I recently have gotten into OB speakers and really enjoying them. Yes size and placement is a large consideration however they bring a lot of joy to music to my ears. I have owned over 50 pairs of very Hi-Fi speakers over the the last 3 decades and there is really something special about OB. But they are not for everyone and while they do many things incredibly well there is no perfect speaker. I am using Hawthorne Audio Rainer MK III.
I have a pair of Spatial M3 Hologram Speakers. I purchased them about 4 years ago after hearing Spatial speakers at AXPONA. I have enjoyed speaking with Clayton Shaw multiple times over the years. Once I heard his open baffle speakers I became highly sensitive and critical of the sound of box speakers. With rare exception many box speakers sound well âboxyâ, nasally , boomy, and have smeared and exaggerated mid bass extension. The Spatialâs do require some experimentation with room placement to get the most out of the bass. I prefer to use stereo REL subs and a pair of super tweeters with mine.
Agreed. I have also noticed the difference in OB as well. I have exceptional box speakers in the living room but find myself listening to the OB 80% of the time. They just sound live, with the 15" AMT (500hz to 40khz) really brings out the subtle details in recordings.
I thought one of the best sounding rooms at RMAF was the Spatial Audio room, with their Lumina L2 servo dipole speaker. The quality of bass was outstanding, along with everything else.
So, I guess the answer is that the model is jazznutâs picture probably isnât open backed. This review mentions that the Ref Mk II is âmostly open back.â
âContrary to makeshift solutions such as ported bass and transmission line designs or indeed sealed enclosures, our cabinet has an open back. As a result, the loudspeaker can breathe, has absolutely no compression and really comes alive!â
I once had floorstanding closed speakers with Podszus chassis like the Zellaton haveâŠthe chassis alone care for an incredibly fast sound, seems even faster than electrostatics because at the same time much more dynamic.
If Paul wouldnât use AMT midrange, an all Podszus design would have been on my wishlist for his new speakers.