On speaker combining - Living across the street from a Goodwill in San Francisco, I have been able to buy a lot of what were once upper end speakers and play with them in combination. I did a lot of this - until I got married :(
Now there's no room for such excess.
The results can be really truly SPECTACULAR, especially when carefully combining very different types of speakers to fill in each other's weaknesses.
First off - the most important place to start is to make sure that the distance from your listening spot to ALL the tweeters and Mid drivers is EXACTLY the same, or at very least, concentric. In the case of 4 identical speakers, stacking one upside down atop the other gets close, but generally you'll have to tilt the top pair towards you, since the upper most driver will tend to be farther from a seated person than the similar driver on the lower pair.
Rather than an active crossover, I just used 2 amps and 2 EQ's, to tweak to the point of getting a reasonably flat freq. curve and a volume balance between the two different pairs that works. This can take a few hours (usually around 4 to 5 for me).
One incredible combo, for example, that offered surreal imaging and openess was a pair of early 1960's University 10" full range drivers in gigantic cabinets with a pair of Ohm Walsh 2's. The Walsh's, with their nice tweeters, filled in the highs that the Univ's couldn't do. And the Univ's lent a power to the mids and lows that the Ohm's don't have. Being responsible for most of the imaging, the Ohms were placed a couple of feet outside the Univ's - creating a huge soundstage. I sat only about 5 feet back from the whole thing, making it like giant headphones. It was some of the most incredible sound I've heard. Truly psychedelic. Total cost for all 4 speakers: $130.
Another very nice combo was Spica TC-50's sitting right on top of Bose 501's. EQ'd the mids of the Bose down (relatively) to prevent them destroying the Spica magic. Mind boggling imaging and the additional bass and bass coupling provided by the 501's made the Spica experience everything it could be. Way better than the Spica's alone.
The only downside of "pairing up" is the potential (certainty, actually) of phase cancellation. Techie audiophiles will wave that in your face, but it can be dealt with by careful tweaking, especially for one distinct listening position. The proof is in the listening, and as I've said above - it can be really Amazing.
Anyway - hope to proveide some food for thought for all you UNMARRIED guys out there....
Now there's no room for such excess.
The results can be really truly SPECTACULAR, especially when carefully combining very different types of speakers to fill in each other's weaknesses.
First off - the most important place to start is to make sure that the distance from your listening spot to ALL the tweeters and Mid drivers is EXACTLY the same, or at very least, concentric. In the case of 4 identical speakers, stacking one upside down atop the other gets close, but generally you'll have to tilt the top pair towards you, since the upper most driver will tend to be farther from a seated person than the similar driver on the lower pair.
Rather than an active crossover, I just used 2 amps and 2 EQ's, to tweak to the point of getting a reasonably flat freq. curve and a volume balance between the two different pairs that works. This can take a few hours (usually around 4 to 5 for me).
One incredible combo, for example, that offered surreal imaging and openess was a pair of early 1960's University 10" full range drivers in gigantic cabinets with a pair of Ohm Walsh 2's. The Walsh's, with their nice tweeters, filled in the highs that the Univ's couldn't do. And the Univ's lent a power to the mids and lows that the Ohm's don't have. Being responsible for most of the imaging, the Ohms were placed a couple of feet outside the Univ's - creating a huge soundstage. I sat only about 5 feet back from the whole thing, making it like giant headphones. It was some of the most incredible sound I've heard. Truly psychedelic. Total cost for all 4 speakers: $130.
Another very nice combo was Spica TC-50's sitting right on top of Bose 501's. EQ'd the mids of the Bose down (relatively) to prevent them destroying the Spica magic. Mind boggling imaging and the additional bass and bass coupling provided by the 501's made the Spica experience everything it could be. Way better than the Spica's alone.
The only downside of "pairing up" is the potential (certainty, actually) of phase cancellation. Techie audiophiles will wave that in your face, but it can be dealt with by careful tweaking, especially for one distinct listening position. The proof is in the listening, and as I've said above - it can be really Amazing.
Anyway - hope to proveide some food for thought for all you UNMARRIED guys out there....