Open Baffle Convert

I'm a relatively recent convert to OB speakers. Mine use a 5" field coil drivers w coax whizzer and a pair of 12" subs. Love 'em.

Have you guys heard of the DIY OB/Dipole sub from GR Research/Rythmik? Very special!

How far out in the room are you all placing them? The conventional wisdom that OBs require a ton of breathing room has always seemed to me a serious objection, for many of our rooms.

John

Open baffle has rear output which allows the speaker to take advantage of the ear/brain system's abilities to find the source of the sound- in effect, the reflected sound improves the soundstage.

They can make bass too if properly set up. However it does seem that you get the best results if the output impedance of the amplifier is higher rather than lower! A tube amp that does not use negative feedback is recommended- this will put the output impedance in the right range and it will be easier for the speaker to make bass.

I have them about 32" from rear wall. I have used both a small tube amp 3.5 watts per, and a t amp of 15 watts. The drivers are 97db so power is never an issue. I would think putting them too far from the wall would make them less effective. the front baffle is 24" wide

Open baffle speakers load the room differently than a enclosed box. Bass increases rather than decreases as the speaker is moved away from the front wall.

11-19-15: Cjaronica
Open baffle speakers load the room differently than a enclosed box. Bass increases rather than decreases as the speaker is moved away from the front wall.

Yep. Just ask any Magnepan owner. With an open baffle design, the back wave is out of phase with the front, so the closer to the wall behind, the stronger the out-of-phase wave, which cancels much of the bass extension firing to the front.

If I'm correctly informed, the closer a dipole is to the wall behind it, the higher in frequency does the out-of-phase cancellation begin.

I did not realize this about distance and bass cancelation. will experiment. Thanks Although I must say the bass seems fine as is.

I recently purchased a pair of open baffle speakers (Triart Audio) because I was impressed with the open soundstage and highs. But I should have auditioned them with rock music because the impact of drums is just not there. The bass instrument in Jazz music is too light as well, although female voices are excellent. The lack of bass is despite having a pair of 15 inch woofers in each cabinet! Overall, I'd say they are great for classical and jazz music, but not rock. 

True dat. I don't listen to rock any longer so....I find acoustic bass to be great on mine fwiw.