BIB sound from a smaller box ?

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Sigh, after finally getting the sound the way I want the Mrs tells me that the BIBs are going to have to go. Our lounge is too small.

Is there something that will give me a similar sound presentation in a smaller/dfiierent package ? I'm talking about the sense of space around the music. Width and depth.

I've got a pair of FE167e speakers to build with.

I may be able to get away with something substantially wider than the BIB but only 200mm deep, can the dimensions be altered like that ? Essentially a side mounted driver in a squashed BIB ? ~200mm deep by up to 1200mm wide by ~1800mm tall.

I'm thinking a false wall, then I could build in my subs too :) Oh how happy the Mrs would be.

The easier option is something along the lines of a Demetri or Metronome, do they offer a similar scale of presentation ?

Cheers,

Sedge.
 
Short answer is little or nothing. That's this particular breed of pipe-horn's party trick and is one of the reasons many people love them.

You could go for a wide-baffle BIB cabinet as per your idea (I did the same about 18 months back for the Monolith box concept). OK, the expansion won't be optimal around the bend, but at least you'd have your cabinets, and it doesn't appear to be massively critical. You'll probably loose the last few percent of the performance, but better than nothing & you're retain the presentation you like.
 
Ah OK... Bung !... Can I ask that you reply with a couple of links or books I can get to understand this stuff ? I need to do some learning before I plow ahead regardless :)

Is it the up firing horn that gives the width/depth due to sound coming out the top being dispersed and out of phase with the leading edge from the front mounted driver but being close enough to be coherent ?

Is it kind of like a spring reverb, only done with a box rather than a spring ?

Heh heh, I have absolutely no idea :)

Cheers,

Sedge.
 
Greets!

Probably about as close as you going to come is to fold up the BIB so the mouth is at the bottom rear and position it to fire into the corners, adjusting the distance, angle as required. Another would be to exit the bottom side to fire into a corner when positioned along the wall.

Bottom line though is that the room will interact much more with its output than if propagating ~unimpeded across a ceiling and the uncluttered portion of the walls.

GM
 
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sedge1 said:
Is there something that will give me a similar sound presentation in a smaller/dfiierent package ? I'm talking about the sense of space around the music. Width and depth.

I'd think that in terms of those critieria, i'd guess (having heard neither a 167 Met or BIB) that a Met would come out the gate better than a BIB. It won't have the bass, or the dynamics, but the edge in smooth response and image/space.

dave
 
Hi Sedge

I have the same problem but I do not have the audio theory to derive a complete solution.

How would triangular BIBs hiding in a corner go? Much less intrusive than square boxes, and you could possibly put a bookshelf or display cabinet or a picture in front of each. And the top would exhaust into the ceiling corner which should be beneficial.

Maybe crazy idea, or something that might work?

Graeme
 
sedge1 said:
The easier option is something along the lines of a Demetri or Metronome, do they offer a similar scale of presentation ?


During the recent Burning Amp Festival, I was able to listen to both the BIB with Pioneer BOFUs and the Metronomes. The BIBs produced a lot of volume for the money, but for overall quality of sound, the Metronomes kicked their a$$.

I'd look into building Metronomes if I were you. Higher WAF + higher fidelity = long lasting enjoyment.
 
Therein lies the superiority. Swap the drivers and you'd get a different result. The BIB will kill the Metronome stone dead in the LF & everything else should be similar, assuming the same driver for both. The different presentations will suit different people of course, and the Metronome is somewhat smaller / more elegant, so YMMV.

Scott
 
sedge1 said:
Sigh, after finally getting the sound the way I want the Mrs tells me that the BIBs are going to have to go. Our lounge is too small.

Keep your Bibs and let you Mrs go :bigeyes: :devilr::

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Scottmoose said:
Therein lies the superiority. Swap the drivers and you'd get a different result. The BIB will kill the Metronome stone dead in the LF & everything else should be similar, assuming the same driver for both. The different presentations will suit different people of course, and the Metronome is somewhat smaller / more elegant, so YMMV.

Scott

Thanks for pointing that out. I owe you a Theakston's Old Peculiar! :cheers:
 
>>> Good point Scottmoose. The Mets were using Hemp Acoustics 8" drivers.

LOL! Yes, the B20 has a laid back sound regardless of which cabinet its in. Some like it some don't. It's different than the Fostex drivers in that it's not as forward and probably not as detailed.

Here's the Hemp frequency response:
http://www.sacthailand.com/Pic/Loudspeaker_Hemp2.jpg

Here's the B20:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pdf/290-045.pdf

If you smooth the graphs in your minds eye you will see the hemp is tilted upward and the b20 downward. If you get used to one type of sound and switch to the other it might be considered drastic.

If i remember correctly, Stereophile used to love the sound of speakers having a downward sloping frequency response back in the late 1990s. Now i am not sure what they prefer. And, even tho the frequency response can give you an overall indication of the character of the sound it doesnt tell you how resolving the speaker is. Speakers with upward sloping response curves were typically frowned upon especially if their treble response wasnt clean. They were considered fatiguing.

One of the best traits of the B20 is it sounds really nice and you feel you are getting everything from the recording. Things sound smooth and balanced. Just dont go and do something foolish like compare it to a Hemp or Fostex driver. You may feel cheated.
 
GraemeC said:
Hi Sedge

I have the same problem but I do not have the audio theory to derive a complete solution.

How would triangular BIBs hiding in a corner go? Much less intrusive than square boxes, and you could possibly put a bookshelf or display cabinet or a picture in front of each. And the top would exhaust into the ceiling corner which should be beneficial.

Maybe crazy idea, or something that might work?

Graeme


Wow... That is a GREAT idea!!
I can see it now... Stacks of books, with what appears to be a cute little bookshelf monitor nestled in their midst... you can say, "Ive found an amazing new design for bookshelf monitors!... special ultra bypass super reflex cabinets lined with unobtanium..." or you could say "its all in those fancy new cables I got!"

Maybe a side-firing design...

If I wasn't a transient college kid with limited trunk space... Id build that in a heartbeat!
 
Thinking about camoflague shelving now :) Heh heh... I'm going to get in so much trouble, still haven't finished wallpapering the lounge but I'm on to my third set of speaker cabinets.

Don't need a false wall, just another set of columns for my subs in the corners and some shelves between them and the BIBs.

||==||
||==||
||==||
||==||

etc

Might try and suggest we need some shelves tonight and then come up with a 'brillant' plan for adding character to the walls.

Sadly, this kind of story usually ends with "And that's how I lost my testicle"

Cheers,

Sedge.
 
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