Open Baffle Experience

The OB may be out of polarity, but who cares in the upper freq ranges?
You used the term “not in time”.

A lot of folks do care. Magico, Kef, B&W, Wilson Audio, Focal, Genelec, Revel.

Ok @kenjit you seem hung up on the back wave being opposite polarity from the front wave. Then in the other time domain thread you mentioned how all speakers were not right.

is it more important that:

1. The back wave be in the proper polarity with the front wave?
2. Or… that the front wave is in the proper polarity with the signal?
3. Or… does none of it matter?
4. Or… does all of it matter?

 

Magico - See figure 7:

 

Kef see the step function figure:
 

 

B&W:

 

Wilson Sasha (see figure 8):
 

 

Focal (see figure 5):

 

Genelec:

 

 

Revel - See figure 7:

 

 

@coralkong 

 

I switched to OB speakers (Emerald Physics) a while ago, and I don't think I could ever go back to a box speaker. ...they sound absolutely glorious when you get them dialed in. Anyone who tells you differently is talking out of their ass.

With respect to my experience with dipole speakers, I agree completely - very well said!

They need lots of room to breathe and placement can be tricky

I haven't found this to be the case with LXmini + Phoenix[alt] OB-subs; however, the only other OB-like dipole speaker I have experience with is Martin Logan e-stats, and they needed breathing room, critical placement and very limited listening position. The carioid/omni dispersion pattern eliminates those issues.

 

I purchased Spatial Audio X5 open baffle speakers about two years ago and can honestly say I will probably not go back to a box speaker.  I belong to an audio club and have listened to multiple box speakers and some open baffle speakers at their homes and at audio shows and I simply prefer the sound of open baffles.  Of course there are many box speakers that I've really enjoyed and also some open baffle speakers I did not.

But in my opinion the way an open baffle projects the sound reminds me more of how live music sounds.  And bass frequencies just sound faster and more detailed than most box speakers I've heard.  The problem with the bass is not that it's coming from a box it's that most people's rooms have many bass resonances that are difficult to control.  Box speakers excite all six room nodes while open baffles project a figure 8 pattern and only excites two nodes, the front and back walls.  I was astonished how much cleaner the bass presentation was when i purchased my open baffles.  Previously I had used some well regarded floor standers and monitors with subwoofers and could never get the quality of bass I'm getting now.  Also the midrange sounds more open due to the lack of box effect/influence.

It's true open baffle bass is not as powerful but in the case of the X5s the oversized woofer is self powered by a Class D amplifier which includes DSP and a level control.  So I can adjust the bass exactly to suit my preference and room.   I'm getting flat bass into the upper 20s which is more than sufficient for music listening and no longer use my subwoofers as they detract from the bass quality.  If I ever move my system to a larger room I would maybe purchase open baffle subs if necessary.

Nearly all of the audio club members who've listened to my speakers agree that they are special speakers and previously would have never even listened to an open baffle speaker due to previous misconceptions. A few have already purchased them.

It's true you do need at least three feet distance from the front wall but I've also had any of my previous box speakers at least that far away from the front wall and usually further out than that.  I have a difficult room in a basement and have very little need for my room treatments any longer as well although I've kept some on the front wall for diffusion.

@holmz 

Ok @kenjit you seem hung up on the back wave being opposite polarity from the front wave. Then in the other time domain thread you mentioned how all speakers were not right.

is it more important that:

1. The back wave be in the proper polarity with the front wave?
2. Or… that the front wave is in the proper polarity with the signal?
3. Or… does none of it matter?
4. Or… does all of it matter?

Yes I do believe that the back wave needs to be in correct polarity as front. As you know, aboslute polarity is inaudible but with an open baffle, you have both waves occuring simultaneously. It is difficult to avoid the consequent cancellations unless you physically separate the two waves. That is the whole point of having a box. 

Let’s see here — on the dipole side we have Nola, Vandersteen, Spatial, Magnepan, Martin Logan, SoundLabs, etc, and on the other side we have…kenjit.  Hmmm.  I for one would love to see kenjit debate the great minds behind all these very successful speaker designs.  That’d be a real hoot.