I've actually only had dipole systems set up in this room. But the room is very reflective without the room treatments. The walls are primarily cinderblock, with stone over concrete floors.
But I did have the room overdamped initially. I replaced the GIK diffusor/absorber panels that I used to have behind my previous dipole speakers with ATS quadratic residue diffusors which I wrapped in fabric. These worked wonderfully behind the dipoles and provided a very deep and wide soundstage with beautiful center imaging.
With the line arrays, the ceiling treatments probably don't make much difference since the speaker's vertical response drops off significantly in the upper octaves. My previous dipoles were point source speakers and the ceiling treatments definitely helped. My ceilings are a bit on the low side at about 2.36 meters (7'9").
The art panels you see on the side walls are absorbers with scatter plates, so they provide a bit of absorption and diffusion.
With your requirements you are more in the sweet spot of the 10" driver. This would allow greater dynamics with the larger diaphragm so I would certainly go with the 10".
Thanks for the explainer Jaytor!
In our living room we like it "minimalistic" and tied up - our 3 daughters gives us enough chaos already 🙂 - so my wife and I agree that there will not be any additional stuffing. A good friend of mine was over here, he has better ears, and while we were playing quite loud he wondered that there was indeed no rambling of the windows, no "energy stored" in the room. Actually, that line arrays expand they need reflective floor and ceiling IIRC.
But if I had the dedicated room, maybe yes, I would try out more room treatment.
In our living room we like it "minimalistic" and tied up - our 3 daughters gives us enough chaos already 🙂 - so my wife and I agree that there will not be any additional stuffing. A good friend of mine was over here, he has better ears, and while we were playing quite loud he wondered that there was indeed no rambling of the windows, no "energy stored" in the room. Actually, that line arrays expand they need reflective floor and ceiling IIRC.
But if I had the dedicated room, maybe yes, I would try out more room treatment.
BG neo-8's would be just the ticket- I was planning to do the same when I bought 20 of them. Check the swap meet where I now have them for sale.
The BG drivers have a flatter response than the GRS drivers, so the crossover can be a bit simpler and you won't loose as much efficiency from having to flatten the response. Another good option to consider is the new Radian drivers.
late to the party I know but after reading through this thred a couple things may help yall with these drivers.
1- multiple times I see guys hoping to take these drivers lower in crossover. Sure you can BUT as cautioned by a few your into rapid distortion increases. ALL these drivers have strong resonant activity at Fs AND ugly wiggles for another octave or so above that. Sure you can cross steep and close to this peak BUT anywhere in those wiggles just above Fs always results in a coloration thats not in keeping with the rest of the drivers freq response performance. The trained ear will hear the color if crossed too low. It looks to me like anything below about 1 - 1.2khz on the neo8 slim for example will be colored. The more you get into the wiggles just above the main diaphragm resonance, the more colored it will be
2- I hear a lot of complaints about the rising response to about 12khz followed by a roll off to 20Khz. This is typical planer FR. Many insist on a separate tweeter and of course I get that. HOWEVER if you can tolerate the decrease in vertical directivity you can easily get a flat FR by using a simple RLC trap circuit. They take a bit of tweaking but very effective to flatten the planer "hump"
3- Another way to get Flat response is to use a "Rake" circuit of simply a coil in parallel with a resistor and often just the coil will work. Now with the Rake you will only have flat response out to the Hi Freq peak wich I think is about 12khz on these? BUT many people really dont need FR much past that and the Rake is super easy to implement.
4- getting the exact FR rake ( a linear falloff from 1k to 10k of about 2 db give or take) on this type of driver is important to achieve their full sonic potential. Just 1db here can take the perf from good to excellent. Wood block is a good test. (try Steve Ray Vaughn Tin Pan Alley). When the rake is right the sound goes from a hifi ish "clack" to a real sounding "clock" followed by proper decay, and male voice becomes even more convincing. Play with Rake to you an your rooms delight
Planers and ribbons have perf high enough that it demands the rest of the spectrum to be closer to right in levels and transparency to get the best overall. This is an area that frustrates many as we have a tendency to believe that 1 db isnt enough to matter. Not so with this type of driver. Sure a blip of 1-2 db might be ok BUT in the midrange an octave long run of even 1/2 db average high or low on drivers this transparent can keep it all from greatness.
Lastly I hate crossovers. This from years of listening with no crossovers from about 350hz on up (large ribbons) and btw experiments in extremes reveal that lowering it to 200 has a much bigger effect than you would think but thats another topic.
Point is if I were using these drivers I wouldn't use a separate tweeter until I played with traps or rakes or both so that I have no crossovers all the way out. If narrow vert dispersion is just too irritating then ya have to go separate tweet but I find the single driver better if tailored FR is right. Just toe speaker in to taste.
1- multiple times I see guys hoping to take these drivers lower in crossover. Sure you can BUT as cautioned by a few your into rapid distortion increases. ALL these drivers have strong resonant activity at Fs AND ugly wiggles for another octave or so above that. Sure you can cross steep and close to this peak BUT anywhere in those wiggles just above Fs always results in a coloration thats not in keeping with the rest of the drivers freq response performance. The trained ear will hear the color if crossed too low. It looks to me like anything below about 1 - 1.2khz on the neo8 slim for example will be colored. The more you get into the wiggles just above the main diaphragm resonance, the more colored it will be
2- I hear a lot of complaints about the rising response to about 12khz followed by a roll off to 20Khz. This is typical planer FR. Many insist on a separate tweeter and of course I get that. HOWEVER if you can tolerate the decrease in vertical directivity you can easily get a flat FR by using a simple RLC trap circuit. They take a bit of tweaking but very effective to flatten the planer "hump"
3- Another way to get Flat response is to use a "Rake" circuit of simply a coil in parallel with a resistor and often just the coil will work. Now with the Rake you will only have flat response out to the Hi Freq peak wich I think is about 12khz on these? BUT many people really dont need FR much past that and the Rake is super easy to implement.
4- getting the exact FR rake ( a linear falloff from 1k to 10k of about 2 db give or take) on this type of driver is important to achieve their full sonic potential. Just 1db here can take the perf from good to excellent. Wood block is a good test. (try Steve Ray Vaughn Tin Pan Alley). When the rake is right the sound goes from a hifi ish "clack" to a real sounding "clock" followed by proper decay, and male voice becomes even more convincing. Play with Rake to you an your rooms delight
Planers and ribbons have perf high enough that it demands the rest of the spectrum to be closer to right in levels and transparency to get the best overall. This is an area that frustrates many as we have a tendency to believe that 1 db isnt enough to matter. Not so with this type of driver. Sure a blip of 1-2 db might be ok BUT in the midrange an octave long run of even 1/2 db average high or low on drivers this transparent can keep it all from greatness.
Lastly I hate crossovers. This from years of listening with no crossovers from about 350hz on up (large ribbons) and btw experiments in extremes reveal that lowering it to 200 has a much bigger effect than you would think but thats another topic.
Point is if I were using these drivers I wouldn't use a separate tweeter until I played with traps or rakes or both so that I have no crossovers all the way out. If narrow vert dispersion is just too irritating then ya have to go separate tweet but I find the single driver better if tailored FR is right. Just toe speaker in to taste.
no , I will check that out thanks
I have done a bunch of home made ribbons and planers with home made "horns". More like crude wave guides. VERY good results wen things are right. The falling low freq response of ribbons and planers really works well in a wave guide of some kind. I have a tiny 3 inch ribbon that can do 300 on a huge horn of sorts BUT quite limited peak volume. With the horn you can get nice flat response from the ribbons and planers without the use of rake or trap circuits and the dispersion match to big 12 inch or 15 inch is improved. I recommend people play with such a design. Often I drive to rear entrance of a local fitness equipment store to get the big cardboard boxes to cut up and experiment with different horn shape sizes.
I have done a bunch of home made ribbons and planers with home made "horns". More like crude wave guides. VERY good results wen things are right. The falling low freq response of ribbons and planers really works well in a wave guide of some kind. I have a tiny 3 inch ribbon that can do 300 on a huge horn of sorts BUT quite limited peak volume. With the horn you can get nice flat response from the ribbons and planers without the use of rake or trap circuits and the dispersion match to big 12 inch or 15 inch is improved. I recommend people play with such a design. Often I drive to rear entrance of a local fitness equipment store to get the big cardboard boxes to cut up and experiment with different horn shape sizes.
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