[Bill Baker]

Greetings everyone,

 After hearing so much about Danny's OB series speakers and people asking if I could build their crossovers for them, I have decided to bring them in to hear for myself as well as have available for audition starting with the OB-7.

The main reason for bringing these speakers in is to have an accurate reference to bring out the best from our Bella EXtreme 3205 and Bella 100 mono bloc amplifiers for customers that come in to audition them as well as a reference for new amplifier designs we are working on. I need an accurate, fast, detailed speaker and from what everyone tells me, the OB's are it.

 What we will be doing is building custom outboard crossover enclosures for these speakers when using the 130X series woofer option and incorporate a user switchable Bass Management system and 3 position tweeter level control.

 Crossover components will be the SoniCaps/Alpha Core/Mills as sent by Danny with further options becoming available a bit later for those who might want a bit of a different "flavor" at which time we will have a few different crossover options on hand and available to audition.

 The actual circuit design will not be changed.

 We will be using umbilical cords with Speak-On connectors to connect the crossover to the speaker cabinet.

 I will make these external crossovers available to current OB-7 owners as well as those who have purchased or contemplating picking a pair up.

 These speakers will also be available for audition to anyone that has been wanting to hear Danny's speakers in the Upstate NY area.

 For those interested in purchasing complete speakers, we are now authorized to custom build the OB series of speakers with cabinets built by Custom Concepts.

 Full Details and Pricing:
http://www.bellaextreme.com/gr%20research.htm

[pbrstreetgang]

Nice Bill! i am having Denny do custom finished cabinets and after going to Dannys to hear the OB7s I bought the kit on the spot with the upgraded woofers! They are superb speakers and I will be keeping an eye on your adjustable crossovers!! Also the voiced Bella amps.

[Bill Baker]

after going to Dannys to hear the OB7s I bought the kit on the spot with the upgraded woofers!

 I have no doubt. Everyone tells me they are evry accurate speakers and a helluva value. With their 91dB effeciency and easy load I figure the Bella 3205's will do just fine with 50/60 watts of tube power. The fisrt amps to get the honors will be my Bella 100's after I break them in for a hundred hours with a Jolida 100 watt hybrid. Afterwards, there will be 2 Bella 3205's driving them. (I have probably 6 of them on the floor in different variations).

[Wind Chaser]

Greetings everyone,

 After hearing so much about Danny's OB series speakers and people asking if I could build their crossovers for them, I have decided to bring them in to hear for myself as well as have available for audition starting with the OB-7.

The main reason for bringing these speakers in is to have an accurate reference to bring out the best from our Bella EXtreme 3205 and Bella 100 mono bloc amplifiers for customers that come in to audition them as well as a reference for new amplifier designs we are working on. I need an accurate, fast, detailed speaker and from what everyone tells me, the OB's are it.

This is quite interesting, especially since you are already a dealer for Emerald Physics and SP Technology.  Options equal choice...  If I am ever in your neighborhood, I'll be sure to drop by!

[Bill Baker]

This is quite interesting, especially since you are already a dealer for Emerald Physics and SP Technology.  Options equal choice...

 Hi Windchaser,
 There are a few new ventures forthcoming in 2008. We will be getting further involved in custom modification and assembly work. I want to do more custom crossover assembly this year and figure Danny's OB's would be a good oppurtunity not to mention it will allow me to demo my amps with a better selection of speakers.

 I am considering bringing in the OB-5 soon as well as Danny's new subwoofer when it becomes available to compliment the OB-7s.

 I will also have the Emerald Physics in to be better able to voice the amps to them and Audio Note Custom speakers to fill out the complete Audio Note Custom system. I will probably not have any SP Tech speakers in house but will remain a dealer for the line.

 Our main reference speaker will obviously be the Custom Line Source 9.

 Basically, if it's not something I can design, modify or customize, it will not be on the floor. I want to be more involved in crossovers this year. Response Audio started out in 1996 custom designing and building speakers and did quite well before getting involved in tube amp modification. I am still running a pair of my largest 3 way / 5 driver full range speakers in my home that were built in 1995. I would bet they have over 14,000 hours on them as they have been used a minimum of 5 hours a day-every day- over the past 12 years. (you can't watch TV in this house without the audio system on). I am now considering retiring these speakers and replacing them with a pair of OB-5's

[lonewolfny42]

Danny's OB-7's are very nice speakers Bill.... they should work very well with your Bella tube amps. I had the oppertunity to hear them at RMAF...they sounded good.

I have to try in the Spring to get up to your place to hear all the new systems that you will have on display....some fine "stuff". Good luck...

                                Chris

[2gumby2]

I'm seriously considering building the OB-7 kit this Spring and your external crossovers look interesting. Just have to sell my current speakers to make room.  Keep us posted.

[Bill Baker]

I have to try in the Spring to get up to your place to hear all the new systems that you will have on display....some fine "stuff". Good luck...

 Would love to have you come in Chris. As you know spring in NY is not till May . By then I should have a good selection for you to lean on and something to lean against.

I'm seriously considering building the OB-7 kit this Spring and your external crossovers look interesting. Just have to sell my current speakers to make room.  Keep us posted.

I will do that grumpy. As busy as I am right now, I will have to build these on 'my' time as customers get first priority but it won't be too long. I figure one weekend buried in the lower workshop at the store will do it.

 Now I only have to decide if I want to go the extra mile to do wood veneering or something a bit simpler such as a vinyl veneer so I can get them up and running quicker.

 I will put together a web page as well.

[Bill Baker]

I just checked at the shop and I do have some Cherry, Rosewood and Maple Veneer so I am thinking of going with Cherry on the baffle contrasted by Maple for the woofer enclosure. Finished in Tung Oil so the Cherry will naturally darken

[markC]

I would think that even if they sound great, your customers would not be impressed with vinyl veneer. I saw Denny's first pair of OB5's with what I remember to be just a  sprayed on black finish that looked quite nice.

[Bill Baker]

Sorry Mark,
 My previous post should have read "I just checked at the shop and I do have some Cherry, Rosewood and Maple Real Wood Veneer so I am thinking of going with Cherry on the baffle contrasted by Maple for the woofer enclosure. Finished in Tung Oil so the Cherry will naturally darken"

[markC]

Good stuff, Bill. A friend has some speaks with walnut baffles and maple enclosures with REAL WOOD VENEER  and they are very attractive.

[Bill Baker]

Hello folks,
 There are a few new things to mention. Not only will we be offering the external crossovers for the OB Series for those who want to DIY these speakers but now, in conjunction with Custom Concepts, we will be offering fully finished speakers as well for those not capable of or those who simply do want to mess with building speakers.

 Since this thread has started, I have had a few ask if we could build their speakers for them so they could simply hook them up and start enjoying the music. So, if you have lusted for one of Danny's OB series speakers in a complete package, here is your chance.


 Full details: http://www.bellaextreme.com/gr%20research.htm

[Bill Baker]

Hello everyone,
 I wanted to get this thread back on track to it's initial intentions, ie: custom outboard crossovers for those who already own or are planning on building the OB-7 with M130X woofer upgrade.

 For those who are getting ready to purchase an OB-7 kit and would like the custom outboard crossover with user adjustable Bass Management System and Tweeter Level Control, here are the details:

 What you will get:

* One pair of custom designed a built, by Custom Concepts, outboard crossover enclosures
* Three position Bass Management System. This is accomplished by a series of 3 switches per enclosure.
* Tweeter Level Control also accomplished by a switch 1 switc per enclosure.
* Quality speaker binding post set up for bi-wire/bi-amp capability
* Each enclosure will be equiped with 2 Speak-On connectors. One for the bass section, the other for the MTM section
* Four additional Speak-On connectors that you will mount to the back of your loudspeaker cabinets.
* Four 30" custom umbilical cords to connect the crossovers to the speakers.
* Umbilical cords will be constructed with DH Labs Silver Plated Copper wire.
* Full instructions
* Fully assembled and tested

 Introductory Audio Circle Member Price: $595 This price does not include the crossover components themselves. You will need to have the crossover components shipped direct to us when you order your kit from GR Research.

[Bill Baker]

I wanted to provide some answers to a few questions I have received. For those who may already own a pair of OB speakers and interested in the external crossovers, we can still accommodate you.

 There will be one change you will be responsible for on your end. You will have to remove the internal crossovers from your speakers and make sure you have 3 sets of binding post on the back of your cabinets. One for the bass, midrange and tweeter sections.

 On the back of our crossover enclosure, we can do one of two things; 1) We can install the Speak-On connectors as normal with umbilical cords that have banana plugs at the speaker end and labeled so you can connect to the proper binding post. 2) We can use all binding post on the crossover so you can simply use speaker wire of your choice to connect the speaker to the crossover. Everything would be labeled for proper identification.

[Bill Baker]

Just thought I would show you what the cords will look like that will be used to connect the outboard crossovers to the speaker cabinets on the OB Series speakers. There has been some question on how these will be arranged. I hope this clears things up a bit.

The "LOWER" cord is a 2-pole version and used strictly for the bass drivers while the "UPPER" cord utilizes a 4-pole connector and two separate runs of internal wiring and is set up to provide signal to both the midrange drivers and tweeter. Directional arrows are also found on each cord to provide a proper orientation of the cable.

[Bill Baker]

We are starting to get pushed pretty hard to get these up and running and of course, I want to get some of the outboard crossovers out there. Unfortunately I will not have time to do the real wood veneer on the bass cabinet iteself. I will still apply the Cherry real wood veneer on the baffle but the bass cabinet will be done in black ash vinyl veneer. I think it will still look sharp. They are to be used for tweaking afterall.

After looking over our cost to build these crossovers and umbilical cords, we have finalized the pricing.

Standard crossovers (no BMS or TLC) - $649 for OB-7 and OB-5
Deluxe crossover with BMS and TLC - $699 these are for the OB-7 with M130X woofer upgrade only.

As mentioned above, we will still honor the $595 pricing to AC members on all outboard crossover packages ordered prior to March 1st, 08.

[Bill Baker]

For those who have been following this thread and expressed interest in the custom outboard crossovers, I should be firing up my speakers next week.

The link below will take you to our thread on custom OB Series speakers where I recently posted some updates, with pictures, of how my speakers are coming along.

We are getting a lot of interest in both our outboard x-overs (for those building the kits) as well as our custom built finished product.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=49491.msg454854;topicseen#new

[Bill Baker]

For those who are building the speakers based on Danny's kit and Denny's flat pack, Denny has posted some assembly instructions on the DIY'er thread.

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=49128.msg455152;topicseen#new