Open Baffle Mini's?? Read on ...

[sbisheff]

I've been reading lots of DIY forums and threads lately as well as some stuff on Audio Circle about open baffle. I've seen lots of people doing B&G planars open baffle and though, heck why not try it with the Mini's I have?? It doesn't cost anything and its easy to take the 12 screws off the back of each panel.

Well, I took the baffles off, took out all the padding (which was really stapled in there so took a bit of work) and threw on some CD's. I haven't had a whole lot of time to listen yet as today is my daughter's 10th bday so we've been getting everything ready. First impressions ... OH YEAH!! The soundstage is now HUGE while still having fantastic detail. I think a tad bit of pinpoint accuracy in imaging detail may have dropped down a little but the soundstage is now very large. Before the sweet spot was very small, but very good. Now, the sweet spot is the entire width of my couch!

For 15-20 minutes of work, I'd highly recommend other Mini owners giving it a try and seeing for themselves if its worth it.

And here, of course, are the pictures :D












Scott

[InfernoSTi]

Very nice! It seems that OB is getting more and more accepted in the audio world...I'm pleased you had such dramatic results that you enjoy so much.

Oh, and now you and your audio buddies don't have to wrestle for the "sweet spot" anymore. Gone are the awkward conversations with the lady: "Um, no Honey, it's not like that. We were just seeing who got to have the center seat."

Seriously, what a bargain in terms of "upgrade" cost!!! Bravely done, Scott!

John

[sbisheff]

Very nice! It seems that OB is getting more and more accepted in the audio world...I'm pleased you had such dramatic results that you enjoy so much.

Oh, and now you and your audio buddies don't have to wrestle for the "sweet spot" anymore. Gone are the awkward conversations with the lady: "Um, no Honey, it's not like that. We were just seeing who got to have the center seat."

Seriously, what a bargain in terms of "upgrade" cost!!! Bravely done, Scott!

John

John,

Yeah OB is definitely gaining ground and I can see why. The soundstage it presents is simply ginormous :whoopie: It really matches the sound signature of the X-Voce much better now. It's not as "open" sounding as the X-Statik, but close, and the presentation is much more cohesive than the X-Statik. I'm really glad I didn't sell my Mini's!

You're right, the upgrade cost definitely can't be beat! 20 minutes ... woo hoo! Its tough to get all the felt off the backs though. Its hot glued on, its gonna take a bit of work. And what's great is that I still have very clearly defined bass, its not loose like it can get sometimes with OB.

Scott

[Fatcat]

Very interesting Scott.
I've often wondered what if the Minis had been OB? That had to have been a heck of a chance to take, removing all that stuff. Glad to see that it was worth the effort. Would love to hear them sometime.

Best...Carlo.

[sbisheff]

Very interesting Scott.
I've often wondered what if the Minis had been OB? That had to have been a heck of a chance to take, removing all that stuff. Glad to see that it was worth the effort. Would love to hear them sometime.

Best...Carlo.

Thanks Carlo! The felt was just held on by staples so it shouldn't be a problem getting it back on if I choose to. I'm really gonna give it some more listening but I think this may be the best "tweak" I've ever done. So easy yet such quickly obvious results. I'd love to hear other Mini owners give it a try and hear what their thoughts are ... I'm not exactly super audiophile guy so I could be just be "hearing" things ;) LOL!

I kinda wonder why they didn't make it OB up top to begin with :scratchchin:

Scott

[emac]

I'd tried this a couple of times in the past, and honestly couldn't say that I heard a difference. May be some improvement in spaciousness, but not huge. To me, the Mini's have a terrific sense of space already, though admittedly, I might not be noticing much of a difference because I have the Ninja mods.

But, if you're liking the differences that you're hearing, good for you. That's the entire point of the hobby.

[HAL]

Just a thought, but adding a second ribbon tweeter rear firing would give you a dipole style radiation pattern from about 650Hz and up with the Mini's. It would require a XO mod to run both. :stirthepot:

[sbisheff]

I'd tried this a couple of times in the past, and honestly couldn't say that I heard a difference. May be some improvement in spaciousness, but not huge. To me, the Mini's have a terrific sense of space already, though admittedly, I might not be noticing much of a difference because I have the Ninja mods.

But, if you're liking the differences that you're hearing, good for you. That's the entire point of the hobby.

Hmm, I've got the backs of the mini's where the subs are about 10" from the back wall and its not treated so maybe I'm getting more of a reflection than you were. Just a thought ...

See I've liked the spaciousness in details but thought it was always a bit narrow. It feels even more open and the sweet spot REALLY got bigger. Its almost the entire width of my couch now.

Randy, Techfan, is coming to my GTG and he has Mini's also so we'll see what he thinks about them :rock:

[sbisheff]

Just a thought, but adding a second ribbon tweeter rear firing would give you a dipole style radiation pattern from about 650Hz and up with the Mini's. It would require a XO mod to run both. :stirthepot:

That'd be interesting. Mark was selling off a bunch of these tweets (they're the Genesis tweets if I remember right) on another forum ... I'm sure I could pick up a couple to try it out but I'd have no idea how to tweak the XO ...