Try Ambiophonics with your speakers

[poldus]

I will be using the minidsp-minidigi stack along with the miniambio

There is no digital in/out miniambo yet and even if you get to the relevant pins on the board's chip, it uses a different sample rate than other minidsp boards. So I assume you will be using analog. I hope we will get to see a digital miniambio one day that will make all these implementations a lot more simple and elegant.
Your project is very original and exciting. Very promising. I do hope you document the building process with some photos.

[norman bates]

16 drivers x 36cm2 (tc9) = 576cm2, a bit more than 506cm2 (a 12").

4 rows of 16 (tc9) would be cool................ Then again, 4 x 12" audio nirvana (requiring an eq) is about the same price.................

Norman

[Melo theory]

Poldus, Yeah, I know, I've been emailing ambio4you about this digi-ambio stack conundrum for months. I think they are droping the ball on this!

I'm using the mini dsp, mini digi stack, so at least it will save 1 A/D conversion.

Norman, I would rather use smaller drivers for minimal over-shoot with the much lower mass compared to 12 inchers. Also, it would be difficult to curve the baffles with larger drivers in there.

Thanx for your interest guys

I will post pics of the entire build, promise!

[markus76]

Originally Posted by poldus

No, I have not. I suppose you are pondering the contribution of side wall reflections to the perceived sound. Interesting question. Sadly, it would be far from a breeze to drag my system outside for a check.

poldus, one last question, how do you perceive sounds that are hard panned to the left or the right?

[poldus]

poldus, one last question, how do you perceive sounds that are hard panned to the left or the right?

Markus, I will happily respond all your questions, so fire away.
Hard lateral sounds are very satisfying probably because of the amazement factor of seeing the speakers in front of you and hearing those sounds come from where there is no speaker.

As to how close it comes to the real thing, the lack of crosstalk makes them very solid and realistic-this quality is present no matter how far to the side they appear to be-but since the high frequencies are reluctant to go that far to the sides there is a certain quality of incompletness: the higher frequencies of those sounds are not really there.
I have wondered whether there is a way to steer the extreme high and left sounds from the stereo signal and feed them to a couple of tweeters placed at the sides of the listener to alleviate this problem.

[markus76]

Originally Posted by poldus

Markus, I will happily respond all your questions, so fire away.
Hard lateral sounds are very satisfying probably because of the amazement factor of seeing the speakers in front of you and hearing those sounds come from where there is no speaker.

As to how close it comes to the real thing, the lack of crosstalk makes them very solid and realistic-this quality is present no matter how far to the side they appear to be-but since the high frequencies are reluctant to go that far to the sides there is a certain quality of incompletness: the higher frequencies of those sounds are not really there.
I have wondered whether there is a way to steer the extreme high and left sounds from the stereo signal and feed them to a couple of tweeters placed at the sides of the listener to alleviate this problem.

So you're saying the higher frequencies stay at the speaker or don't they just move the same amount?
Do level panned signals without any interchannel time difference behave the same?

[poldus]

So you're saying the higher frequencies stay at the speaker or don't they just move the same amount?

The highest frequencies-I'm guessing upwards of 5kh- spread on a narrower angle, they do not go as far laterally as the frequencies below that.

With electronic cancellation they tend to stay very close to where the speakers are and as you crank up the effect in order to achieve better lateral spread you begin to get artifacts and a general muddiness in the sound. This separation of where the highs are coming from and where the rest of the frequencies in the sound of a given instrument are is the biggest shortcoming of ambio. with electronic cancellation. The fact that it can deliver pretty extreme widening of the stage makes this even more obvious.
The physical barrier scores better in the highs but the rest of the frequencies do not expand as much to the sides as with electronic.
For me, this is the one aspect that needs to be addressed. I don't think it will be long before someone comes up with the right algorithms.

Do level panned signals without any interchannel time difference behave the same?

As for the problem we are referring to, there is no difference. Otherwise, there are recordings that fare better than others. Pan-potted recordings such as those of ECM which are excellent quality can be very, very good ambiophonically. The highs always remain a problem, though.

[Melo theory]

Check out "spirit chaser" by dead can dance.
Really good with ambiophonics.
A lot of left right information with smooth pans across the soundstage.
It really shows off the even timber across the horizontal range of an ambiophonics system.
Also, this is a very clean recording "no hiss" with great dynamics.
No compression, sounds like SACD or dts.
Great sense of space.
It's really great music too!

[lduarte1973]

without barrier and speakers facing the listener 0º or close , with more distance between the speaker L and R , wont you get similar resaults without changing the original sound ?

[poldus]

without barrier and speakers facing the listener 0º or close , with more distance between the speaker L and R , wont you get similar resaults without changing the original sound ?

Sorry, I don't understand exactly what speaker-listener position you are refferring to. The picture you posted shows a standard triangle.
Off-topic: I love your avatar. What's his name?