Audio Nirvana Open Baffle Speakers

Just completed is this pair of Audio Nirvana Super 12 Ferrite Open Baffles.

This pair was my latest version of open baffles and a little more resourceful, the baffles themselves are cupboard doors from a local Restore store for $5.00 each. The base was a end cut of a counter top also found at Restore for $5.00. The cupboard doors had convenient handles built into the cabinet for easier positioning of the baffles.

At any rate this project worked out beautifully, my old Electrohome single ended tube amp is in for repair and I have these hooked  to my Rotel RX-950AX Receiver and they sound wonderful.

These Audio Nirvana 12" full range speakers are simply to die for. I am still waiting to pair this up with one of Audio Nirvana's tube amps which I am raising money for.

Click on this link to help donate. 

So far I have sold enough audio gear myself and have banked $400 towards the purchase of a dream tube amp.

Akai/Foster JMI FE103 Open Baffle completed

I got the Akai/Foster 12" with the JMI FE-103 clone 4" completes today on baffles that have seen lots of different speaker configurations in them.

This set up seems to sound sweet to my ears, the last modification I did was I added a single 22uf capacitor in line with the 4" speaker in first order to roll it off at 900hz. The little 4" woofer was working to hard to reach the lower bass notes and had cone breakup.

I opted to mirror image this pair.

Next Open Baffle Project: Akai/Foster 12" woofers with Foster FE-103 4" clone full range

My next open baffle project will be this Akai/Foster 12" woofer matched up with a JMI Japanese Machinery and Metals 4" full range speaker.

The JMI full range resembles a Foster FE-103 speaker in every fashion. The JMI and Akai are both ferrite magnet speakers. Presently I have them set up on a temporary baffle until I make some new baffles. I am running both speakers without a crossover, relying on their natural roll off, so far this combination is the one I like the best out of the three I tried today.

Of course the finished product will not look like this, this was just a temporary set up to get an idea of matching the speakers and the sound.

I tried these 4" alnico full range also and found I needed to croos them over with a 15uf capacitor, still the 4" speakers shouted louder than the woofer and the bass was mismatched to the woofer output.

Last I tried a pair of Foster FE-163 speakers, these too were much more efficient than the 12" woofers and sounded unbalanced. I think the Foster Fe-163 will saved for a back horn loaded speaker build in the future.

Audio Nirvana Super 12 Ferrite Open Baffles

Lucky me, I have been manifesting a pair of Audio Nirvana full range speakers for over one year and a pair finally landed on my lap today, locally.

These speakers are from David Dicks online site called Common Sense Audio. There one can find all the products that are single driver full range specifically for Single Ended Tube amp nuts like myself.

A friend has a had a pair of the Classic 10 Ferrite  connected to the Audio Nirvana EL34 Single Ended Tube amp, we listened to them just leaned up on the floor and I was impressed with the sound knowing full well a open baffle or a proper enclosure would make these rally shine.

I am super stoked to be writing this blog post as these play in the back ground.

I think the quest for an open baffle full range set up is nearing an end, as these play I now feel I might be selling some excess speakers.

I am glad it is near winter, cold dark and rainy in the Pacific North West as I get to loose myself in the sweet, sweet sound of a Single Ended Tube amp and this pair of open baffle Audio Nirvana 12" Ferrites!!

Finally!!!!! I think I am at the ultimate sound set up to indulge in audio ascension bliss.

Tannoy Oxford Gold Open Baffles

I decided to open baffle this pair of cabinet distressed Tannoy Oxford Gold's. The original boxes were definitely worse for wear and often I found the bass boxy if not boomy due to the ported design of these speakers.

I opted for a really nice 9 ply with Cherry wood veneer. I also decided to invert the tweeter under the woofer like early Mission 700 or 717 speakers.

This is the finished result.

Sound wise these speakers no longer sound confined to the box, bass is much tighter and cleaner but not as low as when in the box. The mid range is more open as the woofer seems to handle most if not all of the mid range frequencies.

Aesthetically these speakers are my best project to date, I love the look of them and the pictures on this site do not give the speakers real justice.

The Journey to Open Baffles and Tube Amps

This blog is a journey into the wonders of hi fidelity. As I travel this path it opens up more and more.

My first memories of hi fi was my dads dynaco tube amp that he built with a pair of AR3 speakers. He had a cassette deck and I used to listen to Simon and Garfunkel Bridge Over troubled Waters over and over through a set of headphones.

My first real stereo was a JVC PC-11, half boom box half component stereo. It was around 20WPC and was pretty cool at the time.

Later I bought a Pioneer turntable to go with this system.

My first set of speakers was a pair of Mission 700S and  we had that connected to a JVC JR-S301 and then some sort of Sansui amp. Both the JVC and the Sansui were great at frying the Vifa tweeters in my missions at that time. Heavy fingers on the volume.

My first decent receiver was a Harmon Kardon HK 380i, a step up in sound and lots of head room. I stopped blowing tweeters.

Next came a Rotel RA-840B amp that ran 40WPC, I chose this over the AR Cambrige A60, although in retro spec I should have bought the AR.I had the Rotel for many years and just recently sold it in the past couple of years.

My next great pair of speakers was a pair of Energy 22's which I had for at least 20 years of which has seen some time on this blog.

It was the first tube amp that really sent me down the rabbit hole. The fidelity you get from 1 or 2 watts per channel can put the biggest monster receivers to shame.

Since being bitten by the tube bug, I have not really cared for solid state stuff and pretty much pass over most of it unless there is an end game for the stuff I pick up.

The tube amp has opened the door to speakers and their design.

In my journey I have found that the early well designed speakers from KLH or EPI with minimal crossovers are the best, after all in is signal in and signal out. Keeping the path of least resistance is the key.

When running a tube amp, speakers need to be over 90db in efficiency and the higher the better.
Another thing I found is horns in the mid range and tweeters give incredible clarity of which paper or domes can not. Some can come close.

Now I am finding that open baffle speakers are really clean in sound and the reason speaker were ever put in a box was to make them a piece of furniture that a wife could like. The bass in an open baffle is really clean as if the box imparts plenty of resonance, colouration and a myriad of other problems.

Open Baffles need a special room or space to work properly. A few things I have discovered in the open baffles is Alnico drivers work best, minimum of a 10" woofer is needed, a 3-5" full range is optimal for the mid range, preferably open in the back to get the proper refraction. I tend to like a horn tweeter to top the music off.

Of the open baffles that I have built to date this Foster Open Baffle is stunning in its' sound. I had to tame the tweeter down a bit with a resistor. The little Foster 8F3 full range is spectacular, a massive open sound stage is presented while the bass is really articulate, tight and clean with the 25E33.

So as the journey continues I have decided to sell off many of my boxed speakers and will concentrate on building what I think from my ears and years of experience some vintage cool efficient open baffles.

Stay tuned I have about six unique designs in my head and the drivers to create the path into this wonderful hobby.

I leave you some things to read and ponder.

Linkwitz Lab conclusion on OB versus box speakers.

Hawthorne Audio on the Art and Science of Open Baffle speakers.

Speaker Projects.

Good luck on your journey and I hope if you read this far try a tube amp some day and if you get the chance a really nice pair of open baffles.

Realistic Minimus 1 Speakers

Another pair of speakers that I picked up today is this set of Realistic Minimus 1. Realistic used really nice Foster/Fostex driver in the early days. This pair uses a 5"alnico full range driver and a nice cone tweeter.

This pair will be cannibalized for their driver and put into an open baffle system.

Coral 10L-17 Woofers

I picked up this set of Coral 10L-17 woofers today in mint condition. These 10 inch units will be used in a future open baffle project. Older Alnico woofers tend to be really efficient and have really nice bass tone.

I have discovered that Coral's, Foster and Fostex drivers are really efficient and work really well in open baffles.

Akai/Foster Open Baffles

Last week I picked up this pair of Akai SW-135 speakers that has Akai branded Foster driver in them.
In the original box these speakers are not much to listen to, in fact they are boxy and not to open on the sound stage.

I promptly removed the drivers and went down to Makers Lab to start my project.

This is the finished product and I think this forth rendition of my open baffle experiment turned out really well.

Once again with open baffles there is a really open sound stage, the three drivers are all designed to work together with minimal crossover which is a 16uf cap for the mid range and a 2.2uf cap for the tweeter.

Bass is exceptionally strong, tight and articulate in these speakers, mid range is nice and smooth and the highs are perfect for a cone tweeter, not as strong as in the horn tweeters.

Best suited with a single ended tube amp versus the push pull tube amp. I am going to keep an eye out for the vintage Akai speakers as they can be had for next to nothing and they have really good alnico drivers in them.

12" Utah Pandore Open Baffles

Another project finished this week is the Open Baffled 12" Utah Pandore speakers.

More bass than the 8" Realistic Americana Open Baffle speakers that I did 2 weeks ago, there is also a compression horn driver for the highs.

these speakers sound very natural and I do not miss the boxed bass that are part of every other speaker.

The results of this project came out much better than my expectations. I am pleased as punch with theses speakers and will most likely keep with the 12" open baffle designs. Although I still have a few 8" coaxial driver that will be featured soon.

And of course these are being driven by a SET tube amp.

Very impressed....

Realistic Americana Open Baffle Speakers

Another idea planted in the depths of November is to start making open baffle speakers using vintage Utah, Realistic, Electro Voice, Knight and Lafayette full range, co axial and tri axial speakers.

The first one I  built was with a full range 8 inch Realistic Americana. I used a nice 3/4 inch plywood with a light mahogany veneer. These are drivers from the late 1960's into the early 70's. Made by Utah and re branded as Realistic. The frequency range is 45-18000hz with pretty high sensitivity.

The legs are from a pair of children chairs that I found at a thrift store.

I got a chance to sit back and listen last night and I liked what I heard. I had to bump the bass and treble for my taste. I found that they worked best around 2 feet from the back wall. I have read that it is best to do an open baffle with full range speakers, simplicity is the key with no crossover phase shift, or in other words coherent.

More to come later on my sound impressions, so far I prefer it to boxed speakers.