4XOTop15 & 4XT48 Review

[ewetho]

Well, I got to help barononsteve with his T36's he started with as a proof of concept and after much research settled on our choices from above.

The T36' were not perfect and were made of much cheaper ply (not the Baltic Birch we use now by any means) but were sound and did a nice job. Kept going back to the 21" direct radiators he has and we always had still had questions in the back of our minds. So after serious research on this site and listening to the recommendations of BFM we chose to build 4 OTops, 2 with melded arrays, 2 with flat arrays, all 4 with 3015 Eminence main speakers and 4 24" Titan 48's with 3015LF to match.

You all may know a quite a bit about them with the challenge of the Gig From Hell. But we got 2 with the small chamber and 2 full chamber. Well today was the day we got the full Monty out and went for WAR VOLUME. Pics will be posted later by the Baron. We set it up with the T48' V-Plated double high. The O-Tops double high on the outside edge of the Titans. When you see the pics you will notice a set of B-52 we used to use with his 21's for tops. At one point we thought they sounded good..... WRONG!!!

Remember the pics of the Martin stacks with 6 tops and 4 subs a side??? From 20' they were quieter than the BFM stack from 75 and the bass was STILL WEAKER by a large MARGIN!!!!

What we found..........

VERY VERY clear with very wide dispersion and the worst nodes we could find did not fight itself canceling many frequencies like Martin (following Martin rules as far as I read on the Martin instruction sheets) did, it just got quieter for a foot and then went back and it was bass and tops. Coverage was very even. We had SPL reading consistently over 100 on the low side and up too 114 or so on some really hard hits at about 75'. Bass was clear smooth and present. Not boomy. If the track has weak bass it was noticed but the next song with strong bass was extremely in your face. From 30" the louder songs were consistently about 124-6 db. WOW. Trying to take reading consistently in the upper 120's in the V-Plate made my friend get dizzy and I had to do it for him.

My Opinion is this.......
BFM -- YOU ROCK!!! His Cabs Rule!!!
Martin -- Go back to the drawing boards you have work to do.
Old system 21's -- yeah what ever, your fired! For GOOD!!!
The B-52's are a joke.

What we would like now..... Actually after hearing 1 set and now 2 sets of O-Tops, I would really like a 3rd set not because we need the volume just to extend the array that much further and realize the gains in evenness and color. Could tell they were stressed just bit at times, something that was greatly reduce just adding a second O-Top on each side even before the bass cave of Titans. Then just more just for even larger events.

So to BFM, netwerks, LelandCrooks, and all the others on this forums for your great insight and ideas and sharing of information, Thank You. You guys' help has been invaluable.

Other than some of the highest end rigs out there we have never heard a rig sound so nice and full and for the money priceless.

Oh yeah, from about 45-55' and about 70 degrees off center, through tree canopy and deck not to mention over a car in the way the rig was 114db and clear as a bell and the base was intense but not over powering the tops.

BFM Cabs Loud and Clear!!!

So Bill Fitzmaurice we have but one thing left to say right now.......

WOW!
Just WOW!!!

[Mikey]

Excellent review!

I'm curious about the OT15s. Was the freq range between the mids and highs at all problematic? Did it take more than a little EQ take care of that area, or no?

How's the balance between the four T48s and four OT15s? Would you say that they're a pretty even match, not needing more of one or the other?

[ewetho]

Excellent review!

Thank you.

I'm curious about the OT15s. Was the freq range between the mids and highs at all problematic? Did it take more than a little EQ take care of that area, or no?

Not at all and we wre currently using only the EQ in iTunes to overcome issues (not that there were many).

How's the balance between the four T48s and four OT15s? Would you say that they're a pretty even match, not needing more of one or the other?

Pretty much dead on and like I said I would like a third set of OTop15s not for the added volume only to continue the array and make it even more musical.

Not to say it was not now. From 75' it was one hell of a HiFi to listen to music from. It had the fidelity to allow you to hear all those parts that go missing yet have the pounding bass too. Simply amazing.

I believe that the if you looked up the word crisp in the dictionary, you would find a picture of Bill's melded array. Those things are pretty astounding.

At least until you find the picture of a Flat Array above the Melded!!! Then you know what your missing!

After hearing the difference in color of the flat added onto the top of the melded and continuing of the array and the 15 coming together, to get another 25% in that direction would simply be amazing. I now diminishing returns but not looking for a lot now just an idybit. Heck the rig rivals some of the best indoor HiFi stuff just at 100 db at 75'.

And yes once we get 6 & 6 we will be able to run up the volume too and when we hit 8 & 8 you get to blow away both sides of a large stage.

Yup Nasty good.

[Steve Regier]

As promised here are the pics.

Notes: The Otops were at 40V and the Titans were at 60V

Just to make it interesting we ran the system on my generator as we will be doing Aug28.

My 4 21" direct radiators could never provide the wide and long even bass that this rig provided.

The B52s were not is use.

[Steve Regier]

More pics

[Steve Regier]

We were so inspired that we took the rest of the day and built SWMBO a selving unit.

[Steve Regier]

Excellent review!

I'm curious about the OT15s. Was the freq range between the mids and highs at all problematic? Did it take more than a little EQ take care of that area, or no?

How's the balance between the four T48s and four OT15s? Would you say that they're a pretty even match, not needing more of one or the other?

The tops were at 30% less power than the titans. Freq between mid and high not problematic at all. A lift in the mid and at 2K and beyond, flat. The stacked arrays made quite a difference.

[Mikey]

Thanks for the replies, guys!