[gprro]

I was reading on Madisound that you were working with the M130's open backed for mids, and closed woffers in the same configuration as the RA8's. Is this for another design, or option? Sounds real interesting.

[carlos spud]

it will be paired with the neo 3 in an open baffle crossed to the m130' vented and those will be crossed to.....oh my i have said too much already...yes i hear the footsteps now they are coming for me!!! hopefully Danny will chime in i dont want to let the cat out of the bag
Cheers, Carlos

[gprro]

" m130' vented and those will be crossed to.....oh my" Quote



"will be crossed to.....oh my".  What! "Oh my" is right. A couple of gr 12's in a ported box? Wow. One more thing to think about. Can't wait as usual.

Danny: The diabolical genius who contaminates my mind with yet another design to take precious mental capacity away from my day to day opperations. Stop making speakers.  

No. No don't. I really didn't mean that. Sorry

[Danny Richie]

The real trick for me is not the design itself but getting them veneered in time for the show. Looks like it is going to make it. I finished veneering one of them yesterday and have the other one about half way completed.

Yes the two center M-130/16's are in an open baffle. Above are two M-130's in a ported enclosure and below are two M-130's in a ported enclosure. The open baffle woofers cross to the ported woofers at 200Hz.

In the top end they cross at 1,800Hz to a Neo PDR.

In the bottom of the box is a single side loaded SW-12A driven by a small plate amp in the rear and covering from 40Hz and down. It is in a sealed box.

The open boxless sound and lush vocal ranges are really good (really, really good!!!). I just can't believe how clean the vocals range is. In a side by side comparison to my Epiphany 20/21's the vocals in the new open backed design was so clean and open that it made the 21/21's seam boxed in and cluttered. And the speed, detail and resolution of the 21/21's with their twenty 4" woofers per side actually has really good vocal range sound.

The detail level that the Neo 3 PDR brings to the package is really good as well. I really like the capability of this driver to play low. Comparing to similar speakers just isn't fair as typically the woofer must cover a range up to 2.5kH or even 3kHz.

I'll try to have picks up sometime next week.

This may spawn a new line of open backed kits.  

Now I'll have to think of a new name for these things or this line.  

[trekker]

Danny,

You're making it too hard for me to decide what my next speaker upgrade will be!   First I was pretty sure about the upgrading to the upcoming line source.  Then came the line array.  Now there's the open back line array.  Decisions, decisions ..  

I guess we as customers are the real winners as we have the choice of several excellent designs, at affordable prices.  

Arnold

[klh]

Danny - I would imagine one could get this kit sans subwoofer and plate amp at an appropriately reduced price... right? Also, If one laid it horizontal and rotated the PDR, would it work well as a center channel?

[ekovalsky]

Open back is good  

Any pictures of these yet, are do we have to wait to see the RMAF reports ?

[Danny Richie]

You're making it too hard for me to decide what my next speaker upgrade will be!

Well you know, there is no one speaker that is perfect for every application, but maybe I'll have a speaker design that will be ideal for most of them.

Danny - I would imagine one could get this kit sans subwoofer and plate amp at an appropriately reduced price... right?

Sure. I rough total of the parts involved and all the drivers, including the pair of SW-12A woofers comes to about $1,000. for a pair of kits. This doesn't include the plate amps to drive the woofers, but I am looking into that.

Also, If one laid it horizontal and rotated the PDR, would it work well as a center channel?

I am thinking that as well. I might even do a version with just a pair of M-130/16's covering the range from the open backed drivers on down. This would be what looks like a four woofer group plus a tweeter.

Any pictures of these yet, are do we have to wait to see the RMAF reports ?

I'll try to get some pics up on Monday of whatever condition it is in. Right now I just finished veneering them and now I am doing some light sanding.

[sica]

I am curious, would the new XBL^ woofers being developed for the LS9 and LS6 be suitable for an array like the RA8?    Would it then eliminate the need of subwoofers?
 
(If so, it would be the same number of woofers per side as the LS6, perhaps not very cost effective?)

[Danny Richie]

I am curious, would the new XBL^ woofers being developed for the LS9 and LS6 be suitable for an array like the RA8?

Not in the RA8 but in something similar. To get that low end extension we had to give up some sensitivity. We then get back the sensitivity by using a lot of drivers.

6 of them would not be able to equal the 95db sensitivity of the rest of the RA8. It would have to be a lower sensitivity array.

Hitting -3db down points in the mid 20's is low enough for many to not need a sub. For some, a sub may still be desired.

[sica]

6 of them would not be able to equal the 95db sensitivity of the rest of the RA8. It would have to be a lower sensitivity array.

How about 8 of them like the RA8 and the LS6?  

[Danny Richie]

How about 8 of them like the RA8 and the LS6?

8 of them will get you pretty close and back to 8 ohms. I don't think it would be a problem.