Mark K's sealed 225's

[jmb]

Has anyone here built Mark K's sealed 225. I am wanting to build a sealed speaker system for music listening only. I would like them to reach down to at least 70Hz. and with the 8" woofer this should be easy enough. What I am looking for is OPINIONS on imaging, soundstage etc.
I currently run a pair of the Modulas(hard to beat) but would like to move them to the theatre room.
TIA

JMB

[Jonny_boy]

Your Modula MTs, are they sealed or ported? If so what tuning did you choose? What don't like about them?

[jmb]

My MT's are ported, with Jon's recommended tuning. I believe it's around 42Hz. I like the Modulas fine, it's just my experience that a sealed speaker integrates with a sub much better, and the wife wants to develop a theatre room, and I thought the Mt's would be a great start.

[ThomasW]

If one has used the same internal box dimensions as those published, 32Hz is the Fb of the ported Modula MT.

[Jonny_boy]

...the wife wants to develop a theatre room...

She's a keeper if I know one!!!

[jmb]

If one has used the same internal box dimensions as those published, 32Hz is the Fb of the ported Modula MT.

My bad.

[cjd]

Imaging and soundstage are somewhat setup dependent...

Also somewhat less critical for a HT setup.

Ryan is crossing his sealed Khanspires (dual RS225 woofers) at 50Hz to his sub... and they produce noticeable output into the 40's. (stuff with content in the 30's and below picks up a noticeable difference adding the sub).

C

[---k---]

My MT's are ported, with Jon's recommended tuning. I believe it's around 42Hz. I like the Modulas fine, it's just my experience that a sealed speaker integrates with a sub much better, and the wife wants to develop a theatre room, and I thought the Mt's would be a great start.

Sounds backwards from above....

Anyway, doesn't matter. I think you should build them and then report back to us one which you like better where.

You're not going to end up with a bad speaker. So, guess it doesn't matter.

[Gir]

I have a pair of Mark K's RS225/RS28A (sealed) and my roommate has a pair of ported Modula MT's. Our setup is as follows:

Front: Mark K's RS255/RS28A
Center: Curt's RS WMTM
Rear: Modula MT
Sub: IXL-18.4, 12 cuft. tuned to ~16Hz

Receiver: RX-V661 (powers all but subs)
Sub Amp: EP2500 (bridged mono)
Source: Pioneer DV-46AV

The room is treated a little bit with OC-703 and OC-704 since the room is VERY live. It's more or less under control and down to acceptable levels with the room treatment. Also, the room is roughly 15'x15'x13' (yes, 13 foot ceiling; first floor apartment, but with concrete walls 8p ) and is open to a small hallway and kitchen.


So after reading this post we decided it was time to make a real listening test between Mark K's design and the Modula's. There was roughly a 30-50 second pause between switching speakers. First we listened to "The Johnny Hartman Collection", Disc 2. My favorite tracks are "My One And Only Love" (#1) and "The Very Though Of You" (#9), so these are what we listened to on this disc.

Both sets of speakers sounded very good on these two tracks. The Modulas seemed to have a little bit of a smoother, warmer sound. The imaging seemed to be about the same, but the sound stage was a little odd. The Modulas had a great sound stage between them, but it didn't seem to extend beyond the speakers. Perhaps this could be due to porting and bad room placement? I'm not quite sure. I did notice that on the Modulas the sax in track #1 sounded a little "muffled", as though a thin blanket covering the speakers. Mark's speakers seemed to open up a bit more in general, and also provided a larger sound stage.


The next thing we listened to was the "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" soundtrack, namely tracks 11 and 12. If you haven't listened to this disc, I highly recommend it. The recording is fantastic the orchestra sound simply amazing. Also, there's some pretty satisfying bass drum hits throughout the entire disc.

These two tracks made the difference between the two speakers very evident. The Modulas were muffling the french horns, once again going back to the blanket over the speaker type sound. Once we hooked Mark's back up the french horns were popping out, presumably like they were supposed to. It wasn't a huge difference, but it was a good enough one that even my audio deficient roommate (not the one with the speakers) could even tell the difference.


Overall I'd say that Mark's design provides a better midrange and seems to have a little less listening fatigue. Also, on a slightly less important note, Mark's look a hell of a lot better without a grill thanks to the 8" driver I'd do some more tests, but my fellow EE students have an important night of drinking games ahead of us (can you say crappy mid-term exam?). Hopefully this helps in your decision.

[Jonny_boy]

Gir,
what version of the Modula MT do you have? Which tweeter does it use?

Also how does the bottom end compare?

Peter

[Hdale85]

I believe he's using the RS28-A version. Could be wrong though

[Gir]

I believe he's using the RS28-A version. Could be wrong though

Yup, forgot to mention that.

Also how does the bottom end compare?

Sorry, but I didn't reconfigure it to compare the bass. I can tell you, though, that the low end on Mark's design is pretty good for a sealed 8". Judging by ear, I'd say it's usable to around 60Hz. I believe the -3dB is around 90Hz, but it's a slow roll off. Factor in room gain and it should be a bit better.

[jmb]

Thanks alot GIR, that's exactly what I was looking for.

[kgveteran]

I use four of Mark's designed speakers. I made the boxes smaller to wall mount for surround duty.They are a very neutral design.The RS28a sounds so good.One thing i noticed with the RS28a is that the amp needs to be appropriate. The amp needs to have enough power to avoid clipping.I brought them over to a friends house for a demo and his reciever was not up to it and they didn't sound the way they did in my room.I use stereo Behringer a500's.Hope this helps.

KG

[Silversmoky]

New guy jumping in here! Don't really have to much to add here information wise (just a beginner with much to learn!) But I did just finish up building a couple of mark k's sealed 225's. I have been very impressed with these speakers so far. Excellent design. I think since your goal is for music these would excel. I have been playing around with these and that seems to be really where they shine to me, not that they are bad for theater either. They do have a nice low end with the 8" woofer and to me the tweeter is SO clean and precise! Really great detail! I have only worked with a few different tweeters so far but I have been sort of blown away with the clarity with no harshness of the rs28a in this design. I think mark k did a really nice job with these!