Markaudio Alpair-10M Gold 6" Full Range Gen 3

Running them in 11L ported box (55hz) nearfield at my computer. powered by a NAD D 7050 and sub is a sealed SVS SB2000. EXCELLENT sound, cant wait till they are broke in and turn it up !

First I love full range drivers, I have two pair of Audio Nirvana drivers the 12" and the 15" powered by some very expensive amps, and yes they are great if a little eccentric at times, but not I am not mad enought to go back to multi driver units.
I bought a pair of these for a sail boat, powered by a very inexpensive class D TA2020 amp and a macbook. It is not the most powerful system only about 8W per channel a choice as I am limited to the amounts power available aboard as I don't like the engines running except if absolutly necessary.
Guess what,, my favorite system is on the boat, very little is over accentuated the timing is great,, trebble is all you could ask for and better than 99% of tweeters. While the sound is full and very enjoyable as background music if you take time with setup and focus they will reward you with a life and magic I have not heard from any other speaker,, it's all so alive and flowing.
The first night I set them up I was so taken with them I didn't get to bed until 7am.
Everyone that hears them is taken back at what flows out.
Simple,, you will not be dissapointed by anything that comes out of these drivers unless it's just another poor recording !

Well ,these speakers in Pencil 10.3 boxes have to be heard to be believed,trust me!

Very crisp and detailed sound as was intended by the sound engineer..

Very deep tight and articulate bass,again detailed high end with hit hats and the like...Fab sound stage,articulation and a real life like vocals(Suggestion-listen to Elvis Presley !!-just like that)

I discovered that ,personally,the more capable your speaker is your listening habits mature.In these speakers as suggested moved up to listening jazz and the double bass,the horns and everything there just come to life.Instrumentals are a different experience

One observation ...if the recording is not of a high quality it sounds even worse(When I listened to some old Indian tracks this happened).This may not be meant for the House music and the modern electronic type sounds.

In conclusion if one gets to compare the same familiar track with a modern 2 way three way type and on this in pencil,I guarantee you will hear some new sounds with these.

The 10.3 drivers are true full range drivers with very good bass extension, treble extension out well past my hearing limits. In the Mark Audio DIY cabinets, Pensil 10.3s, the Alpair drivers really sing. No big horns or fat cabinets.

Per Mark Fenlon's description, these drivers take a long time to break in, up to 500 hours. Up to that point, loudness, bass and dynamics should be limited. After that, it's up to common sense.

In the Pensil 10.3 cabinets: Transparency and detail are outstanding. No hard edges. Bass is deep and well extended into the low 30s (subjective). Midrange is very detailed with a strong sense of texture to classical music. Highs are extended, not hard, not soft, just natural.

Imaging is as good as I've heard in any system depending on source material and upstream components. Soundstage is deep and busy. Between the instruments is quiet black. But there is so much venue information coming through. All depending on source and upstream components.

There is zero audible metallic cone breakup.

Pulse coherence? Are you kidding? One driver, no crossover, nothing to which align. Pop, snap, pluck, high hat, drumstick impact on a cymbal. All perfect. To be expected with single driver.

There is a certain seductive nature to the 10.3s in Pensil 10.3 cabinets. With top quality electronics and source material, the focus turns completely away from the hardware and turns to the musical performance. The listener is drawn into the venue and joins the musicians in the recording space. My experience is that few systems will do that for me.

If I was forced under torture to expose a weakness, it might be dynamic range on selected music. I would suggest that these speakers will not reproduce a rock concert at live volumes. But they will reproduce a large romantic orchestral pieces at concert levels depending on room size.

I have found them to sound better, more airy and open, when the set up is in nearfield (rather than setting up the speakers farther away from the listener. Careful set up is needed to extract their best performance is it is with any speaker of this very high quality.

At the price of the 10.3 drivers and the cost and simplicity of building the Pensil 10.3 cabinets, it's hard to pass up pass up an experiment to see if they are the right fit in ANY system.


As usual, shipping was very prompt from Madisound with excellent communication at every step in the transaction.

These drivers are remarkable! Straight out of their gift boxes onto a 36x18x10inch vented box with no damping, bracing or absorbent material at all, and they still beat the stuffing out of my, admittedly, cheap and increasingly vintage LothX Ion2's. The difference was so pronounced that it seems like I changed my whole system! Suddenly, I'm hearing stuff I didn't even know was in the recordings. The Apair 10A's produce sparkling highs and impressive bass. Overall, they are smooth and relaxed, but they may trip up on more technically complex pieces, although I suspect that my 3-watt single-ended 2A3 amplifier is, at least, equally complicit in this respect. If you are looking for a full-range unit of this size, then look no further. Buy the Alpair 10A's. I assure you, you won't be disappointed.

I ordered a pair of these on Monday, and they were delivered today, Thursday. I live half a world away, in Singapore. The drivers looked great, tested okay and were individually boxed. Many thanks to everyone at Madisound! Great Job!