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Open Baffle Epiphany!

I notice most people are using those flea-powered amps for this sort of thing. Does that mean that most OB designs are not good with higher-powered gear? And where's the general cutoff point?

Never really thought about it before, really. I mean, I have the 30wpc Fisher, but that's it (The Fisher rocks though... God, I love this thing).

Anyway, why is that? Why only little baby amps?

I think I'm having a "Houses Of The Holy" epiphany right now. Goodness gracious. This is awesome. I feel like I "get" this album in a much-deeper sense than I used to. Amazing. I'm getting goosebumps.

No, wait. Cancel that. Just getting a little nippy in here. Gotta' go turn the heat up a bit. It's downright frigid tonight.
 
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After my first giant folding wing OB's ( with the Betsy single drivers ) I built these which also use the Betsy plus Eminence Alphas.

That's when I got real serious with this whole open baffle thing. So serous I couldn't justify the Omens any longer which to me didn't sound as good. I sold the Zu's cause they were collecting dust.

The Betsy/Alpha is a simple build with just a piece of flat plywood. I ran the Betsy's full tilt with a Miniwatt SET and a Dayton amp with built in crossover to drive the Alphas. This picture shows a low pass crossover used to filter out the HF which allows use of any 50 watt or higher ss amp. This OB is based on MJK's with a few changes.

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Mister Pig said:
The open baffle arrangement is interesting, I am giving it a shot myself. In December I bought an open baffle speaker that uses the Hawthorne 10" co-ax driver and two 10" bass drivers per side. It is a nice speaker, and I am working through what it takes to get the best out of them.

So what are you going to do? Going to build proper baffles for them, or experiment with some other arrangements?

Regards
Mister Pig
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I've wanted to try the OB thing, but I need to become a better solderer before I start getting into projects (I suppose I could do the alligator clip method for starters). Maybe when I pick up a pair of Super 12's or a couple Golden 10's. I believe the 10's were used in an OB fashion back in the day. The Super 12's were used in free-mounted setups, and I think could be used for OB as well).
 
Gang-Twanger said:
I notice most people are using those flea-powered amps for this sort of thing. Does that mean that most OB designs are not good with higher-powered gear? And where's the general cutoff point?

Anyway, why is that? Why only little baby amps?
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Not always the case....most of Linkwitz's designs and NaoNotes for example use drivers that need more juice than flea power. These are two designs that make very few (if any) compromises and are considered the cutting edge in loudspeaker performance by some...regardless of category or type. :yes:

There are all kinds of flavors of OB's....it's a whole 'nother world from vintage Wharfedale. :D

What do you mean "general cutoff point"? HF extension?
 
Here I am locked and loaded ready to dive into building a set of transmission line speakers and I see this thread. I might have to make another trip to the hardware store and get a couple sheets of plywood, and order some full range speakers. :D
 
Lavane said:
Here I am locked and loaded ready to dive into building a set of transmission line speakers and I see this thread. I might have to make another trip to the hardware store and get a couple sheets of plywood, and order some full range speakers. :D
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You could have a set of OB's built and ready to rawk in half the time it would take you to just get your cuts drawn for the TL's. But the bass from those TL's would likely trounce the OB's unless you're up for a pretty damn big baffle.....which still likely wouldn't dig as deep as a properly designed TL.
 
tomlinmgt said:
You could have a set of OB's built and ready to rawk in half the time it would take you to just get your cuts drawn for the TL's. But the bass from those TL's would likely trounce the OB's unless you're up for a pretty damn big baffle.....which still likely wouldn't dig as deep as a properly designed TL.
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Or.. Do both, transmission line bass and OB mid/tweets!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I wouldn't be looking for a whole lot of bass in a set of OB's. I was thinking for some music they would be perfect. Like, say listening to all strings. Its time to add a few different speaker types for the different kinds of music I listen to.
 
cptnCanada said:
I'd have to agree about getting a different amp to power the FE103's.

Currently have my eyes on a 300B SET from Rapheliete that I would love to get my hands on. The DIY kit is in my price range!!

http://www.hifiwow.com/tube-amplifiers/raphaelite-sinovt-hi-end-6sj7-300b-se-single-ended-vacuum-tube-amplifier-amp-diy-kit-122.html
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"The best 300B tube amp in China"...

The VSX-D1S in the meantime does a stand up job - very under appreciated receiver!
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mmm...

Question to OB experts...How does bass stand up in open baffle?
What are the benefits? I have read that it can be hard to get useable low bass from an open baffle unless you use a huge baffle, which would guarantee non-WAF speakers.
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OBcutoff.jpg
 
The bass is more than enough in either of these designs. OB bass is more natural sounding, defined and articulate than conventional subs that load the room. The bass is also neighbor friendly and doesn't carry through walls like a sub.

If you use the Alphas or some other high qts woofer ( Augies, Gold Woods, MCM's etc ) you really don't need a huge baffle. Large baffles are most needed when you're trying to squeeze bass from a single driver like the WBAL folding baffles. A high qts ( over .7 ) main driver is not necessary if the bass is augmented with helper woofers.

The reason folks use SET's or T-amps to drive the mains is that most are full range high efficiency drivers which are low watt tube friendly. Powerful solid state amps work best on the woofers and if you go with a plate amp ( under $100 at PE ) you can use the built in crossover on the woofers and run the full range drivers straight off the flea amp with nothing in the signal path to get in the way of the sound.

I get to hear many ubber expensive speakers as my son-in-law is in the business yet none of them do it for me like the simple DIY OB's.



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Here's a link to ZillaAudio's use of the Betsy drivers and Alpha woofers on a flat baffle. This it pretty much the same as the ones I built and posted in this thread.

The Alphas in OB will reach 40hz which covers 99% of all recorded music. When I use a small sub with the Alphas it's more for feeling the bass than for listening to it.

http://www.zillaaudio.com/boomer.htm
 
Open baffle speakers? How about the Phase Linear Andromeda/Phase III systems. Anyone on this forum who owns them will no doubt attest to what they sound like. I wouldn't part with mine for all the weed in Humbolt county, CA.............:D
 
mhardy6647 said:
OBcutoff.jpg
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Not sure what example is being cited here, misleading as it may be (is this some anti-OB agenda or just ignorance?), but Emerald Physics CS series OB's get down to 20 Hz with a baffle width just under 19". And nothing too exotic going on there....inexpensive pro-audio Eminence driver and regular old flat baffle made of wood with affordable Behringer DSP.
 
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mhardy6647 said:
That "affordable Behringer DSP" is cheating :-)
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According to what standards?

mhardy6647 said:
Sure you can do that, but considerable LF boost would be required for anything like flat bass - it'll be extremely room-dependent, too.
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And plenty of the best low frequency drivers need large volume enclosures, ports, transmission lines....geez Louise man there's hardly any LF driver that produces flat bass down into the lowest octave without some sort of mechanical or electrical assistance. And none of them are immune to the effects of room acoustics/placement.

mhardy6647 said:
There are also psycoacoustic effects of high Qts drivers that can be exploited.
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This I'm not familiar with. Can you share some info, please?

mhardy6647 said:
Finally there are some interesting considerations around diffraction http://www.hi-fiworld.co.uk/loudspe...udspeakers-open-baffles-and-bass-part-15.html
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I'll have to take a look at this and get back with you...I'm sure I'll have questions.

- Michael
 
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Very cool I wanted to build OB speakers, but sadly no job and went broke last year lol.

I got a job now though Maybe I can save up and build a pair :) for music. Although ARX A5 are what I had my eye on.

I have still never heard OB speakers though but they can be pretty big maybe too big for my bedroom.
 
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