NX-Oticas in new listening room

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Jaytor

NX-Oticas in new listening room
« on: 11 Jan 2020, 09:24 pm »
I finally finished setting up my room with new acoustic treatments and drapes. I added the three GIK art panels that I was using in my previous listening room to the left well. These are 4" panels with scatter plates.



On the right side above the fireplace, I had GIK make another art panel. This one uses their 242 design with no scatter plate. Mostly, I wanted to tame the reflection from the travertine above the fire place.



I added six GIK 242 panels to the ceiling. I created a framework using right-angle aluminum strips from home depot. This is hung from the ceiling at four points, so there is about a 3" gap which improves the lower frequency absorption.



Behind the speakers, I have two free standing 2'x4' GIK 4" diffusor/bass traps, as well as two 2'x2' 6" diffusor/bass traps (that I had purchased for my previous room). I also have a home-made tube trap in each corner.

I also installed lined draperies in front of the large floor to ceiling windows and french doors. The drapes made a considerable difference in smoothing out the upper midrange. Previously, I had a bit of a glare on some recordings. Much smoother now.



I'm using IsoAcoustics Gaia II footers on the NX-Oticas with the back a bit higher the front so that the tweeters are aimed a bit closer to ear position. On the subs, I am using Herbie's Giant Gliders on the outside corners. The inside is sitting on the padded rug. I can't really say how much these affected the sound, since the sound has been changing so much over the past few weeks as the drivers, cross-overs, new cables and sub-amps have broken in. It has definitely gel'ed very well (or maybe I've just gotten used to the sound...who knows).

Without the carpeting and acoustic treatments, the room is VERY live. The front third of the room has cinder-block walls and lots of glass as you can see. The floor is travertine over concrete. The treatments have made a huge difference.

The back of the room has book cases on one side and is open to another room on the other side. I haven't added any treatment to the back wall. At some point, I might consider doing something, but the system sounds good with the treatments I've done.



- Jay

ntjetsmoke

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Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #1 on: 11 Jan 2020, 09:57 pm »
Well done! Looks fantastic.

Tyson

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Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #2 on: 11 Jan 2020, 09:59 pm »
Man, you do not mess around!   That room looks great.  And I recently did a similar level of treatments in my very live listening room and the difference treating the room makes is rather astonishing.

Well done man!

Jaytor

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #3 on: 11 Jan 2020, 10:18 pm »
Thanks. Here's a few measurements in case you are curious.

The room dimensions are 26'6" x 17'1" x 7'7". The front of the speaker baffle to the front wall is 7'. The NX-Oticas are 9'4" apart (measuring from the center of the baffle). The distance from the listening position to each speaker (front of NX-Otica) is 11'9". I plan to experiment a bit with moving the couch forward a bit (closer to the speakers), but I haven't had a chance yet.

Jaytor

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #4 on: 11 Jan 2020, 10:20 pm »
P.S. I think this room is big enough for the Line Force  :D :D :D. What do you think?

Tyson

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Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #5 on: 11 Jan 2020, 10:25 pm »
P.S. I think this room is big enough for the Line Force  :D :D :D. What do you think?

Hell yes.

mkane

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Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #6 on: 11 Jan 2020, 10:36 pm »
Get the couch closer and you may get some more depth to the sound. Our room is identical measurement wise.

Jaytor

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #7 on: 11 Jan 2020, 10:43 pm »
I'll give it a try.

SoCalWJS

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #8 on: 11 Jan 2020, 10:44 pm »
Very nice room & setup! Treatment looks good so far. I would LOVE to have room that size to get everything sounding it’s best.

The things that I noticed were the hard reflective surfaces behind the MLP that I can see the curtain reflections in, along with the curtains themselves. They look nice, but I would think something heavier/thicker would help even more.

Still going to be great. Line Force would be incredible.  :drool: :drool:


Jaytor

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #9 on: 11 Jan 2020, 11:23 pm »
The back wall is a little reflective, but I haven't figured out anything I could do that wouldn't significantly compromise aesthetics, which I don't really want to do.

From what I understand (and from my experience with multiple Magneplaners in the past), an overly damped wall behind the speakers doesn't work very well with dipole speakers. The drapes I used have a thermal liner which seems to be just about the right amount of absorption to cut the higher frequency reflections. And glass tends to be somewhat transparent for bass frequencies, so, along with the other acoustic treatments I have behind the speakers, it seems like it is providing a good balance of reflection, absorption and diffusion. The tonal balance is good and the image depth and precision seems to be quite nice.

poseidonsvoice

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Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #10 on: 12 Jan 2020, 12:33 am »
Jaytor,

Room looks aesthetic and nice! Enjoy the fruits of your efforts!

Best,
Anand.

Captainhemo

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #11 on: 12 Jan 2020, 01:23 am »
Necely  done Jay,  room looks  great !   Enjoy  your  new  speakers / subs    :thumb:

jay

Danny Richie

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #12 on: 12 Jan 2020, 01:58 am »
Wow, nicely done.

Jaytor

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #13 on: 12 Jan 2020, 06:14 pm »
Thanks guys. I did move the couch up about a foot and I think it does sound slightly better. Also provides more room to walk between the couch and my desk so my wife appreciates that.

ryno

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #14 on: 12 Jan 2020, 07:47 pm »
Nice room Jaytor. I’m interested in your comparison of the NX-Oticas vs Magnepans.

Jmitchell3

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #15 on: 12 Jan 2020, 09:26 pm »
Looks amazeballs!

Jaytor

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #16 on: 12 Jan 2020, 09:30 pm »
Thanks for the compliments.

@ryno -  I've owned three different Maggies over the years - MG1s in the late 70's, Tympani IVs in the mid-80's, and MG3.6Rs a few years ago.  What I loved about the Magnepans is the open-airy soundstage and the total lack of boxiness in the sound. The ribbon tweeters have an incredible delicacy to the sound, but don't always integrate perfectly with the planar-magnetic drivers. The biggest negatives of the Maggies were lack of dynamics (everything sounds a little soft which is great for vocals, sax, etc., but leaves me wanting on percussion, guitar, piano, etc.), limited low bass, and lack of imaging precision (the Maggies portrayed a deep and wide sound stage, but it was more difficult to pin point the position of musicians/instruments). I don't have any experience with the MG-20 or MG-30, which likely address some of these weaknesses.

The NX-Oticas have a similar deep, wide, airy soundstage, but have somewhat better image specificity and are much more dynamic. They can play loud completely effortlessly, but still sound well balanced at lower listening levels. With the OB subs, they totally trounce the Maggies I've owned below about 50Hz. Of course, you could always add GR's OB subs to the Magnepans and they would probably integrate very well as both are dipoles.

The NX-Oticas have more clarity and detail than I remember getting from any of my Maggies. I always used the stock crossovers on the Maggies, and I suspect part or all of this difference is in the quality of the crossover components. My NX-Oticas include the upgrades to the caps and inductors that Danny offers. I suspect there is even more room for improvement here by replacing some of the Sonicaps with even better options, but this would add considerable expense.

I think female vocals sounded a bit smoother on the MG3.6Rs, but not as detailed. On the NX-Oticas, I can hear details such as inhalation and lip smacks much more clearly on well recorded music. But male vocals are much more authoritative on the NX-Oticas. You can hear more of the guttural sounds you'd expect from a deep male voice.

I think the NX-Otica midrange drivers are probably their weak spot. Not that they are bad, but I don't think the integration with the NEO3 tweeter is as good as it could be with, say, the NEO10 drivers. Female vocals are handled by both the NEO3 tweeter and the 6" midrange drivers and the combination of (or transition between) these drivers can add a bit of roughness to the sound. This is probably exacerbated by the high level of detail and clarity that these speakers portray, and is more noticeable on really good recordings. This is not in the least a serious flaw, but it's the one area where the NX-Oticas and OB subs are not obviously better than any other speaker I've owned. On a side note - I'm dying to hear the Line Force since I think this would up the ante in all respects and, based on how good the NEO3 is, would almost certainly significantly improve on the upper midrange.

The Maggies are a lot harder to drive than the NX-Oticas. No matter how loud I play the NX-Oticas, my Parasound JC-5 amp seems to be loafing along and is no warmer than idle. From what I've heard, the Oticas can be driven easily with 10-30 watts. The Maggies require some serious power and current to really open up. I used a Levinson ML-3 with my Tympani IVs and a Krell FPB-300 with my MG3.6Rs.

Hope this helps answer your question.

- Jay

Danny Richie

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #17 on: 12 Jan 2020, 11:20 pm »
Good comparisons and observations.

It is funny to me though that you thought the mid-range drivers to be their week spot. To me that is the best part. They have the most musical and lush mid-range that I have ever got out of any speaker. And it was especially true with Tyson's 300B tube amps. Oh, those things were fantastic. I liked the mid-range better on the NX-Oticas and NX-Tremes with that 300B amp than anything we were able to get out of the Line Forces or Super Minis that use Neo 10's using the same amp and every other amp that we had around here.

And vocals aren't really handled at all by both the mid-range and tweeter. Even female vocal ranges are handled by the mids. Only the upper harmonics are picked up by the tweeter. And the low crossover point with shallow slopes and perfect time alignment allow them to integrate REALLY well.

So I would tend to bet that what you are hearing is more a result of your Parasound amp. I've had one of those amps and it did have a hardness or roughness to it in that area that was not real musical. I'd recommend trying some different amps with them and hear what happens.

Early B.

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #18 on: 13 Jan 2020, 12:04 am »
So I would tend to bet that what you are hearing is more a result of your Parasound amp. I've had one of those amps and it did have a hardness or roughness to it in that area that was not real musical. I'd recommend trying some different amps with them and hear what happens.

I was thinking the exact same thing, but wasn't bold enough to say it. IMO, there's a 99% chance that experimenting with higher quality amps will give you a much better appreciation of just how good your speakers are. In fact, this could be a very beneficial budget neutral move for you.

BTW -- I can't stand your incredible room. :lol:

ryno

Re: NX-Oticas in new listening room
« Reply #19 on: 13 Jan 2020, 12:24 am »
Thanks for the great comparison Jaytor. I’ve gone from MMG’s to MG12’s to 1.7’s. I’m interested in the improvements you mentioned while keeping the dipole magic. I’m fairly close to the speakers in my room, ~6.5ft with 4.5ft to a front wall with lots of diffusion. The back wall is 19ft away but I can’t pull the listening chair any further out. Do the NX-Oticas perform well up close?
Thanks again, Ryan