Post by John on Aug 9, 2014 11:52:30 GMT
I been using Open Baffles for about 3 to 4 years now before that time I tried lots of different approaches to speakers and I really enjoy the approach of Open baffles.
mh-audio.nl/OB.asp Intro to Open Baffles
First of all Open Baffles are not for everyone they tend to be quite big and not wife friendly. Their are two routes. DIY and Production built. I chosen the DIY route as could not afford a production built speaker. It also offers incredible value to performance ratio and have allowed me to tweak over the years. I guess to build my speakers from new I made would cost about £1600 (Drivers Baffle and crossover) it is possible to do a lot cheaper I reckon using the right parts its possible to build a reasonable open baffle for about £600 to £800
Most people chose to use full range drivers often adding a bass driver to augment the bass.
It is possible to add bass either passively or active I choose the active route myself, but some prefer the passive route. The lack of colouration to the bass is really impressive, its possible to go quite low in the bass by using separate bass drivers and once you get used to this sound very hard to go back to a traditional speaker.
DIY Route
The first would be a total self design route or using open source designs on the web. A typical example of this would be using something like a Visaton B200 paired with the Eminence Alpha 15A iol.ie/~waltonaudio/ob.html It would be possible to use a separate power amp for the bass with this set up and go active with the bass if you wished.
Another version I heard is the Mark Audio 12p with Neo bass drivers. This is a superb sounding speaker. Bass is active in this set up and size is not to overwhelming.
DIY Planned design
There are a number of manufactures that will help you with the design of the baffle.
They can supply drivers crossovers and baffles. I choose to go down this route as a lot easier to implement.
www.bastanis.com/kits_mandala.html Great for acoustic based music but dislike what they do with distorted guitars. I think the drivers might of changed since I last heard them.
www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0606/visation_nobox_bb_loudspeaker.htm
www.linkwitzlab.com/ The LX521 looks a really interesting design but requires a re-think around amplification to get it to work.
www.pureaudioproject.com/cube-10-open-baffle-speakers/
hawthorneaudio.us/speakers/
I choose to go down the Hawthorne route. The main driver is duel concentric and respond well to different amplifiers. So will you the warmth and intimacy if using valves and give you the speed of solid state.
Production Based Open Baffle
Perhaps the most famous is the Jamo R909 www.6moons.com/audioreviews/jamo/909.html
There are other designs by smaller manufactures both Bastanis and Hawthorne produce
speakers that are ready built I really like the Concept of the Reference Rainer speakers.
www.hawthorneaudio.us/docs/RainierAnnouncement.pdf
www.steinwaylyngdorf.com/products/model-d-speaker
www.ecoustics.com/products/new-open-baffle-loudspeaker-av123/
www.nolaspeakers.com/
If anyone wants me to describe my build just ask
mh-audio.nl/OB.asp Intro to Open Baffles
First of all Open Baffles are not for everyone they tend to be quite big and not wife friendly. Their are two routes. DIY and Production built. I chosen the DIY route as could not afford a production built speaker. It also offers incredible value to performance ratio and have allowed me to tweak over the years. I guess to build my speakers from new I made would cost about £1600 (Drivers Baffle and crossover) it is possible to do a lot cheaper I reckon using the right parts its possible to build a reasonable open baffle for about £600 to £800
Most people chose to use full range drivers often adding a bass driver to augment the bass.
It is possible to add bass either passively or active I choose the active route myself, but some prefer the passive route. The lack of colouration to the bass is really impressive, its possible to go quite low in the bass by using separate bass drivers and once you get used to this sound very hard to go back to a traditional speaker.
DIY Route
The first would be a total self design route or using open source designs on the web. A typical example of this would be using something like a Visaton B200 paired with the Eminence Alpha 15A iol.ie/~waltonaudio/ob.html It would be possible to use a separate power amp for the bass with this set up and go active with the bass if you wished.
Another version I heard is the Mark Audio 12p with Neo bass drivers. This is a superb sounding speaker. Bass is active in this set up and size is not to overwhelming.
DIY Planned design
There are a number of manufactures that will help you with the design of the baffle.
They can supply drivers crossovers and baffles. I choose to go down this route as a lot easier to implement.
www.bastanis.com/kits_mandala.html Great for acoustic based music but dislike what they do with distorted guitars. I think the drivers might of changed since I last heard them.
www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0606/visation_nobox_bb_loudspeaker.htm
www.linkwitzlab.com/ The LX521 looks a really interesting design but requires a re-think around amplification to get it to work.
www.pureaudioproject.com/cube-10-open-baffle-speakers/
hawthorneaudio.us/speakers/
I choose to go down the Hawthorne route. The main driver is duel concentric and respond well to different amplifiers. So will you the warmth and intimacy if using valves and give you the speed of solid state.
Production Based Open Baffle
Perhaps the most famous is the Jamo R909 www.6moons.com/audioreviews/jamo/909.html
There are other designs by smaller manufactures both Bastanis and Hawthorne produce
speakers that are ready built I really like the Concept of the Reference Rainer speakers.
www.hawthorneaudio.us/docs/RainierAnnouncement.pdf
www.steinwaylyngdorf.com/products/model-d-speaker
www.ecoustics.com/products/new-open-baffle-loudspeaker-av123/
www.nolaspeakers.com/
If anyone wants me to describe my build just ask
