So we‘ve rearranged our listening/living space where the speakers can now have 3-4 feet of room behind them to breathe and I’m now luckily in a position to change to OB speakers. Been doing my homework and from a DIY perspective, a 6-8” fullrange combined with an 18” woofer appeals to me……a quality 18 on an open baffle should play smoothly to 250-300hz to meet a FR driver and having no crossover in the mid/high passband is desired. Crossover between the two will be handled with DSP and 4 discrete amplifier channels….i‘m thinking 2 stereo tube amps
…..But then I come to the ready made solution…..a pair of Maggie LRS plus combined with two stand alone OB 18” subwoofers. Obviously it’s more costly and there’s still a DIY effort involved for the OB subs but the asthetics and mutli way panels of the Maggie’s have an allure. There’s also the review bushings everywhere of how fantastic the LRS plus sound……can a 6-8” fullrange compete on an OB? Love to hear your thoughts.
…..But then I come to the ready made solution…..a pair of Maggie LRS plus combined with two stand alone OB 18” subwoofers. Obviously it’s more costly and there’s still a DIY effort involved for the OB subs but the asthetics and mutli way panels of the Maggie’s have an allure. There’s also the review bushings everywhere of how fantastic the LRS plus sound……can a 6-8” fullrange compete on an OB? Love to hear your thoughts.
I have used MMGs and a stereo pair of subs with dual 12" drivers. The crossover was crude and would have benefitted from more/some/any measurement and optimisation: I just assumed that the roll off of the speakers handled the crossover... (which I appreciate is crude beyond measure - literally). However, with the left and right ripole slot loaded configured subs (Dipole Woofer adapted from Linkwitz website), it did sound quite pleasant. The open baffle sound was and is very appealing. I then moved on to a pair of used 1.6QR and the same subs, but was not happy with the imaging. I built a set of OB NX speakers from GR Research (MTMs with ribbon tweeter) and a pair of dual 12" servo OB subs. This has been great and rivals the Magnepans in the mids and highs and excels in the bass. I intend to build a pair of El-Pipeos (Nelson Pass toys) by rehousing the servo subs and may try some larger Maggies but will likely stay with the MTM OBs for the foreseeable future.
In summary OB is great and it's worth playing with to see what you like. IMO the architecture dominates and the OB character can be heard without a lot of optimisation. But I think that this inevitably follows as you start to hear more and become critical of the new toy. LRS and OB subs would be a worthy experiment. If I stay with Maggies I intend to explore measurement and using a line level analog cross over to hand off more of the bass prior to amplification.
If I were in your shoes I'd look for a used pair of 1.7s and match with OB subs rather than the LRS. IM limited E, bigger is better with Maggies... (Disclaimer is that I haven't heard them).
In summary OB is great and it's worth playing with to see what you like. IMO the architecture dominates and the OB character can be heard without a lot of optimisation. But I think that this inevitably follows as you start to hear more and become critical of the new toy. LRS and OB subs would be a worthy experiment. If I stay with Maggies I intend to explore measurement and using a line level analog cross over to hand off more of the bass prior to amplification.
If I were in your shoes I'd look for a used pair of 1.7s and match with OB subs rather than the LRS. IM limited E, bigger is better with Maggies... (Disclaimer is that I haven't heard them).
I have no experience with Maggie’s but I have tried several experiments with OBs. TLDR: I have yet to find a 6-8” fullrange driver that I’ve liked the treble on.
I recently tried a 21” Misco driver paired with several different fullrangers. I’ve tried Markaudio Alpair 11ms, Alpair 7ms, MAOP10.2 and MAOP7.2. Also the SB20FRPC30-8 8” and the SB65WBAC25-4 2.5”. I liked the mids of the MAOP10.2 and the Alpair 11ms. I liked the treble of the Alpair7ms and MAOP7.2. I personally did not like the SB drivers. Doing a 1st order crossover with the MAOP10.2 and Alpair 7ms (with supplemental bass from the Misco 21”) is probably the best-sounding combo I tried. Still, I think I prefer a more classic woofer+tweeter 2-way for the “top section” of my OBs.
My preference is for a lot of bass, so I’ve been using about 8mH inductance on the (4ohm) sub and then attenuating the other drivers by at least 6db.
I recently tried a 21” Misco driver paired with several different fullrangers. I’ve tried Markaudio Alpair 11ms, Alpair 7ms, MAOP10.2 and MAOP7.2. Also the SB20FRPC30-8 8” and the SB65WBAC25-4 2.5”. I liked the mids of the MAOP10.2 and the Alpair 11ms. I liked the treble of the Alpair7ms and MAOP7.2. I personally did not like the SB drivers. Doing a 1st order crossover with the MAOP10.2 and Alpair 7ms (with supplemental bass from the Misco 21”) is probably the best-sounding combo I tried. Still, I think I prefer a more classic woofer+tweeter 2-way for the “top section” of my OBs.
My preference is for a lot of bass, so I’ve been using about 8mH inductance on the (4ohm) sub and then attenuating the other drivers by at least 6db.
If you like bass then the subs are a must. The bass on the 1.6QR that I have is tuneful, but not deep. It's fine for cello but does not have the impact for a double bass. It's not great for film effects. Bigger maggies are better and the LRS and similar size MMG are not as good. Size matters in this dept.
OB subs however, work great. The stereo pair of 2x12" drivers (4 total), have excess output for my needs.
It's expensive to make the wrong decision and its not always something that you can work out in 5 mins, but nevertheless it's always worth finding someone local with maggies you can listen to. They are generally an enthusiastic bunch.
OB subs however, work great. The stereo pair of 2x12" drivers (4 total), have excess output for my needs.
It's expensive to make the wrong decision and its not always something that you can work out in 5 mins, but nevertheless it's always worth finding someone local with maggies you can listen to. They are generally an enthusiastic bunch.
