I've experimented with an extra bass panel on my L/R front speakers, which are 3.7's. This was an effort to reduce the distortion I showed in post #23, and also to increase the efficiency and max SPL. I simply put an 1.6 next to the 3.7, and used the 1.6's bass panel, driven from its own amp and DSP channel.
Here's a pic showing the setup in my room. Measurements will follow !
Here's a pic showing the setup in my room. Measurements will follow !
Distortion is lower than it used to be. This is 85 dB @ 3 meters. I am very happy with this result 
Here's how the two woofer panels measure summed, and individually. 1/3 oct smoothing for clarity...
Red is the MG3.7, green the 1.6 and blue the summed response with XO points at 120 and 800 Hz.
Here's how the two woofer panels measure summed, and individually. 1/3 oct smoothing for clarity...
Red is the MG3.7, green the 1.6 and blue the summed response with XO points at 120 and 800 Hz.
The two panels combined go flat to 35 Hz. The distortion however goes through the roof below 100 Hz.
I have a double bass array. Some info here:
Post in thread 'The best bass ever heard (and possibly affordable)'
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...d-and-possibly-affordable.392381/post-7202266
I have a double bass array. Some info here:
Post in thread 'The best bass ever heard (and possibly affordable)'
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...d-and-possibly-affordable.392381/post-7202266
Although I have two fully complete and restored mid 70s Quad receivers, with all the SQ, QS, CD4 decoders.... I don't use them.
The sources in my 2 channel systems are... 2 channel. No movies, no surround sources.
I do have a HT setup with 7.0... the main L/R are full range towers.. so no subwoofer. There I play movies.
I have tried surround music... I used to have a litany of Acuras with the ELS system and DVD-A. I found the mixes to be terrible.
So, to answer you question, how I play movies and such sources is -for me- outside of the scope of DIYAudio. There are other sites where I discuss that.
The sources in my 2 channel systems are... 2 channel. No movies, no surround sources.
I do have a HT setup with 7.0... the main L/R are full range towers.. so no subwoofer. There I play movies.
I have tried surround music... I used to have a litany of Acuras with the ELS system and DVD-A. I found the mixes to be terrible.
So, to answer you question, how I play movies and such sources is -for me- outside of the scope of DIYAudio. There are other sites where I discuss that.
I guess we all have different priorities. Mine is to have one setup for everything, from mono to Atmos. Oh yeah - I have tried listening to old mono recordings using only the center channel. Quite different than playing mono over two speakers.
There isn't a lot of music in surround format unfortunately, but some classical music record companies do offer quite a large catalogue, like BIS. I find their sound quality absolutely stunning both in 2 and 5 channels.
There isn't a lot of music in surround format unfortunately, but some classical music record companies do offer quite a large catalogue, like BIS. I find their sound quality absolutely stunning both in 2 and 5 channels.
My surround setup is not a classic 5.1 since the surrounds are placed at a greater angle from the listening position. It's more like the setup recommended for Quad in the 70's. I think it works pretty well, especially on good recordings of classical music where the room acoustics get bigger with this kind of layout. I also have old Quad stuff that has been released on SACD. Some quite awful, but there are some really good ones as well, like Machine Head by Deep Purple, and Billy Cobham's Spectrum. I also have the Genesis boxed set, as well as a lot of the old Elton John, Yes, Beatles, Doors and other 70's stuff remixed for surround. Most of them sound really good, far better than the original stereo mixes I think.
I'd like to do a little update on this thread, because there are updates...
The first thing I did was to expand the front channels with an extra Magnepan 1.6 as bass panel, so now there are two 1.6's next to each front speaker. That goes for the center as well (hidden behind the projection screen). The additional bass panel makes it possible to cross over at 100 Hz without any increased distortion, and the max SPL goes up a little. The system can give me a real kick-in-the-chest kinda feel if I crank it up to 11 !
The first thing I did was to expand the front channels with an extra Magnepan 1.6 as bass panel, so now there are two 1.6's next to each front speaker. That goes for the center as well (hidden behind the projection screen). The additional bass panel makes it possible to cross over at 100 Hz without any increased distortion, and the max SPL goes up a little. The system can give me a real kick-in-the-chest kinda feel if I crank it up to 11 !
I've also switched DSP from Hypex FusionAmp to MiniDSP Flex. That is - I pulled the signal connector off the Hypex' nCore amps, and made new cables with TRS plugs that goes from the MiniDSP. The Hypex' control cable still goes to the DSP module, because it controls the fan, monitors temperature and other sensors.
The new cable looks like this:
The hookup to the MiniDSP
The new cable looks like this:
The hookup to the MiniDSP
I also made all the crossovers with linear-phase FIR this time. It's much easier to integrate the two extra bass panels with the bass panel in the main speaker without worrying about the phase, and also possible to use very steep crossover slopes (96 dB/oct) with no phase shift. The filters look like this. Because of limited number of FIR taps, the lower crossover at 100 Hz is not very steep. The XO points are 100, 350, 800 and 4.5k Hz.
