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large woofers, small room, sound quality? [message #46589] Mon, 28 March 2005 11:00 Go to next message
Henry Eng is currently offline  Henry Eng
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
I used to be a deejay so I love large woofers and horn sound in a concert hall or night club. But how do they sound in a typical house or apt, in a room of 15 by 15 or some variation of that?

What do I gain, what do I lose, compared to normal consumer speakers?

I have a 2a3 tube amp and am looking to match it with a high-efficiency speaker. I am trying out the fostex full-range drivers in bass-reflex cabs, open baffles, but one speaker just can't give me the bass I want. How do the PI speakers compare against audiophile type speakers?

Thanks for all your opinions.

Regards,
Henry


Many here use Pi speakers with 2A3 SETs [message #46590 is a reply to message #46589] Mon, 28 March 2005 11:59 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Garland garland is currently offline  Garland garland
Messages: 22
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
My Bottlehead Paramours really sound good with my Pi Theater 4s. I find they produce much more "live" sound than Fostex horns with the same amps (though not auditioned in the same room/system). My room is 14.5'x17.5'.

G.

Re: Many here use Pi speakers with 2A3 SETs [message #46591 is a reply to message #46590] Mon, 28 March 2005 12:22 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Henry Eng is currently offline  Henry Eng
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
Do you feel that you have to sit farther away from the PI speakers than with other loudspeakers you may have used in the past?

How is the imaging? Palpability of voices?

It would be great if I can spin my turntables and mix techno at loud decibels, then at a moments notice lower the volume and change to some Dean Martin or Norah Jones, etc.

Thanks. I appreciate any comment you can provide.

-H-

Come to the Great Plains Audiofest [message #46592 is a reply to message #46591] Mon, 28 March 2005 13:15 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18784
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Any chance you can come to the Great Plains Audiofest? You can hear a pair of seven π's and a pair of two π towers there.


Re: Come to the Great Plains Audiofest [message #46593 is a reply to message #46592] Mon, 28 March 2005 15:45 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Henry Eng is currently offline  Henry Eng
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
Too far for me. Too bad there aren't any audiofests around the East Coast.

Any recommendations on speaker placement for something like the 4PI speakers?



Re: Come to the Great Plains Audiofest [message #46594 is a reply to message #46593] Mon, 28 March 2005 15:52 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18784
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I would put them within a foot or two of the corners, and point them somewhere between 30° and 45° inward. That should sound very nice in your room.


which model of fostex's are you running?? [message #46595 is a reply to message #46589] Tue, 29 March 2005 08:01 Go to previous messageGo to next message
oface is currently offline  oface
Messages: 1
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
And have you tried them in a blh (back loaded horn)?

I had some vintage phillips fullrangers (late 60's early 70's) , and they sound pretty dang thin , congested and not too dynamic in their bass reflex boxes.

So I decided to make some blh's (bk-16's cabs of of the madisound site). I wanted to try the set/ single driver/blh thing out and see if I would want to persue it further.

Well results were great , and I placed an order for some fostex fe166's. I will place them in the same cabs for now, but I plan to put them in a much differnt cabs, ala' something similar to cain-cain I-Ben.

I also have been very curious to trying some pi speakers out. I wil try some 2pi's 1st then jump up form there is I impressed.


If you are decent with a table saw , try making the recommened fostex blh for your type of speaker, giev it a shot, wouldn't hurt. You might be very surprised.


Good luck,,,


chris

Re: Many here use Pi speakers with 2A3 SETs [message #46596 is a reply to message #46591] Tue, 29 March 2005 08:25 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Garland garland is currently offline  Garland garland
Messages: 22
Registered: May 2009
Chancellor
I listen with the speakers about 8' away from me, about 10' apart and angled in to fire directly at me. This is about the same as the Vandersteen 2Ci's that I used with Adcom amps. These Pi speakers are great at all volume levels. The soundstage is very broad in my room with not alot of depth, however. The palpability is great and any flaws in recordings are laid bare. The Theater 4s with their Eminence drivers lack only the slightest bit in resolution; the more expensive models may well prove to be the ultimate. Since these speakers can play quite dynamically, some may find them too "in your face", but I love 'em and don't want music to sound like it's coming from a can, or box! By "in your face I don't mean to imply that the music is too forward; the music is generally in the plane of the speakers but extending often well to the outsides and sometimes the music totally obliterates the walls of the room and transports you to the recording venue, esp. on simply recorded live jazz recordings: my favorites!

G.

G.

Re: which model of fostex's are you running?? [message #46597 is a reply to message #46595] Tue, 29 March 2005 09:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Henry Eng is currently offline  Henry Eng
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
I have the older 208 sigma. Tried it in a back-loaded horn. Construction was too much for me, so I decided not to try a second BLH cab. Also put it into Martin King's MLTL but the baffle step circuit sucked the life out of the driver. I also put it on an open baffle and used a Behringer DEQ2496 to flatten the response and it was OK, but obviously no bass.

I've been thinking of a variation of the Dick Olsher Basszilla, by using an active crossover I can make a cheap bass-bin and use a small open-baffle with the 208 on top. Problem is cheap bass-bin may not match well for the dynamic and fast full-range driver. Costs and space are a concern otherwise I would get the same driver Olsher uses, an Eminence Magnum 15HO.

But if I spend that much money, I might as well buy a kit that has been well thought out so that I can get good results from the beginning. The 4Pi looks to be best bet, although the large 15-inch woofer has me concerned about how it will sound in small rooms of 12 x 12 or 15 and variations of that common to most houses.



Re: Many here use Pi speakers with 2A3 SETs [message #46598 is a reply to message #46596] Tue, 29 March 2005 09:20 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Henry Eng is currently offline  Henry Eng
Messages: 8
Registered: May 2009
Esquire
It's great that you can get your speakers 10' apart. I think I may be limited to about 5' as the width of my room is about 12-13 feet, unless I start re-arranging furniture and such to try and get the longer wall.

Can you describe the sound in comparison to other speakers you might have had or heard? I'm familiar with horns and large woofers, but only at night clubs and concert halls where are normally blasting in your face, so I don't know about their finesse with jazz and vocals.

Thanks for your earlier comments. My credit card is slowing coming out of the wallet

Regards,
Henry




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