and somewhat new technology and I am not 100% sure the technical
benefits of this driver, but I do know they sound great from the samples
we have received and also sound very similar to the current doped pulp
cones.

We have looked into changing driver material for the last couple of
years but have yet, until now, to find a cone that produces a sound
similar to what we are using that we have been pleased with. One reason
for changing cone material is that too many people do not understand the
purpose of pulp cones, and while this is essentially a cooked paper cone
that we are currently using, there are a lot of people out there who
believe this is inferior technology. We want to keep all of our
speakers as natural and flat as possible and metal alloy, polypropylene,
and Kevlar drivers just don't sound as natural as paper does. This new
fabric ceramic driver produces a very natural tone and is a little more
open in the midrange. The fabric is used to form the shape of the
driver and the ceramic is used for rigidity. We are also doping these
cones, which is essentially a coating process that adds warmth to the
sound.

All of the crossovers are also being upgraded which will give a little
bit of a smoother transition between the upper mids and the highs, but
you really do have to do some pretty astute side by side listening to
hear this difference. I also found out that not all of the new pricing
was finalized last night but the discussions are still going on right
now. I can assure you that we will have the new pricing by tomorrow.
Thanks again and let me know if you have any other questions."

Nhan_H

It would seem that the initial pre-order price is the same as the old L3s and L2s, with the exception of the L3 towers (the added mid would be one justification for the price increase). I wish I had the money to pick up those L4 mains in the piano finish--they are really classy looking And I already own a pair in mappa burl. Damnit...I own too many speakers--need a bigger house. Anyone know a good real estate agent

I'm hoping to drop by the office for a listen when they get a demo pair in. I'll have to call Chris next week!!

RyanJE

Nhan please post back and let me know if you listen. I was thinking about placing an order and would love impressions against the old L 3 bookshelves. Chris wrote me this

"Also, when doing critical listening tests
I can pick up a little bit of a smoother sound in the transition between
the upper mids and the highs, but this is barely noticeable."

Does that mean a mudied mid-range. IM not sure how to take that.

Nhan_H

I don't think it means that either one has a muddied midrange. I think he meant that with the new tweeter, they're able to make the transition (x-over) from high-mids to low-highs better than with the old speakers. I think muddied mid-range is where either the bass or highs dominate, so that you can't really separate the instruments being played.

With these newer tweeters that extend up to 40kHz, fans of hi-rez music can take advantage of this extended frequency range. Most speakers are designed to go up to 18-20 kHz, only. I'm very interested in how they perform. I can definitly say that the looks are more eye-catching than the current L3s.

RyanJE