I’ve had a set of Pi speakers. First I ever built. Gave them to my brother as the ART arrays sounded better. Wayne and I have talked a lot over the years though. I even helped him do the LSAF when it first moved to Dallas.
I can pull speakers out a ways. I wonder if something like the little Nola’s and subs would work better? Or a smaller BR cabinet with OB up top?
Like I said, I still haven't made up my mind.
Here's a mockup with the veneer I actually have.
I can pull speakers out a ways. I wonder if something like the little Nola’s and subs would work better? Or a smaller BR cabinet with OB up top?
Like I said, I still haven't made up my mind.
Here's a mockup with the veneer I actually have.
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Just for fun, here's how they would look with slightly transparent grilles over the drivers. That might help.
Two subs-as-stands pls OB MT on top would likely work well with your constraints, yet get you mostly OB from ~ 200Hz or so up. That opens up a lot of possibilities, but a lot of experimenting/tweaking with crossovers...
Two subs-as-stands pls OB MT on top would likely work well with your constraints, yet get you mostly OB from ~ 200Hz or so up. That opens up a lot of possibilities, but a lot of experimenting/tweaking with crossovers...
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I'll go full dsp, multiamp if I do the hybrid thing. I've looked through the OB gallery for some things, but I don't really know anything about OB's other than I really like the sound. I'm definitely not a speaker designer. If I could keep the budget for the electronics at $600 or less to start with it would be a bigger bonus. I had looked at something like this : https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/open-baffle-speakers-by-irkiosan.371217/
I feel I'm cluttering up this thread at this point, again 🙄
I feel I'm cluttering up this thread at this point, again 🙄
It's hard to decide. The 2 pi towers sound different than the 4 pi speakers which sound different from the original stand mounted Manzi which sounds different from the floor standing Ultra. All of which sound different than all of the other speakers that have gone through this place. Totally different presentations and I'm kinda fond of all of them.
The suggestion from von Ah about a grill might help as somehow a grill isn't quite as imposing as a 15" black bass driver. There's likely a complementary color you could get for the grill that would blend nicely with the wood. It might take the edge off of them visually.
Or make a grill of a complimentary color and put an 8 or 10 inch black circle in front where the woofer is located. So, visually, you've reduced the 15" driver to something that looks much less imposing.
I've done the opposite with the Ultras by adding a larger black felt circle around the full range drivers. It makes the tiny full range driver look more substantial and helps it blend better with the 15" woofer.
Good luck!
What’s the best way to add grills without messing up anything? I would recess both the woofer and tweet. I could probably find some nice antique radio cloth that would blend in well.
Thin ring frames and magnets might work. I’m no expert on grilles. I think @larryldspkr made some nice ones for full range drivers. Craft Cuts on etsy will make nice custom plywood rings.
That example you gave with the two inexpensive 10s looks great. That would likely blend very well with the TC9. Possibly even with just one woofer.
I’ve used a 10” + TC7FD00-04 to very good results in an OB with a simple first order crossover plus DSP EQ.
That example you gave with the two inexpensive 10s looks great. That would likely blend very well with the TC9. Possibly even with just one woofer.
I’ve used a 10” + TC7FD00-04 to very good results in an OB with a simple first order crossover plus DSP EQ.
This is not Manzi, but may give some hint how 15" and 12" look. Baffle is 16" wide and 32" high. Eminence Delta 15LFA + Celestion TF1225CX.
Distance from front wall almost 3', listening distance 6'...8'
Distance from front wall almost 3', listening distance 6'...8'
Just noticed this add for the 15"
https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-15PF-8-15-Paper-Cone-Foam-Surround-Woofer-292-415?quantity=1
I think this is the orig 15"
Jeremy
https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-15PF-8-15-Paper-Cone-Foam-Surround-Woofer-292-415?quantity=1
I think this is the orig 15"
Jeremy
The used to be $25 each if you bought four. I have done that, four 15" woofer at my door for $100.
Seriously thinking about using this driver. I'm exploring other options such as Peter marshall's Flanagangster, which is fairly narrow as well, but would be considerably more for the drivers and I'd need another set of amps to biamp. The little white one I posted with the dual Visitons is about the same price as the Manzi's, just don't know how the bass would be as those WS25E's. Really this is about size and I get the whole OB size thing, but...
Yep, I got 4 for $100 back then too. Put 2 on each OB and used JBL horns and Selenium D220Ti CDs. Great sounding system.
Where’s the crossover point again? I see the freq response of the 12” Grs is 30-800hz, compared to 30-2000 for the peerless.
Pano could explain it better, but the Manzanita crossover is broad and shallow. The woofer and fullrange blend around 300-500 acoustically if I understand correctly. Looks like the 12" GRS would still work (from my uneducated perspective). Depending on how they sound, a notch might be in order for 2k, but that peak may be pretty far down from the TC9.
Hell, I have some TC9s not being used now. I may give the 12" GRS a try in some XPS baffles for even-more-frugal ManziMadness.
You could also try the Peerless little brother 830668 10".
Hell, I have some TC9s not being used now. I may give the 12" GRS a try in some XPS baffles for even-more-frugal ManziMadness.
You could also try the Peerless little brother 830668 10".
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Hey folks! I've gone through a couple of iterations on this speaker starting with two GRS 15"s with Kef q100 coaxial driver and then to Alpair full range driver to do upper range duties.
It's always been partly active with a mini DSP crossing the woofers to the upper range but I had a passive XO when using the q100's to cross the midrange to the tweeter. I have the ability to try this again fully active if I want.
I felt I was missing some spaciousness with the q100 up top and attributed it to possibly not being fully open baffle (closed-back tweeter).
I moved to the Alpair full range 6" driver and feel as though I might be missing out still on spatial qualities.
Thoughts on trying the Vifa TC9FD tweeter in conjunction with the full range alpair? What would you try next?
I would also love the ability to change whatever I want to be on the top end more easily so that I could compare and contrast different setups but I have no platform to place the drivers on up top and don't know how that would/could work out.
q100 Open Baffle
It's always been partly active with a mini DSP crossing the woofers to the upper range but I had a passive XO when using the q100's to cross the midrange to the tweeter. I have the ability to try this again fully active if I want.
I felt I was missing some spaciousness with the q100 up top and attributed it to possibly not being fully open baffle (closed-back tweeter).
I moved to the Alpair full range 6" driver and feel as though I might be missing out still on spatial qualities.
Thoughts on trying the Vifa TC9FD tweeter in conjunction with the full range alpair? What would you try next?
I would also love the ability to change whatever I want to be on the top end more easily so that I could compare and contrast different setups but I have no platform to place the drivers on up top and don't know how that would/could work out.
q100 Open Baffle
Simple bracketing with bits of aluminum would allow you to put the little GRS planar on top. Or you could swap out the Alpair for one of the bigger GRS planars. Those are all good for OB.
Nwickliff,
We seem to be on the same page here. Done very similar, started with the Alpair 10p, tried several other speakers, now have Alpair 7.3 and couldn’t be happier. Soaring highs, authoritative lows and a drop dead simple crossover.
