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Any Transmission Line fans out there?

Ran TDL Studio 1's for years. On their proper bases too. Much enjoyment, I love the way they do what they do. Only possibly mistake I made was buying them in black ash - which was dead trendy at the time but I would choose differently now.

Sold them after I got my (sealed!) Gale 401s restored, professionally. We (I) am not a two system household, so the Studio 1's 'had' to go.
 
Good morning all!
Firstly, I'm here to learn more and I am no expert!

My first and only experience with what I learned to be Transmission Line 'Speakers was at the Parent's house.

For many, many years a pair of Cambridge R50 Loudspeakers moved the Living Room.

I recall an exciting and fun variety of components hooked up to these. Loud and LOTS of bass.

Latterly, when I returned to where I live and listened to my system, I preferred the more subtle and refined presentation of my 'system...

Lots of good memories. I'd love a pair of R50 Loudspeakers. I'm not sure my most "Suitable" amplifier; my Sony 700 ES would drive them through!
 
Me and my brother built a pair of the HI-Fi answers transmission line monitors way back in 1976. Used the KEF B139,200, T27 and Coles super tweeter units which we purchased from Wilmslow Audio. I was just 16 at the time so learning how to build something like this was quite a challenge but we managed it and they were fantastic. They were in my Dad's system with a Naim amp from that period. My brother now has the speakers and is still using them with the same Naim amp and it still sounds very good. Not as crisp as modern systems but very easy on the ear and enjoyable to listen to. I never went down the transmission line road for my own system - I lost my heart to a pair of Quad 57s and have using them for the past 25 years with variou valve amps. Still miss the transmission line bass though!!!!
 
Good morning all!
Firstly, I'm here to learn more and I am no expert!

My first and only experience with what I learned to be Transmission Line 'Speakers was at the Parent's house.

For many, many years a pair of Cambridge R50 Loudspeakers moved the Living Room.

I recall an exciting and fun variety of components hooked up to these. Loud and LOTS of bass.

Latterly, when I returned to where I live and listened to my system, I preferred the more subtle and refined presentation of my 'system...

Lots of good memories. I'd love a pair of R50 Loudspeakers. I'm not sure my most "Suitable" amplifier; my Sony 700 ES would drive them through!

I briefly had a pair of R50 speakers back in the day, bloody heavy for their size. Seem to remember liking the bass output from them.

I had a pair of the original TDL studio 1s at some point and also the Atkinson TL

http://www.t-linespeakers.org/projects/jakob/index.html
 
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Just what is it about them that so many of you like ?
I've never heard any, and from the posts above it seems that they do bass - I assume quality rather than just quantity ?
 
Just what is it about them that so many of you like ?
I've never heard any, and from the posts above it seems that they do bass - I assume quality rather than just quantity ?

For me they give far more lower frequency for their size than you would expect.

Useful if space is limited.
 
Just what is it about them that so many of you like ?
I've never heard any, and from the posts above it seems that they do bass - I assume quality rather than just quantity ?

Indeed it is the quality of the bass that is so attractive. A thumping sub woofer they are not, just a natural extended bass that will only show if it is there on the recording.
Anything bigger than a Studio 1 or 2 is getting quite large domestically though - you can argue that they do not take up any more room than a 2 cu ft BBC type speaker on stands, but they will always look larger. Anything smaller than an Studio 1 and the bass effect becomes rather smaller, although the roll off is still more even than your average Reflex type. Slower roll-off is what I ilke about sealed speakers - hence my Gales. Although Yamaha 1000s are still very much on my desire list - I don't think I would get them past the interior ministry.
 
For me they give far more lower frequency for their size than you would expect.

Useful if space is limited.

Indeed it is the quality of the bass that is so attractive. A thumping sub woofer they are not, just a natural extended bass that will only show if it is there on the recording.
Anything bigger than a Studio 1 or 2 is getting quite large domestically though - you can argue that they do not take up any more room than a 2 cu ft BBC type speaker on stands, but they will always look larger. Anything smaller than an Studio 1 and the bass effect becomes rather smaller, although the roll off is still more even than your average Reflex type. Slower roll-off is what I ilke about sealed speakers - hence my Gales. Although Yamaha 1000s are still very much on my desire list - I don't think I would get them past the interior ministry.

Thank you both - Despite having owned a fair number of speakers I have so little experience of anything other than ported boxes, and even then I've only had 2 pairs of speakers over the last 12 years. I need to spend more time looking at the classifieds clearly..
 
Is there such a thing as a transmission line subwoofer?

I suppose in effect the PMC XBDs are. I think they are tuned the same as the main speakers to be a little down at 16Hz, iirc -3dB for the mains.

4m TL on the larger ones.

Lovely deep bass designed for a large room.
 
I am a transmission line fan I have a pair of ipl stl5 transmission line speakers from ipl acoustics they sound fantastic with my avondale ncc220 qudos amplifier ? in my view if you want true bass that's the way to go no cheating with sub woofer ?
 
I used to own a pair of T+A Criterion transmission speakers in the early 90s, Big and very heavy but beautifully finished Only reason I sold them was I went over to A/V.
T+A are still in business I believe and sell some beautiful gear,
 
I do not know of one - it would be exceedingly large to get down to sub-woof frequencies.
The theory of TL speaker design would fall apart at sub woofer frequencies when the room becomes acoustically small. You are sitting IN the enclosure down there.
 
As a fan of Cambridge Audio R50s this thread interests me. I don’t write about gear much because I know little about it, and you folks know lots. But I’ve been playing R50s this weekend - hence the post. Sorry if its long but I thought some history relevant.

My dad bought a pair in 1972 so I heard plenty of classical music on them as a kid. He passed them to me mid 80s when I played noisy rock and jazz and I kept them until 1998 when I got a pair of Linn Isobariks, because I found a tidy pair and just fancied them. I have had them ever since.

The R50s went to an old pal of mine and he’s kept them safe and used them only occasionally. In 1996 I lived in Sydenham and a very kind and knowledgeable neighbour helped me fit new crossovers and tweeters. That improved the R50s detail and sweetness (Lawrence, thank you - are you still ‘out there’?).

I suppose I must be one of those ‘flat earth types’ because my system is Linn/Naim/Linn. Be gentle because I don’t know any different. When I owned the R50s my amps were Naim 82/250. With the briks I’ve gradually changed those through to active 52/250s and now have 500 series DR stuff, passive. The briks have given more with each amp change and I still enjoy them - I bet there’s something much better out there but have no idea what. I’ve long wondered how the R50s would sing on the end of a 500 and this thread made me want to find out.

My old pal came to stay this weekend and brought the R50s with him. They’re gorgeous and do many things better than the briks (not difficult I hear you cry) - it was lovely to hear them respond to the extra delicacy and grip of the 552/500.

Very natural, warm but authoritative, big open soundstage, great detail, especially true with voices and orchestral instruments, and good imaging. And the deep bass I remembered so well - not as fast or as much slam as the briks, but deeper and more beguiling. Really easy to place in a room they’d not been in before, very forgiving of a quick set up.

I could live with them permanently again very happily and was sad to see them go. But they’re in a good home.

So, I’m a fan of transmission line speakers. Thank you for this thread as a spur for me to hear them again.

I do wonder how more modern transmission line speakers like PMC Fact 12s sound (I believe they are TL) in comparison to older spec R50s - anyone know the answer?
 
Early 70s SMC AL20(?) two way TL design KEF T27 + KEF B200. Currently not in use. Very pleasing sound but lacking in power handling (25W iirc)
IMF TLS50s attached to TV - not bad for general use - GF owns these.
TDL studio 2s - poor speakers IMO - terrible power compression. They loved Led Zeppelin for some reason - but nothing else. Sold.
IPL S5tls - I loved these. Monster sound + dirt cheap (bought [badly] pre built). Sold these with the intention of buying a kit and making it up myself but then spotted locally some...
PMC AB1s which ended up growing on me - I forgot about the big IPLs (although I would still like to try a properly built pair) and ended up buying another set of AB1s for a second system.

Both pairs of AB1s are connected to Hypex nCore400s fed from ODACs attached to Linux pcs running MPD.

With TL you can't hear the boxes. The only other system I like listening to is my mate's ESL 57s powered by whatever ancient valve amp design he is currently tinkering with.

No power transistors - and no box problems in either system.
 
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