Quasars, rooms and stuff.... (BD-Design)
by Belfaborac 
, Monday, October 02, 2006, 07:44 (6423 days ago)
Hello all, first post and all that... :eek:
Just discovered this site a little while ago and I kind of fell in love with the Quasars at first sight. However, I have a couple of questions I hope someone is able to enlighten me on:
1. Are the Quasars very demanding when it comes to space? At most I probably have 3' or so of room behind where they would be placed and my living room measures 3.5m x 7m approx (with the stereo placed on a short wall). Is that enough?
2. My experience with active speakers is nil, so bear with me here... Do I have to run them actively, or can I - somehow - use my current amps (bi-amping as of now)? If I can, will I "lose" anything by doing so?
3. Can the Fostex/AER drivers easily be exchanged for other drivers? I ask because I know people who could sell me other full-range ones at good prices (Tangband, SEAS and others).
Regards,
Bel
Quasars, rooms and stuff....
by Bert , Monday, October 02, 2006, 09:29 (6422 days ago) @ Belfaborac
Hi Bell,
Hello all, first post and all that...
Welcome... 
1. Are the Quasars very demanding when it comes to space? At most I probably have 3' or so of room behind where they would be placed and my living room measures 3.5m x 7m approx (with the stereo placed on a short wall). Is that enough?
This means that you listen at around 2m distance? 3' should be enough at the back (more would be better though) to give the drivers enough air and freedom to have full advantage of an open system.
I would listen in the length of the room though, the more away from the Quasar (similar to any other speaker system though) the more freedom of sound.
2. My experience with active speakers is nil, so bear with me here... Do I have to run them actively, or can I - somehow - use my current amps (bi-amping as of now)? If I can, will I "lose" anything by doing so?
You can always create a complete passive solution where you EQ the bass and cross the drivers. Having the bass active gives you all the freedom to adjust gain and change filter settings very cheap.
3. Can the Fostex/AER drivers easily be exchanged for other drivers? I ask because I know people who could sell me other full-range ones at good prices (Tangband, SEAS and others).
That is the basic idea behind the Quasar, the bass is optimised for the panel up to 200-400Hz (depending on crossover used) so that you can use any driver you prefer as long it is capable to play down to 200-400Hz.
Ciao,
Bert
--
BD-Design - Only the Best!
Quasars, rooms and stuff....
by Belfaborac , Tuesday, October 03, 2006, 02:55 (6422 days ago) @ Bert
Hi Bert and thanks for the reply!
One more follow-up question. What kind of sweet spot can could I expect from the Quasars? While a lot of people put great stock in pin-point imaging, I personally find myself fairly allergic to the narrow sweet spot this tends to require and even more so to the way the stereo image sometimes collapses totally when moving out of the sweet spot. When I am ready to change (or when my speakers are ready to be changed, whichever comes first) I will require speakers which can deliver good sound quality not just in my favoured listening position (some 2.5 - 3m from the speakers), but also behind and to the sides. They'll be placed in the living room after all, and I'm not always alone....
My current setup consists of bi-amped Mirage M3-sis, which I love dearly not only for their sound, but for the way they provide it wherever I may choose to sit in the room.
Bel
Quasars, rooms and stuff....
by Bert , Tuesday, October 03, 2006, 10:52 (6421 days ago) @ Belfaborac
Hi Bel,
The advantage of an open panel is that it creates reflections from the front and the back of the system. These extra reflections reduce pin-point imaging in return for more freedom and a much wider sweetspot.
Less precise though and the image tends to become bigger and wider.
The only place where you can't listen well will be in between the speakers, there is no bass heard due to cancellation of the front and back waves.
Ciao,
Bert
--
BD-Design - Only the Best!
Quasars, rooms and stuff....
by soundcheck , Germany, Monday, October 02, 2006, 11:46 (6422 days ago) @ Belfaborac
edited by unknown, Monday, October 02, 2006, 17:21
Hi there.
There is a nice tool at http://www.pvconsultants.com/audio/reflection/rrc.htm
also working for open dipoles. You could play with it a bit.
My prefered setup in my 7m room:
Speakers are located at 1/3rd of the room size and my listening position is also located 1/3 from the back-wall.
But as Bert said -- 1m should also work.
The side walls are usually less critical due to the accoustic short circuit generated at the sides by an open dipole. o,5 m should work here.
A lot of stuff has been produced by Kreshkov - if you prefer the more scientific apporach 
:
http://www.musicanddesign.com/roomgain.html
Klaus
Quasars, rooms and stuff....
by Belfaborac , Tuesday, October 03, 2006, 03:17 (6422 days ago) @ soundcheck
Hi Klaus and thanks for the reply. Downloaded the tool and although it was interesting to fiddle with, I'm not sure it made me a whole lot wiser... Dividing my room into thirds would be my preferred way of doing things too, at least in a perfect world. However, this is my living room and as such also has to be...lived in. Oh well. However, my current setup (approx. 1m from back wall, 0.5 from the sides) sounds superb to my ears and as the Mirages I now use are also dipoles I hope the Quasars would slot in without much fuss.
As for the scientific approach - I doubt that's suitable for me....