[Captainhemo]

mlundy57, looks great.

May I ask what other speakers/systems have you had in your room in the past?  And how do these compare to them?

They do look quite large/tall.  May I ask how deep does your bass extension go - and does it overload (boominess) in your room?  A challenge with a room of that dimension (I have a room that dimension) is getting deep bass without overloading.

Thanks!
UL

Pretty much guarantee he isn't having any boomieness issues wie the OB servo subs and they'll play low, I believe they should play similar to the 12's which is  flat to 20hz and -3db in the mid teens.  The 8's will have a bit less "oomph" but   in  a small  room I doubt yuo'd notice it.

BTW, great job on the review mike.   The non room loading nature and seamless blending of the  OB servo subs really are a great feature of them, I remember saying  how  it seemed like my 7's suddenly played down  into the tens
Going to have to pick up that cd you mentioned  too

-jay

[Tyson]

Yeah, if the OB servo subs can blend seamlessly with the BG Neo10 Planar midrange on my Super 7's, they can blend and keep up with pretty much anything. 

[rak313]

...
I have found the volume setting needed on the HX300 plate amps varies with the preamp. When powered by the preamps in either my Marantz or NAD AVR’s, the sub’s volume needs to be set at 1 o’clock to blend with the Wedgies. However, with my Jolida stereo preamp the sub’s volume needs to be set at 10 o’clock.  ...

Great review, now I really want some.

Did you set the 3x8 levels (compared to the wedgies) by ear or did you use measurements?

[mlundy57]

Excellent thorough review Mike!  Many of us here are very interested in this speaker combination, & your finer details of the build & sound give great insight. Much appreciated. 

You're welcome. I'm glad you find it helpful

Mike,

Great review. But beautiful work on your Wedgies and OB sub. Setup looks nice. With your build expertise, you can venture out into DIY room treatments, diffusers, etc...

Best,
Anand.

Thanks Anand. Before I venture into building room treatments I probably need to learn what they are and how to use them, especially since this room has a nasty null at 20Hz.  The subs are putting out 20Hz just fine (based on SPL meter readings taken right next to the drivers and then out in the room).

+1

Great job on the "H" frames Mike, great review as well.  Still loving mine but trying to figure out the best way to integrate my servo subs to make the package look better.  So far I am still using the subs in my V1 speakers, sounds great, but wanting to combine the Wedgie and the servo subs into a single speaker due to space constraints.

Best,
Ed

Ed,

I literally have only a few inches of clearance on the sides of these speakers, not to walls but to furniture. There's a bed on one side ans a dresser on the other. My listening room is currently doing double duty as a bedroom.

mlundy57, looks great.

May I ask what other speakers/systems have you had in your room in the past?  And how do these compare to them?

They do look quite large/tall.  May I ask how deep does your bass extension go - and does it overload (boominess) in your room?  A challenge with a room of that dimension (I have a room that dimension) is getting deep bass without overloading.

Thanks!
UL

UL,

For full range floor standers they really are not that large. They are 50" tall x 14" wide x 15" deep. By not putting the overhang on the top you could cut that down to 50" tall x 12 1/2" wide x 12 3/4" deep. The base of the unit would be a little wider and deeper but your eye is not drawn to the base.

Other speakers I have had in this room include PSB Image B6's, Klipsch Reference RB-81 II's, GR-Research (AV-123) X-LS Encores and GR-Research N1X's. I also have a pair of GR-Research N3TL's in the living room.  Two other speakers I have listened to locally, but in a different room (one that has been acoustically treated) are the B&W 802 Diamonds and the Sonus faber Olympica III's.

The main difference between these speakers and the Wedgie/servos is that they are all box speakers while the Wedgie/servos are open baffle speakers. The biggest difference is general is that open baffle speakers have a more open, airy, spacious sound field than box speakers.

When you ask about how I compare them are you asking about a general comparison or how I would rank the ones I have had in this room?

The bass extension on these is flat to 20Hz and -3dB at 14Hz.  That's pretty much how there are measuring with an SPL meter about 1/2" from the drivers. This tells what the drivers are putting out without interference in the room. In room, as it is currently set up, I am getting bass flat to 30Hz at the listening position but there is a major node issue at 20Hz which is -12dB at the listening position. Keep in mind, this room has no room treatment and is chock full of stuff.

Jay is correct about bass overloading, there is none. That's the beauty of open baffle subs, they don't pressurize the room like sealed or ported subs do. The downside of this is that if you only have OB subs in an HT system you won't get the chest punch or rattling walls from the special effects (LFE channel). That's why I also have a sealed servo sub connected to the LFE channel of the HT receiver. This sub has absolutely no effect on stereo music.   It is only on when playing multichannel sources that have an LFE channel encoded, i.e. DVD's, Blu-ray's, 5.1 channel streaming (Netflix), etc.

Pretty much guarantee he isn't having any boomieness issues wie the OB servo subs and they'll play low, I believe they should play similar to the 12's which is  flat to 20hz and -3db in the mid teens.  The 8's will have a bit less "oomph" but   in  a small  room I doubt yuo'd notice it.

BTW, great job on the review mike.   The non room loading nature and seamless blending of the  OB servo subs really are a great feature of them, I remember saying  how  it seemed like my 7's suddenly played down  into the tens
Going to have to pick up that cd you mentioned  too

-jay

Jay,

Yep, that's the beauty of OB

Great review, now I really want some.

Did you set the 3x8 levels (compared to the wedgies) by ear or did you use measurements?

rak313,

I used an SPL meter. Not as sophisticated as something like REW but I don't have a compatible mic nor have I learned how to use it yet.  This is one of my priorities in the next year.

Mike

[Ultralight]

Fantastic.  THANKS for all the responses.  Very instructive.  It is amazing to me that the OB does not over pressurize a room this small.  I've been told that before but good to hear actual account.   VERY much appreciate all your replies.

UL

[Tyson]

Fantastic.  THANKS for all the responses.  Very instructive.  It is amazing to me that the OB does not over pressurize a room this small.  I've been told that before but good to hear actual account.   VERY much appreciate all your replies.

UL

Yep, getting rid of "bass bloat" is the #1 reason to go OB, IME.  I lived for years and years with lumpy, crappy bass using boxed speakers and subs.  Glad I finally saw the light and went OB.

[ebag4]

Mine are in a 10.5'x12.5'x8' room, I will never have any other type of bass, great deep tuneful bass, no bloat even in small rooms.

[Captainhemo]

Yep, getting rid of "bass bloat" is the #1 reason to go OB, IME.  I lived for years and years with lumpy, crappy bass using boxed speakers and subs.  Glad I finally saw the light and went OB.

Ditto Tyson 
We should keep in mind ( and someone correct me if I'm worng) while the OB desing helps  control the room loading,  without the direct servo contro , our OB subs would not play nearly as accurate  and roll off at a much higher frequency. The direct servo control  is playing an itregal role  in the great results we are all enjoing   

jay

[S Clark]

Yeah, if the OB servo subs can blend seamlessly with the BG Neo10 Planar midrange on my Super 7's, they can blend and keep up with pretty much anything.

Wait... you picked up a pair of the Super 7's?!!  My envy meter just pegged out. 

[Captainhemo]

Wait... you picked up a pair of the Super 7's?!!  My envy meter just pegged out. 

I picked up on that as well..... I seem to recall some time ago a post from Tyson  saying he wanted a pair (don't we all) but don't recall reading  he had actually purchased a pair !!   Congrats  Tyson 

jay

[Tyson]

Yep, Super 7's in da house as of about 3 weeks ago.  Still breaking them in, but they are phenomenal, a clear step up over the V2's I had prior.

[ebag4]

Yep, Super 7's in da house as of about 3 weeks ago.  Still breaking them in, but they are phenomenal, a clear step up over the V2's I had prior.

Pics or it didn't happen! 

BTW, you have been incredibly quiet about this, 3 weeks??

[brother love]

Pics or it didn't happen! 

BTW, you have been incredibly quiet about this, 3 weeks??

Exactly. Why does "embarrassment of riches" come to mind ?    

Wedgies w/ 3 x 8" servo pairs, Serenity 7's ... I'm just envious of you guys.

[Early B.]

Pics or it didn't happen! 

BTW, you have been incredibly quiet about this, 3 weeks??

Precisely! And we demand that you elaborate on the differences between the V2's and the Super V's. 

[Tyson]

Precisely! And we demand that you elaborate on the differences between the V2's and the Super V's. 

OK, OK, OK, I've been keeping it on the DL a bit till they fully broke in    But, I'm very happy with them.  The cool thing is that Ruben (Outofthewoods) lives very close to me and he is the cabinet maker for the Super 7's, so I got to talk with him directly about some of the custom things I wanted for these guys - mainly the color - they are semi-gloss white with blood red speaker grills front and back.  Also, every surface is painted and finished/polished to a very high degree.  Here are some pics:







Norez was installed after I took these pictures.

The crossovers are sitting loose at the moment, but they will have a small custom crossover box built for them so they speaker looks a bit neater from the back.  Till then I just have them on top of some plastic bags to protect the paint finish.  This is different than the stock Super 7, which has a flat black painted subwoofer box and the crossover just screwed/zip tied onto the flat black surface, with a cloth cover.  I like the idea of a separate crossover box that's painted/finished the same as the rest of the speaker.

For sound, I heard them at RMAF 3 years ago and they immediately bounded into the top 3 speakers I've ever heard, after 10 years of RMAF attendance, plus a bunch of insane local audiophiles who have some amazing systems.  The TAD Reference 1 and the Mockingbird Audio LSX are my other top 2. 

Coming from owning the V2, and having heard the Super V for 2 years at RMAF, I can say this - the V2's bass and mids/highs are all not at the level of the Super 7.  The Super V is a clear step up in the bass, but not in the mids/hihs - has similar mids/highs to the V2's, but has bass on par with the Super 7's.  I felt like the bass on the Super V's was so amazing and that it outclassed the mids/highs on that same speaker.  With the Super 7, we finally get mids/highs that keep up with (and maybe even surpass) the spectacular bass capabilities of the OB servo subs.

Feed them with a tube amps or a beautiful SS amp and they will sing and sing and sing.  Soundstage, clarity, transparency, tonal balance, smoothness, power and beauty at both frequency extremes, overall coherency, full scale dynamics, micro shading of low level dynamics - all of these are the very best, or among the very best, that I've ever heard.  The thing I love about them the most - they are incredibly revealing, but they are never "ruthlessly" revealing.  In other words, you hear everything, but in a very pleasing manner.  So stuff that might sound annoying or irritating on an equally detailed but more analytical sounding speaker just ends up sounding interesting or cool via the Super 7's. 

I also only have about 100 hours on them, so they are still breaking in.  The Teflon bypass caps in the crossover I know take at least 300 hours to fully open up, so more goodness to come.....

[Tyson]

Oh, and as you can see, they are NOT small speakers!  Haha, the V2's have their tweeters at ear level when sitting down, so the Super 7's are LARGE speakers.  I'm 5'10" and they come up to my nose when standing next to them.  Not quite as tall as the VMPS RM40's I used to own, but close!  I love big speakers. 

[persisting1]

I have been patiently waiting to hear about your 7s. I'm going to assume that you will be enjoying these for quite some time 

Congrats

[Nick77]

The million dollar question, have the Super 7's been released to the diy community??   

[Tyson]

The million dollar question, have the Super 7's been released to the diy community??   

Nope.

[mlundy57]

Sweet! Very nice indeed. A nice thing about the Wedgies is that I can be happy for you but not envious    Keep enjoying, it just gets better as those platinum caps break in. I have them in both my N3's and Wedgies.