Envisioning a 2.5 MMTMM thoughts?

So a fellow member of an astrophotography club I’m in shares my passion for hifi but not the time or ability to DIY and in some deep conversations, I’ve convinced him that we can outdo his Sonus Faber Strads for around 1/10th the cost. He’s paying for the material and absorbing the airfare for our summer photo trip to Utah as a gratuitous bonus for design and labor!….not a bad deal for him! Lol

Promises fulfilled, ……..we’ll make his floor plan more open and his wife happier by replacing the obnoxiously fat body Strads with a tall, slim enclosure only 6.5” wide and 18” deep. Folks here who know me also know I firmly believe that narrow baffles are the ultimate in stereo imaging…..once you’ve done an A/B comparison where the bass response is fairly similar, I don’t think anyone can go back to wide body or offset monkey coffins.

The initial design thoughts are 4 Dayton Signature 150mm midwoofers and a yet to be decided on AMT tweeter. The alignment will be top and bottom midwoofers with a .5 inductor to offset BSC and ported for lower extension…..the two MM midwoofers will be high Q sealed for some midbass slam in the 100-200hz region…….I don’t voice my designs for a flat response……flat is boring

If I choose a high efficiency AMT, we’re right around 95db with this system…….not really required in his case as he’s got some expensive Danish power amp that looks like it belongs in space capsule instead of his home ( the power cord is thicker than the wire that comes into my house!) Secondary hopes is after hearing this, he can ditch that and enjoy the warmth of a nice pair of monobloc tube amps.

What’s your thoughts?……..his space isnt huge at 15ft by 25ft and serves as a media room. He’s already got a pair of REL subs he says he uses them only for movies……turns them off for 2 channel. I’m unfamiliar with commercial subs so I can’t speak to them other than I thought they sound pretty good. My proposed design should have an in room F3 around 45hz……….not nearly as deep as his Strads but I’m hoping to convince him to use the existing REL subs to supplement them……this will take some convincing as he’s more of a hifi purist…..too many years of brainwashing back in the day when we dived through the pages of glossy HiFi mags.
 
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MMMTM better ? Tweeter at ears height.
Note here the Elsinore project is a great example of superb project :)
I think about this speaker with 5" drivers.
I have candidates and if well done you do not need sub, some 5" can go till 33Hz. I have a pair of c16n001 in 20L with a PR, the bass level is impressive. Bigger bass I have after my WO24p. Note the 5" L16RN-SL/L16RNX3 can have the same performance for a lower price.
 
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MMMTM better ? Tweeter at ears height.

+1 (y)
Elsinore is a good example. Here two more from the Hobby Hifi Magazine:
https://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/aluminata_130_4ke.htm
https://www.lautsprechershop.de/hifi/beti_4x4.htm

with lower woofers filtered as bafflestep-fillers you should be able to get a pretty flat response.
Not sure if you get better mid quality with upper woofers in CB, as they will have more low frequency excursion than the resonator supported lower woofers...

EDIT:
"High Q" for the midwoofers may help to lower the excursion in CB, if achieved by small enclosure with stiffer air spring....
Mmmh, just came in my mind:
You like smooth midranges with LR2 filters or? 2x 15W/4424G00 as midwoofers and 2x 15W/4434G00 as woofers?
4424 needs very small enclosure for higher Q; to compensate the overshoot "kick" a bit take higher ohm series aircoil for 4434 woofers to increase Qes, they work with lower tuning then and level is reduced above as trade...
 
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I'd build 3.5 ways with higher end class D (ie SpeakerPower or Hypex) for the LF section, ported running up to 100 hz using 4x 6 - 7" long throw drivers. For midbass 2x 6 - 7" from 100 hz - 700 hz sealed. Go with a 3" mid dome from 700 hz up to your preferred silk or metal dome of your choice. This would be a highly flexible, tunable setup with the performance of a large 3 way. LF down to 30 hz shouldn't be any issue and in room LF response could be linearized without extra DSP. Alternatively, side firing push-push arranged 10" woofers could be used with the benefit of force cancelation for the most accurate, resonance free performance without separate subs.
 
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music soothes the savage beast
Joined 2004
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So a fellow member of an astrophotography club I’m in shares my passion for hifi but not the time or ability to DIY and in some deep conversations, I’ve convinced him that we can outdo his Sonus Faber Strads for around 1/10th the cost. He’s paying for the material and absorbing the airfare for our summer photo trip to Utah as a gratuitous bonus for design and labor!….not a bad deal for him! Lol

Promises fulfilled, ……..we’ll make his floor plan more open and his wife happier by replacing the obnoxiously fat body Strads with a tall, slim enclosure only 6.5” wide and 18” deep. Folks here who know me also know I firmly believe that narrow baffles are the ultimate in stereo imaging…..once you’ve done an A/B comparison where the bass response is fairly similar, I don’t think anyone can go back to wide body or offset monkey coffins.

The initial design thoughts are 4 Dayton Signature 150mm midwoofers and a yet to be decided on AMT tweeter. The alignment will be top and bottom midwoofers with a .5 inductor to offset BSC and ported for lower extension…..the two MM midwoofers will be high Q sealed for some midbass slam in the 100-200hz region…….I don’t voice my designs for a flat response……flat is boring

If I choose a high efficiency AMT, we’re right around 95db with this system…….not really required in his case as he’s got some expensive Danish power amp that looks like it belongs in space capsule instead of his home ( the power cord is thicker than the wire that comes into my house!) Secondary hopes is after hearing this, he can ditch that and enjoy the warmth of a nice pair of monobloc tube amps.

What’s your thoughts?……..his space isnt huge at 15ft by 25ft and serves as a media room. He’s already got a pair of REL subs he says he uses them only for movies……turns them off for 2 channel. I’m unfamiliar with commercial subs so I can’t speak to them other than I thought they sound pretty good. My proposed design should have an in room F3 around 45hz……….not nearly as deep as his Strads but I’m hoping to convince him to use the existing REL subs to supplement them……this will take some convincing as he’s more of a hifi purist…..too many years of brainwashing back in the day when we dived through the pages of glossy HiFi mags.
I am quite surprised by the sound of this cheap WMMMmtmMMM speaker. Top is 2.5 way for better coherency. System is biamplifier with 150Hz active crossover.

20230609_165022 (1).jpg
 
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My preferred drivers for the above design for each speaker would be -

4× SB Acoustics SB17CRC35-4 sealed w/ Class D plate amp or vented w/ external amp

2x ScanSpeak 18M8631T in sealed chambers, staggered LP ( lower driver 100hz - 300hz / upper driver 100hz - 900hz)

1x SB Acoustics MD60N running 900hz - 4k

1x Morel TSCT1044 running 4k+

Upper drivers arranged in WWTM and 4x lower 7" LF in WWWW.

This would yield 94dB system sensitivity, good for use with tube output stage or class A solid state.
 
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I think it would be more fair to build an equivalent design (3way), only better in some aspects.
I would take the subwoofer out of the equation. A strategically chosen 5 by 8" woofer might work out.
A baffle supporting 8” woofer is too wide……imaging takes a hit the wider you go……..at 6.5” baffle width, I’m pushing it wider than my personal experience would prefer.
 
-you know, you could go ”array”. ;)

..maybe with a bass driver(s) of any size (depending on the loudspeaker’s depth) on the inward side-panel.

not unlike a more narrow version of this (could even have a SF aesthetic like a tall array version of the Maxima Amator):
https://www.soundstageultra.com/ind...-a-elektroakustik-solitaire-s-530-loudspeaker

The array portion can be a cheap way of getting stellar objective performance as well.
 
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