Vortex Speaker Kit Information For more information and history about the Hyperlite™ coaxials used in the Vortex please click this link. Note on the lower introductory price: I put money towards tooling some of the custom parts on the Hyperlite coaxials about a year ago. Normally the product would have to sell at a set price to recover the tooling costs over time. But I'm not going to worry about recovering those costs until the second or third run of coaxials from Eminence. Doing that will allow the first run of kits to be sold at a lower cost. The price will have to go up after the first run of coaxials is sold out. Vortex-12 Speaker Designer: Matt Grant. Matt also helped a lot by evaluating and testing different coaxial prototypes and also helped make decisions on which samples would be finalized. Intended Use: These are high end speaker kits that can be used full range for music in the larger cabinet designs, or high end home theater speaker kits that will play down to 55hz in smaller ported cabinets. Components Used: Denovo Hyperlite CX12-8 coaxial and Celestion CDX1-1731 compression driver. Specifications: 8 Ohm 96db - 2.83v/1m Up to 500 watts power handling 40hz - 20khz in a ported 3.5cuft cabinet tuned to XXhz with two 3" ports 55hz - 20khz in a ported 2.5cuft cabinet tuned to XXhz with four 2" ports Important Design Details: When used for movie watching you will always need to pair the speakers with a subwoofer that can handle the lower bass frequencies. I would recommend at least two powerful 15" subwoofers to pair with the Vortex-12 speakers. Off axis measurement (0-90 degrees 10 degree increment) Measurement is gated so resolution below 400hz is lost: Vortex-15 Speaker Designer: Matt Grant. Matt also helped a lot by evaluating and testing different coaxial prototypes and also helped make decisions on which samples would be finalized. Intended Use: Components Used: Denovo Hyperlite CX15-8 coaxial and Celestion CDX1-1731 compression driver. Specifications: 8 Ohm 98db - 2.83v/1m Up to 500 watts power handling 35hz - 20khz in a ported 5cuft cabinet tuned to 37hz with three 3" ports or two 4" ports 65hz - 20khz in a ported 2.5cuft cabinet tuned to 65hz with four 2" ports 75hz - 20khz in a sealed 2.5cuft cabinet Important Design Details: When used for movie watching you will always need to pair them with a subwoofer that can handle the lower bass frequencies. I would recommend at least two powerful 18" subwoofers to pair with the Vortex-15 speakers. On axis in room average (speaker pulled out in center of floor): Off axis measurement (0-90 degrees 10 degree increment) Measurement is gated so resolution below 400hz is lost:
No problem using an active crossover between the Coax and the MBM at 200hz, could do this with most of the other kits as well. A passive crossover is not so easy.
I was thinking of a Yung SD500 plate amp powering the MBM. There’s an active crossover on it with a 200Hz maximum LP. The baffle width on the coaxial would be such that the baffle step rolloff would start at 200Hz with large round overs (a pill-shaped enclosure). Does this sound correct?
It may work but you might have to play with the phase and polarity to get good integration between the MBM and speaker as the lowpass filter will add delay to the MBM which will throw off phase alignment with the Voltex-12.
Great points, thank you. FWIW, my intention was to use the Vortex 15. I know you recommended a 18” sub to fill in the low end with the 15” coaxial but the MBM only comes in 12” & 15” flavors (as you already know).
I was set on the HTM12 for LCR then these came in. My listening preference is more on the "detailed" side of things - meaning I like to hear the metallic clicks, zings, clangs of movies. It gives it that added realism. From what I've read, these have more low end but Ill be running my LCR with 2 15 subs. I'm more interested on which has more detailed highs. Thanks in advance. Erich / Matt - any thoughts on comparison?
Sorry in advance if this has been addressed yet but will you also be selling flat packs for this as well?
I am trying to select some high end surrounds and Atmos speakers to compliment my main speakers. Can someone please tell me what the depth of the woofer (from the mounting flange) + compression driver is for the vortex 12 and vortex 15? Also, what is the recommended gap between the compression driver and back of the speaker box? I’m trying to determine the shallowest box depth I can get away with for a sealed box for both.
The Vortex-12 mounting depth is 6.5" to the back of the compression driver. I would just make sure the compression driver doesn't rub on the rear wall, so 1/8" clearance would be fine. I'll have to check the 15" model later today.
I wanted to throw one more question out there, forgive my ignorance I am not a speaker expert: Given my need for these for surround/Atmos duty, is there anything the vortex 12 does better than the vortex 15? I am leaning towards the 15s because I’m assuming they would play louder in the 80-120 hz range, and cleaner overall at higher volume with their better efficiency.
The main advantage the Vortex-12 has over the Vortex-15 is that it is smaller. So you can use smaller baffles and smaller enclosures for equal bass extension. You are correct in assuming that if you have the space for the 15's they will be the better performing driver.
I measured the 15" overall depth at 8.25", but I'd round that up to 8.5" just to be safe. You can subtract a 1/2" if surface mounting.
Matt: I'm looking at the Vortex 12 or 15 for a large room, 24' by 36'. It is a unique room architecturally, so I'm interested in flush mounting the Vortex in the end 24' wall. The other side of that wall are floor to ceiling closets in a bedroom. I can steal as much space as I need for boxes. The wall is not typical studs and drywall.....it is 30" wide, floor to ceiling cabinets made of very high grade plywood. So, the Vortex would be flush mounted in 3/4" plywood, with a cabinet built to house the backside. We spend a lot of time in this room; our use will be casual listening during the day, and while entertaining. I'm looking for wide, even distribution in the room. Questions: 1. I bought 2 of the 15" buyout woofers recently. Would I be better off with one for sub duty, and use a 12" Vortex, or just use a 15" Vortex in a larger box? All speakers built into wall. 2. How good is the Celestion driver beyond 5kh? Would this setup benefit from a high quality horn crossed high? 3. Is any baffle step in the crossover that will interfere with flush mounting? Thank you!
Using a separate subwoofer with the Vortex-12 would allow you to more easily control the bass level and dial it up or down to your preference. If you use the Vortex-15 by itself you would have to use EQ to adjust bass level (if needed) rather then using the subwoofer trim. The Celestion driver is one of the better compression drivers I have used, no lack of detail up to about 19k where it rolls off. There is a decent about of baffle step compensation built into the crossover of both the Vortex 12 and 15. The crossover does have a terminal block which when jumpered bypasses an inductor removing some of the baffle step but that is meant more for near wall placement of the speakers. If built into the wall they may still come off as sounding bass heavy. EQ or room correction would be the only solution there unless you want to modify the crossover.