[jeffreybehr]

I'm now using SC SCC300 woofers in my OB dipole speakers.  (WOW is that sucker HEAVY!)





Previously I had used 4 of the 6-1/2" drivers in the separately filtered and powered bass system.  This new system, with the Dahlquist DQLP-1's 3rd-order lowpass filterpoints at 80- and 70Hz, sounds significantly better than any I've heard in my room.  I love and have been using for about 30 years an EMI recording of Holst's 'The Planets' by Adrian Boult and the LPO (CDs CDM 7 64748 2 and 7243 5 67749 2 6; LP ASD-3649).  The 6th movement, 'Uranus', contains, among lots of other music highly useful to audiofools, a big bassdrum stroke about 2 minutes in.  This bassdrum isn't one of those that American orchestras use--this'n's tuned to about 30 Hertz, and it's loud at that point.  Any decent bass system can reproduce the fundamental of the drum; good systems will reproduce a little texture to the sound of the bass in the hall--the big Abbey Road studio.  A very good system will reproduce the 1st echo of the drum; it's down in level significantly, maybe 20dB.  This new dipole system also reproduces the 2nd echo, even further down in level.  This track also contains many low-level bassdrum stokes after the 1st big strike, and this Sonic Craft driver, in dipole, with NO special equalization, etc., reproduces the VERY-low-level 1st echos of these soft stokes.  I've NEVER heard either these 1st echos--or the 2nd echo of the 1st big strike--before.  I'm thrilled.

Another manufacturer here bragged about this driver during SC's recent Halloween-season sale.  He's right--it's very special.   aa

[AJinFLA]

Open Baffle? Those look more like two overpass supports in your living room. You're not married are you
I'm thinking more cardioid radiation than dipole until wavelengths get really long.
Love the 2x4's BTW. I haven't used 2x4's in speaker construction since my dorm days. There was this 8 ft^3 subwoofer I made....

I noticed Madisound no longer carries Sonicraft (couple left on sale). Are they direct from manufacturer only now?

cheers,

AJ

[Rick Craig]

Open Baffle? Those look more like two overpass supports in your living room. You're not married are you
I'm thinking more cardioid radiation than dipole until wavelengths get really long.
Love the 2x4's BTW. I haven't used 2x4's in speaker construction since my dorm days. There was this 8 ft^3 subwoofer I made....

I noticed Madisound no longer carries Sonicraft (couple left on sale). Are they direct from manufacturer only now?

cheers,

AJ

Not the same company. Sonic Craft (Arkansas) sells the SCC300. Sonicraft is Madisound's private label brand.

[jeffreybehr]

"Open Baffle? Those look more like two overpass supports in your living room. You're not married are you?"  Actually I am, and happily.  This is my musicroom, and unless the room starts looking REALLY, REALLY messy, Katherine lets me do what I want.  She's a VERY special person.

'Cardioid' probably is relatively accurate, but that's the definition of dipole.  'Dipole' does not mean 'omnipole' or 'omnidirectional'.

2X4s?  Actually they're 2X3s and 1X3s, and I'll be adding more soon.

EIGHT cubic feet?  That was BIG.  How'd it sound?  Or was it just big?

[AJinFLA]

'Cardioid' probably is relatively accurate, but that's the definition of dipole.  'Dipole' does not mean 'omnipole' or 'omnidirectional'.

Actually, quasi-cardioid would have been more accurate for me to say, although that is what I implied by dipolar at long wavelengths. I would not define a true cardioid as the definition of dipole. A true cardioid will share some of the characteristics of a velocity source (dipole) and a pressure source (monopole). But I digress....

EIGHT cubic feet?  That was BIG.  How'd it sound?  Or was it just big?

It sounded loud. It was the dorms, remember
Radio Shacks finest drivers, back when they used to sell drivers LOL. (think 20+ yrs)

I'll have to look up Sonic Crafts website. I mistakenly thought it was the same brand until RC just pointed it out.

cheers,

AJ

[Davey]

http://www.soniccraft.com/Drivers/scc300.htm#

Regarding the speakers.....those look more like infinite baffles to me. 
Except over the top the front/back distances are considerable and typical EQ requirements and polar response issues are not applicable.  I'm not quite sure I see the point......but that's been said about me before. 

Cheers,

Davey.

[JohninCR]

Jeffrey,

It reminds me a lot of my start in OB arrays.  I think you'll have a fight with resonance on your
hands.  You proved the mids weren't going to make enough bass regardless of the baffle size.
Now you've got the bass covered as a point source, which you just need to balance with the
line.  That issue is separate for the most part from the overall baffle.  With those sized wings,
the bracing will, of course, reduce panel vibrations, but with panels that large the panel
resonances are going to be below the operating frequency of the mids.  What this means is
that the route to better sound probably lies in drastically reducing the size of those wings,
along with altering their shape.  Even covering the entire side panels with 2x3's will have little
effect on what you're hearing. 

I've built a several very similar arrays, all of which I sold to bars along with projectors as video and
audio solutions to meet their needs, when I was in the projector business and dabbled in arrays
early in this hobby.  I've just been waiting to get my hands on a bunch of the right drivers, to build
an audiophile version for myself.  PM me if you're interested in much smaller shapes and dimensions
that I found to eliminate resonance and retain the open and natural OB sound that I believe your
giant OB's may be suppressing.