Full Range Driver for Open Baffle Speakers (FAST)

[HarryY]

After doing a bunch of reading, watching videos etc.
It looks like Open Baffle design may work for me.

I'm considering two 18" or 15" subs with a 8" or 6" full range (or possibly two) The subs and the full range will be powered from separate amplifiers.
As per the attached drawing it will be about 60" tall and 24" wide

Note: The amp for the full range will be a tube amp in the 30-50 watt range (still to be built)

My question here is what would be a good choice for a full range speaker (or pair) that will work well for this use.


Thank you

.

 

[perceval]

First, only one FR driver per side... unless you plan to use them in 1.5 configuration, which adds complexity and is unnecessary in this case

Can't give recommendations without knowing the kind of XO you will use between them, and the XO frequency you would prefer.

 

[HarryY]

I probably started this thread to soon.

At this point I'm not sure on the crossover since I need to learn
more on open baffle so I can make a good choice on the drivers.

 

[perceval]

Usually, people like to recommend high Qts drivers, but if you are going with woofer support, pretty much any FR driver will do, from smallish 2" to 8" like you mentioned. Do consider that bigger FR drivers will start beaming at lower frequencies, so the sweet spot will be very narrow and you will lose the highs very quickly moving out of that sweet spot.

You didn't say if you are going active or passive XO with separate amps.

You also didn't mention anything about budget allowed.

 

[xrk971]

Almost any full range driver can work as the top in a FAST OB. Favorite ones include:
TC9FD (as used in popular Manzanita OB), 3FE25, 10F/8424, B80, RS100, PS95-8, SB65WBAC25-4, FF85WK, FR58EX, TG9FD, etc.

I just recently made a simple one using the FR58EX with a flower petal shaped baffle and a sub with a 2.1 amp and it sounds astonishingly good for something so simple.

You just need to pick your driver based on preference for its sound. Listen to them here if you want, might help you pick one.

Subjective Comparison Threads

A Subjective Blind Comparison of 3in to 5in Full Range Drivers

A Subjective Blind Comparison of 3in to 5in drivers - Round 2

A Subjective Blind Comparison of 2in to 4in drivers - Round 3

A Subjective Blind Comparison of 2in to 4in drivers - Round 4

A Subjective Blind Comparison of 2in to 3.5in drivers - Round 5

 

[scottjoplin]

I suggest you consider placing subs independently to full range to more easily fight room modes.

 

[Ed Holland]

Following along here - This is almost exactly what I am trying to do with my OB build.

So far, it has the inevitable Eminence 15A woofer, and an old, character unknown 6.5" full range driver per side. Crossover is in the vicinity of 1 kHz (subject to experiment).

At the moment, I'm learning about response measurement, and basic level balancing of the two drivers. Results are encouraging, and getting better with each modification, but there is still work to do, and perhaps different full range drivers to test.

Inspiration was from Magnepan speakers - to build something on the same lines as the SMGa in terms of baffle size, and see how cone speakers compare to panels in the open format. It is also a first foray into speaker building, measurement and understanding.

Need to update my thread with the measurements made this weekend.

Cheers

Ed