Omni 15 Pair - outdoor maiden voyage 6/8/07

Message

Josh · #1 Post by **Josh** » Sun Aug 05, 2007 11:21 pm

Hey All,

built with Eminence Delta15LF Alpha 8MR and Eminence ASD1001/Selenium horn as per instructions.

Run with Berringer EP2500 and 31Band Eq out of Pioneer CDJ100s and mixer.

Set up the Omni's for a friend's outdoor party, playing bass heavy dance music, Dub and chillout.

The speakers sounded awesome at lower levels with a little eq'ing in the midrange. Then we cranked em, and I was surprised by the jump in volume. The Omnis effortlessly reproduced deep bass (eg Dub) and strong thump for the harder psytrance style. I never heard them distorting, even when the levels were quite high.

This design does exactly what it says on the site - an all in one full range cabinet for woodworking newbies. It exceeded my expectations, and also a lot of other people's too - as I got compliments on them from other people who have bought/built rigs - as well as many of the punters.

I'm very very happy with these speakers - thanks a lot Bill!

PS I've even got some unfilled holes in a backpanel, and some slightly wrong components in the x-overs - they still sounded great!

Josh

Wes Whitmore · #2 Post by **Wes Whitmore** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 9:50 am

So if it will reproduce synth bass, I presume that it would handle a live kickdrum, to a decent level? Not floor shaking, but not they way it sounds through a Yamaha Club V 15" 2way either...
Wes

Josh · #3 Post by **Josh** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 5:43 pm

Ive used Mackie active 15s and JBL Eon gen2s - and these Omnis are in a totally different class. They are much louder, and much deeper - while still very clear.

Wes Whitmore · #4 Post by **Wes Whitmore** » Mon Aug 06, 2007 7:55 pm

Thats amazing. I have never seen a full range speaker that ever replaced your basic 2x15 sub. Why aren't more people building these for your basic bar 2 mains on sticks with subs systems? 105dB sensitivity, and enough bass output to run kickdrum though? That sounds great.
Wes

djshortpaul · #5 Post by **djshortpaul** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 2:15 am

Thanks for your review. They're always useful. I might think about building a pair at some point. You mentioned about having a few slightly wrong components in the crossovers. Presumably these can be bi-amped but do they still require electronics inside the cab to do this (like the OT12s)? Cheers.

Josh · #6 Post by **Josh** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 3:46 am

yeah they are 3-way so they would need xovers even if bi-amping.

They hit their stride by about 60-70Hz so I dont think subs would be worth my while building just to pick up the 20-50Hz region, I only missed one note in the whole night, and thats on this particularly deep bass note on a Dub CD with an Explicit Bass warning on the label

.

Still...This design was so good, I've got a tickle at the back of my mind that feels like "...T30...or T36...?" hehe

djshortpaul · #7 Post by **djshortpaul** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:14 am

Josh wrote:yeah they are 3-way so they would need xovers even if bi-amping.

Sorry I should've made myself clearer. I plan to use an active xover but the OT12 plans suggest using a passive low pass filter, even when using an active crossover. I believe this is to increase the mid range response. I was just wondering if there was anything like this in the O15 plans.

Cheers. Paul.

djshortpaul · #8 Post by **djshortpaul** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 4:15 am

Josh wrote:yeah they are 3-way so they would need xovers even if bi-amping.

Sorry I should've made myself clearer. I plan to use an active xover but the OT12 plans suggest using a passive low pass filter, even when using an active crossover. I believe this is to increase the mid range response. I was just wondering if there was anything like this in the O15 plans.

Cheers. Paul.

Wes Whitmore · #9 Post by **Wes Whitmore** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:38 am

I don't remember that midrange circuit in my plans. There is an 8" in there dedicated for the mids, so that's probably why.

djshortpaul · #10 Post by **djshortpaul** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 6:58 am

Wes Whitmore wrote:I don't remember that midrange circuit in my plans. There is an 8" in there dedicated for the mids, so that's probably why.

Yes that makes sense. I might build a pair of these after I do my OT12's. I've been interested in having a Bi/Tri amp system for a while now.

Cheers. Paul.

Tim A · #11 Post by **Tim A** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:02 am

Wes, Josh, and DJSP:

You guys are taling Omni 15 and Omni Top 12. Two different animals.

The Omni TOP 15 does use a filter to increase mids, like the Omni TOP 12.

djshortpaul · #12 Post by **djshortpaul** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:14 am

Sorry. I was the one who introduced the OmniTop into the post. All I really wanted to know is can you connect the amps directly to the drivers in an Omni15 (if using an active x-over) without any passive electronics in between. It appears you can. Although some may prefer to have HF protection, right?

Cheers. Paul.

Tim A · #13 Post by **Tim A** » Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:31 am

djshortpaul wrote:Sorry. I was the one who introduced the OmniTop into the post. All I really wanted to know is can you connect the amps directly to the drivers in an Omni15 (if using an active x-over) without any passive electronics in between. It appears you can. Although some may prefer to have HF protection, right?

Cheers. Paul.

Yes, you could tri-amp them if you wanted. Protection would be in the form of limiters.

Strapping Young Stu · Tue Aug 07, 2007 7:48 am

djshortpaul wrote:Sorry. I was the one who introduced the OmniTop into the post. All I really wanted to know is can you connect the amps directly to the drivers in an Omni15 (if using an active x-over) without any passive electronics in between. It appears you can. Although some may prefer to have HF protection, right?

Cheers. Paul.

If you biamp/triamp you are less likely to need HF protection. Most of the time you blow HFs because the bass end of your system ends up clipping your amp which causes distortion in your HF. With separate amps the bass amp could be clipping all day long but your HFs wont skip a beat. Clip your mixer or crossover however and its a different story!

Stu

Josh · #15 Post by **Josh** » Mon Sep 24, 2007 6:31 am

Used the pair of O15s again at an outdoor psytrance party - this time at higher volume and some completely arbitrary EQ setting. Speakers were extremely loud and clear all night and through the next day on about 250WRMS/side. I got several compliments from people who have heard a lot of rigs playing similar music. Their mid-range response was a particular talking point - and was an obvious difference between my speakers and those of some friends who have a pair of 2-way 15s and2 *1 18subs that were set up with my rig (I know thats naughty, but it was their party, I was just supplying some extra volume).

I'm very happy with these speakers

If I weren't buying a house, I'd be buying the plans for T30s

(I know thats the wrong thing to do, but the O15 design is so good, Im itching to hear a big BFM sub

)

Josh