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Open Baffle Opinions - I Won't go back to Boxed Speakers Evr Again (maybe....)

https://photos.app.goo.gl/cg64ScibP75b1YVF6

My very last DIY effort after doing the DIY Speaker thing (for myself only) for 35 years (only 5 pairs built in that time). These are my best effort WRT to sound quality. Bass down to 30Hz, sweet treble and midrange to die for.

All Parts Express Drivers. GRS Planar, GRS 12" (Qts = 1.27) Woofers, and Dynavox 5 1/4" midrange/midbass Drivers. All in $600. Still some tweaking to to on the Cabinet and the Crossovers. A simple 1st Order 16uF Sonicraft Capacitor on the Tweeter and a 2nd Order Bandpass on the 3 Dynavox Drivers. The H-Frame Woofers section is powered by an ICE Power Class D (1000W@4 Ω). Two for stereo of course. MiniDSP dialed in for a 250Hz Linkwitz-Riley 4th Order LPF, the Bandpass is 250Hz - 2500Hz, and the Magnetic Planar BG knockoff by GRS takes over at 2500Hz. No L-Pads anywhere !

My question is what is the Phantom Center like ? Mine is not as focused as I’d like it to be. But my God, the soundstage, imaging, front to back depth is amazing. Clarity like I’ve never heard before form a Box Speaker and the Bass is like I’ve never experienced. No Box Boom. 40Hz all Day and I can hit 30 Hz with very little attenuation

rajugsw
perkri
908 posts
 
@rajugsw   

Yeah, I understand! There are not many who would be happy with that in their living room :)
twoleftears's avatar
twoleftears
5,318 posts
 
http://www.jantzen-audio.com/poor-mans-strad/
rajugsw OP
217 posts
 
I added a side panel (behind the baffle) on both Speakers facing inwards to each other with acoustical foam. 10° of toe in and the Phantom Center is back baby !

It's not razor sharp but it's better than it was yesterday. The Treble is a bit subdued now. But that's to be expected. My ears will adjust. To me when someone says the Treble or the Speaker has lots of air, that's a hot Tweeter. This is great when you want to hear the Fart of a Knat, but to my ears it can be fatiguing. No Tinnitus here, just 51 1/2 years of age.

So long as the vocal sibilance's stay dead center along with the Kick Drum & Snare Hits, I'm good. I have some mono DSD files legally purchased/downloaded and will try them out tonight. Right now, it's a 70's Vibe, CSN, & Y, The Eagles, James Taylor, Joni Mitchell, Carole King, and whatever else I'm either Streaming (AmazonHD/Bluesound Node 2i) or Spinning (SACD/CD).

Thanks for all the encouragement and advice folks. I still have tinkering/tweaking to do. 


tweak1
3,668 posts
 
After reading this post yesterday, I decided to rearrange the placement of my 4 Argent Room Lenses. 2 are now ~ 5ft directly behind the drivers and 2 are closely butted up against the inside of each speaker. I must say, this significantly improved imaging


hth
rajugsw OP
217 posts
 
Again, my Wife will kill me if I DIY’d 3 PVC pipes taller than the Speakers and placed one in the middle of my room (see pic link on my original post).

I am building some calculated Diffusers from 2x2’s cut to specific lengths using QRdude and chose the design frequency of 300Hz (human voice). No clue if I’m gonna fail or pass but I have lots of 2x2’s doing nothing in my garage and some cheap thin plywood to glue the pieces on to. I’ll try them behind the Speakers first (plan A), then replace the foam panels at my first reflection points with the diffusers if plan A doesn’t work (plan B).

Or build more of the diffusers and reuse the foam panels as fake Bass Traps that will raise the height of my current.

Is my frequency selection correct since it’s the female/male voice that’s the problem ? Drum Kicks/Snare are pretty centered.
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