[Early B.]

(Since GR Research is mainly a DIY company, I hope it's OK to post this here...)

OK guys -- if you could design a one-of-a-kind, cost-no-object speaker for yourself, what would it look like? What would it sound like? Would it be open baffle, sealed, ported, three-way, line array??? Please explain your rationale and thought process for your design. I'll start...

I'd design and build something akin to the Avantgarde Acoustic Duo speakers. I love those huge horns with super tweeters. High efficiency is required (upper 90's). The midrange would need to be 12" or 15" sealed mid-woofers for super impactful midbass. External passive crossovers. Of course, I'd keep my GR Research servo subs because I'm not aware of anything that sounds better. My rationale for this design is to create the ultimate speakers where dynamics are paramount.




       

[JLM]

First, it'd have to include the room, large, insulated, and based on the Greek Golden rectangle.

Second, it'd have to include giant concrete bass horns.

Third, it'd have to be an active design.

Fourth, it'd have to include a midrange dome driver and a ribbon tweeter.

[paolocaminiti]

It would look like the promised and hopefully in the workings all in one nx-ottica (but possibly it would allow for hitting 20hz at moderate volume, also it would have bass modules compatible with EU voltages).

[rollo]

  A full range 16HZ to 40KHZ measuring flat.

charles

[Tyson]

If I had the room I’d build the Line Force from GR Research.

[SoCalWJS]

If I had the room I’d build the Line Force from GR Research.

My thought as well - with Triples.

Still hope that they get the replacement Neo 10 working right to do this for those with the means to buy them.

[Danny Richie]

I have been very blessed to have been able to this for many years now.

There is always a new idea or concept to explore...

[jmimac351]

I want the speaker Danny has been wanting to build for that last 3+ years...

[T4Man]

Assuming the right room, I'd go with something like the Nola Baby Grand Reference Gold 3. Sounded pretty good at Pacific Audio Fest.

[mlundy57]

Assuming I had a large enough room, I'd have to go for the Line Force also with triple OB servo subs.

Reasoning: soundstage size, imaging, scale, clarity, impact, effortlessness, spaciousness, speed, dynamics, and a transcendent quality I haven't heard anywhere else. From a solo acoustic singer/songwriter to an intimate jazz trio to Wagner, the Line Force/Triple OB servo subs checks all my boxes.

[unfairlane]

  A full range 16HZ to 40KHZ measuring flat.

charles

   Yeah, isn`t that it?   But there is a lot more to sound reproduction than just meashuring flat. One important issue is resolution, including an uncolored & undistorted playback. But mybe the most important aspect is speed & dynamic headroom. Anyone who has ever experienced a drum-set in a smaller room
has got an idea of what`s needed. (me=ex-drummer)

   I built my ultimate speakersystem back in the 80-90`s*. Just out of rather ordinary dynamic drivers, a "simple" (yeah that`s a joke) 4-way put into an asymetric cabinet where I ended up eliminating all kinds of absorbers (ain`t building mufflers) and using the very best awayable components in a maximum simplistic 1st order filter. Huge solid-core wiring, guess none of you have any idea of what that does to a system.

  Rebuilt poweramp+ to match the wiring, (huge trafos++) making my own solid core powercables, found "by accident" how to make the perfect(!) interconnects and much more.

  Avantgarde-horns sounds like a joke in comparision. Mission complete.


 

[Early B.]

Assuming I had a large enough room, I'd have to go for the Line Force also with triple OB servo subs.

Reasoning: soundstage size, imaging, scale, clarity, impact, effortlessness, spaciousness, speed, dynamics, and a transcendent quality I haven't heard anywhere else. From a solo acoustic singer/songwriter to an intimate jazz trio to Wagner, the Line Force/Triple OB servo subs checks all my boxes.

Since you build speakers, I'd be interested in knowing what kind of cost-no-object speaker would you design for yourself for your room? If it's a line array, then what would be different about it from the Line Force? Would it have 8" midbass woofers on the bottom, would the cabinet be made of exotic wood, etc.? 

[Tyson]

I'd like to amend my answer.  For my main music system I'd build out the Line Force speakers as they basically re-defined what I thought was possible in a high end speaker, especially for music.  Similar to what Jaytor has now:



For my HT system I'd do something like the fully open baffle line arrays using large tweeters and close stacked midrange drivers, similar to what Danny designed for Mockingbird Audio a while back:



They are both line arrays but I find that planar mids are best with music and cone mids are best with HT. 

I just realized I actually have the 'smaller' versions of both of these already.  In my music system, I have the Super 7's with the planar mids but in an MMTMM mirrored array instead of a full line array. 

And I have the cone semi-array version of the Mockingbird in my HT, the NX-Otica.  That never occurred to me before.  Haha, that's pretty funny.

[KTS]

The NX Static would be awesome, maybe?

[Hobbsmeerkat]

The NX Static would be awesome, maybe?

That could swing one of a few ways... The old OB-7 or the X-Otica, or an X-Statik with the neo3 in a waveguide

[Tyson]

That could swing one of a few ways... The old OB-7 or the X-Otica, or an X-Statik with the neo3 in a waveguide

X-Static with the Neo3 in a waveguide and the NX series OB midrange driver, giving a full OB top end would be a very nice speaker.

[Hobbsmeerkat]

We get a lot of people asking for that exact kind of model tbh.

[mkrawcz]

I would build an OB planar line array with drivers that need minimal crossover parts. Oh wait Tyson beat me to it. 

[Hobbsmeerkat]

I would build an OB planar line array with drivers that need minimal crossover parts. Oh wait Tyson beat me to it. 

I believe HAL is going to be working on an OB line source using several Radian LM10s and will be paired with servo subs at ~180Hz.
The "mini" version he showed off at LSAF sounded fantastic.

[mlundy57]

Since you build speakers, I'd be interested in knowing what kind of cost-no-object speaker would you design for yourself for your room? If it's a line array, then what would be different about it from the Line Force? Would it have 8" midbass woofers on the bottom, would the cabinet be made of exotic wood, etc.?

Hey Early B,

I know my strengths and weaknesses. My strengths are building cabinets not designing speakers. I can provide feedback during a design process based on what I know about cabinet materials and on what I hear from prototypes but I have no idea what changes to make to a design to address issues I hear. I leave that to the engineers/designers that know what they are doing.

I wouldn't change the design of the Line Force. I would use an exotic hardwood for the wings. I would likely use Panzerholtz for the baffles which I would ebonize. I would build the crossovers externally with the best sounding parts I could get with optimal parts spacing.

As far as 8" midbass drivers, if I used them they would be in separate triple 8" servo H-Frame cabinets plus triple 12" servo H-Frames making a six tower system. However, I have no idea if the added complexity of having to blend the 8s with the Line Force then blend the 12s to the 8s would result in a performance improvement or not.