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Some experimentation done last night with angling the 2nd pair of speakers ....
1) started off turning the top pair thru 90 degrees, facing outwards. Whoa! - vague, billowy soundstage - no real focus to the image at all. A bit like having the wiring out of phase to the speakers. Nope, not for me.
2) Top pair rotated 90 degrees inwards. Ah - much better - a quite impressive 3D soundstage, seemingly quite free of the loudspeakers. But still moderately de-focussed and lacking a little necessary "bite" and clarity at the top end.
The bad news here was going back to pure forward-firing mode - damn, but it sounds 2D and flat now! Who the hell suggested I try this?
Also, with one pair pointed to the sides the tonal balance changed significantlly to the "warmer" side - reasonable enough as higher frequencies are directional and half of them weren't pointing at me any more.
I don't have long enough wiring currently for firing the top speakers backwards (it'll look damn ugly anyway and tonal balance issues may well preclude this) - but in a couple of days I should have some NVA LS1 to play with for this type of thing.
So, given the partial success of option 2), I quite fancy setting a small pair of speakers up (in addition to the current 2 pairs firing forward) but set up so I can point them sideways/backwards etc and see if I can capture that 3D effect without compromising other aspects of the sound. I'd guess they could be tucked away round the back without compromising their effectiveness and so avoiding looking too naff!
Would this be OK for the amps? - say three 8 ohm-ish speakers wired in series?
I'll get some small speakers out of the loft tomorrow to try this unless someone warns me off!
The current compromise is having the speakers face the same direction, but the stacks pointed substantially inwards - a couple of feet in front of the listening position. Seems to get a reasonable slice of the 3D effect without compromising other aspects too much.
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The Quad set-up at SME was something like this. (plan view) I heard it a couple of times.
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Yup, I've seen photos. Of course, the Quads are di-poles, so it's a very different room interaction. And the SME room was HUGE!
What did AR-A's system sound like?
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Never heard, saw or read about this system. My suggestion goes back to work by Ray Allison which I continued in the Cubix and Cubix Pro. To create a massive cinema like soundstage, but with oodles of 3d, the Cubix Pro was three speakers in one box. Eight inch bass / mid at the top firing up, with two further units internally spaced down the cabinet each reinforcing the top one. The three HF units, one forward, one outward and one inward. Speaker had to be placed against the wall for the effect to kick in. Dramatic to say the least. Wired internally in series parallel giving an approx low point on the load of 8 to 10 ohms. Only one pair ever made as it took about four people or a crane to carry them. With those three drivers in unison bass depth and control you would kill for. Image, well it turned the wall into a 3d cinemascope screen, you didn't listen to the speakers you listened to the wall, taking Ray Allisons 2 pi concept to its ultimate. For 4 pi you had to corner mount but that was just tooooo much.
Got a local cabinet man Jerry
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yes it did have electrically operated velvet curtains and several of those full size negro page boy statues carrying flickering flames. I also recall that the reinforced ceiling weighed 30 tons or somesuch amount. It was like a little opera house but was quite a large room. I think the room was probably acoustically very good.
The system when I heard it (around 1990) had an Audio Research SP10 pre & various Krell power amps driving the Quads. I find the Quads rather 'limited' under any circumstances & while this system could go quite loud it rather lacked dynamic range & the ability to reproduce low level detail or instrument timbre. The stereo effect was impressive and it made ARA's beloved female opera singers sound very tidy so I could see why he liked it but for me it lacked drama and the capacity to surprise the listener. I'm sure Quad admirers would have been more charmed by its abilities though.
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Yup, I have to agree - drama and Quad 63s are contradictions in terms, imho - I owned the darn things for 7 years until Proac Response 2 speakers came along and I realised what I was missing!
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