# Open baffle line array (OBLA-33)



## Rob41 (Feb 19, 2013)

I haven't posted here in a long time but thought you guys might like to see my first speaker build.

I don't know if it's inappropriate to link my build on another site, so if it is mods please delete.

Here is the link for anyone interested. http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=643433

[URL=http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/Rob41/media/DSCN1290.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/Rob41/media/DSCN1280.jpg.html][/URL]

[URL=http://s1223.photobucket.com/user/Rob41/media/DSCN1293.jpg.html][/URL]


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## jamesfrazier (Jul 24, 2011)

Those are insane :|...


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## Talley (Dec 8, 2010)

This is the closest thing I can come to describing "True Audiophile" 

lol


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## Rob41 (Feb 19, 2013)

Thanks! I wanted my first build to be something I would keep for years.


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## jamesfrazier (Jul 24, 2011)

Rob41 said:


> Thanks! I wanted my first build to be something I would keep for years.


How does something like this sound?! It must be unreal.


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## Rob41 (Feb 19, 2013)

As you might imagine, this type of speaker lends itself to a very expansive sound stage and is a quality often associated in this design. I was amazed by the sound stage but what really struck me was the other worldly presence. Someone suggested to me that it must be like a wall of sound but that really isn't accurate. It's as if you plunked the band right in front of you. The presence is full bodied yet precisely clear and defined.

I'm not sure if it's because it's a full length line array or because it's mid-woofers are dipole or both. I suspect it's a bit of both and perhaps the fact that it's also MTM, may play a part.

They are essentially a 2.1 speaker as the mid-woofers perform down to 65Hz where the distributed bass handles signals below 65Hz.


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## B- one (Jan 13, 2013)

Wow I may have to borrow those!:devil: is that okay?


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## Rob41 (Feb 19, 2013)

Lol, sorry but I think my wife would have issues with loaning them out. She's a good girl!


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## bigsausagepizza (Feb 11, 2015)

These are amazing! Someday I'll have to make a full length line array. The short lines that I currently have produce quite the soundstage and presence, but these have to be on another level! What part of Northern MI are you from? My girlfriend grew up outside of Houghton, and I'm a troll from outside Grand Rapids.


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## Rob41 (Feb 19, 2013)

bigsausagepizza said:


> These are amazing! Someday I'll have to make a full length line array. The short lines that I currently have produce quite the soundstage and presence, but these have to be on another level! What part of Northern MI are you from? My girlfriend grew up outside of Houghton, and I'm a troll from outside Grand Rapids.


Cool. I used to be a yooper but now I'm a troll too living in Cheboygan.

The thing about line arrays is if you can, you really want to span almost all of the distance from floor to ceiling. This is hard to do for a manufacturer as there are many different heights of ceilings. For a DIY person you can to it easily. Floor to ceiling array's cause the sound fron the ceiling and floor to become coupled effectively making the arrays much longer and virtually eliminating first reflections from those points. I suspect in reality, it just reduces them and moves them back beyond where they will directly interact with the listener. CBT and curved arrays work in a large stadium or outdoor venue and can sound good in a home environment but the full length array for home use allows even further improvements. 

An untreated room is less of a detriment with full length array's but of course, treatments will still benefit them. If you can find suitable drivers with a high enough Qts, going open baffle further increases your odds of getting it right. I.E. less chances to get it wrong. Any two way array will introduce some degree of lobing, but as the designer of the McIntosh array's told me, using an MTM configuration will make the lobing symmetrical which is a good thing. 

I was fortunate to have more than one renowned speaker designer help me with their guidance which is no doubt a significant part of why my array's turned out to be at the caliber they are.


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## RTS100x5 (Sep 12, 2009)

The Dayton PT2C-8 - best tweeter out there IMO


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