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After years and years of wanting to acquire a zero gravity recliner, I finally thought to check facebook marketplace. No way I was ever going to spend $2-3K for a new one. Long story short, I scored a perfectly new looking chair for $400. That's more my style!
As many of you long timers on here may know, over 10 years ago I worked up a rather serious system based on Raal 140-50, BG Neo10 and Rythmik servo subs. To this day, I'm still very happy with the performance, however the living situation has changed dramatically over those 10 years. A new house with much worse opportunity for a good listening space and my "instant family" (fiance and her kids moving in), have basically kept me from fully enjoying this system for quite a while. After finally acquiring the chair for use in my bedroom, I thought, why not create something specifically for use while resting in the chair and reading. I can't do headphones for very long, no matter how comfortable they are. It just drives me nuts, both the pressure and weight on my head AND the lack of correct imaging. I though back to the 2008 RMAF and remembered that there was a personal listening chair on display that year. I could do something similar, but much higher fidelity.
So, the current plan is to use a spare set of Hypex Fusion FA253 amp/dsp modules, the new Radian LM10n drivers nearly full range, supplimented from 200-300hz down to 80hz or so by an old set of Ascendant Audio Carbon 6.5 I've also got lying around. The plan is to mount the drivers on articulated computer monitor arms from a framework that I'll attach directly to the heavy wood frame of the chair itself. It's the low end that I'd love options and ideas about. I'd like to keep things simple in terms of construction, but willing to think outside the box if anyone has any creative ideas. Ideally something open baffle that could sit just left and right of the armrests of the chair, kind of like coffee tables. Was thinking purely nude drivers, kicked up at an angle to aim directly at me. I could also get lazy and buy the dual 8" Rythmik system, but it's rather spendy to get two of those. They'll likely be within 2-3 feet of my head, so typical considerations for dipole loses and amount of EQ/power needed are greatly reduced. It think if done right, I can get very precise imaging/depth and great dynamics at my position, without too much sound traveling to the rest of the house. The room itself will have minimal effect due to the close proximity and relatively low SPL needed, but as my head will near to the corner, I'll do some acoustical treament just in case.
I plan to experiment with acoustcal felt "cheeks" for the Radian on the sides and top/bottom, a la the foam pads on the Raal, to create wider dispersion (and hopefully knock down some of the top end peakiness), so as I change positions of the chair I don't have to constantly adjust the aim of the mounting arms. If the Radian's top two octaves are not suitable, I can do a coaxially mounted NOS Neo3 or even smaller spiral ribbon tweeter just feathered in to taste. I'm hoping this felt will also provide some additional loading to the diaphragm as Jon has been experimenting with for the Saint-Saen backchamber.
Initial top woofer options are Daytona Ref HF series12", SB Acoustics 12″ SB34NRX75-6, or something from AE, but NOT the Dipole series. I had those initially in the my open baffles and found the Qts of nearly 1 to be too high for my liking. AE does have the LO series, but even that kind of seems overkill for the intended operating range. I was actually looking more along the lines of their IBAU or IBHT series. Ultimately, I'm more concerned with clear and tight bass than ultimate extension. Thoughts on any of these options as a place to start? Or got any store bought options that are compact that you've heard that have nice, precise bass? Ideally well below $1,000 each, because at that point, I'll get the Rythmik.
As many of you long timers on here may know, over 10 years ago I worked up a rather serious system based on Raal 140-50, BG Neo10 and Rythmik servo subs. To this day, I'm still very happy with the performance, however the living situation has changed dramatically over those 10 years. A new house with much worse opportunity for a good listening space and my "instant family" (fiance and her kids moving in), have basically kept me from fully enjoying this system for quite a while. After finally acquiring the chair for use in my bedroom, I thought, why not create something specifically for use while resting in the chair and reading. I can't do headphones for very long, no matter how comfortable they are. It just drives me nuts, both the pressure and weight on my head AND the lack of correct imaging. I though back to the 2008 RMAF and remembered that there was a personal listening chair on display that year. I could do something similar, but much higher fidelity.
So, the current plan is to use a spare set of Hypex Fusion FA253 amp/dsp modules, the new Radian LM10n drivers nearly full range, supplimented from 200-300hz down to 80hz or so by an old set of Ascendant Audio Carbon 6.5 I've also got lying around. The plan is to mount the drivers on articulated computer monitor arms from a framework that I'll attach directly to the heavy wood frame of the chair itself. It's the low end that I'd love options and ideas about. I'd like to keep things simple in terms of construction, but willing to think outside the box if anyone has any creative ideas. Ideally something open baffle that could sit just left and right of the armrests of the chair, kind of like coffee tables. Was thinking purely nude drivers, kicked up at an angle to aim directly at me. I could also get lazy and buy the dual 8" Rythmik system, but it's rather spendy to get two of those. They'll likely be within 2-3 feet of my head, so typical considerations for dipole loses and amount of EQ/power needed are greatly reduced. It think if done right, I can get very precise imaging/depth and great dynamics at my position, without too much sound traveling to the rest of the house. The room itself will have minimal effect due to the close proximity and relatively low SPL needed, but as my head will near to the corner, I'll do some acoustical treament just in case.
I plan to experiment with acoustcal felt "cheeks" for the Radian on the sides and top/bottom, a la the foam pads on the Raal, to create wider dispersion (and hopefully knock down some of the top end peakiness), so as I change positions of the chair I don't have to constantly adjust the aim of the mounting arms. If the Radian's top two octaves are not suitable, I can do a coaxially mounted NOS Neo3 or even smaller spiral ribbon tweeter just feathered in to taste. I'm hoping this felt will also provide some additional loading to the diaphragm as Jon has been experimenting with for the Saint-Saen backchamber.
Initial top woofer options are Daytona Ref HF series12", SB Acoustics 12″ SB34NRX75-6, or something from AE, but NOT the Dipole series. I had those initially in the my open baffles and found the Qts of nearly 1 to be too high for my liking. AE does have the LO series, but even that kind of seems overkill for the intended operating range. I was actually looking more along the lines of their IBAU or IBHT series. Ultimately, I'm more concerned with clear and tight bass than ultimate extension. Thoughts on any of these options as a place to start? Or got any store bought options that are compact that you've heard that have nice, precise bass? Ideally well below $1,000 each, because at that point, I'll get the Rythmik.
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