where does everyone put there ob stand alone subs?  most (including myself) have them on the inside of my betsys, just slightly behind (about 1').

anyone experiment with behind and or in the corner?
i need to clear out some space to try this.

my maggies like the box sub in corner behind firing 90deg (toward center).  just wondering if the betsys might like something similar??

cheers

I have had my OB subs (either one summed to mono or two in a stereo configuration) in just about every conceivable position at one time or another.

You might be on to something with the 90 degree positioning .....
Pierre Sprey at Mapleshade suggests firing any bass drivers 90 degrees in relation to the main speakers.
Israel Blume at Coincident Technologies mounts the bass drivers of his larger speakers on the sides of the cabinets. Depending on which speaker is on the left and right, the bass drivers can fire toward the center of the room or the side walls.

Both of these guys are pretty bright based on my experience and their opinions are well worth consideration.

Right now in my home listening room I have two baffles with Eminence Alpha 12" drivers in each. I have them behind the main baffles and slightly to the outsides ..... firing toward the center of the room.
Instead of my normal dual plate amp or Crown power amp in stereo mode, I am running everything in parallel from the Decware SE84UFO amplifier with 100 HZ low pass filters on the bass drivers.

While I can't recommend this setup for everyone since it lacks the flexibility of the separate bass amps (crossover and volume), I have it dialed in and like what I am hearing.

Everything, including the bass sounds like it is "cut from the same piece of cloth" .....

However a person decides to position the OB bass drivers and power them, the beauty of having them on separate baffles is that you can optimize the best location for the main speakers as well as the bass.

Win ..... win .....

Happy listening,
Randy

Hi Tim,

The ones I am using are available from Parts Express.

I must admit "borrowing" the idea from Steve Deckert.
At the 2016 Zen Fest, he was doing the same thing with the SO Imperial bass horns in his listening room. Everything was being powered by the 3 watt per channel mono block amplifiers and the effect was absolutely jaw dropping.

I bought a couple of them and made some hillbilly rigged boxes with binding posts to make connection quick and easy .....



Larger photo here.

Parts Express sells the low pass filters in an 80 HZ and 100 HZ version.

Part # 266-446 and Part # 266-442

I wish they had a 90 HZ version which is probably pretty close to the setting I use on my plate amps and Crown amp.
If I ever get the time, I might build one of my own.

The low pass filter rolls off the bass driver at a 12 DB slope.

I have also made a couple of boxes using 13 mH inductors that roll the driver off at a 6 DB slope which produces more bass than the low pass filter.

I really like the effect in my room and would like to market some bass baffles with the low pass filters or inductors built in to the bases ..... but the lack of flexibility (crossover point and volume) keeps me from doing it.

The plate amp(s) or other suitable power amp with controls is a much safer option for most folks.

Happy listening,
Randy

Quote:


Hi Donnie,

Rule #1

If it sounds good ..... it IS good .....  

Happy listening,
Randy

randy

also you can prob build your own 2nd order xo for 90Hz low pass pretty cheap.

thinking ~about:
20mH inductor
156-160uf cap
should do it

Hi Rich,

Good question .....

I haven't tried that yet. Truthfully, I have been trying to keep the Betsy baffles as simple and inexpensive as possible to allow the largest number of music lovers to enjoy them.

Several months ago, I made a pair of tombstone shaped baffles with a Betsy driver and an Eminence Alpha 10" driver in each.
I ran the Betsy full range and mounted a plate amp on the base of each baffle to drive the Alpha and crossed them over at around 100 HZ.



The sound was very good. The bass wasn't earth shaking, but was very fast, tight and musical.

Unfortunately, the speakers were too heavy to comfortably pack for shipping and I scrapped the plan to offer them.

Your suggestion sounds like it has promise to me and if I ever get caught up on current orders (and yard work) I will build a pair to see how they sound. I'm presuming that the Omega speakers use some sort of crossover or notch filter on one of the drivers ..... so I will have to do some experimenting to see what is needed to get a similar effect.

I'm thinking that an inductor (coil) on one driver would roll the high frequency response off on that driver and give the speakers some additional "meat" below the crossover point.

Of course, the price of the speakers would increase for a pair.
Something I have found out is that despite offering several versions of the Betsy baffle in hardwoods and "exotic" plywood veneers, the number one seller by far is the plain old rotary cut red oak plywood stained in mahogany, walnut or ebony.

Just a guess, but I think that since that speaker is the least expensive one I offer ..... price might have something to do with it .....

Thanks for the suggestion ..... I will post results in this forum when the project is underway.

Best wishes,
Randy