Lii Song Platinum 10 reference drivers

[MattyW]

And they’ve arrived

 

 

Treble performance is supposed to be in line with sonics of beryllium tweeters so these should be very special. 103.3db efficient so a very sensitive driver

 

 

 

Lii's philosphy behind these drivers is to simply build the very best driver they're capable (and can afford) to build without letting market conditions and sale numbers factor into things. It's a no compromise design. Literally the best they can do. I look forward to eventually hearing them.

Edited January 12, 2023 by MattyW

[mwhouston]

Just now, MattyW said:

And they’ve arrived

 

 

 

Lets see them. 

[MattyW]

7 minutes ago, mwhouston said:

Lets see them. 

 

Once my wife goes to work..... I've already been yelled at. 

[Grizzly]

51 minutes ago, MattyW said:

 

Once my wife goes to work..... I've already been yelled at. 

 

Suffering for your art?

[MattyW]

1 hour ago, Grizzly said:

 

Suffering for your art?

Or from her point of view she’s suffering through a line of never ending changes. I say I’m done but then a few months later there’s another change. She’s not wrong really….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by MattyW

[mwhouston]

2 hours ago, MattyW said:

 

Once my wife goes to work..... I've already been yelled at. 

Only yelled  at, you got off lightly. 

[MattyW]

I’ve never ever seen drivers like these. The construction and magnets are massive. Very rigid and the weight is more in line with their W15 woofers. Just handling the driver the cones move so very free moving. I expect truly great things from this.

[Jehuty]

12 minutes ago, MattyW said:

Or from her point of view she’s suffering through a line of never ending changes. I say I’m done but then a few months later there’s another change. She’s not wrong really….

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks fantastic indeed. And it's great that it's 10 inch as I found that most 8 inch full range were mostly lacking. I can't find them on the Lii Audio website. Are the magnets alnico? Hopefully with their recent success they would move towards field coil.

[MattyW]

8 hours ago, Jehuty said:

 

Looks fantastic indeed. And it's great that it's 10 inch as I found that most 8 inch full range were mostly lacking. I can't find them on the Lii Audio website. Are the magnets alnico? Hopefully with their recent success they would move towards field coil.

They’re not officially released yet. I’m friendly with one of the 5 people at Lii on mainland China so often get very good pricing or first go with things. This is one of the first 3 pair in existence with this particular driver, and I get credit for naming the new line Platinum as opposed to Silver-10 NEO

 

They rather liked the concept of their top line being called platinum, as I reasoned that when an album sells a certain number of copies it goes platinum. It’s also in line with existing naming conventions with rare metals. 

 

It made sense to go with a new line anyway as litterally everything has changed in these compared to the Silver-10. Neodymium magnets, support structure, new pulp composition for the cone, new shape diffuser, different suspension..... While it does look similar in some respects it is only skin deep.
 

I understand when these come to market they will be $3500 US though I've paid considerably less. Once cabinets are designed and built these should be my final pair of speakers. I've EIZZ EZ-301 binding posts and 3m of 1.5mm Mundorf Angelique silver/gold/copper alloy here for wiring. Just need the perfect cabs to make them sing. 

 

That said, with the new pre I just had go in today I'd probably not have bothered going the path of new speakers given the sonics I'm now achieving. Nonetheless, it will only get better with these despite my not being able to imagine what better would sound like. 

Edited January 12, 2023 by MattyW

[Jehuty]

16 minutes ago, MattyW said:

these should be my final pair of speakers

[MattyW]

2 minutes ago, Jehuty said:

Honestly with the sonics I’m now getting I don’t even know why I’m upgrading anyway…..

 

Well I do actually: I’m topping out what I can afford to spend at any part of my sound chain. Going as far as I can take the system with my budget, and there’s no financial room for improvement.

[ICUToo]

5 hours ago, MattyW said:

Just need the perfect cabs to make them sing. 

What do you think the cabinets will be, MW?

OB? T/L? Horn? 450l sealed box??

We have all waited with you for the drivers, now we can wait with you for the speakers...

 

Edited January 12, 2023 by ICUToo

[MattyW]

8 minutes ago, ICUToo said:

What do you think the cabinets will be, MW?

I’m in discussion with Bevan at Naked Audio to design and build cabinets so I guess I’ll see.

[parrasaw]

53 minutes ago, MattyW said:

I’m in discussion with Bevan at Naked Audio to design and build cabinets so I guess I’ll see.

Matt, I hadn't heard about Naked Audio, until i read your post above, so I went across to their website (and Facebook). 

Wow.

Easy to see why you will be discussing cabinet design and manufacture with Bevan, if the Gallery and Products photos on Bevan's website are anything to go by.

 

Do you think Lii Audio will be able to keep up with the likely demand for these new drivers?

 

[MattyW]

19 hours ago, parrasaw said:

Matt, I hadn't heard about Naked Audio, until i read your post above, so I went across to their website (and Facebook). 

Wow.

Easy to see why you will be discussing cabinet design and manufacture with Bevan, if the Gallery and Products photos on Bevan's website are anything to go by.

 

Do you think Lii Audio will be able to keep up with the likely demand for these new drivers?

 

Very expensive drivers so I can’t see massive demand…. The whole idea of these drivers is to showcase what Lii are capable of….. Sort of like the loss making amps of yesteryear such as the Yamaha B1. Get speakers with these installed into reviewers hands and it will have a trickle down effect in terms of sales with the lower end series. The Silver series has already been compared favourably by some to the likes of Voxative so they’re really making some exceptional products for a small family run business. The materials for these are also extremely expensive for them so for now at least they’ll be made in smaller numbers. I figure what better driver to go into my (potentially) end game speaker?

 

I imagine these will be the end game driver for many who are going down the single high efficiency fullrange driver path so they may actually sell more than expected anyway.

 

Who knows though. As the company grows and they’ve more they can invest then it may be made in larger quantities. Might even make a field coil driver. Anything’s possible.

Edited January 13, 2023 by MattyW

[xlr8or]

Being yelled at is appreciative feedback being received from the wifey for the fact that these songs need higher than 103dB to be heard. You need to give a nice shout out there in return.

[MattyW]

Just now, xlr8or said:

Being yelled at is appreciative feedback being received from the wifey for the fact that these songs need higher than 103dB to be heard. You need to give a nice shout out there in return.

 

Lol.... I'm actually pretty sure that I won't be able to use these speakers in my current home as I'm only able to use the lowest 2 clicks on my pre with my current 98.8db speakers. Once I've a larger room in the new home (a few years away) and need to fill a larger space it'll be a different story though.

[MattyW]

Ah, I got my pricing wrong guys. Crossed wires. They'll retail about $3k AUD + shipping cost.

 

Here's Lii Song's pre-order page. They're listed $2,799 CAD though as I understand that's just the introductory price?

 

HiFi Cave did an initial preview of the PT-10 over here in an open baffle. They're not really suited to OB use though.

Edited January 13, 2023 by MattyW

[DEssig]

Hi Matty,

Thank you for posting the pictures. I have no idea how you can wait to get new cabinets in order to listen to these drivers :). I have a pair of Origin S-10 and absolutely love these speakers. They are my first full range driver speakers, and I can honestly say they are the best speakers I have ever owned. I have had Magnepan 3.7's, and Tekton Moabs, among others, and for me, in my room the Origins out perform both. I often check the Lii website for updates, and noticed the P-10 drivers on their Canadian website a while back. I also saw the review by HIFI Cave, which really pushed me over the top to get a pair. On his site he mentions that the new drivers will not fit in existing cabinets. Can you please elaborate on that? Is it possible to modify the existing cabinets of the Origins to except these drivers? Or, will these drivers require a total cabinet redesign to sound their best. Also- do you have any knowledge of when the drivers might be available to place a despite in the US? I know you don't directly for Lii and you only have connections, but if you have any info to share, that would be great. I sent an email to Lii support over a week ago, about these questions, and have not heard back. 

 

Thank you, 

Drew

[MattyW]

Hi Drew, from my discussions with Leon at Lii Song he said to get optimal bass performance these drivers actually need a cabinet with more volume than even their biggest cabinet, the Glory-10. Significantly more. He’s also said however that even in the Origin cabinets bass goes deeper than the Silver-10 in those cabs. Issue is that the hole required is a different size

 

Glory cabs are about 465L, and Origin around 300L. These optimally need over 600L I believe from memory. I’m considering an active sub built into each speaker to keep cabinet size down. Would give impact which a full range can’t do on its own too.

 

As for hole, it's 288 mm outer and 258 mm inner diameter.

 

I certainly get your excitement regarding these drivers. I’ve been in communication with them about them since about June last year.

 

Very interesting the speakers you’ve compared the Origins against. Both highly regarded and considered end game by many. Lii speakers really are incredible. 

Edited January 15, 2023 by MattyW

[DEssig]

I also run a pair of REL G2's with the Origins. They offer that extra grunt and low level detail, not even most towers can match. Plus they are fast enough to match up with a speaker like these. I guess i'll have to keep waiting impatiently for when they come available in the US. 

 

Best,

Drew 

[MattyW]

Pretty sure the wait will be more than worthwhile

[MattyW]

Mmmmm, contacting another speaker builder. I feel like I'm being ghosted. Unable to get any response for 11 days now which is quite unhelpful given I've no contact number.

 

Probably not going to mention who or anything further at this point until things are confirmed as I'm feeling like a bit of a numpty at this point. If no response from this second builder I'll likely just order ready built cabs from Lii Song and be done with it.

Edited January 16, 2023 by MattyW

[Stuey63]

Jeez Matty, 600 litres? Maybe pick up a couple of fridges from the kerbside collection just to test them! 

 

 

[MattyW]

21 minutes ago, Stuey63 said:

Jeez Matty, 600 litres? Maybe pick up a couple of fridges from the kerbside collection just to test them! 

 

 

Meant to better the Silver-10 in the Origin cabs. Those are 300L. 300L Onken cabs would no doubt sound good