[allensound]

Hey all,

I had to ask this question because this isn't the first time I've heard something similar to this.  So, Tekton Design just dropped a new video where it looks like he's putting his hat into the ring of open-baffle speakers.  He mentions in the video that one of major advantages to a dipole design is the three dimensionality of the sound.  The major drawback is the sweetspot is tiny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqSEq-jqDVE

I had to ask because this isn't the first time I've heard this.  Last year at Capital Audio Fest, Alberto Guerra, the owner of AGD (well known for it's Ganfet Class D amplifiers) also said something similar. 

So I'm curious - would it really be the case that if I bought a pair of NX-Oticas or NX-Tremes that there's going to be one tiny sweet spot for the lucky listener, or could the stereo sweetspot be enjoyed by many, say four?

[Early B.]

Hey all,

I had to ask this question because this isn't the first time I've heard something similar to this.  So, Tekton Design just dropped a new video where it looks like he's putting his hat into the ring of open-baffle speakers.  He mentions in the video that one of major advantages to a dipole design is the three dimensionality of the sound.  The major drawback is the sweetspot is tiny.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqSEq-jqDVE

I had to ask because this isn't the first time I've heard this.  Last year at Capital Audio Fest, Alberto Guerra, the owner of AGD (well known for it's Ganfet Class D amplifiers) also said something similar. 

So I'm curious - would it really be the case that if I bought a pair of NX-Oticas or NX-Tremes that there's going to be one tiny sweet spot for the lucky listener, or could the stereo sweetspot be enjoyed by many, say four?

Yeah, I saw that video, too. What he said about a tiny sweet spot for OB speakers is ridiculous. 

[Jaytor]

Between the 20 or so speakers (both dipole and conventional) that I've owned, and the hundreds of speakers I've heard over the past 50 years at friends, shops, and audio shows, there wasn't a single 2-channel speaker system that didn't sound it's best in a relatively narrow position centered between the speakers.

But there were many systems which still presented a reasonably wide sound stage when seated off the center axis by a few feet. Too far off the center axis and the soundstage collapsed and you mostly hear the sound coming from the closer speaker.

What determines how far off the center axis you can be before the sound stage collapses seems to have more to do with speaker separation, room acoustics, and speaker off-axis response than whether the speaker is a dipole or not.

I just got back from attending Capital Audio Fest and heard over a hundred different speaker systems. On average, I would say the the dipole speakers (and there were quite a few) had a wider width where there was some semblance of soundstage than the monopole speakers, but this may have just been coincidence.

One brand (Janszen)  was demonstrating a speaker that had a switchable rear firing driver that simulated a dipole.  When the rear driver was switched off, the "sweet spot" was much narrower than when it was switched on. 

For what it's worth, AGD was demoing their amps with Pure Audio Project open-baffle speakers.

[allensound]

Yeah, I saw that video, too. What he said about a tiny sweet spot for OB speakers is ridiculous.

Awesome - thank you for the reply.  I’ve only experienced a few open baffle speakers at audio shows and it’s nearly impossible to form a real world opinion based on those rooms and that limited amount of time.

[allensound]

Thank you @jaytor - Just the type of information I was looking for.  That is crazy he’s paired his amps with Pure Audio project - I forget the name of the speakers he had paired with his amps last year (they sounded great) but he really did go all in on “nobody should do open baffle at home” so this is an interesting about-face.

Again, really appreciate the reply!

[Danny Richie]

Eric has some issue working against him in his new design.

The big wide baffles will cause everything to sound more as if it is playing from that baffle forward. So if he has his aimed right at the listening position his experience may be a one seater presentation.

The opposite is true with our open baffle designs.

[allensound]

Eric has some issue working against him in his new design.

The big wide baffles will cause everything to sound more as if it is playing from that baffle forward. So if he has his aimed right at the listening position his experience may be a one seater presentation.

The opposite is true with our open baffle designs.

That's exciting - that's exactly what I wanted to hear / know!

[EricB]

I find the NX-Oticas to be a good "walking around speaker". They do sound best of course when centered in front of the two speakers but do still sound balanced from the next room and while walking around the house when listening to them as background music speakers. Having a few listeners should not be a problem in my opinion.

[allensound]

I find the NX-Oticas to be a good "walking around speaker". They do sound best of course when centered in front of the two speakers but do still sound balanced from the next room and while walking around the house when listening to them as background music speakers. Having a few listeners should not be a problem in my opinion.

Thank you again for that - I did end up ordering a set of NX-Treme's this past week.  So I'm all in on GR-Research's open baffle speakers

Super excited about them - the funny thing is I ALMOST went with the NX-Oticas for reasons obvious and not-obvious...

• Obviously price would have been friendlier
• The height of the NX-Tremes are a BIT on the non-WAF side of things
• Making them look good - I Know this sounds a bit ridiculous, but I really do feel like it'd be much easier to make the Oticas attractive but it's going to take quite a bit more effort and time to make the gargantuan NX-Tremes look as handsome

Regardless, I'm stoked about the NX-Tremes.

[jmimac351]

When I visited GR in March and listened to the NX-Treme, I made a point to get up and walk around... to see how they were loading the room... their presence... "Bigness".  They did all of "That".  My room is quite large, like Danny's.  His NX-Treme are pulled way off the front wall and the soundstage sounds like it goes on forever.  If your setup sounds like that, that's what you'll get. I do not have NX-Treme and cannot pull them off the wall more that 3'.  In my room, it would be interesting to hear how they do with a bunch of front wall diffusion treatment.  I've had Magnepan in this room and enjoyed them.  Regardless, I bet you're going to love the NX-Treme.

Have fun.   

[allensound]

@jmimac351 - it's excellent to hear your impressions of them.  I've seriously been debating heading down to Lone Star Audio Fest and making a point to drive out to see Danny and check out his listening rooms, but at this point I've already bought the NX-Tremes  

That's interesting on how far he has them pulled out from the wall - I was thinking 3-4' off my wall (from the front) and about 3' off the side walls.  The way I plan to set the room up, it'll be about 15.5' wide x 19' long.  I sort of have the freedom to set it up however I want so I can toy around with things.  I think the only thing that I'm not looking forward to is how long it's going to take me to get the things assembled and finished before I can start the listening!  I'm seriously considering some type of veneer but I'm pretty sure that's going to be a major undertaking for two speakers that are 7' tall. 

Anyways, thank you very much for your impressions - just has me more excited to get to work on them when they arrive!

I've been holding off on buying any equipment for them yet.  My "old" system was home theater focused so I currently only have a Denon 3400H.  My plan is to get the things assembled, hook them up to that, just to get a baseline for how things improve.  I have my eye on a number of preamps, amps, streamers, etc.

This'll be fun.  I'm currently trying to come up with a good YouTube channel name to do all this and share my experience along the way. 

[Tyson]

IME, OB speakers are good at 3 feet, but really come in to their own at about 7 feet from the front wall.

An OB speaker, you measure from the front baffle to the wall, which is different from a box speaker.  A box speaker you measure from the rear of the speaker to the wall.