I'm retired.
I have moved house.
The most stressful thing a living being can endure.
And now the new place is coming into order.
And music plays.
My Open Baffle Speakers are up an running again - there is still a certain amount of chaos around after the house move, but peace and music as well.
They are recycled baffles, rescued from the shed and given drivers to fill their empty holes - Audio Nirvana Classic 10 on top with a Hawthorne Augie as the bass base. The Augie's plate amp is also operating a second Augie in parallel on each side, dropped untidily on top of a blue plastic cubic box - shoved in the corners they become very clean and effective "sub woofers" - a lazy build that will suffice until I play with some new baffles.
They are recycled baffles, rescued from the shed and given drivers to fill their empty holes - Audio Nirvana Classic 10 on top with a Hawthorne Augie as the bass base. The Augie's plate amp is also operating a second Augie in parallel on each side, dropped untidily on top of a blue plastic cubic box - shoved in the corners they become very clean and effective "sub woofers" - a lazy build that will suffice until I play with some new baffles.
My rationale in the "manufacture" of such simple things, learned over 5 decades, goes thus.... particularly in relation to the "sub woofer" thing.
There is a great difference in the employment of “subwoofers” in stereo (or mono, I guess) “high fidelity” sound systems, and in “home theatre” applications.
In home theatre systems, the subwoofer provides an audible and even tangible sense of drama, tension, and foreboding. It adds something extra to the soundtrack.
In music listening systems, nothing extra should be added - it’s already there … the recording is the recording, be it a good recording or a bad one.
The music is all there, but the system reproducing it has limitations. Usually the limitation is most pronounced at the bass end of the spectrum, particularly in the lowest octave. This is why we have woofers, and the bass weakness is especially noticeable when “full”, or “wide”, range drivers are employed. Bass augmentation is needed, but I’d say subwoofers should really be avoided in serious music systems.
So why am I using my version of subs?
In home theatre systems, the subwoofer provides an audible and even tangible sense of drama, tension, and foreboding. It adds something extra to the soundtrack.
In music listening systems, nothing extra should be added - it’s already there … the recording is the recording, be it a good recording or a bad one.
The music is all there, but the system reproducing it has limitations. Usually the limitation is most pronounced at the bass end of the spectrum, particularly in the lowest octave. This is why we have woofers, and the bass weakness is especially noticeable when “full”, or “wide”, range drivers are employed. Bass augmentation is needed, but I’d say subwoofers should really be avoided in serious music systems.
So why am I using my version of subs?
Most full rangers have a rising midrange/treble response, and this makes the bass problem seem even greater than it is. The worst culprits (to my ears, and the ears of many others) are the much adored Lowther drivers. Fostex, Tang Band, et alia do it as well … some of the more expensive field coil drivers, like Rullits and those French fellas whose name I’ve temporarily forgotten, have the flattest response … but they are expensive, and all of them still need bass reinforcement.
The Audio Nirvana ‘Classic 10’ drivers I use display this rising response (nothing like Lowthers though). It seems less obvious in open baffle than in a bass reflex cabinet, but the T/S parameters of the drivers would suggest they aren’t suited to open baffle.
I guess the most effective housing for this breed of low Q full range speaker is a back loaded bass horn … but I’m not sure I like horns all that much, and they are very difficult to build correctly - I know… I’ve done it.
I guess the most effective housing for this breed of low Q full range speaker is a back loaded bass horn … but I’m not sure I like horns all that much, and they are very difficult to build correctly - I know… I’ve done it.
Anyway - my AN drivers are in open baffle - like I said, they are recycled baffles, and I think not really the boys for the job. Because of the low Qt of these drivers, the bass starts rolling off quite high … so there is a woofer involved. A 15” driver like my Hawthorne Augies, or a pair of Altecs or similar mounted on the same baffle smooths the bass response and fills in the bottom nicely.
The recycled baffles I am using at present really are too narrow and there still really isn’t all that much there in that bottom octave … so, I have put in that pair of stereo “subs” - bass speakers sitting on a plastic box - spatially loaded by bunging them in the back corners behind the outside edges of the baffles. They sound fast, clean, natural, and measuring using recorded test tones my ancient ears tell me they go down to the upper 30s (Hz, albeit quite gently - which is how I like it.
The recycled baffles I am using at present really are too narrow and there still really isn’t all that much there in that bottom octave … so, I have put in that pair of stereo “subs” - bass speakers sitting on a plastic box - spatially loaded by bunging them in the back corners behind the outside edges of the baffles. They sound fast, clean, natural, and measuring using recorded test tones my ancient ears tell me they go down to the upper 30s (Hz, albeit quite gently - which is how I like it.
Usually, I have found that a subwoofer (often there is only one because there is no directionality to the sound at such low frequencies) adds an unnatural sound to the bottom end of the music. I’ve heard this even in high end hifi shops and hifi show systems.
A subwoofer is usually (IMO) to good music what a handful of dirt is to clear spring water.
A subwoofer is usually (IMO) to good music what a handful of dirt is to clear spring water.
My tapered baffles and blue plastic boxes will do the job - and do it nicely, at least until I build a new pair of more suitable baffles … perhaps shallow open backed boxes like Kentucky Randy built ... or something similar (you may make suggestions) - but that’s another story.
Thus endeth the sermon 
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