What are the best OB dipole DIY desgins for < $1K

[tinnitusintx]

Having experienced the magical soundstage, dimensionality, and realism of my Magnepan MMGs for the last several months but missing the impactful dynamics and air moving sonic capabilities of dynamic box/cone speakers I've become interested in OB dipoles as I read this design can offer the benefits of both. I've seen the Linkwitz Orion as well as a spinoff of that design the builder calls the "Bob", as well as the Jamo 909 and this is sort of the direction I'd like to go. I'm early in my search of the different DIY designs out there so I'm certain there are several others I haven't yet stumbled upon. I'm open to pretty much anything...horns, single or dual LF driver, ribbons, etc. No WAF concerns and I have a dedicated 14x20x8 listening area and tube or high powered SS amplification. I'd appreciate it if any of you that are well versed in the world of DIY OB dipole would point me in the direction of the most succesful designs. I've seen several "budget" designs (< $500) and am not opposed to these as well, but I'm willing to pay a little more to get noticably better performance if it can be had. I listen to rock (all forms), jazz, Americana, and some classical. I'd say I'm comfortable with up to medium difficutly builds and my budget is $1K but, certainly, the less expensive the better!

[oktyabr]

I just completed a pair of MJK's H-frame dipoles using Goldwood 18" GW-1858 pro woofers on the bottom and Audio Nirvana Super 8" in a flat baffle on top. Not pretty as the Jamo or the Orion but relatively cheap and they sound great!

GW-1858 x2 = $184
AN Super8x2 = $158
4x8 3/4"bb ply=$40
binding posts, etc. =$20
-----------------------------
Total = $402 and some change, for the pair

I am going to be using (as soon as it gets here) a miniDSP 2x4 as an active crossover. With shipping and the "advanced" plugin = $155. Going active means needing two separate amplifiers. You could also do a passive crossover and run one amp for about the same amount or there are other active alternatives out there too (Behringer DCX-2496 for $250-350)

[sreten]

Hi,

There are quite a few threads on OB's if you search.

Music and Design might be a site you haven't encountered.

Be sure you conjectures regarding open baffles are correct .....

rgds, sreten.

[gainphile]

To avoid expensive drivers, go 4-way. Then cheaper drivers would not need to be pushed to hard and will operate at their best performances:

4x Dayton Audio DC28F-8 1-1/8" Silk Dome Tweeter $80
2x Dayton Audio RS125-8 5" Reference Woofer $63
2x Dayton Audio RS225-4 8" Reference Woofer 4 Ohm $116
4x Dayton Audio RSS265HF-4 10" Reference HF Subwoofer 4 Ohm $517
===
Total driver cost: $780

2x miniDSP (4-way xo): $200
===
Total Drivers + XO = $980


These will outperform passive setup. But you need to build 8-channel amplifier (about $250 with ClassD)

[ScottG]

Originally Posted by tinnitusintx

Having experienced the magical soundstage, dimensionality, and realism of my Magnepan MMGs for the last several months but missing the impactful dynamics and air moving sonic capabilities of dynamic box/cone speakers I've become interested in OB dipoles as I read this design can offer the benefits of both. I've seen the Linkwitz Orion as well as a spinoff of that design the builder calls the "Bob", as well as the Jamo 909 and this is sort of the direction I'd like to go. I'm early in my search of the different DIY designs out there so I'm certain there are several others I haven't yet stumbled upon. I'm open to pretty much anything...horns, single or dual LF driver, ribbons, etc. No WAF concerns and I have a dedicated 14x20x8 listening area and tube or high powered SS amplification. I'd appreciate it if any of you that are well versed in the world of DIY OB dipole would point me in the direction of the most succesful designs. I've seen several "budget" designs (< $500) and am not opposed to these as well, but I'm willing to pay a little more to get noticably better performance if it can be had. I listen to rock (all forms), jazz, Americana, and some classical. I'd say I'm comfortable with up to medium difficutly builds and my budget is $1K but, certainly, the less expensive the better!

I think your best bet would be a good pair of subs (..to provide air compression and room pressurization), with a simple high-pass filter for the Maggies.

[boris81]

Here's a small list of OB designs on DIYaudio with some great info:

Fin

My open baffle dipole with Beyma TPL-150

the three way nude swinging dipole thread

El Cuerno

[rob g]

If you need more volume then build the OB's. If you are happy with the relatively modest SPL capacity but want more low end with the same tuneful clean quality then you could build some dipole bass extenders.

Like this:
Dipole Woofer
Or the bottom section of Orion 3.5.

Incidently some of the Linkwitz Pluto users are ex (and current) maggie owners and are very happy.
I have used Quad, ML and Final electrostatics and I am extremely happy with the Pluto speakers. Pluto sounds more like a very good panel speaker than a box.

[oktyabr]

Subs might certainly work for you if you want to keep your Maggies, although that solution only kept me interested for a short while. I first tried switching out many subs until I found one I was relatively happy with (M&K V75mkII, later a pair of them) and then I tried "tuning" the sound by playing with different Magnepans. It sort of felt like an endless quest! I've been through MMG, MG1, MG2 and a pair of Martin Logan SL3. They all did things right; they are all excellent speakers, even more so with a well voiced sub but nothing that made me want to stop and say "Yup, that's it. I'm keeping these forever." The SL3 did the best job of integrating a sub (well, better than I did with the maggies anyway!) but personally I find something special, visceral, about dipole bass that I never got with the other aforementioned speakers or combinations. Most drums are, in essence, dipoles... is it any wonder that a dipole might recreate a drum best?

[sreten]

Originally Posted by tinnitusintx

I've seen several "budget" designs (< $500) and am not opposed to these as
well, but I'm willing to pay a little more to get noticably better performance if it
can be had. I listen to rock (all forms), jazz, Americana, and some classical. I'd
say I'm comfortable with up to medium difficutly builds and my budget is $1K
but, certainly, the less expensive the better!

Hi,

IMHO anyone starting off with a budget and wanting the "best" for that
is usually going to end up getting thmeselves into trouble, and endless
debates about various drivers at varuos price points.

Lots of "designs" are more conjecture than anything else, and its better
to build something for $300 that works extremely well for the price than
something only marginally better at double the cost, such is DIY.

Cloningthe Jamo's are a fairly simple first build, see :
Beer budget "Version" of $10,000+ Jamo Open Baffles

Not expensive. If you want to update the drivers / design at a later date
the mid / trebles can be reused in Zaph's well documented box designs.

OB's offer unusual capabilities at modest build / cost complexity.
The Orion or Nao designs are examples of trying to take it to the
limit. AFAIK there aren't many options that fit "inbetween".

rgds, sreten.

[KSTR]

Well, for rock music etc, a lower budget version of the Emerald Physics active speakers come to mind, using a cheaper range of pro drivers : 10" or 12" coax + 1x15, 1x18" or 2x15" woofers. 10" coax + 18" woofer I found choices for 400EUR total, leaves about the same for DSP-XO+amps. Of course it would be a full design effort, but promising. Cone area + compression driver (read: Dynamics & Headroom) are always your friend for the genres you mentioned.

I use 15" OB coax (w/ subs, occ.) and listen to rock a great deal, and what can I say... I'm still amazed about their virtues (but there are some warts, of course).