Classic Audio T1 and T3 field coil loudspeakers

Hello Lewm,

I have heard both speakers on several occasions, the T.1's with field coil drivers are very special IMO, and worth seeking out an audition to form your own opinion.

During me decision to purchase T1’s which took well over a year, I auditioned the T 1’s with various amps, Atma-sphere, Shindo, and Esoteric, and a few different cartridges Air Tight Supreme, Air Tight PC-1, Van Den Hul Colibri, and a Koetsu Coralstone. The T'1's easily resolved the character of each combination.

I find these speakers to be very transparent to the source, they convey tone colors much like an electrostatic speaker, but with huge dynamics. They also really allow the energy of live music to be conveyed in a way I have heard very few other speakers. Despite being "lively" there is a smoothness about them. In hi-fi jargon that seems like an impossible combination, lively yet smooth. I suspect this type of sound is what field coil drivers bring to the table. I will leave that part of the discussion to the technical people.

I have heard vocal, folk, rock, large and small scale classical music all done to my immense satisfaction on the T1’s. These speakers allow you to explore all genres of music, instead of gravitating towards a narrow type of music which many systems tend to gravitate towards. Some of my former systems are included in that generalization.

Since these are horn speakers it is worth mentioning that they can convey a wonderful vocal without the typical mega phone horn sound. When I heard vocals with a Koestu at the helm and Atma-sphere driving, it was a very special combination. The midrange "sweetness" of a Koetsu was very complimentary to the Classic/Atma-sphere combo, which if it needs anything it is a slight sense of "sweetness". Perhaps adding the Koetsu is a coloration, but in this combination it is magical addition....to me. However, what really sold me on these speakers was with the Air Tight Supreme at the helm playing classical music. For me that was the first time ever on a stereo system I was able to really enjoy large scale classical music. It was large in scale, dynamic yet had a sense of delicacy. I was done once I heard classical music on these speakers.

In summary, these speakers are not a one trick pony, they shine on all types of music and at low and high volumes. These field coil Classic T'1's, are something special, and worth jumping on an airplane to audition.

David

Hello Lewn,

Actually, CAR offered a RMAF show special on the T.1's for 28k.

David

David, Thank you very much for your thoughtful and thorough remarks. No doubt the T1s are something to aspire to, but even at $28K the price is over my head (besides which I would bet those show special units are sold). I AM still interested in the T3s cum field coil drivers, however, even moreso now that I've read your post.

You sound a lot like Ralph in describing them; he was ecstatic. I am coming from a lifetime of listening to full-range ESLs. Now I am open to trying something different, but I don't want to give up any of the transparency and coherence that I have with my Sound Labs.

Thanks, David, for the interesting comments. Can anyone suggest T3 room size guidelines, and how much do the T3 go for ?

Jtimothya, I have T-3s at home. The T-3 as an all-alnico unit is $15,500. You can add the field-coil drivers as options. The midrange is the most important (that's what I have right now- next step is the super tweeters), that puts the cost at $18,000/pair. To add the tweeter makes it $21,000 and finally with the field coil woofers $28,500/pair.

The T-3 uses the same drivers and crossovers as the T-1 and has similar cabinet volume. It differs in being narrower and taller, on account of its use of a JBL horn which is not as wide as the one on the T-1. That is why I have the T-3 at home- the wider dimension of the T-1 would not have worked in my space. In sound and measurement the two horns using the same driver seem to behave nearly the same.

The speaker is easy to set up in smaller rooms as long as you can have a listening chair at least 8-10' from the speaker- they aren't so great near-field. We've set them up in some smaller hotel rooms with good success- you can back them up against the wall (mine are 6 inches from the rear wall) without loss of air or soundstage effect.

You could set them up easily in a room that was only 10 feet wide as long as you could get at least that far from them. If you have your listening chair against the rear wall there would probably be too much deep bass reinforcement, so for a 10 foot wide room one would hope that it was at least 13-17 feet in length. Of course big rooms are easy and the speaker is so easy to drive that a 50 foot long room could be filled with ease.