[mcgsxr]

I am sure I made many mistakes with my OB speakers.

I am also certain that they delivered 7+ years of tremendous musical enjoyment!

I'd say that early experimentation with affordable parts is critical if you're not going to just pony up and buy a kit (which is a great idea for the record).

As Dmason said all those years ago - grab a car audio 6x9, cut a hole in a 2x4 foot baffle and give it a listen.  You might like enough of what you hear to invest more time and $ to get a really good version of OB after all.

Though I no longer use OB speakers, I absolutely love what they do well.

[steve f]

I have found open baffle easier to live with than box speakers, generally speaking. I not so secretly want to build a pair of corner horns, but just have one "good" corner. The whole game is finding a benign way to load a room without messing up. Open baffles are very room forgiving. I just wish I could figure out a way to have them work well close to a wall.
Box speakers have pretty much been developed as far as they can go. Yeah you can Wilson or Von Schweikert refine them, but we don't seem to be getting more bang for the buck.
ESL to date lacks the dynamics of live music. I think they tend to sound clear, and detailed, but somehow wrong.
So that leaves us with OB. Unless somebody developes a new process. You guys can be ground breakers.

[doorman]

For those of us without a dedicated listening room, OB's present real problems in terms of real estate.

[FredT300B]

My favorite so far is the Towers of Awesomeness in their latest dipole configuration. They started life as bass reflex box speakers, but I've found they sound much better as dipoles. Eventually I'll get around to adding a side panel on the woofer side of each speaker, but for now they are still the best sounding speakers I've had in my listening room.

[ebag4]

The GR Research LGK Wedgie.  This is a special speaker, I am really enjoying mine.  The music becomes part of the space, best I have heard.

I am running mine with the V1's servo subs, no issues with integrating them separately mounted.  I am working on some stands but no time to do much for the foreseeable future, the current stands make it difficult to work on room placement    .

Sorry for the horrible ipad pic.

Best,
Ed

[ttan98]

My favorite so far is the Towers of Awesomeness in their latest dipole configuration. They started life as bass reflex box speakers, but I've found they sound much better as dipoles. Eventually I'll get around to adding a side panel on the woofer side of each speaker, but for now they are still the best sounding speakers I've had in my listening room.

Fred,

Looks awesome as well. A few questions please:

1. Are the backs of the ribbons opened or closed?
2. Any  freq. response curve for this speakers?
3. Are the drivers equalised if so what do you use, active or passive?

[Bemopti123]

Has anyone heard the new Clayton Shaw OBs....the Spatial M1 or M2s?  It seems as if it is well priced and uses regular crossovers instead of all the DSP that he did previously in the Emerald Physics.  Now, if I can hear from someone who actually has heard them.  Moreover, although there is a 3 minute clip of their playing in the RMAF this past Spring...  being that the music selection is some minimalist acoustic jazz recording, I am looking for someone having experienced something less sedated with these speakers. 

[glynnw]

I heard the M1 at RMAF and loved it.  Huge sense of depth and surprisingly good, articulate bass.  But they are a 4 ohm load - my amp is happiest into 16.  Along with the M1, one of the Emerald Physics models impressed me as well.  Guess I like that type of sound.  Visually, I think the Spatial trounces the Emerald Physics.

[Tyson]

Has anyone heard the new Clayton Shaw OBs....the Spatial M1 or M2s?  It seems as if it is well priced and uses regular crossovers instead of all the DSP that he did previously in the Emerald Physics.  Now, if I can hear from someone who actually has heard them.  Moreover, although there is a 3 minute clip of their playing in the RMAF this past Spring...  being that the music selection is some minimalist acoustic jazz recording, I am looking for someone having experienced something less sedated with these speakers. 

Heard the M1 and the Emerald Physics this past year at RMAF.  I'd say the EP's had done a lot to refine their treble versus previous years, and sounded very very good.  The M1's were right there with them in overall quality, but I felt the highs were still a little too forward for my tastes.

[FredT300B]

A few questions please:

1. Are the backs of the ribbons opened or closed?
2. Any  freq. response curve for this speakers?
3. Are the drivers equalised if so what do you use, active or passive?

The backs are open. I did measure them, and the averaged response is reasonably flat above 100 hz, but it varies considerably depending on mic placement. There is little output below 100hz, and a subwoofer is required. The drivers are not equalized, except the woofer array is more sensitive than the tweeter array and a resistive L-pad is needed, and there's also a notch filter centered at 13khz to take out the peak that occurs at that frequency with the BG tweeters.

[mick wolfe]

Has anyone heard the new Clayton Shaw OBs....the Spatial M1 or M2s?  It seems as if it is well priced and uses regular crossovers instead of all the DSP that he did previously in the Emerald Physics.  Now, if I can hear from someone who actually has heard them.  Moreover, although there is a 3 minute clip of their playing in the RMAF this past Spring...  being that the music selection is some minimalist acoustic jazz recording, I am looking for someone having experienced something less sedated with these speakers.

I currently have the M2 Turbo in my listening room.(yes, I heard the M1's at RMAF as well) Only have 20-25 hours on them, so they are still a bit brash and unrefined at this point. Nonetheless, the potential is there. Bass was tight and dynamic from the get go. It's the mids and highs that definitely need a bit more time.  This was clearly predicted by Clayton who said they'd need at least 100 hours. Overall I'd say they are quite a breath of fresh air for me as I picked up 9 db in efficiency over my previous speakers. This translates into increased dynamics and more importantly, a greater sense of ease. So far.... easily a keeper. They currently reside in a small ( 10.5 x 11.5 ) listening room and are driven by a Line Magnetic 218IA. ( 22 watt 845 based SET ) They work surprisingly well in this small room, but I'm sure they'd really sing with more breathing room. I also must mention that the M2's, despite being only 7' from my listening position, disappear quite nicely and image much higher than their 30" height.

[ttan98]

Hi,

Interesting they still audiophiles buying OB speakers from one of the originator of OB speakers, Clayton Shaw. His original speakers inspired me into building my own and found them to be very seductive hence  built a few different models thereafter. The original Eminence Physics OB was selling 3-4 years for about $2,000 compared to those now  from EP or Spatial which cost much more.

I must say C. Shaw is one of the pioneers in OB speakers. I met him once at RMAF Hi-FI show and get a chat with him...

[Tyson]

Hi,

Interesting they still audiophiles buying OB speakers from one of the originator of OB speakers, Clayton Shaw. His original speakers inspired me into building my own and found them to be very seductive hence  built a few different models thereafter. The original Eminence Physics OB was selling 3-4 years for about $2,000 compared to those now  from EP or Spatial which cost much more.

I must say C. Shaw is one of the pioneers in OB speakers. I met him once at RMAF Hi-FI show and get a chat with him...

Prices have gone up, but so has sound quality.  And just as importantly fit and finish have improved immensely.  Those old designs looked like one step above DIY.  The new designs look like art (in person).

[Bemopti123]

I currently have the M2 Turbo in my listening room.(yes, I heard the M1's at RMAF as well) Only have 20-25 hours on them, so they are still a bit brash and unrefined at this point. Nonetheless, the potential is there. Bass was tight and dynamic from the get go. It's the mids and highs that definitely need a bit more time.  This was clearly predicted by Clayton who said they'd need at least 100 hours. Overall I'd say they are quite a breath of fresh air for me as I picked up 9 db in efficiency over my previous speakers. This translates into increased dynamics and more importantly, a greater sense of ease. So far.... easily a keeper. They currently reside in a small ( 10.5 x 11.5 ) listening room and are driven by a Line Magnetic 218IA. ( 22 watt 845 based SET ) They work surprisingly well in this small room, but I'm sure they'd really sing with more breathing room. I also must mention that the M2's, despite being only 7' from my listening position, disappear quite nicely and image much higher than their 30" height.

What I was wondering about these OB is the minimum distance to make them work.  What is the minimum space that they need from the back wall?  What other sort of amplification do you need to make them sing?  I have a lot of SETs...300B and also a Class A 15 watt amp SET but from what I am reading, perhaps they are not the best match.  I also wonder why the efficiency has gone down almost 5 db between MKI and MKII.  Now, with the Red Dragon Digital amp pairing, it makes me wonder whether it is a high efficiency design in name only but that they actually need massive loads of watts. 

[mick wolfe]

I would say 30" from the front wall is a rough minimum. I'm sure more space here would open up the sound even further. They ( M2's) are definitely efficient ( 95 db)and I'm sure in my small room I could get by with a 300B based SET. However, this is where the size of your room and the SPL's you want to achieve come into play.  I'm fairly confident my LM 218IA  (22 watts) could play fairly loud with zero strain in a much larger room. I believe Clayton has (at least once) demoed the M2's with 300B amps.