[TomS]

I wonder if a sealed sub in the corner for lowest response and OB subs spread elsewhere for best bass quality.

That's exactly what I have - 1 sealed, 2 dual OB's.

[poseidonsvoice]

That's exactly what I have - 1 sealed, 2 dual OB's.

And it's exactly what I will have as well - in a few weeks.

Anand.

[Wind Chaser]

That's exactly what I have - 1 sealed, 2 dual OB's.

Who makes your OB subs?

[cloudbaseracer]

Hi James, yes I use a 2496. I use it because I built my subs and the 3 I use with the Abbeys are all different and all passive so I need an amp and management system for them. I use an 18" Malstrom-X in a 7 cu/ft sealed enclosure and a 15" Dayton Titanic MK III in a 6.25 cu/ft sealed enclosure and finally a 12" peerless in a 3cu/ft ported enclosure. I use the dcx-2496 to set the crossover points, delay times, and phase setting for the 3 subs independently. I also have 2 15" Daytons in sono tubes with 18" passive radiators for LFE when listening to movies. All the subs are powered by 3 Behringer EP-4000 amps located in the room behind my system equipment.

Well that is a bummer that the DCX 2496 is required!  I would love to have a somewhat simpler system.  I realize that by it's very nature, the Abbey/Multi-Sub approach is more complex than others I would just like to be able to have fewer "boxes" to deal with.

[jtwrace]

Well that is a bummer that the DCX 2496 is required!  I would love to have a somewhat simpler system.  I realize that by it's very nature, the Abbey/Multi-Sub approach is more complex than others I would just like to be able to have fewer "boxes" to deal with.

You don't have to use an active crossover.  You can use subs that have a plate amp but you will not get the fine tuneability in the system.  That last little bit is what you're looking for.  With my current setup (not abbey) I still use an active for the tuning aspect.  It's really hard to beat a well setup active system.  Getting there takes time and a whole lot of patience IMO. 

Now if you're able to measure the room and send Dr. Geddes the results that is the ticket.  Purchase some subs from him and he'll do it.  Now that I think of it, that's another bonus of paying the $600 ea price that we spoke about earlier.  There is a service included in the price.  Something we all missed earlier.   

[TomS]

Who makes your OB subs?

http://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=78791.0

[pbrstreetgang]

Anyone here ave try TBI subs? I had them with Triangles, Maggies, Ohms, and Regas and they were nearly flawless except for large deep bass impacts.

[turkey]

Actually, I use OB for 2 of the 3 subs.  Obviously they don't cover much range vs the sealed 12" in the mains.

I was referring to the woofer in the Abbeys (or other models), not the subs.

[turkey]

AJ
I had no problem either in finding an Orion owner willing to let me hear his speakers, I wish there hadn't been, maybe then I wouldn't have made the biggest mistake I've made in my time in the audio hobby. I lost over $2000 when I sold the Orions to get get the Abbeys. Live and learn!

I thought the Orions were pretty respectable. I prefer the GedLee speakers obviously, but before I heard the Nathans I thought the Orions were about the best speakers around.

At least you hadn't spent $20, 30, 40 thousand or more on some magazine's flavor-of-the-month speakers.

[turkey]

Abbey Owners,

Are most of you guys using the Berhinger DCX 2496?  If so, why do you feel the need to use it if you have crossovers in your subs?  I am new to learning about these Abbey's and the multi-subwoofer configuration, so just want to understand the logic in all of it.

I'm not an Abbey owner (I have Nathans), but I don't use a DCX 2496. My subs have amps and x-overs built-in. I run the Nathans full-range, and I'm driving one sub from the extra output jacks on my preamp. The other 2 subs are driven at speaker level, one from each channel.

I will probably wind up moving to a more elaborate setup at some point, but I'm quite happy with what I have for now.

[DougSmith]

The driver is an 8 ohm driver. Right?

Yes.

[jtwrace]

Yes.

I wonder if these would work well.  http://gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=156

[Wind Chaser]

Anyone here ave try TBI subs? I had them with Triangles, Maggies, Ohms, and Regas and they were nearly flawless except for large deep bass impacts.

I had one, can't remember which model but it was pretty discreet both in sound and appearance, looked more like a power amp than a sub.  I still prefer OB bass though.

[jtwrace]

It's the B&C 12TBX100. The same driver used in an Abbey, which is an 8 ohm loudspeaker.

Anand.

Thanks!  Those specs are pretty impressive.

[joschmo]

I've had my preamp and amp for longer than I've had my GedLee speakers.

I've done some testing since then, and I'm not sure that at this point I would buy an amp and preamp. I might very well buy something like a Pioneer receiver.

Or I might not. Frank builds very durable equipment and it doesn't seem to be uncommon for it to run 25+ years with no issues.

I went for the Pioneer and  it sounded as good as my modded DK designs, it does get a little hot though.  I have not tried any other amps with the Gedlees but I am happy with the Pioneer.

[dwr]

Don't forget this point guys, when you use a 2496 or any active crossover to manage your subs, you sum the input signals (A&B or L&R) to make a mono signal so all the subs receive the same signal, this is one of the aspects that Dr Geddes recommends. Also when you buy subs from Geddes and have him analyze the data he sends you back the parameters to input into the DCX-2496, point being if you do that you will need a 2496.

[dwr]

A lot of the new AVRs run hot, I wouldn't worry too much about that. As long as it sounds good and YOU are happy with it, thats what is imortant!

[joschmo]

and cheap is good too

[Wind Chaser]

Hey Tom,

From what I can see you first had your subs positioned straight ahead and then toed them in; how did this affect the bass?

[DougSmith]

I wonder if these would work well.  http://gr-research.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=156

Hard to say (I don't see all the specs).  Also, it depends what you plan to drive with them. There are a bunch of good plate amps out there.

FWIW, I use a Yamaha RX-Z7 in my system.  It sounds great and has lots of features and does not run hot at all.  I'm sure some of the less expensive Yamahas would work well also.  I run the mains as large and use the bass management on the receiver to blend the LF signals from the front speakers (<200 Hz) with LFE into the sub output. I have the sub out turned up by +10db to drive the input of the DCX at a level that is closer to that produced by pro sound gear.  I set the DCX input at ~0db and adjusted the outputs down to get the right levels (they are in the vicinity of -10db).  The DCX is great for adjusting the levels phase & EQ filters of the subs independently on the outputs to get the best overall bass response.  I'm glad I went with this recommendation of Earl's.