I'll make this the last counterpoint I'll make in this thread, although I may
remain active to introduce new findings and/or discuss new ideas with
willing participants. Note that the only reason I do so now is for the silent
majority, as this thread has become a reference of sorts for OB's using full
or wide range drivers.
Ronny, I'm green with envy at your current room. If I could build OB's for
it, the rest of my family would be confined to the "little room" if they didn't
like what I'm listening to at the time. Please keep in mind that, to me, the
thing that separates OB's using dynamic drivers vs ESL's and planar speakers
is the word dynamic itself. Sounding open is one thing, but open, dynamic,
and natural is a very different animal. Imagine the imaging, resolution and
dynamics of your little horns combined with the big open sound you've had
before.
You lost me with the "baffle bounce" concept. If it's the result of reflections
of sound off of the front of speakers with large front baffles, then I concur.
Your description of forward sounding instruments left me with a question mark,
because I think the recording should dictate the orientation of the musicians
and instruments. ie When the vocalist is out front, I want to hear it, and when
the lead guitar goes into his solo, I want to hear him out front.
Let's settle this B200 response thing once and for all. Of course Visaton doesn't
measure their drivers in free space. Any manufacturer would be insane to do so.
The generally accepted method is anechoic using an infinite baffle, although
those less scrupulous may incorporate a box behind the baffle to inflate the bass
response. Minor differences between reputable manufacturers can result from
some measuring their 1m distance from the cone vs from the baffle. What this
means to OBers is that we can look at the response graphs provided by their
makers and know what to expect from a driver on OB before the effects of the
rear wave and room. Here's what Visaton says the B200 will do, and it's obviously
not in their best interest to understate bass response:
A reasonable person, who's done any research regarding OB's, knows that OB's
have the rear wave in play which cancels bass, not re-enforces it, however, I'll
admit that baffle dimensions, floor gain, and placement can potentially result in a
very slight improvement in bass response over infinite baffle anechoic response,
but it's not easy and requires significant planning. Because a driver has decreased
HF output from the rear, an OB alignment can result in an increase in the midrange
and upper bass response compared to IB. Again this is dependent upon baffle
dimensions, placement, and HF attenuation from the rear wave. The bottom line
is, however, the graph above is pretty much what to expect from a B200 on OB.
The reasons that the information above doesn't contradict the seemingly outlandish
claims made by some regarding the B200 are: 1. As reflected in Visaton's graph,
the bass response rolloff is very gradual and quite extended. 2. The requirement
of bass extension is very dependent upon musical taste. 3. #2 above makes a
great many speakers quite acceptable and popular despite bass that rolls off
steeply below 50 or 60hz, or even in some cases 80-90hz. 4. Last but not least,
our ear/brain combo quickly adjusts help fill in the bass region, and there are even
software solutions that exploit this phenomenon such as MaxxBass. They amplify
the higher harmonics of fundamental bass notes, resulting in the perception of the
actual bass notes being produced even though they aren't.
Let's take Ronny as a perfect example of #3, and for example's sake we'll make the
optimistic assumption that John's baffle and placement resulted in bass equal to
Visaton's IB response. Now we have Ronny with a 50hz corner horn that is well out
into the room, so without a corner or even wall support, it would be generous to
say that he's getting a steep roll-off below 70hz from his horns. That's why he
likes to EQ in a little more bass, despite the fact that his music is probably light on
deep bass content. What do you think will be the result of a comparison of his
horns (without EQ) to the OB B200, which has gradual rolloff down well below 50hz
which Visaton's graph shows? Of course the OB will sound like it has more bass,
because it does.
What does this mean? For those who prefer music without a lot of bottom end content,
at least at first, they can be quite content with the midrange seduction of just a B200
on a simple baffle. As the evolution of this thread bears out, they will eventually start
to look for bass augmentation solutions. Even those of us with wide ranging musical
tastes can easily fall under the spell of these sirens, with the result being that we quickly
focus our listening time to musical selections that sound outstanding in this setup, and
ignore the majority of our collection.
I don't bring these things up to slam the B200, or any OB's exhibiting a similar response. I
bring them up because the claims made by Wind Chaser and others can be very misleading
to those new to the game. The higher the expectations, the more likely a noob will not be
happy with early results, and just write off OB's as a bad idea. In reality I'm not the B200
infidel, but actually the outspoken but moderate Ayatollah OB trying to help OB's take over
audio. Give people reasonable expectations, and deliver them fully. Then eveyone's happier.
