[BigRick]

I have been reading through this and other forums a lot lately about open baffle speakers.  I have a few questions and from what I see a lot of people will probably have a lot of answers:
Is an open baffle speaker difficult to place, ie more difficult than a rear ported speaker?
With an open baffle speaker, is sound quality as dependent on room treatment as in driver selection?
What is a good mainstream open baffle loudspeaker I could go listen to as an example of the tech?  Where should I go listen?
How is the bass extension in a 2.0 listening environment?
Is there an issue with separation between the sound of the open baffle portion of the speaker and the sealed sub beneath often seen in this type of speaker, alla electrostats?

[TerryO]

How is the bass extension in a 2.0 listening environment?

Rick,

What exactly is a 2.0 listening environment? I have to plead ignorance, is this a pro audio term?

Best Regards,
TerryO

[opnly bafld]

2.0 is Dolby Digital speak for 5.1 less 3.1 
Stereo with no separately recorded L.ow F.requency E.ffects channel.
Plain stereo to us simple folks. 

Lin

[Scott F.]

What is a good mainstream open baffle loudspeaker I could go listen to as an example of the tech?  Where should I go listen?

Hiya Rick,

Tell you what, I don't have the "normal" OB arrangement like most around these parts but if you want to experience one that is a bit different, plan a trip out to my house. I live on the other side of Six Flags. Drop me a PM and we can schedule something.

[Occam]

Scott - How do you get those Lowthers to levitate?

[satfrat]

How is the bass extension in a 2.0 listening environment?

Rick,

What exactly is a 2.0 listening environment? I have to plead ignorance, is this a pro audio term?

Best Regards,
TerryO

It's stereo speakers w/o a subwoofer, which I personally don't like.

Cheers,
Robin

[Scott F.]

Scott - How do you get those Lowthers to levitate?

It's the magic of 3/4" acrylic 

[markC]

Some fancy ass stuff you've got goin' on there, Scott. I'd like to check it out, but a little too far away.

[opnly bafld]

How is the bass extension in a 2.0 listening environment?

Rick,

What exactly is a 2.0 listening environment? I have to plead ignorance, is this a pro audio term?

Best Regards,
TerryO

It's stereo speakers w/o a subwoofer, which I personally don't like.

Cheers,
Robin

Technically in DD terms it means stereo with no LFE track, subwoofers (or "helper woofers" with open baffles) can still be used.

Lin

[satfrat]

How is the bass extension in a 2.0 listening environment?

Rick,

What exactly is a 2.0 listening environment? I have to plead ignorance, is this a pro audio term?

Best Regards,
TerryO

It's stereo speakers w/o a subwoofer, which I personally don't like.

Cheers,
Robin

Technically in DD terms it means stereo with no LFE track, subwoofers (or "helper woofers" with open baffles) can still be used.

Lin

Yea I know but I thought I'd simplify things incase the guy doesn't know what LFE stands for.

Cheers,
Robin

[opnly bafld]

Back on topic (I took the liberty of editing 2.0 to 2 channel).

I have been reading through this and other forums a lot lately about open baffle speakers.  I have a few questions and from what I see a lot of people will probably have a lot of answers:
Is an open baffle speaker difficult to place, ie more difficult than a rear ported speaker?
With an open baffle speaker, is sound quality as dependent on room treatment as in driver selection?
What is a good mainstream open baffle loudspeaker I could go listen to as an example of the tech?  Where should I go listen?
How is the bass extension in a 2 channel listening environment?
Is there an issue with separation between the sound of the open baffle portion of the speaker and the sealed sub beneath often seen in this type of speaker, alla electrostats?

[BigRick]

Other than Scott offering a pretty sweet looking and hopefully sounding demo, no one has answered any of my questions and yes 2.0 means strictly stereo listening which I prefer for its smoothness of high freq. and low freq. blending on music.  I was just saying that to avoid people saying to just add a sub and you have no problem with OB.  I'm not a big fan of electrostats because, it might just be me, but the sub and the mid/hi have a totally different sound character.  

I'm looking for a set of semi full range speakers and then only using a sub for movies, SACD, DVDA where there is a mixed LFE track.  Just seeing if OB is something I should give a listen, cause they seem awesome from what I have read.  But I have a weird room, my speaks have to go in basically a corner, I have been looking at front ported towers.

Thanks for clearing the confusion on 2.0 I guess I should choose my terms wisely.

[Brad]

Rick,

I'll try to answer a few of your questions.
I have found OB speakers to take the room out of the equation to some extent.

You need space behind them - and space behind the listening seat.
They also need to be out from the sidewalls a couple of feet.
Beyond that, they are not too picky about placement.

I love the open, spacious sound of OB.
I am using the Hawthorne Audio Silver Iris.  The 15" coaxes can go down to 50hz or so on their own and they have a nice midbass punch.  I am using the Hawthorne bass augmenters, also in OB, to push down to 30hz or so.  They blend VERY well.

I think the OB woofer on the same plane as the main driver has a much better chance to integrate smoothly.
I could live without the Augies, but I like the extra extension.

My room is somewhat problematic for setup as well - I think I have found a good setup compromise, at least partially due to having OB speakers.

The bass extension is going to depend greatly on the driver.  A lot of people use the Visaton B200 in OB.  It only went down to 80hz or so for me.

If you are anywhere near Houston, you are welcome to come listen to my setup.
OB has not made it overly mainstream.


Cheers - hope this helps.

[opnly bafld]

BigRick,
If your speakers will be in corners and not moved out when using them I would say OB is probably not your best option.
OBs don't need to be way out in the room (like some think) to sound good, but they do need to be a few feet from the wall behind them to sound good.
I agree with those that feel the mid to lower frequencies are the important area for OB sound, so IMO your thoughts of OB/dipole bass for music and maybe adding a sub for movies is spot on.

FWIW, IMO, etc,
Lin

[BigRick]

Thanks guys for the great input, I'm heading to a HAlloween party but I'll check back later for answers.

[skite30]

I have a question about room placement also. By 2 feet from sidewall and 3 feet from rear wall is that measured to the center of the cone,  the edge of the baffle or the edge of the speaker cone?

[Brad]

Speaking for myself - edge of the baffle.

[ttan98]

Scott - How do you get those Lowthers to levitate?

It's the magic of 3/4" acrylic 
[/quote

What did you use to cut acrylic?]

[-Richard-]

Hi Scott ~

Your OB's are quite beautifully designed... works of art!!!

A nicely thought out solution that must give you a great deal of aesthetic... as well as musical pleasure.

Hi BigRick ~

Admittedly I am not certain what kind of feedback you can get by asking your thoughtful questions that would be qualitatively different from the incredibly rich sources of information that are easily accessible in these OB threads.

OB's lend themselves to a DIY approach... assuming that someone is curious enough to "find out" for themselves what is possible to "achieve" in audio for only a few bucks... compared with the hyped commercial offerings that fill the pages of slick audio magazines. So although your questions seem reasonable and thoughtful... may I suggest you shift from merely asking questions to actually experimenting with OB's yourself. You will learn more from doing that than you could possibly learn from purchasing 50 different pairs of currently available speaker designs... why? because in experimenting with OB's you will learn how to listen in an entirely different way... in the way speaker designers themselves learn how to listen... compared to a "consumer" for example... and you will come to hear what all OB enthusiasts have come to understand... that all box speakers sound the same... no matter what the hype... no matter what the cost... no matter what the pedigree... they all sound like "boxes"... and OB's do not sound like boxes... they sound like live music.

So I would ask your questions a bit differently... I would ask... what is preventing me from jumping in and building my own OB's?

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

[satfrat]

Hi Robin ~

It is not quite so easy to look at an image of someones OB's and just say "I don't like that because..." Of course you are entitled to your opinions... no one can fault anyone for having opinions... but in the world of OB's there are solutions to design problems that may not be immediately obvious by just looking at someones design... for example... I use amplifiers that can easily bring a single OB driver to the low 40 Hz region by using simple tone control EQ adjustments... some of our OB friends use all sorts of solutions... like digital EQ devices. I used a single OB driver for the first 2 years of my OB experimentation and loved every minute of it. Also what music a person listens to is a factor worth considering. Deborah and I listen to a great deal of small ensemble classical music, for example, that does not require "deep" bass to enjoy it.

Warmest Regards ~ Richard

Removed as a matter of courtesy.



Cheers,
Robin