Soliloquy-V (the Final Cut)

Soliloquy-V

The Soliloquy-V is in the tradition of the Sparrow-V. She is voiced to sound musical, not to present pretty measurements.

The following plots were made after I tuned the Soliloquy-V. 

Fig 1 – Blue plot=W5-1685 Low Pass • Red plot=BC25SC08-04 High Pass

The Blue plot is the Tang Band W5-1685 with a Low Pass filter. The Red plot is of the Peerless BC25SC08-04 tweeter that I re-tuned.

Fig 2 – Soliloquy-V Passband

The Black plot in Fig 2 is the crossover passband. After the tweeter’s adjustment, the two drivers are still summing properly.

Fig 3 – Soliloquy-V Frequency Response

Fig 3 is the final frequency response of the Soliloquy-V. It looks exactly the same as the Soliloquy-III but it sounds full of life now.

Fig 4 – Soliloquy-V Null Response

Fig 4 is the null response of the Soliloquy-V. It is not as symmetrical as the Soliloquy-III but that’s a small price to pay for this sound quality. 

Fig 5 – Soliloquy-V Impedance

The Impedance of the Soliloquy-V is quite friendly for power amplifiers. The lowest impedance is 4.5Ω at 2kHz. Electrical phase is more linear. No wild fluctuations.

The other plots like the Step Response, Waterfall, etc are identical to the Soliloquy-III so there’s no point in repeating them 

Soliloquy-V vs Sparrow-V

That’s an interesting but rather unfair comparison. The Tang Band W5-1685 is more than double the cost of the SB Acoustics SB13PFC25-08. On top of that, the W5 is an Under-hung Woofer.

Setting aside the woofer engineering and the cost, the Soliloquy-V sounds better. The bass is louder and the vocals sound smoother too. Maybe it has to do with the lower harmonic distortion. 

As before, the Soliloquy-V performs best in Full Space (4pi). The bass will be overwhelming when she is placed against a back wall. Speaker stands should be 24 inches. This will elevate the tweeter to about ear height when one is seated.

If you are contemplating on building the Soliloquy, I strongly recommend this version. You won’t be disappointed. 

Unless otherwise stated, all measurements were made with the mic at 36 ins, tweeter axis. Impulse Window=5ms. No smoothing applied.