Speakers on a cabinet .. open to suggestions..


So…the current speakers sit in a 40” high cabinet..

There are acoustic panels behind them.  They are  14” from the back wall and about 3 feet from any sidewalls. The room is 21 feet wide, 19 feet deep, 10 foot ceilings..

Behind the main listening area the room is open to the kitchen.

I realize this is considered a very compromised setup, but it’s what I’ve got to work with.

Current speakers are Fritz Carrera B with the rear port plugged.  They are great speakers.  Just curious about anyone’s experience/ recommendations regarding this setup. A rear ported speaker, the port being plugged (too boomy without, and I use a single node DSP for a room node at 60hz) is not ideal so I’m open to speaker    Suggestions.  Not unhappy, just curious about opinions .

 

Solid state Mac mini->D-link router with LPS-> blue jeans Ethernet to ether regen-> optical out to optical Rendu (the ether regen and optical rendu are attached to a crespi LPS from uptone audio)-> audioquest Diamond USB -> Mojo Audio EVO B4B-> art audio balanced inner connect (the Rhodium ones)-> Pass Labs XP-20-> same art audio inner connect-> Pass Labs 150’.8-> art audio speaker cables-> Fritz Carrera B on iso-pucks..also an REL G-2 sub..

reruam

The cabinet if it has a face will act like a beard on any stand mount speaker, that will give a super bass increase because the bass is coming back on the cabinet face. The lack of a narrow stand and the cabinet exacerbates the issue. You say the bass is all right. It's not or the port wouldn't be plugged.

I run up to 20 bass drivers, 12 8" MB and 6 12" OB servo drivers. Not only is there no boom. You actually feel it in your chest, not through your bottom or feet. Very different than a conventional bass systems.. Even than DSP. I use correction from 80hz to 300hz. AND the drivers are direct coupled to 12K amps. No passive XOs. They can't dampen the drivers with passive components in the way. It just doesn't work that way..

One other thing my main listening rooms are around 300-320sf. Not big, not small. The rooms, in the seated position are pretty flat 25hz to almost 18khz @ 90 db

What do you want? I can turn it to 120db pretty easy.. Not with me in the room.

PORTS are a PITA, I'm a passive radiator guy. Small planar and ribbon too.. How do you tune a fixed port to a room? You can't a passive radiator you can add and subtract mass to account for the amp, cable and some room flaws. You can't with a fixed port..

Regards

A - You could not do much better.  You can do different, and you can spend a boatload of more cash.

B - Cross the speakers up higher, say 80 Hz and leave the DSP for the sub.

C - Consider Isoacoustics speaker stands.  They have the ability to tilt the speakers, and they are a lot cheaper than the IsoAcoustics pucks.

D - Depending on the set up you might want to flip the tweeter and woofer around.  Generally, you want to be between the tweeter and woofer axis.  You may find you like listening on the woofer axis a lot more.

Try adding springs under the speakers to decouple them from the cabinet. Search forum for info.

So…the current speakers sit in a 40” high cabinet..

Ain't no way to make that work.

So I’m not upset about the bass..

REQ shows the node at 60 he with a waterfall effect..hence the DSP..the room is actually pretty good otherwise..

My curiosity is about the speakers..

It’s a horrible place to put any speaker, but seems like a rear ported speaker is an even greater compromise.

So I’m looking for actual speaker advice…everything from “you probably won’t do much better “ to “speaker xyz does very well in that type of a position…”

REL G-2 sub.. It sound's like no room treatment or very little and the crossover point needs be BELOW the tuning of the port, not the same or higher.  The back wall you're talking about is actually the front wall. The open back is a big plus, too. You have to understand the standing wave is really getting a chance to work with LONG open areas like that AND high ceilings...

There is more than a 60hz bump I can assure you.. Just a little thinking about points of first reflection and a panel or two. Get some mic readings in the seated position. 

If you really want to fix the BASS issue, loose that type of sub.. You're much better off with drivers not pointing down and using the floor to close the slot..  A single Servo would out perform any of those types of subs for audiophile use. HT that's different.. They work just fine if you want to FEEL the bass. 

I think your compounding the problem, lower the crossover to 60hz or less, and get the subs away from the walls unless you go DBA or Swarm..

Go servo and you may change main speakers later on, BUT you'll be STUCK on a servo bass system forever. You just can't beat them, plain and simple. I've used every kind of BASS system on the planet too.. Maybe a few weren't from this planet.. :-)

Happy New Year..