Today on Amazon you can buy a PAIR of KEF Q150's for $300. DIY a better cabinet for a 2-way or add a woofer and cabinet for a 3-way. Several diyaudio threads developing better crossovers too.
@tajanes said:
I prefer those with imbedded tweeter horns; ie beyma's, and Celestions (with common motor design). Although the Celestion is a bit more to deal with.
The price has gone up significantly since I bot my pair. Not inexpensive to begin with, but imo worth passing on another build or three…
They don’t have the ‘moving waveguide’ issues as the non-horn loaded coaxials. Nor do they have a horn sound that I perceive, maybe biz I tend to cross in my builds the mid to tw outside of (above) the high-ear sensitivity range.
@Ed_Perkins said:
Today on Amazon you can buy a PAIR of KEF Q150's for $300. DIY a better cabinet for a 2-way or add a woofer and cabinet for a 3-way. Several diyaudio threads developing better crossovers too.
That’s what AJ’s Soundfield Audio Monitor was - KEF Q100 coax (in some respects nicer than the current Q - no metamaterial tweeter damper but a nice cast basket instead of the current stamped one) + 8” woofer in the old (and missed) PE .75 cabinet with a PE BASH 300 amp. And they work really well!
@4thtry said:
That filtered FR graph has an aspect ratio of 60dB/decade!
Sorry - I know dB and decade, but I don't understand this.
I'm comparing it to 25dB/decade, which is the standard used by VituixCAD for printing most graphs.
Friends working on the academic side of perceptual audio also use 25dB/decade and 20-20kHz as the default view. Same with friends at Bose and Harman/JBL. A lot of the fundamental Audio Engineering Society publications used that early on and the choice stuck.
@jhaider said:
Does the other end of the included cable have the modern connector? Otherwise it’s oddly incompatible with new stuff.
Pretty much all computers have A ports, new or old.
Most peripherals out there are still using A connectors. At least for windows, that is the only supported OS.
@Silver1omo said:
Pretty much all computers have A ports, new or old.
Most peripherals out there are still using A connectors. At least for windows, that is the only supported OS.
The one I bought over 2 years ago - from Microsoft themselves! - just for VituixCAD and other audio stuff (I’ve been a Mac guy since the titanium PowerBook G4 ca. 2001 for daily needs) does not have the obsolete port.
Sure, there are adapters and dongles and whatnot, but just seems odd to me for a computer peripheral released in 2025 to use an obsolete port from the 1990s.
@jhaider said:
Does the other end of the included cable have the modern connector? Otherwise it’s oddly incompatible with new stuff.
@Silver1omo said:
Pretty much all computers have A ports, new or old.
Most peripherals out there are still using A connectors. At least for windows, that is the only supported OS.
I'm wondering if you guys are talking past each other a bit. My interpretation...
Jhaider is stating that the port on the DATS LA is obsolete, but asks what the OTHER end of the cable looks like.
Silver1omo is stating that pretty much all computers still have a USB-A port - which is true and probably is what the OTHER end of the cable has.
@jhaider - are you saying your new laptop does not have a single USB-A port like the image of the Dell below?
A lot of peripherals still use the A on the laptop/computer end, and the square older type on the other. They happen to be a robust connection. Doesn't an AppleTV or whatever have that square input too?
I've never had a computer or laptop in the last 25 years without one. My wife has a Dell like pictured, and I have an ASUS TUF, a solid machine, both purchased a little more than a year ago. Mine has 2 USB 2.0 ports, and a Micro USB-C super-speed port or something like that. I have a Vivitar card-reader/USB/HDMI dongle I run from the micro port to get the larger sized USB-C blue-tabbed port.
@a4eaudio said:
Jhaider is stating that the port on the DATS LA is obsolete, but asks what the OTHER end of the cable looks like…. @jhaider - are you saying your new laptop does not have a single USB-A port like the image of the Dell below?
Correct on both counts.
They all can work together, so in practice as long as there’s an old-to-modern cable included, that’s only a headache if you lose or break the cable.
I posted the spec of my audio-only non-Mac (MS Surface Pro 8, which runs Windows Pro 11 and is generally used via MS Remote Desktop) above. It has the modern Mac-style port but not the old one.
I can confirm the DATS LA uses USB-B on the device itself and the 'classic' USB-A port on the other end of the provided cable. Ultra-sleek computers will need a dongle for it to function, unless there is such a thing as a USB-B to USB-C cable you could get somewhere else.
As far as use of the device goes, I could really only do basic DATS stuff with it as I 'think' the version of software posted is outdated. I'm definitely missing some options for measuring Vas, which is necessary before doing all the new stuff. I have a ticket open right now, so I'm hoping that gets resolved soon. I'd like to compare the four methodologies sometime.
Edit: Such a cable exists, as does a converter plug of sorts. I'll use the provided cable since it's thicker - maybe my cats won't eat it!
Comments
Today on Amazon you can buy a PAIR of KEF Q150's for $300. DIY a better cabinet for a 2-way or add a woofer and cabinet for a 3-way. Several diyaudio threads developing better crossovers too.
Or the refurb Q1 Meta for $350
What's not to like? (other than the $750/pr price tag).
How far back must one listen to these things so that the HF Horn doesn't interfere with the sound?
That filtered FR graph has an aspect ratio of 60dB/decade!
The price has gone up significantly since I bot my pair. Not inexpensive to begin with, but imo worth passing on another build or three…
They don’t have the ‘moving waveguide’ issues as the non-horn loaded coaxials. Nor do they have a horn sound that I perceive, maybe biz I tend to cross in my builds the mid to tw outside of (above) the high-ear sensitivity range.
Sorry - I know dB and decade, but I don't understand this.
The Beyma vs Seas is not an apples to apples comparison. Scaling of the graph, smoothing, and there is a crossover all advantiges given to the Beyma.
here is the Seas with a crossover:
https://audioxpress.com/news/seas-launches-toy-diy-kit-with-metamodal-tpcd-coaxial-driver
I'm not trying to argue one over the other but I do think we need to try to give them a fair comparison. I would love a chance to play with them both.
I'm comparing it to 25dB/decade, which is the standard used by VituixCAD for printing most graphs.
Thanks.
That’s what AJ’s Soundfield Audio Monitor was - KEF Q100 coax (in some respects nicer than the current Q - no metamaterial tweeter damper but a nice cast basket instead of the current stamped one) + 8” woofer in the old (and missed) PE .75 cabinet with a PE BASH 300 amp. And they work really well!
Friends working on the academic side of perceptual audio also use 25dB/decade and 20-20kHz as the default view. Same with friends at Bose and Harman/JBL. A lot of the fundamental Audio Engineering Society publications used that early on and the choice stuck.
DATS LA
https://www.parts-express.com/DATS-LA-Loudspeaker-Analyzer-390-805?quantity=1
Can't wait for the community to analyze the analyzer . . .
I'm not sure I'm the guy to analyze the analyzer (maybe Amir at ASR will?) but mine arrived a few days ago. Hoping to open it this weekend.
I’m surprised a 2025 piece of gear has the old fashioned USB connector.
Backwards compatibility . . . and they had plenty of room for the old style connector.
Does the other end of the included cable have the modern connector? Otherwise it’s oddly incompatible with new stuff.
Pretty much all computers have A ports, new or old.
Most peripherals out there are still using A connectors. At least for windows, that is the only supported OS.
Dead horse……………….
https://www.jfcomponents.com/
The one I bought over 2 years ago - from Microsoft themselves! - just for VituixCAD and other audio stuff (I’ve been a Mac guy since the titanium PowerBook G4 ca. 2001 for daily needs) does not have the obsolete port.
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/surface/surface-pro-8-features-and-specs-80d10ad3-52c1-4ded-a3be-ede236b9de93
Sure, there are adapters and dongles and whatnot, but just seems odd to me for a computer peripheral released in 2025 to use an obsolete port from the 1990s.
I'm wondering if you guys are talking past each other a bit. My interpretation...
Jhaider is stating that the port on the DATS LA is obsolete, but asks what the OTHER end of the cable looks like.
Silver1omo is stating that pretty much all computers still have a USB-A port - which is true and probably is what the OTHER end of the cable has.
@jhaider - are you saying your new laptop does not have a single USB-A port like the image of the Dell below?
A lot of peripherals still use the A on the laptop/computer end, and the square older type on the other. They happen to be a robust connection. Doesn't an AppleTV or whatever have that square input too?
InDIYana Event Website
Not @jhaider, but I have a SOTA at the time 4-year-old laptop and it doesn't have one.
I've never had a computer or laptop in the last 25 years without one. My wife has a Dell like pictured, and I have an ASUS TUF, a solid machine, both purchased a little more than a year ago. Mine has 2 USB 2.0 ports, and a Micro USB-C super-speed port or something like that. I have a Vivitar card-reader/USB/HDMI dongle I run from the micro port to get the larger sized USB-C blue-tabbed port.
InDIYana Event Website
Correct on both counts.
They all can work together, so in practice as long as there’s an old-to-modern cable included, that’s only a headache if you lose or break the cable.
I posted the spec of my audio-only non-Mac (MS Surface Pro 8, which runs Windows Pro 11 and is generally used via MS Remote Desktop) above. It has the modern Mac-style port but not the old one.
I can confirm the DATS LA uses USB-B on the device itself and the 'classic' USB-A port on the other end of the provided cable. Ultra-sleek computers will need a dongle for it to function, unless there is such a thing as a USB-B to USB-C cable you could get somewhere else.
As far as use of the device goes, I could really only do basic DATS stuff with it as I 'think' the version of software posted is outdated. I'm definitely missing some options for measuring Vas, which is necessary before doing all the new stuff. I have a ticket open right now, so I'm hoping that gets resolved soon. I'd like to compare the four methodologies sometime.
Edit: Such a cable exists, as does a converter plug of sorts. I'll use the provided cable since it's thicker - maybe my cats won't eat it!