Hello all,
Well, it’s been a long time coming and still not quite done yet, still have to make grills, it's always the grills that get made "whenever"... Not exactly the easiest build I've ever encountered but not too bad. I have about 100-man hrs. In as I'm writing this and still need grills and clear coat lacquer tomorrow.
I have gotten to spend some time with them for a couple weeks fully functional but not cosmetically finished. I must say, OB bass is completely different than anything I've heard at this low a frequency. The best way "I" can explain it, is that it sounds like "headphone bass", no BOOM or hangover effects. Very quick and tight. I ran quite a few measurements using REW and played with things for a good 5- or 6-hours getting things dialed in to my liking. I played with the Sub settings quite a bit. They will get LOW! but struggle a bit with reaching full excursion with "bass torture" tracks. I ended up using the 28Hz, High control setting. To me it’s a no brainer...you get as low as you ever really need to for most music, and the setting just sounds much quicker and taunt to my ears. In retrospect, knowing what I know now, I probably would have gone with the triple stack for the simple fact of limiting cone excursion as a unit. The amp only sees a "load" anyway so it wouldn't have taxed it any differently. Overall, I do love the sound for sure! I was always a bit of a "bass head" growing up in audio as a teen so I guess I was expecting a bit more "slam" out of them, but in all fairness, I know they sound very musical and "correct".
In life everything seems to be a compromise of some kind or another, like having tv console between the speakers for me. I was able to utilize the console as a left and right amp enclosure. The Speakon connectors come out the bottom of the console. I still have to build a pegboard shield around the plate amps on the interior side of the console enclosures to protect the electronics and such.
I was blessed with an audiophile wife, so it made the whole experience a lot more fun. We typically listen almost every night together, I love it. The Spatial,s are probably my last speaker, they literally still blow me away after a couple years with them! Although, I would like at some point to heard that AMT tweeter I hear so much about. I’m sure it edges out the M100 a bit.
I can now start treating my room finally. I also have another space that is larger and have kicked around moving the system and taking some measurements to see what I can get out of the room vs. the one I’m in. I am just able to get the M3’s (3) feet off front wall which to me sounds nice and smooth. I’m pretty much in the “mid field” with them and think they image like amazingly! Although still pretty much an equilateral triangle. I do have 2 inch, Owens 706 panels in place 5 feet behind my listening position which helps for now.
So, I guess this turned into a GR/Spatial review. I have to say I used DiracLive3 to phase align and correct for my untreated room. Curtain set at the Schroeder frequency area, about 200hz. Crossover point is set by Dirac itself so I will have to disconnect mains and subs independently to see what frequency was chosen. I have to say I am a firm believer in Dirac in this area! You cannot distinguish a difference in location as to where the subs are in relation to the mains. The low end is one cohesive, in step balanced sound for sure as soon as I defeat Dirac the phase change is immediately heard. I know everyone will say I don’t know how to set them up correctly lol.
I will post a couple pics of the build.
Thanks guy’s
