Scaena install

LL21

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If 24 inch subwoofers are slow, they may not make good match with XLF.

Since Rel give very generous refund within 60 days trial, you may try pair of Rel 24's to see what happen.
Yes, thanks for that. I am told the 24" cones are carbon fiber and about the same weight as traditional 18" cones with 4000 watt amplification...and dual-opposed in design. So the theory is that they will generate very low distortion particularly given how much air they can displace while 'loafing'. More to come.
 

caesar

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I think the weakness of Scaena speakers lie on their subwoofers.

They are not bad but just decent not justifying its high price.

After I set it up with Rel 31 subwoofers, even piano sounds more real.

Rel subwoofers seems to mate well with Scaena so that it can make Scaena my last speaker. :)

Whole system sounds much more dynamic with wider and deeper soundstage.

Please note that two Scaena sealed 18 inch subwoofers are being used togerther with pair of Rel 31 subwoofers.

What I like main tower of Scaena is no distortion due to use of many drivers and separate chamber for each mid range driver.

Mid range drivers does not go through any passive network thus 12 of them works as full range speaker.


Hello Thomas,
Interesting experiment. I am not sure if the subs Scaena used at Axpona are the same ones you have, but from what I heard at Axpona, the Scaena system with 8 subs was the closest of anything I experienced at the show that came close to magic / realism.

Other gear / rooms at the show did a little of this or a little of that . But the Scaena room was the complete package, oedipal rage at the brand by scaena haters in the audio press, such as the analytical sound, aside.

That doesn't mean, of course, that something already excellent cannot be improved, as you are doing with the RELs.

Also, interestingly, the sales guy in Borreson room, demoing their $250K plus speaker, was insisting that the conventional audiophile wisdom of large subwoofers is all wrong! He insisted that an array of "fast", smaller woofer modules, as in their Borreson M7, is "better" than the larger subs everyone else uses. And the Borresons definitely had dynamic oomph at the show, but the Borreson system lacked realistic, natural, life-like tone that the Scaena has in spades.
 
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caesar

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Glad you landed on Scaenas and are happy. I find their presentation more realistic, immediate and engaging than any box speakers I've heard.

Great way to put it. Scaena was most realistic sound at the latest Axpona!
 

thomask

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Hello Thomas,
Interesting experiment. I am not sure if the subs Scaena used at Axpona are the same ones you have, but from what I heard at Axpona, the Scaena system with 8 subs was the closest of anything I experienced at the show that came close to magic / realism.

Other gear / rooms at the show did a little of this or a little of that . But the Scaena room was the complete package, oedipal rage at the brand by scaena haters in the audio press, such as the analytical sound, aside.

That doesn't mean, of course, that something already excellent cannot be improved, as you are doing with the RELs.

Also, interestingly, the sales guy in Borreson room, demoing their $250K plus speaker, was insisting that the conventional audiophile wisdom of large subwoofers is all wrong! He insisted that an array of "fast", smaller woofer modules, as in their Borreson M7, is "better" than the larger subs everyone else uses. And the Borresons definitely had dynamic oomph at the show, but the Borreson system lacked realistic, natural, life-like tone that the Scaena has in spades.
I am of the opinion that main towers of Scaena is masterpiece.

But subwoofers falls short of main tower although it still sound decent, that is, better than average.

I would like to recommend Scaena to outsource top subwoofer from Rel.

Another suggestion is to make junior model of 8 midrange drivers mated with lower model of Rel like S510, then whole package can be priced around 40 k $ which will be more accessible.
 

Scaena1

Industry Expert
Sep 13, 2010
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Hello Thomas,
Interesting experiment. I am not sure if the subs Scaena used at Axpona are the same ones you have, but from what I heard at Axpona, the Scaena system with 8 subs was the closest of anything I experienced at the show that came close to magic / realism.

Other gear / rooms at the show did a little of this or a little of that . But the Scaena room was the complete package, oedipal rage at the brand by scaena haters in the audio press, such as the analytical sound, aside.

That doesn't mean, of course, that something already excellent cannot be improved, as you are doing with the RELs.

Also, interestingly, the sales guy in Borreson room, demoing their $250K plus speaker, was insisting that the conventional audiophile wisdom of large subwoofers is all wrong! He insisted that an array of "fast", smaller woofer modules, as in their Borreson M7, is "better" than the larger subs everyone else uses. And the Borresons definitely had dynamic oomph at the show, but the Borreson system lacked realistic, natural, life-like tone that the Scaena has in spades.


Caesar,

Thank you for your favorable comments.
Below is my post from December 2022. The subs Thomas has (18-inch woofers) have been discontinued and not used at AXPONA 2023.
The use of the 8 subs helped to provide a more consistent bass response throughout the room.

Before we discontinued the 18 inch woofers, we had used two drivers over the first ten years of production with handling capacities of at least 1000 wpc. We discontinued their use approximately 7 years ago after developing a custom 12 inch driver that blends far better with the towers and is faster and more accurate. The towers roll off at around 90Hz and the 18 inch woofers left a hole in certain installations where we wanted a more consistent and higher quality output capability from the woofers in the 80-120Hz range, particularly after we substituted the current production true ribbon tweeters for the old planar ribbons. We could occasionally run the 18’s up to 110Hz in some rooms. You may want to start there and back down until you reach an acceptable blend.
 

audiovue

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Aug 8, 2023
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You have the one of a kind pair with the hand painted black and white midrange enclosures.

We used that exact pair at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest in 2008 to great response -sonically and visually.


Your set up dimensions are almost exactly the same as mine in my room. I’m at 8 feet 6 inches equilateral but I prefer the woofers outside the towers, at least in my room and most of our set ups.It looks like you are space limited width wise.I hope you get many years of listening pleasure from them.

Regards,

Alan
Hi, i buy the 2 sub from Lappy57 (-; , did you have some parts for restoring.
Like, new grill, lost one allen screw,
The tube rubber for the stand they permit the box do not moving on it...
And a new woofer or suggestion for replace it?
Regards
 

thomask

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Hi, i buy the 2 sub from Lappy57 (-; , did you have some parts for restoring.
Like, new grill, lost one allen screw,
The tube rubber for the stand they permit the box do not moving on it...
And a new woofer or suggestion for replace it?
Regards
i recommend you to try pair of Rel subwoofers.

If you have generous budget, then you can try Rel 31 or 32.

If not, HT 1510 or 1205 could work,
 

Ron Resnick

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A dear friend of mine in our Orange County audiophile group hosted the group today to demo his new GT Audio four column speakers. To my shock I found Pipedream 21s and not GT Audios in his living room.

I can tell you I love these things! They have the height and scale of any huge tower system, but with great coherency, despite eight 18 inch subwoofers, and a natural and warm tonal balance.

Jeff is using Jadis JA30s on the towers.

I am baffled why Marty switched away from these to Wilson Alexandrias.

IMG_8998.jpeg


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IMG_8994.jpeg
 
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Ron Resnick

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I am asking myself how Scaena has fallen off the general high-end audio radar. This is a wonderful design concept that should be re-popularized.
 

thomask

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I am asking myself how Scaena has fallen off the general high-end audio radar. This is a wonderful design concept that should be re-popularized.
I am of the opinion that its main tower is a masterpiece delinating realstic soudstage without any noticable distortion.

But integration of bass with 18 inch subwoofers leave something to be improved.

I had not listened to its new 12 inch woofers.

Thus I can not tell how good 12 inch woofers are.

But after augementing with pair of Rel 31s , I am happy with Scaena 3.2
 
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Ron Resnick

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I am of the opinion that its main tower is a masterpiece delinating realstic soudstage without any noticable distortion.

But integration of bass with 18 inch subwoofers leave something to be improved.

I had not listened to its new 12 inch woofers.

Thus I can not tell how good 12 inch woofers are.

But after augementing with pair of Rel 31s , I am happy with Scaena 3.2

I think Scaena's evolution to larger midrange drivers and smaller woofer drivers is exactly what was needed to improve coherency.

Did you ever have Pipedreams?
 

Ron Resnick

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Unfortunately Scaena seems to be a bit of a mess. It looks like their website has not been updated since the era of the Radio Shack TRS-80.
They need to hire Julian to fix their website!

The last review they quote is from 2009.

The speakers shown at AXPONA this year seemed very well and sounded great!
 
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LL21

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A dear friend of mine in our Orange County audiophile group hosted the group today to demo ... Pipedream 21s ... I can tell you I love these things! They have the height and scale of any huge tower system, but with great coherency, despite eight 18 inch subwoofers, and a natural and warm tonal balance. Jeff is using Jadis JA30s on the towers. I am baffled why Marty switched away from these to Wilson Alexandrias.
Interesting, Ron. I think both Marty and Albert Porter both moved from Scaenas after many years...Marty to Alexx V and Albert to Focal Grande Utopia EMs. I think both had comments about a level of refinement and nuance they really appreciated in their new speakers. I imagine there may have been other reasons as well.
 

Ron Resnick

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I think I went a little overboard yesterday with my effusive first impressions. No loudspeaker is perfect. There is always a compromise somewhere.

The evolution of the Pipedreams to the Scaena with larger midranges and smaller woofers suggests a concern about coherency. Another concern might be ultimate resolution.
 
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microstrip

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(...) I am baffled why Marty switched away from these to Wilson Alexandrias. (...)

He is an expert in ophthalmology, not in otorhinolaryngology - probably he does not take proper care of his ears ... :)

More seriously, you seem to have forgotten that Marty wrote excellent long posts documenting his choice at the beginning of 2017. And his farewell to the Alexandria's when he got the AllexV tells a lot about them:

" 4 months after ordering, the Alexx V speakers arrived in my home yesterday. My Alexandria S2's departed with some tears after arriving on October 2016 and providing countless hours of musical pleasure. I'm looking forward to the same joy from the new speakers ."
 

thomask

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Alexia V using DCS Vivaldi full stack sounds terrible to me.

It gave sharp focus and front to back layering.

But you never get that kind of sharp focus in live concert.

It is an "Audio Porn'. Some people may like it but not me.

Overal balance was too hot.

But Alexia V using Magnezar turntable is quite musical.

It does not give holographic imaging as one using Vivaldi full stack, but sound natural with excellent details.

I had been back to the room three times.

If i have good turntable, I will be happy to have Alexia V at my home. ;)


I had listened to Focal Utopia speakers several times.

They sound colorful and dynamic but could give fatigue in the long term.

But Scaena does not go overboard.

Its strength is natural and realistic focus in 3 D soundstage.

Yesterday I had been back and forth between Scaena 3.2 and Lansche 4.1, both augemented by pair of Rel 31s .

Tonallly, Lansche give more refined sound.

But Sceana has edge on palpable image on 3 D soundstage while Lansche is not far behind.

Thus people who want more colorful or dynamic sound may go for either Focal or Wilson.

I would rather be with Scaena or Lansche to enjoy music in the long term period.

But i would like to get original Western horn vintage system before I die.
 

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