Hi Wind Chaser ~
I am now in a state of transition. About to embark in several different directions at once.
DMason has used his empirically based, highly tuned, experiential, and penitrating logic
to convince me that I need EQ if I want to be able to control various drivers in the Open
Baffle paradigm. So I have been doing a great deal of research into EQ. DMason points at
things and I look closely into them.
For anyone interested in EQ there are 2 versions of the Rane devices that are worth looking
at... they are both revolutionary in the sense that their accuracy has never been achieved
before by any manufacturer... opening a new era of control... budget breakers in one sense...
severely underpriced in another... for anyone interested:
For a Graphic Equalizer look into the Rane DEQ 60 or 60L... for a Parametric Equalizer
look into the PEQ 55: Links follow:
http://www.rane.com/peq55.html and
http://www.rane.com/deq60l.htmlRight now I am listening to my OB's with the Step Correction Filter that Vinnie Rossi
was kind to give me the values for... I believe he received them from the German AC member
who has been experimenting with circuits with his B200's on DMason's Dark Star thread.
Using my old Single Ended Pentode, with their crude but effective tone controls, my OB's
are sounding beyond belief. I describe the tone controls as crude because they do not
have that accurate steep slop that the Rane EQ's, for example, use as an extra added attraction
in both of the models I am suggesting above. The steep slop preserves the mid-range.
DMason is right again... I can achieve much more effective control over the sound as it
interacts in my room by EQ'ing the signal before it even flows into the amplifier.
In the world of OB's with their severe cancellation issues of some frequencies... the
lowest frequencies below 200Hz are perhaps the most affected... being able to augment
the frequency with EQ before it reaches the amp let alone the drivers would go along way to
helping to compensate for that kind of cancellation issue. Tone controls for the 21st century.
I am convinced that any speaker... even the Bipoles... could benefit from a highly
sophisticated EQ device.
So to answer your question, Wind Chaser, I am currently using my SEP with OB's to achieve
the sound I find most satisfying now... simply because I do not have one of the above Rane's
yet. When I get the Rane and can EQ the OB's I can go back to the Signature 30 and Roger's
RM 245.1/45 SET amp. Let me explain that I am not using a subwoofer... with the tone controls
I do not need one... the bass is fantastic... very satisfying and convincing. The treble tone control
is probably not as affective as the Rane EQ would be. But passable.
Let me also say that DMason is going through one of the most creative periods of his audio life.
His experimentation into the possibilities with OB's has accelerated to a phenomenal
degree. As usual I stand on the sidelines in awe... like a rigorous archaeologist peering into
the present... as if it was a lost civilization... and finding gems here that others are unable
to see... DMason is finding new pathways to solving OB's problems. Fascinating stuff.
Warm Regards ~ Richard