So literally a drop by 10Db at a 100Hz……Gosh! ATB Peter
Was just trying to wind you up about glass, as we’ve been here before
Strangely no Impedance info. Can’t help thinking, that it will take some amp current delivery to stop those big bass drivers. I do wish we could get a view from Baylihill ATB Peter
PeterR, That is without the bass unit. I’ve edited the post to make it clear. With the bass unit you can expect in room response to go down to 30 Hz or lower.
Response of OB bass unit with Peerless 25 cm drivers:
I’ve listened to hundreds of hifi systems on YT over the years.
Always taken with due caution - but they do often convey something of the tone of a system in a room (via a particular usually very cheap microphone).
The more I listened today, the less inclined I was to proceed…
And yes agreed that Guttenberg is a salesman - that’s how he cut his teeth - working in a hifi shop in Manhatten.
I think that aside from the advantage of absence of a box (and associated disadvantages!), one key pisitive of open baffle design is that construction is so much easier than a closed box, especially one with any internal sophistication, so lends itself very well to DIY - even for someone with relatively limited DIY skills.
So, by that reasoning, ESL57s are more ‘open’ than ‘open baffle’ loudspeakers, because they don’t have a baffle at all?
All, dare I say it, rather baffling.
Still, at least my speakers are more ‘open’ than these common or garden ‘open baffle’ types!
Very true! I think the complexity with OB is getting them to sound right, but there appear to be certain basics, such as using high QTS drivers and addressing wave cancellations in the design that should certainly help.
I’ve got to admit that I am tempted to have a go myself. I have plenty of speakers already but this is an ‘affordable’ way into OB and it looks like a simple project to build. Also I’m sure that, if need be, it could be tuned with a 6 + channel DSP, such as the Dayton Audio DSP-408, making them fully active and tuneable to the room. 3 x Temple Audio Batam Stealths (stereo power amps) or a used multichannel AV power amp, such as an Arcam P1000 (7 x 135 WPC in 8 ohms) could provide the amplification.
Waterfall have made some very good looking speakers and they seem to get good reviews despite having cabinets constructed from glass. I remember that they claim their secret to success is how driver back waves are dealt with.
As an aside, I have a pair of Celestion AVF302 floorstanders that use glass as the main ‘stand’ material. The actual speaker cabinet is aluminium rather that glass but they do ‘disappear’ visually in a way normal speakers, including my Piegas, can’t. They work best in an AV system with an HP filter applied and bass produced by a subwoofer.
What are your speakers?
Quads?
Maggies?
Martin Logan?
Bafflingly unbaffled…
Not just cutting holes in a sheet of wood and mounting spare drivers then?
Yes, me too.
Let me know if you go ahead - I’d very interested to learn from/with you if you do it.
This chap has used DSP on quite swanky OB speakers that sound pretty good (within the nutty constraints of listening to hifi systems on YT):
I listen to jazz about 90% - mainly piano trios and Miles Davis in the 70s.
Plus blues, orchestral, prog (Agitation Free) and Louis Cole.
The rock days of blasting out Led Zep, Hendrix, John Zorn et al are long gone.
I never venture beyond 9:15 on the 252 volume knob.
Six Quad ESL57s powered by 2 NAP 135s (two front left and two front right) and an AV1/NAP250 for the rear pair. Made from scratch in Germany by my friend Manfred Stein and his team at Quad Musikwiedergabe near Koblenz…
Blimey.
Now that is a fantastic sound system.
The scale…
Are there any photos on System Pics?
For an example of a YT video that let’s the viewer get a fair sense of the sonic signature of a (non-OB) system, esp. if heard through one’s main system, plug this phrase into YT:
Sound comparison “JBL original” VS. “KENRICK SOUND tuned” of JBL Ti1000
Sounds right then and now only left with ‘suck and see’ assuming you have passed the venture by SWMBO including the reorganisation of your listening space
Good luck with it Peter
It seems that the speakers above are not from Waterfall and are not french but [from a Canadian company named Greensound Technologies.
I used these for 6 months before I bought the PMC twenty 5-24 speakers I use now. Bass drivers are JBL 2226H. Midrange/tweeter are JBL 2446J. Active crossover. Made with 12mm poplar…
Sounded amazing. Overall, way better than the PMCs.
Graham55, usually the term Open Baffle is used to describe speaker systems using cone drivers sans box. Of course mainstream ESLs are OB designs.