Ali Tait visit to Gazjam Towers..

[Covenant]

Jerry
I think one of the best links around building open baffles is Darrel article in enjoy the music. There are many kits I only have experience with the Hawthrone but people Like Steve (SPS) have a lot more experience then me, but if I can do it anyone can.
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/diy/110...o_sterling.htm I use the cheaper Silver Iris version The companys website has a great speaker building forum with lots of friendly advice but between Ali Clive and Steve you have some members with great experience so sure plenty of others to help on AOS too. If you wish I add some links of other manufactures that make DIY speakers let me know

Cheers John, nice to do some background reading. A separate thread from Ali about his experiences of O.B design would be good!

[Ali Tait]

Cheers Gaz, I enjoyed the visit too. Just so everyone knows, the OB's were built by Steve (Aquapihrana) for which I swapped My Fostex MLTL's.

I was particularly interested in comparing the mini t to the bantam golds, as I wanted to find out if I had wasted my money. I was glad to hear I hadn't. As Gary says, the golds are three times the price but not three times better, in fact I would agree that the mini t's are probably better SPPV, but the golds ARE better. Given I wasn't familiar with Gary's speakers, and we would have needed two amps to compare directly on the OB's, I can't give a detailed assessment, but to my ears the Golds sounded better. Not a great deal in it though.

Another interesting comparison was the linear supply on the Touch. Gary asked me before we tried it if I thought it was an improvement, and I couldn't answer as I had never tried the SMPS back in to compare. Well, all I can say is, anyone who thinks a linear supply won't make any difference to a Touch should have been there. The difference was not subtle.

It was a happy coincidence that the OB's seemed to sound even better at Gary's than they do at home, in fact I was quite taken aback at how good they were. This may have been partly due to the fact that we were listening quite near-field as we had them in front of Gary's, from say about 2 meters, whereas at home I'm about 4-5 meters away. This may be why Marco likes the sound of his Tannoys- there's something to be said for listening to large drivers in the near field!

Another possible contributing factor may be the Soundcheck mods Gary has on his Touch. I'm hoping it's this so I will get a similar improvement when I do mine!

As for cables, I wired the system up all with the Belkin cables, and very good it sounded too. We tried swapping the MG's out that fed Gary's Touch from his Beresford for the Belkin, and to my ears I preferred the Belkin. The MG had a slightly more "solid" midrange, but the Belkins were more open and airy at the top end, giving to my ears a better sense of space and acoustic.Quite a surprise I thought, given their respective prices. To be fair though, the MG were 1m and the Belkin 2m, so this may account for some of the difference.

Overall, I was really surprised with how good the system sounded at Gary's. Whether this is due to the rooms or the Souncheck mods remains to be seen, but the day really showed how good the golds and the OB's are. I think we got a superb sound all round. Indeed, Gary commented that we were getting the "You are there" thing to an extent that he's only ever heard twice before, both times at dems of very pricey kit. It just shows what can be done with a bit of DIY,modding and some great value kit. I think it also showed how good the Bantam kit is too. I'd like to hear the monoblocks now!

Just leaves saying thanks to Gary for his hospitality, and for the beer and pizza!

There will be a return match at my place where he's going to help me set up my Touch on a network and do the Soundcheck mods, once I have run the cables that is!

[Clive]

Interesting stuff!

Ali, what's the make up of your OB's? B200 and a couple of Eminence 15" or 18" basses? What sort of sensitivity do you reckon they are?

Cheers,

Clive

[Ali Tait]

Yes Clive, one B200 and two Eminence Alphas per side. Reckon about 95dB or so.

[Ali Tait]

Oh yes, I fitted some Planet10 phase plugs to the B200's. A worthwhile improvement at the top end.

[Clive]

Yes Clive, one B200 and two Eminence Alphas per side. Reckon about 95dB or so.

Should be about right, the B200 is rated at 96db but room interaction will have an influence too.

[Stratmangler]

Looks like a good session chez Gazza

You coming down to the next Owston meet Gary ?
Be good to see you there.

Are you going to be bringing the OBs Ali ?

[Ali Tait]

Yes, I could bring them, though they won't stack up to Steve's!

[Gazjam]

Looks like a good session chez Gazza

You coming down to the next Owston meet Gary ?
Be good to see you there.

Are you going to be bringing the OBs Ali ?

Hey Strat
Yup. I fancy coming along, hearing Ali's OBs has got me curious about what else is out there!

[Marco]

Hahahaha... The rot's gonna set in now!

Gaz, trust me, your current system is on borrowed time and will soon feature strange glowing bottles and even stranger speakers to match!

Marco.