Full Ranger in a "large" room?
Good morning all!
I have been reading here for many years so to say I am a "newb" might not be an exact truth. I have a question that I am hoping for feedback on though. I know everyone will want the standard questions answered first so I will start there.
I like all kinds of music. I listen primarily to old rock and some synthesized types of music (IE pop, house, dance etc) but I love to kick back with some smooth jazz or light music just the same. I have built (literally) thousands of car audio systems and competed with them for nearly two decades. My mantra is to always make a system that is versatile which usually means a lot of headroom.
I was present at hornfest this year and had the pleasure of sampling Ed's little speakers there before this as well and I was very impressed with what I heard as my first "full range" speaker. So much so that I purchased a pair of FE126Es and decided to begin looking for cabinets.
To date, the most impressive sound (to me) has come from a pair of heavily modified Decware radial speakers that had a radial driver accompanied by a 126. These would be a Transmission line speaker that was loaded with a passive radiator (I don't like radiators, but loved these speakers). The bass was the most realistic I have heard to date.
I will be driving these with a T-amp to start with and some time next year I plan on buying a tube amp. I am still undecided on which amp, but am leaning heavily towards a Decware SE34I.2 right now. THis is subject to change if the speakers are suitably efficient enough to be driven with a smaller SET like the select or other versions.
I love the disappearing act of the radial design and would like something that can produce that sort of awesome center and separation at the same time. I even built a set of computer speakers that utilized a conical membrane and the imaging from these is great in near-field, but not practical for a room full of sound.
I also have a pair of Silver FLute 8" wool cones for use and I am willing to entertain using either or both drivers or using the 8" in a sub enclosure or even scrapping these to go with another sub if necessary. As you can see, I'm flexible.
Here is what I am after. I have a room that is 22' x 13ft. I want to situate it so that the speakers are firing down the long direction. The listening position would be about 12 ft from the front wall. I like to get my music very loud on occasion. The 100db that Ed's speakers were capable of is far and away loud enough. I would like to have some headroom if I use a sub in order to be able to use this as my home theater speakers as well. The sub will have a plate amp to run and I can work with it separately if that is the best way. No SS receiver or processor for movies, though. Just two channels and a sub if I so choose to add it I guess.
The end question is this. For the ability to listen, would you guys recommend the Frugal horn for the 126 (or something similar) and then just a standard sub configuration using the 8"ers I have? Or would the BIB enclosure work better for the 126 in this application?
I like the idea of using the unobstructed ceiling rather than corner loading to the rear. I have thought of using the BIB design and loading the 8"ers into the bass on the side and bi-amping. Something tells me that this idea won't be the most accepted and I can think of lots of reasons already.
Any ideas gang? I appreciate all you guys do here and have used and passed on many things learned over the years.
Take care,
Robert
Good morning all!
I have been reading here for many years so to say I am a "newb" might not be an exact truth. I have a question that I am hoping for feedback on though. I know everyone will want the standard questions answered first so I will start there.
I like all kinds of music. I listen primarily to old rock and some synthesized types of music (IE pop, house, dance etc) but I love to kick back with some smooth jazz or light music just the same. I have built (literally) thousands of car audio systems and competed with them for nearly two decades. My mantra is to always make a system that is versatile which usually means a lot of headroom.
I was present at hornfest this year and had the pleasure of sampling Ed's little speakers there before this as well and I was very impressed with what I heard as my first "full range" speaker. So much so that I purchased a pair of FE126Es and decided to begin looking for cabinets.
To date, the most impressive sound (to me) has come from a pair of heavily modified Decware radial speakers that had a radial driver accompanied by a 126. These would be a Transmission line speaker that was loaded with a passive radiator (I don't like radiators, but loved these speakers). The bass was the most realistic I have heard to date.
I will be driving these with a T-amp to start with and some time next year I plan on buying a tube amp. I am still undecided on which amp, but am leaning heavily towards a Decware SE34I.2 right now. THis is subject to change if the speakers are suitably efficient enough to be driven with a smaller SET like the select or other versions.
I love the disappearing act of the radial design and would like something that can produce that sort of awesome center and separation at the same time. I even built a set of computer speakers that utilized a conical membrane and the imaging from these is great in near-field, but not practical for a room full of sound.
I also have a pair of Silver FLute 8" wool cones for use and I am willing to entertain using either or both drivers or using the 8" in a sub enclosure or even scrapping these to go with another sub if necessary. As you can see, I'm flexible.
Here is what I am after. I have a room that is 22' x 13ft. I want to situate it so that the speakers are firing down the long direction. The listening position would be about 12 ft from the front wall. I like to get my music very loud on occasion. The 100db that Ed's speakers were capable of is far and away loud enough. I would like to have some headroom if I use a sub in order to be able to use this as my home theater speakers as well. The sub will have a plate amp to run and I can work with it separately if that is the best way. No SS receiver or processor for movies, though. Just two channels and a sub if I so choose to add it I guess.
The end question is this. For the ability to listen, would you guys recommend the Frugal horn for the 126 (or something similar) and then just a standard sub configuration using the 8"ers I have? Or would the BIB enclosure work better for the 126 in this application?
I like the idea of using the unobstructed ceiling rather than corner loading to the rear. I have thought of using the BIB design and loading the 8"ers into the bass on the side and bi-amping. Something tells me that this idea won't be the most accepted and I can think of lots of reasons already.
Any ideas gang? I appreciate all you guys do here and have used and passed on many things learned over the years.
Take care,
Robert