[fsimms]

The SoundScapes have two backs.  One closes in the midrange chamber to make the sound similar to normal closed box speakers.  The other back is an open grill that makes the SoundScape a hybrid open baffle speaker.  The open grill adds a lot of ambient bloom to the sound of music.  One can add stuffing in the midrange chamber to adjust the amount of ambiance appropriate to the music.   Most music is recorded in fairly dead rooms so using a minimal amount of stuffing seems to work best for me.  That is about ½ full of loose poly-fil.  That amount adds a good deal of beautiful bloom to the music which is very exciting.   One issue that I have is that some music is recorded on a stage that already has a good deal of ambiance recorded.  Extra ambiance is often noticeable on a lot of orchestral music.  This is due to being recorded on a lively concert stage.  With these recordings and large amounts of SoundScape ambiance the sound is thin and muddled.   Of course, I can add stuffing to to the midrange chamber to make the orchestral music sound fantastic, but that makes most other music not sound as exciting or lively.  I could use the closed in back for orchestral music, but that would make the orchestral music sound less live too.

There is a solution that works for me.  The SS10s and SS12s have the midrange chamber sitting on top of the woofer cabinet.  I put a quarter flat on the woofer cabinet so that I can rest the solid back on the midrange chamber about an inch away from the midrange chamber and lean the top of the back on that chamber.  The quarter acts as a spacer to create triangular openings at the sides of the solid back.   This allows much less ambiance to be created.  This seems about right for orchestral music recorded on a live stage.  The following pictures show the setup.


Quarter on Bass Module



Solid Back leaning on Midrange Chamber



Solid Back on Midrange Chamber


Most people who listen to TV and Movies with SoundScapes prefer to use the closed back.  I am one of them.  Voices don’t need much, or any, ambiance.  Music in movies probably won’t sound as great as they could with an open back, but that doesn’t seem to be much of an issue.  I have a problem in that after listening to TV and then play music, I sometimes forget to remove the back.  Often, I will listen to music for thirty minutes before I start to get bored and realize that I didn’t open up the back.  I have found that if I listen to TV with the solid back leaning then I have a compromise that is easier to live with.  The leaning back adds enough ambiance to not get so bored with music when I forget to open the back.  The leaning back adds so little ambiance that it doesn’t negatively affect TV or movies much either.  FWIW, this means that I never need to completely close the back. 

This solution won’t help the people with SS8s.  They can’t rest the solid back on their speaker.  I would suggest that anyone that has SS8s and have the same issues that I do, ask Jim to make them a third back.  Maybe make one that is solid, but with a slit about one inch by six inches.   I can’t make backs in my condo to optimize the slit size and position, but that is the size that I would start testing with.  That size would approximate the total area that my slits are.

Bob
 

[audiotom]

Bob

Very ingenious on the quarter gap solution

I seem to come from the other direction as far as what works in my room and my musical preferences

I have my ss10s sufficiently stufed..  I actually prefer the totally closed back approach and thats the way I play them.  I find more precise imaging and subtle resolution of layered instruments. Ymmv

I will have  to try your method,

A dime at a time

It certainly is an ingenius design by Jim and the baffle a great option
I love the magnetic seal, perfect

Tom

[Austin08]

Wondering if Jim ever considers the idea of the build-in mechanism hand crank like the one you see in wilson or Focal speaker.

As far as open back, I agree with you all. The big improvement I make is putting 2 big diffusers behind my ss8. They are working perfect with full open back. Maybe because I listen to a lot of vocal music so the added ambient does indeed provide greater sense of width and depth to the soundstage.

[fsimms]

Bob
I seem to come from the other direction as far as what works in my room and my musical preferences

I have my ss10s sufficiently stufed..  I actually prefer the totally closed back approach and thats the way I play them.  I find more precise imaging and subtle resolution of layered instruments. Ymmv

Tom

Those are interesting comments Tom.  Obviously we listen to different things.  I just remove stuffing until the music starts to give me chills.  That is the same way that I choose the loading for my phono cartridge.

I must take after my father.  He used to take his speakers to the TV transmitter building where he worked alone.  The building was built with concrete blocks and was very live. 

Bob

[Saturn94]

Do you think adding thicker magnets to create a gap would work for SS8 owners?  The could easily be removed for those times when a sealed enclosure is desired.

[Vulcan00]

I have not seen many photos of the back of SS10 or SS12. Thanks for the photos and for your experiences.

I do not ever remember seeing a photo of the back of a SS8?  Would someone please post photos of the back of the SS8?


Thank YOU

[fsimms]

Do you think adding thicker magnets to create a gap would work for SS8 owners?  The could easily be removed for those times when a sealed enclosure is desired.

Interesting idea.  I would think four thin disk magnets would work fine. 

Bob

[Saturn94]

Interesting idea.  I would think four thin disk magnets would work fine. 

Bob

I did something similar to a pair of bookshelf speakers.  The grills didn't grip very well to the existing magnets (they would fall off with heavy bass passages!).   I added some thin/strong magnets, problem solved.




The company I ordered the from offers thicker magnets that would increase the gap as needed.

[audiotom]

I love this board

Saturn

Great idea.        Will try

Where did you score the magnets


I love this board

[benguin]

Vulcan- I took a couple of pictures of the back of my SS8's a while back while playing with options to help me remove the backs  more easily.  I thought I had one of the entire back while open, but I think you get the idea of what we've got...








  -Ben

[jsalk]

I love this board

Saturn

Great idea.        Will try

Where did you score the magnets


I love this board

Here is a great source for high quality rare earth magnets...

http://www.leevalley.com/US/Wood/page.aspx?p=32065&cat=1,42363,42348&ap=1

- Jim

[Saturn94]

I love this board

Saturn

Great idea.        Will try

Where did you score the magnets


I love this board

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp?gclid=CPGW0cjMg7oCFYs1QgodEDAAZw

The idea came from a local AC member who builds GR Research speakers.

Between this and Jim's suggestion there should be plenty if options.

[mrlittlejeans]

Saturn - Were you using those magnets on the SAM1?  My grills kept falling off of those but I didn't think of upgrading the magnets.

[JonnyFive]

As a soon-to-be Soundscape 8 owner, this is my first time experimenting with a midrange design that allows customization of the back.  I'll be curious to hear the difference!

If one is using the closed back, do you still stuff completely with polyfill to prevent the reflections from getting back to the driver?

[Saturn94]

Saturn - Were you using those magnets on the SAM1?  My grills kept falling off of those but I didn't think of upgrading the magnets.

Yep, those are my SAM1s.  Adding the magnets was a very easy and cheap solution.  The gold color adds a little bling when viewed from the side.

The place I got them offers a large variety of sizes.  Certainly one could find a size that works great with the Soundscapes.

BTW, I should probably mention it was recommended I use neodymium magnets graded N50 or N52 (they are stronger).  This is from their FAQ;

18. What does the "N rating", or grade, of the neodymium magnets mean?
The grade, or "N rating" of the magnet refers to the Maximum Energy Product of the material that the magnet is made from.  It refers to the maximum strength that the material can be magnetized to.  The grade of neodymium magnets is generally measured in units millions of Gauss Oersted (MGOe).  A magnet of grade N42 has a Maximum Energy Product of 42 MGOe.  Generally speaking, the higher the grade, the stronger the magnet.

[MichiganMike]

This solution won’t help the people with SS8s.  They can’t rest the solid back on their speaker.  I would suggest that anyone that has SS8s and have the same issues that I do, ask Jim to make them a third back.  Maybe make one that is solid, but with a slit about one inch by six inches.   I can’t make backs in my condo to optimize the slit size and position, but that is the size that I would start testing with.  That size would approximate the total area that my slits are.

Bob

Another alternative may be to cut a piece of Styrofoam insulation to fit inside the chamber.  It is easy to cut slits or holes in the insulation to the desired size or sizes.  One might even use plugs to adjust openings in the foam.  As the foam will not be visible when placed inside the chamber with the back installed, appearance of the foam is not a concern. 

I have some spare foam insulation from a home improvement project and plan to try this alternative on my SS10.

Mike 

[MichiganMike]

Another alternative may be to cut a piece of Styrofoam insulation to fit inside the chamber.  It is easy to cut slits or holes in the insulation to the desired size or sizes.  One might even use plugs to adjust openings in the foam.  As the foam will not be visible when placed inside the chamber with the back installed, appearance of the foam is not a concern. 

I have some spare foam insulation from a home improvement project and plan to try this alternative on my SS10.

Mike

I placed a piece of 1-inch thick foam insulation in each SS10 midrange chamber immediately in front of the open back.  The chamber is loosely packed with the strand material in front of the foam.  The foam covers about one-half the cross-section of the opening.  The foam substantially reduces the ambient sound projected from the back of the chamber, which modifies the soundstage.  Some tuning may refine the result, but so far I am enjoying the results of this experiment with a variety of music.

Mike 

[JonnyFive]

If one is using the closed back, do you still stuff completely with polyfill to prevent the reflections from getting back to the driver?

Anyone?

[benguin]

Jonny- I haven't tried the stuffing AND the solid back, but I've got to think with the cabinets as inert as they are that it would be very minor, if any difference.

If I had some precision instrumentation, I'd try it out as an interesting experiment.   

** that got my curiosity up, so I tried a very rudimentary test by ear, and had one channel with the batting and one without and the solid backs.  I could not detect any difference betweent the two.  The open back, however, does make a very noticeable difference with and without the batting.

[Big Red Machine]

I much prefer backs to be open.  When closed they bring the soundstage really up and into my face.  When open I get a deeper stage and more relaxed.  I feel like the sound is much more sophisticated when open and not like an average box speaker.  My preference.