Description
The wideband driver with better dispersion
After releasing the Pluvia range of drivers, which have been well received, Mark set about the next design evolution. As some of you will know Mark’s design ethos is mechanical efficiency, adding lightness and simplifying where possible. In these new drivers Mark has managed to achieve much more with much less.
This new driver works in our current Pensil 11 and Frugel-Horn XL kits, the dimensions are the same as the Pluvia 11 and acoustically will work in most (larger) boxes where the Pluvia worked, that means that it is a drop in upgrade for those of you wanting to experiment with a new driver without making a new box.
New technology Full Range audio driver
The advanced design Alpair 11MS (mono suspension) is a radical departure from previous models. The 11MS is completely new, utilising many new design components and manufacturing processes. The two main features are the patent-pending Negative Camber Cone and Mono suspension system. Other key features include a custom designed, gas-flowed glass-fibre chassis and dedicated ultra light voice coil.
Negative Camber Cone (patent-pending).
The 11MS cone is an ultra shallow design affording a wide dispersion pattern. The outer section of the cone profile is angled backwards creating a +180 degrees emittance pattern to help optimise stereo imaging. Vocals from quality sources sound more natural and detailed as the central cap and cone profile are geometrically close-aligned.
Mono Suspension (patent-pending).
Much technical research has been done to balance the driver’s powertrain (cone, cap, coil and suspension) between its axis of travel and the corresponding centre of gravity. The new negative-camber cone facilitates the repositioning of the coil to avoid the need for a traditional rear suspension (spider). This new mono suspension design frees the coil from having a restrictive spider bonded to it, improving the transfer of energy from the driver’s motor to its cone. The new suspension employs an all new custom mix of four synthetic materials, resulting in improved linearity under low frequency loads.
The 11MS all new chassis is optimised to enhance airflow.
The various slopes and rounded angles help improve sound wave emittance. Custom extended terminals are provided for push-on connectors or light-soldering for cables up to 1.5mm diameter.
Other features.
- The run-in time for the 11MS is significantly reduced compared to previous models. Ten hours of light music at moderate volumes is sufficient for the suspension to reach its optimal operating pattern.
- An Arrestor (as deployed in previous Alpair models) provides an audible warning of accidental excess excursion.
- The low-mass coil has a vented former and the motor employs custom made copper plating to reduce distortion.
- The MS11 is a bass capable audio driver with comparable performance to light-medium load traditional mid-bass units.
The 11MS is an audio driver designed for the dedicated music lover and High-Fidelity enthusiast. Attention to design detail along with an close tolerance manufacturing standard to +/- 0.05mm on most component alignments make this new generation of Markaudio transducers stand out from the crowd.
kobus (verified owner) –
I really, really am digging the ms11’s… they are a blast.
They destroy many, many 2 way’s with a 6,5″ driver, for 80-90% of the music genre.
They do bass really good, quick dry, with a good thump. I really don’t miss a tweeter and they have a much broader soundstage then my XTZ 99.26 speakers with fully upgraded filters.
And that is just from a 1971 speaker case with a radio shack wire as thin as my hair. Can’t wait to hear them in good enclosures from a proper designer and builder 😀
Can’t wait to receive the Notromo’s cases, build by you!
admin –
Thanks Kobus, they are VERY good. You’ll be very pleased with the Nostromo boxes. I’ll be sure to post some photos of them here when they are done.
Bernd Kreis (verified owner) –
It was much fun to build the frugel horn xl kit from KJFAudio. So I thought It could be interesting to build a pair of Pensil 11 speakers with Alpair 11MS drivers from KJF Audio. Again, building the speakers was a pleasure and I was even more pleased when I listened to them. Stefan didn’t exaggerate when he recommended these new drivers. They deliver great, neutral sound. The soundstage is wide and imaging is truly three dimensional. The Pensils work surprisingly well with rock music and they are just fantastic when it comes to jazz. And they look good. Although breaking-in time is supposed to be no more than 10 hours of playing light music at moderate levels, I find that the Alpair 11MS need much more time to show all their qualities. I felt that they reached another level of performance after roughly 200 hours of listening. Especially when it comes to vocal music. After the positive experience with this excellent driver in the Pensils, I grew curiosity to listen to them in a large horn enclosure. So I bought a second pair of the Alpair 11MS and Scott Lindgren’s plan set for the Brodgar Horns.
Although building Pensils and Frugel Horns from kits was quite easy, I decided to take the plan set to my carpenter friend who built the speakers with me. Lacking space, tools and skills, I know now that this was a wise decision. My respect for carpenters grew constantly during the building process of a truly beautiful pair of huge, elegant looking horns.
I wish I could include a photo.
Their sound is just spectacular. Compared to the Pensils, the Brodgar Horns sound more dynamic with a bigger soundstage and they give even more precise imaging along with impressive bass reproduction. Instruments as well as voices appear larger, actually they seem to be as large as live.
The Alpair 11MS are brilliant drivers that offer tremendous value for money and work extremely well in different types of enclosures. Highly recommended!
admin –
Thanks Bernd, that is a great little review. I’ll post some images that you have sent over on the facebook page.
Tim Woodward (verified owner) –
New Speaker Driver Review
Ok, here goes, it’s a taken a couple of weeks or more but I’m at last putting pen to paper! I’ve not turned them off so I might get distracted by this live Jazz at the Pawnshop session with Arne Domnerus! Hmm… nice…
This quick review is really for those who might be contemplating the Alpair 11 MS as a direct replacement for the Pluvia 11 in a Pensil kit. First of all the swapping of drive units went fine, the Alpair is shorter than the Pluvia and Stefan advises the fact that the magnet isn’t resting against the internal bracing like the Pluvia isn’t a problem. The centre of gravity is further forward and its lighter as well, plus the frame/basket is a sturdier material than the Pluvia – which is a welcome change for ham fisted screwdriver wielders like me. I just can’t get those screws in straight!
I didn’t listen at all for around the recommended 10 hours, I actually left them playing overnight but had to have the volume quite low so as not to disturb the neighbours, so I don’t think they actually did much loosening up at all. In the morning I turned them up to normal listening levels and spent most of the day in another room occasionally passing through for a listen.
First impressions were that these are very different sounding drivers, very even is the best way to describe the hardly run in sound I heard in my room. There was some colouration, I could clearly hear that, which is when I reasoned the nights gentle warm-up hadn’t done very much at all really. So I left them alone at normal listening levels all morning and probably most of the next day as well. I can’t exactly remember when they came on song now, but no longer than 24 hours all told as they went off at night and when I was watching TV in the same room. I did try hard not to listen as I wanted to loosen up the drivers and not get myself accustomed to a new sound as part of the process.
Anyway, you always know that its time to listen to a new component when you walk through the room to make a cup of coffee and get drawn into what’s playing. I was actually using a really unimpressive sounding Roots box set playlist I made for this very purpose, great reggae and ska etc but often pretty rough and ready recordings – loads of bass to get speakers loosened up though!
Even with this uneven material they were sounding pretty good so I set my ‘hi-fi test’ playlist going. First thing I noticed having a proper listen was that lovely evenness. In my system and room the Pluvia’s have a tendency to pin me to the back wall with certain harsh and hard recordings, they take no prisoners! These Alpair’s were quite different, yes the highs were there, little ticks and snicks as stick hit snare or a string was plucked – but I could actually turn up the volume and not have to leave the room.
Don’t misunderstand, the Pluvia’s aren’t violently harsh, but its almost as though in my room they had a slight dip just before that hard edge some recordings have, then a peak, which made the hard metallic nature of some sounds stand out more than they should. The Alpair’s on the other hand didn’t highlight that brightness, they sort of joined it up with everything else in a uniform way, if that makes any kind of sense. So when turned up everything was louder, with no discernible edginess. If the recording was crap it just sounded average, but entirely listenable. I think these drivers are just really even and easy for the brain to decode.
The colouration has now completely gone (after about 30+ hours I suppose, so hardly any time for a speaker to warm up at all) the bass has gained a fuller sound, more mid bass than before but that’s still dropping as I listen – and they go lovely and deep like the Pluvia’s, maybe even a tad deeper. Subtlety is now apparent so I’m hearing lots more in familiar recordings, this means you just want to throw more at them to see what they can do and how they handle it – hence the long wait for a review!
And did I mention how fast they were, really fast! I was always told, and believed myself, that you need an active speaker to get these sort of dynamics. Well that’s simply not so, even in the big Pensil enclosure they are amazingly quick. Percussion hits hard and sounds like a real slap on real skin, sudden changes in volume are accurately delivered. Say in the way Diana Krall‘s piano suddenly lifts off as she changes direction mid-riff and stamps on the loud pedal at the same time, that really made me sit up and take notice. A much under estimated jazz pianist (well she does get a bit smaltzy at times I agree), on her first album she really let’s fly – ‘in the room’ is all I can say really (I wish!).
So, I’m chuffed. That young Fenlon chap does push the technical boundaries somewhat, and I can vouch for the effectiveness of the spiderless design, and the slightly forward shoulder on the edge of the cone. Everything comes together to create a more believable soundstage, and even in my quite modest system (Roon NUC>Raspberry Pi 4 endpoint USB>Chord Mojo>Heed Obelisk Si) instruments and voices are sounding very real indeed!
So for a quick Pensil 11 upgrade these Alpairs are a no brainer really, now clear off and leave me to listen…
admin –
This is a brilliant review Tim, many many thanks for this. It is really helpful for future purchasers who are looking to decided which drivers to put on the shortlist.
Leif Brandt –
My drivers are starting to be recorded now. Are overwhelmed by what they can accomplish.
I can associate that they sound a bit like mine hornspeakers in the 80’s (3-way). So detailed and seductive without sounding hard in any way.
I am very happy with these drivers. I really recommend these.
Mark you are the KING
I have found home …
Thanks.
Berly –
Excellent driver for music
Its been 2 years since i started listening to alpair 11ms.
Its the most free of compromise full range driver i have ever seen given that you follow a few set of rules.
Rules
Use it primarily for music .
Dont expect it to blast your roof off with hardrock type of genres and hollywood movies with high dynamic range.
Understand that its not made for sheer volume but instead for exceptional soundstage and accuracy of articulation at moderate volume.
The bass extension generated from these drivers in a bigger cabinet like pensil or FHXL is unbelievable. But to experience that bass you need to place it properly around 20cm from backwall 30cm from corners facing length wise in a rectangular room.
Accuracy of fast articulated bass like (my bass-brian bromberg) is exceptional.
Apart from accuracy the bass is deep and very clean in nature like something from a servo-subwoofer
Mids are smooth and neutral
Treble when kept without toe-in sounds a bit less. So I resorted for around 10to 15 degrees toe-in which gave a smooth warm treble (around 3 to 5db below midrange)
Sound stage is one of the best ive heard from any speaker. Speakers disappear into the background and vocals comes from dead centre.
If you are using it for movies use dynamic range compression in your system. A typical example where this will save your driver from cone over-excursion is when playing movies from christofer nolan in which dialogue is very low. Due to this people tend to keep volume high to hear the dialogue and then when an action scene hits the speaker cone will just hit over excursion damaging it permanently. So use it with care for movies.
Overall for the size and cost of the driver i dont think there is any full range driver which does what Alpair 11ms does.
Its the FR driver with the least compromises with alot of excellence in itself
Paul Jackson –
My son has these built into small ported cabinets for his monitors when mixing at home. He loves them completely. He has use of a professional studio now yet he still loves the 11MS in the small cabinets the best. It’s the accuracy and, of course, the full range and point source advantages. Good enough for his ears means plenty good enough for mine!