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Po-Ignant Man's Stacked Line Array

musichal

musichal

poet emeritus
Yes, I'm a hypocrite. I disdain stacking speakers as something I did as a young man, and have known better for many decades. I secretly pray that OLA stackers eyes may be opened to better sound - should make that ears (note to self). However, today I cast myself from my superior perch to join the great unwashed - never to rise again.

Why? Because one thing I always wanted to do became affordable and I simply could not resist. I've always wanted to stack four pair of identical speakers in a series/parallel array, turned horizontally. Then Amazon put the Sony SS-CS5 at $73/pair for Christmas - they went back up to $148 a day or two ago, but I'd already ordered my four pair. As if I needed four pair of cheap, crappy (some say not so crappy) speakers.

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And they are all here now. The wife and I will be stacking them later today. This ain't about great expectations - it's about having fun with audio. They will take the place of the Brystons in the main rig... for a few days. Powered by the Mark Levinson No. 585 int-amp, as is generally the case for these magnificent transducers, I think. Just the amp for $300 speakers.

Of course, turned horizontally with tweeters to the inside, they will perform as one of the best line arrays ever conceived by man - something we can all agree on. Plus the advantage of no pesky mathematics, measurements or complicated science of sound theories are required.

Yes, the sheer excitement is exhilarating. To quote my wife, who will be doing the unboxing and stacking as I do the connections, "Oh, crap."
 
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Nice!

While you're at it, might I suggest also trying them four "square" per side? Two vertical and upright, side-by-side on the bottom, with two vertical and upside-down, side-by-side, on top?

And wire each square series-parallel, so the overall impedance is the same as a single speaker?

Have fun!
 
fill35u said:
Nice!

While you're at it, might I suggest also trying them four "square" per side? Two vertical and upright, side-by-side on the bottom, with two vertical and upside-down, side-by-side, on top?

And wire each square series-parallel, so the overall impedance is the same as a single speaker?

Have fun!
Click to expand...

I'll likely stick with the horizontal stacked "array." Speakers each turned horizontally, then stacked vertically. And, yes, a series/parallel connection as I stated above. My bi-wire Wire World cables will facilitate hook-up.

JoeESP9 said:
:lurk:
Click to expand...

I can especially sense your excitement, JoeESP9; thinking of ditching those panels and all those active xovers for something simpler, aren't-cha? :biggrin:
 
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Rey1 said:
Need to see a photo of the speaker array when you get them connected!
Click to expand...

I'm so very tech-tarded - ask anybody - that such is not likely to happen. I do have an i-pad mini 4 128gb, which will take pictures, but I don't know how, and if I figure that out then I'd have to figure out how to get the images to my laptop... that sounds like about 5 days of pure frustration to me, because I am so very tech-tarded. I'm afraid of the i-pad - it looks malevolent, eyeing me with bad intent.

I've had it for two or three years, and finally opened the box a couple months ago. I charged it up. That is all I have done with it. It's scary.
 
musichal said:
I can especially sense your excitement, JoeESP9; thinking of ditching those panels and all those active xovers for something simpler, aren't-cha? :biggrin:
Click to expand...

Oooohkaaaay! Just don't hold your breath.:)

Besides, I don't know if I can handle the wiring complexities of 4 pair of speakers for two channel sound.:rolleyes:

I'm wondering if you'll ditch the MiniT's.:eek:
 
They sound pretty decent for cheap speakers, but the Mini-T have no worries - by a long shot. As one may expect, the Sony speakers just simply aren't capable of the resolution of better speakers - they struggle as the music gets more complex. Four grouped - I have not heard them any other way - do have a rather big sound for the money, and do some things pretty well. Voices sound pretty good, for instance.

They do provide an interesting perspective stacked this way, and we are enjoying the listening for the most part. Christine immediately upon hearing them said "they aren't as good as the Mini-Ts, they just don't have the bass." She's right, of course, but the comparison is hardly fair - though note the dual SVS subs remain in use.

I was rather surprised that the highs are on the sweet side - not etched. The speakers - at least in this configuration - don't sound too lean. OTOH, I did think that four woofers would provide a cleaner upper bass than what I'm hearing, simply by making the job easier for each woofer.

I should raise the crossover point of the subs up to near double the about-50hz setting where they mate well with the Mini-T, but don't want to disturb the settings that took me weeks or months to get where I wanted them to be.

Bottom line. While the Sony is better than I expected... I expected total crap. But they aren't quite total. Could I live with them? Sure, but am so glad that isn't necessary, because there are so many choices that better them that don't retail for $4k/pair or anywhere near it.

The question is... for $300 new, would I opt for this stack? Doubtful, but it would be tempting in some ways. I don't like the ELAC Debuts, nor those little Pioneers that come in even cheaper, or did.

I have a pair of the Polk RTiA3 which they were blowing out the door at $239/pair but are now discontinued that I prefer. But really, if I had only $300 to spend for my main speakers, then I'd do the same as most of you - buy used. Not talking down to anyone - the biggest reason I prefer new stuff is due to my physical disability which renders me useless for the DIY, fix-it-myself approach which I once took for granted.

Now, I've been hard on a poor little $73/pair speaker, but it ain't a fair world, Sony. But I admit, for bird feed prices, they do pretty well. We are having fun listening to them. When Christine helped me connect them, she kept saying, "Are you sure about this - we're connecting black to red again - and you've warned me about this... we don't want to blow up the Mark Levinson?"
 
dcmfan said:
Tell Christine to get a ladder and hang the arrays from the ceiling like they do at the big rock concerts! (Just don't tell her it was my suggestion! :D)

And happy New Year to the both of you!
Click to expand...

"Hey, baby!! dcmfan said you should fly the stacks like they do at rock concerts as a special Christmas present to me!! Says all you need is a ladder and some steel cable to hang them from the ceiling!!"

And HNY to you and yours, too.

The sound is growing on me. Perhaps I'll sell the Mini-Ts and get a few more Sony SS-CS5s. And maybe pigs will learn to fly, after all.
 
musichal said:
"Hey, baby!! dcmfan said you should fly the stacks like they do at rock concerts as a special Christmas present to me!! Says all you need is a ladder and some steel cable to hang them from the ceiling!!"

And HNY to you and yours, too.

The sound is growing on me. Perhaps I'll sell the Mini-Ts and get a few more Sony SS-CS5s. And maybe pigs will learn to fly, after all.
Click to expand...

Great. Once again my effort to be helpful has got me in trouble. Why does this keep happening to me? :(
 
musichal said:
"Hey, baby!! dcmfan said you should fly the stacks like they do at rock concerts as a special Christmas present to me!! Says all you need is a ladder and some steel cable to hang them from the ceiling!!"

And HNY to you and yours, too.

The sound is growing on me. Perhaps I'll sell the Mini-Ts and get a few more Sony SS-CS5s. And maybe pigs will learn to fly, after all.
Click to expand...

And maybe pigs will learn to fly, after all.

Excuse me? Exactly why do we have to resort to stereotypical slanders against the porcine species? Pigs deserve respect too!
 
musichal said:
They sound pretty decent for cheap speakers, but the Mini-T have no worries - by a long shot. As one may expect, the Sony speakers just simply aren't capable of the resolution of better speakers - they struggle as the music gets more complex. Four grouped - I have not heard them any other way - do have a rather big sound for the money, and do some things pretty well. Voices sound pretty good, for instance.

They do provide an interesting perspective stacked this way, and we are enjoying the listening for the most part. Christine immediately upon hearing them said "they aren't as good as the Mini-Ts, they just don't have the bass." She's right, of course, but the comparison is hardly fair - though note the dual SVS subs remain in use.

I was rather surprised that the highs are on the sweet side - not etched. The speakers - at least in this configuration - don't sound too lean. OTOH, I did think that four woofers would provide a cleaner upper bass than what I'm hearing, simply by making the job easier for each woofer.

I should raise the crossover point of the subs up to near double the about-50hz setting where they mate well with the Mini-T, but don't want to disturb the settings that took me weeks or months to get where I wanted them to be.

Bottom line. While the Sony is better than I expected... I expected total crap. But they aren't quite total. Could I live with them? Sure, but am so glad that isn't necessary, because there are so many choices that better them that don't retail for $4k/pair or anywhere near it.

The question is... for $300 new, would I opt for this stack? Doubtful, but it would be tempting in some ways. I don't like the ELAC Debuts, nor those little Pioneers that come in even cheaper, or did.

I have a pair of the Polk RTiA3 which they were blowing out the door at $239/pair but are now discontinued that I prefer. But really, if I had only $300 to spend for my main speakers, then I'd do the same as most of you - buy used. Not talking down to anyone - the biggest reason I prefer new stuff is due to my physical disability which renders me useless for the DIY, fix-it-myself approach which I once took for granted.

Now, I've been hard on a poor little $73/pair speaker, but it ain't a fair world, Sony. But I admit, for bird feed prices, they do pretty well. We are having fun listening to them. When Christine helped me connect them, she kept saying, "Are you sure about this - we're connecting black to red again - and you've warned me about this... we don't want to blow up the Mark Levinson?"
Click to expand...
You might want to give them a little break in time. I have a pair of similar type of speakers with MRC fiber woofers.The bass and mids get much much better after a a good 30 or so hours use. The mid bass is incredible. Enjoy!
 
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I’ve been wanting to try line arrays using four pair of Sony SS-MB350H. Four 8” woofers on each side oughtta put out some decent bass.
 
DavidZak said:
You might want to give them a little break in time. I have a pair of similar type of speakers with MRC fiber woofers.The bass and mids get much much better after a a good 30 or so hours use. The mid bass is incredible. Enjoy!
Click to expand...

Whether break-in or my own acclimation, I agree that my enjoyment has improved, to the point where I might well consider them for a $300 budget with new-only being the choice. They do some things pretty well - very well for the outlay - but to call their mid-bass incredible is a bit hyperbolic, in my estimation. I'd say, rather, good for the price, but entirely credible. Pretty much the same story for the mids, However, "not bad" is very good at $73/pair. :)

My usual Mini-T with a single 8" woofer easily outperforms four of these cheaper drivers in every way, so I am pretty spoiled.

AudioGMan said:
I’ve been wanting to try line arrays using four pair of Sony SS-MB350H. Four 8” woofers on each side oughtta put out some decent bass.
Click to expand...

Yes, decent is a decent descriptor, especially when at the price is added to it. Obviously such a stack is not really a proper array, that's the ignant part of my thread title. :) However, it does make one wish to try a real, designed array - you get a small semi-taste.

All-in-all, this is a fun and interesting listen. One can forget that different, even when not better, can offer another perspective to the music which is not altogether unpleasant. One reason so many like to have multiple speakers at hand, I suspect.

Mister Pig said:
And maybe pigs will learn to fly, after all.

Excuse me? Exactly why do we have to resort to stereotypical slanders against the porcine species? Pigs deserve respect too!
Click to expand...

The editor hereby apologizes to all porcine readers, issuing this statement as a complete retraction of the bigoted views expressed so thoughtlessly. And that task complete, it is now time for holiday leftovers in the form of a most delicious ham sandwich.
 
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