[rollo]

  Originally for in wall use. Last Friday at our club meeting we heard these modified to free standing dipoles driven by Pass amps. The four BG subs were driven by a BG sub amp.
    All I can say is that the Sheffield drum CD was as real as could be. Never have I heard that CD sound like that. Everything played was like hearing it for the first time. Absolutely amazing. IMO the most accurate, dynamic and tonally correct speaker yet to grace my humble ears. A must hear. BTW not a dealer but maybe an owner very shortly. Next best to these are the GT Audio, again IMO.

charles

[TRADERXFAN]

Is this the LA800 maybe?
http://www.bgcorp.com/PDFs/LA800_ProductSheet.pdf

[TRADERXFAN]

Thanks for sharing about this. But then it provokes more questions...  how was it modified? Any more details?

The neo 10 and neo 3 are of interest to me. I have been thinking to build a monitor type speaker with these drivers. And on other threads you can see where Greg (Studiotech) has made a monitor with a raal tweeter and neo 8. And an open baffle with two neo 10s and a raal tweeter. But these are active speakers.


-Tony

[satie]

I can imagine this is a seriously great speaker, I myself use a line of Neo8 for midrange in my Maggie Tympani. I believe you can do better with the maggie ribbon tweeter than with the Neo3 or Neo3 pdr. I am going to guess that you could do better with the Tympani bass panels (with or without a sub) than with the dynamic bass drivers of the LA800.

The BG LA800 is a hefty chunk of change, It would seem to me you could do better modifying a Tympani or MG20.x with the line array of Neo8 or Neo10 for mids.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/bg-radia-r-800-wall-speakers

At $12k in 2006 and probably $15k today, and needing a frame to make them into an in room speaker, I think you could do better with a big maggie (Tympani or 20.1 + sub) and a line of Neo8 or Neo10 (I would go with a Neo8, as it would cost $1200-1600 vs. $2000-2400 for a Neo10) That would give you the Maggie tweeter, which does better than the Neo3 tweeters from about 5kHz upwards. On an MG20.1 you would need to build a new mid/tweeter frame to place by the bass panel. The whole project would cost you 1/4 to 1/3 of the cost of a BG 800.

[rollo]

Yes the LS800 it is. No frame required. The Alum. struts support the upper midbass enclosure just fine, so sagging or stress. The demo pair used a Nelson Pass crossover in lieu of original passive crossover. [ removed ]. Luxman amps driving the tweeters and Pass amps for the Mids and mid bass. The tweeters were crossed over at 2000HZ. Low yes but the tweeter is basically distortion free.
     It was a complicated system being Tri -Amped. Four subs two bass amps. Does one need Tri amplification , short answer NO. The CDP player was an Esoteric K-01. No preamp used.
     What really got me were the bass panels for in wall use. The panels were just leaning on the rear wall and still had no issues in reproduction of bass. Clean tight and dynamic.
   My intention is to get the bass , sub panels first and make them free standing subs to use with my existing speakers [ Pipedreams ]  The B&G Sub amp as well. A two channel affair with built in crossover and remote.
    We heard a system. It is impossible to determine what was doing what. I'm bringing over my reference amps [ Arion HS 500 hybrid ]  the BSG QOL and Lector CDP to compare what I hear at home to the B&G system. Then I can make a decision as to what to do.
   Most likely the LS 500 will be best suited for my room. The Pipes are just a tad to big for the room. Sound great however can be better in a larger room.
     The tweeters used are not for sale for DIY or OEM use. I believe that is what I heard. Could be wrong either the tweeter or mid range. BTW I was a Maggie/ Audio Research owner for over 20 years. The B&G system heard that day crushed any Maggie love I had. Sorry but that is my  truth. The new old kid on the block.


charles

[rollo]

I can imagine this is a seriously great speaker, I myself use a line of Neo8 for midrange in my Maggie Tympani. I believe you can do better with the maggie ribbon tweeter than with the Neo3 or Neo3 pdr. I am going to guess that you could do better with the Tympani bass panels (with or without a sub) than with the dynamic bass drivers of the LA800.

The BG LA800 is a hefty chunk of change, It would seem to me you could do better modifying a Tympani or MG20.x with the line array of Neo8 or Neo10 for mids.

http://www.hometheater.com/content/bg-radia-r-800-wall-speakers

At $12k in 2006 and probably $15k today, and needing a frame to make them into an in room speaker, I think you could do better with a big maggie (Tympani or 20.1 + sub) and a line of Neo8 or Neo10 (I would go with a Neo8, as it would cost $1200-1600 vs. $2000-2400 for a Neo10) That would give you the Maggie tweeter, which does better than the Neo3 tweeters from about 5kHz upwards. On an MG20.1 you would need to build a new mid/tweeter frame to place by the bass panel. The whole project would cost you 1/4 to 1/3 of the cost of a BG 800.

   Sorry to respectfully disagree about the Maggies. I've owned maggies or years and heard every other Maggie to date. No way does any Maggie have the clarity, presence, dynamics and Gestalt of the B&G as demonstrated. The B&G bass panels go down below 20HZ. The Maggie sub does not. The Maggie ribbon tweeter IMO does not come close to the BG in specs or performance. Actually bright and lean in comparison.
    Not here to debate or argue just my listening experience. BTW the speaker and subs came in at 18K, I believe. I'm liking the LS 500 at this time, we shall see.


charles
     

[medium jim]

It is to the point where one could DIY cobble together a mighty fine Planar with all the parts existing out there.  Would need to build the frames and design the x/o, but still! 

Jim

[rollo]

No question about it. Many wonderful parts out there.


charles

[satie]

   Sorry to respectfully disagree about the Maggies. I've owned maggies or years and heard every other Maggie to date. No way does any Maggie have the clarity, presence, dynamics and Gestalt of the B&G as demonstrated. The B&G bass panels go down below 20HZ. The Maggie sub does not. The Maggie ribbon tweeter IMO does not come close to the BG in specs or performance. Actually bright and lean in comparison.
    Not here to debate or argue just my listening experience. BTW the speaker and subs came in at 18K, I believe. I'm liking the LS 500 at this time, we shall see.


charles
   

I don't doubt for a second that 4 sub drivers will outdo a big maggie in the low bass.

Since I Triamp as well with passive components at line level for the mid and tweeter I do know what the raw drivers can do (my midrange is a BG Neo8. I cross at about 7khz), And I very much agree about the maggie tweeter being "lean" - which is why I don't use it below 5khz. But above that it has sufficient power handling so as not to distort at high output. The Neo3 pdr, which is the tweeter in the LA800 is better than the maggie tweeter up to 5khz or so because it has an order of magnitude more power handling, especially with a line of them, beyond that, the maggie ribbon is faster and more detailed and can handle the power.

Besides the better top octave on the tweeter, The big maggie upper bass is what you would miss, it is dipole bass and will sound better than a sub covering that- I believe the line of Neo10 will do better than the big maggie bass  150-200 hz  and up. I use the Neo8 array above 250-300hz. The Tympani bass and MG20.1 bass is quite powerful once it is braced, and without the speaker level XO that robs it of its power, and with subs coming in at 40hz you should do better than with the dynamic woofers in the 40-200 hz range.

I am sure that the triamped setup for the LA800 would kick it up to where it would wipe the floor with a house priced speaker and may do as well as a big Wisdom audio speaker. What I think is that the older midranges on maggies were too slow and the crossover on the tweeter set too low, then the XO on the bass panels sucked out its ability to play dynamically. And the stock maggie needed bracing to keep the mids clearer and the bass tight.

[poseidonsvoice]

If you fellas are trying to DIY a setup using BG as a line source look here:

http://www.parts-express.com/brand/bohlender-graebener/275

In any case, line sources have their sound. Some like, some don't. I have heard several in my time, and I did like the BG RD75 way back in the 90's. The only problem I have found with them is that they do well with large orchestral pieces, symphonic works, etc...but everything sounds well...big. I didn't find contrasts as immediate in recordings as I do with speakers that have narrower but controlled directivity patterns. Not wrong or right, just a preference. Getting fantastic dynamics, deep tight bass, is easy. Directivity control is hard - regardless of what the audio pundits tell you!

Best,
Anand.

[rollo]

Satie what you have done sounds like a great mod. All I'm trying to convey that what I heard got my attention big time. If one has the chance to hear them do so. I believe they are something special so my obvious excitement.  Man over 40 years doing this and to thrilled like that again was precious.
 Heck if someone can build something like what I heard great If not a listen could never hurt.


charles

[studiotech]

Charles, I think there's some confusion with the system you heard. I am assuming that the ls800 were mated with the BG in wall subs. These were leaked up against the wall, right?

Greg

[studiotech]

2 Neo10 per side DID do 150Hz very nicely as long as the level was reasonable.  I'd think 4-6 could rock it all day.  Upright bass or plucked symphonic basses were fantastic through the Neo10.  But in the end, if I wanna jam some Maxwell with some booty, baby makin' music, they had to go back up to 250Hz to play it safe.

If you wanted to do a pretty exact copy of the LA800 arrays, you would come in WAY under the retail price.  Even if you went fully active, you could do a nice copy for about $4000 in BG drivers and 4 woofers.  Much less if you use the RD75 in place of the Neo3.  I think the Exodus Anarchy 6.5" woofer would be nice in place of the 8" of the LA800.  Then throw in a pair of 15" Rythmik per side and you'd be in heaven.

I too had Maggies before the big DIY rig.  They were great at some things, but the BG planars are another step up from any of the affordable Maggies.  And the big ones really dominate a space too much for my taste.

Greg

[Rocket_Ronny]

The B&G bass panels go down below 20HZ

Really? You must be talking about bass woofers, no?

Were these made into dipoles?

Rocket_Ronny

[rollo]

Charles, I think there's some confusion with the system you heard. I am assuming that the ls800 were mated with the BG in wall subs. These were leaked up against the wall, right?

Greg

   Yes talking about the subs.  The subs were just leaning against the wall that night.  The main speakers I believe go down to 50HZ. The tweeters were crossed over at either 2000HZ or 2500HZ just do not recall exactly.



charles
charles

[rollo]

Really? You must be talking about bass woofers, no?

Were these made into dipoles?

Rocket_Ronny

 Yes sir. Dipoles. The mid bass drivers top and bottom were enclosed. All passive crossover parts were removed and a Pass active crossover was used instead.


charles

[rollo]

2 Neo10 per side DID do 150Hz very nicely as long as the level was reasonable.  I'd think 4-6 could rock it all day.  Upright bass or plucked symphonic basses were fantastic through the Neo10.  But in the end, if I wanna jam some Maxwell with some booty, baby makin' music, they had to go back up to 250Hz to play it safe.

If you wanted to do a pretty exact copy of the LA800 arrays, you would come in WAY under the retail price.  Even if you went fully active, you could do a nice copy for about $4000 in BG drivers and 4 woofers.  Much less if you use the RD75 in place of the Neo3.  I think the Exodus Anarchy 6.5" woofer would be nice in place of the 8" of the LA800.  Then throw in a pair of 15" Rythmik per side and you'd be in heaven.

I too had Maggies before the big DIY rig.  They were great at some things, but the BG planars are another step up from any of the affordable Maggies.  And the big ones really dominate a space too much for my taste.

Greg

   Could not agree more. Good call however the NEO3 are the cats meow.  I also like the FS 420 system. About $7000 retail.


charles