With the line arrays in the works, will the smaller version of ur open baffle speakers come out anytime soon or will the line arrays take precedence?
The smaller open baffle model will be ready before the line source woofers can even arrive.
Please desribe the theoretical benefits and drawbacks of the ported WWMTMWW open baffle vs the ported LS9, and the ported MTMWW open baffle vs the ported LS6 (providing the W's on the open baffle speakers have XBL M-130s once available). Given that my room is 20' x 16' x 9', a 96" screen will be midroom on one of the long walls and a couch will be opposite the screen and 3' from the rear wall, what speakers would work best? I'll start with a 5.1 system and most likely end up 7.1. For the sake of simplicity, assume the only furniture in the room will be the couch, the screen, a wall mounted projector and an equipment rack flush with the wall. Please keep in mind room loading and the fact that the front of the L, C and R speakers will be about 30" from the front wall, the L and R speakers will be 9-10' apart (center to center), and a string between the center of the R and L speakers and the listening position will be about 11' long.
First off I will mention that the larger WWMTMWW with the side loaded powered sub has been changed slightly since the first model. The woofers (the upper and lower "WW") are no longer in a ported enclosure. They are now sealed.
There were two main factors that influenced this change. One, with the side loaded sub handling the bottom end, there was really no reason to require the woofers to play down so low. Secondly, in some smaller rooms, like the one used at the RMAF, the ported woofers loaded the room slightly. At the RMAF we got a better room response when we plugged the ports with foam. Plus, having sealed woofers allows for closer rear wall placement and less room gain.
The woofers in the open baffle design are our M-130's and they are 5.25" woofers. The woofers use in the new LS-6 and LS-9 are 6.5" woofers.
Distortion will be much lower with the line sources. High output levels can be hit with easy and power handling is very high. There is nothing like hearing the snap of a large bass drum through a speaker using a lot of small drivers. There is a quick snap of the drum with very little cone travel even at high SPL's. So it plays it and stops immediately. It is clean like you can't imagine, or maybe you can. It is like that of a real drum. The only decay is that of the real instrument and what was picked up by the mic. There is no added decay of the woofer used to recreate it.
Both the LS-6 and LS-9 should -3db in the mid 20's.
Your room may be wide but your listening area is small. 11' away is really a little close for LS-9's. LS-6's would be a better bet if you wanted to go line sources.
Not counting the added height of bases or floor spikes LS-6's are 5' 8" tall. The LS-9's are 6' and 8.875" tall. A layout of the front baffle (to scale) is here:
http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=21017The strength of the open baffle models is the midrange. The clean, open sound of vocals in these speakers is incredible. They are really good in all other areas too. These speakers are a joy to listen to for moderate listening levels. Aside from the line sources, these have been my favorite speakers of all that I have designed or worked on.
For your sized room (klh) they will be fine. There is even a WMTMW side laying, open baffle, matching center channel, wall mounted surrounds (like the A/V-1RS) and smaller versions like the A/V-1 too. You can't go wrong with them at all.
