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Just acquired that set of SoundLab M-2s that were recently up for sale,

76.6.249.42
Posted on October 27, 2010 at 16:56:39
cfb
Audiophile

Posts: 1130
Location: Midwest
Joined: October 19, 2002

Wow, it just goes to show the audio market apparently still hasn't improved much as I was the only interested buyer. I had no competition at all, so it goes, I guess I was just lucky. I was able to get the SoundLab M-2s, a pair of the SoundLab “Sallie” back wave attenuators and three of the RPG 4 ft. Abffusors for less than the retail price of the RPG panels. All used gear of course, but still that seems like a hell of a depreciation curve. I would have thought that there would be more interest in SoundLab esls but I guess they are just too esoteric and too few are aware of what they are? Or, more unsettling has the whole wife acceptance factor, “WAF”, “SAF”, “SOAF” or whatever term you want to use sunk to such a new low that any large panel speaker is now Verboten? Is the market condemned forever to dinky little satellites and hidden anemic sub-woofers until it dies a slow and screeching MP3 AppleI'ed death? Just some rambling stream of consciousness, nothing to see here folks, move along.

Back to the SoundLab Millennium 2.
I still have them in their wood crates and cannot unpack them just yet as I'm in the middle of overhauling the workroom and house painting and maintenance to boot, (sigh) so I can't set them up yet and test them until I can get an appropriate space finished for all the dipole speakers. I am considering converting some space in the barn to audio use but the room is a little on the squarish side at 20 ft by 24 ft, but at least the ceiling is a good 9 to 12 ft. Maybe with a lot of acoustic treatment it might work. Plus the rear wall could have bass traps built-in as that wall adjoins a larger open space 14 ft by 59 ft so the subs, a pair of JBL 2245Hs, would acoustically “see” a larger space than the 24 ft length would suggest. It would certainly give more breathing room for dipoles than the rooms in the house. And, I could put more of the dipoles in rotation in the system. Hmm... maybe.

I know that SoundLabs aren't mentioned much around here, it's mostly Maggies with the stray Quad post now and then, but the SLOG, SoundLab owners forum, lately seems to have tapered off considerably in postings. I hope Roger West's company is managing to survive the current audio market slump. I suppose his new product customers are after all, a rather select clientele and not your typical audiophile who likes to post on audio forums, so maybe he is doing OK? I certainly wish them continued success.

PS. The flash unit wasn't working on the camera and the photo is a bit dark,

 

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RE: Just acquired that set of SoundLab M-2s that were recently up for sale,, posted on October 27, 2010 at 17:34:50
josh358
Industry Professional

Posts: 12332
Joined: February 9, 2010
 Great score. I wouldn't worry about the nearly square room, staggered room dimensions aren't as effective at reducing the effect of bass modes as many think. Placement, treatment, and overall size are more important.

That adjoining space is shouting "infinite baffle!" Then too, I wonder if some of it couldn't be used to expand the listening space. One radical possibility that comes to mind, if you can reverse the orientation of the room, is a planar infinite baffle wall. No need then for dynamic subs. Another is just to send the backwave into it, to return only after a journey of concert hall proportions.

 

Great buy!, posted on October 28, 2010 at 06:44:35
thetintdoctor
Audiophile

Posts: 292
Location: North Carolina
Joined: April 24, 2009
 Famous Soundlab(early) M-2 advertisement:




Awesome grab!(umm, I meant the speakers!) Does she come with them? And is her name S.A.L.L.I.E.? :-))


Since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception...Music,when
combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallor. Man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb. Edgar Allen Poe

 

Congrats, posted on October 28, 2010 at 06:53:50
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37666
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 You are correct that large speakers aren't for everyone. Their loss is your gain! I'm fortunate in that I'm able to give mine a dedicated room as well. As for WAF, I had 2+2s when I got married, so she knew what she was in for from the outset. I've been a planar enthusiast since the mid 70s going from Magnepans to Acoustats and now, Sound Lab U-1s. The only thing I might move to if I suddenly found a wheelbarrow of money would be more power or a larger configuration. A double pair of 945s or adding UB-1s would do nicely.

As for the number of posts, it seems that quite a few here are of folks who are modifying one aspect or another of their Maggies. The only thing I've done to my speakers is replace the fuses with the Hi-Fi Tuning flavor - highly recommended.

rw

 

SoundLab posts and mods, posted on October 28, 2010 at 18:33:46
cfb
Audiophile

Posts: 1130
Location: Midwest
Joined: October 19, 2002
 I seem to recall some postings of hot rodding the back plates some time ago; a replacement to the resistors and some change to the EQ I believe. Plus, one could always beef up the frame for more rigidity. I didn't know they still made the U1Bass panels, but I suppose they were always a special order item.
Anyone ever try adding a plasma / ion super tweeter? Of course, that might prove to be as problematic as blending in a subwoofer. For subs the lower the crossover frequency the better it seems; the old JBL B460 subwoofer had a x/o at 63hz to minimize the interference to the midbass.

 

RE: Just acquired that set of SoundLab M-2s that were recently up for sale,, posted on October 28, 2010 at 18:42:49
cfb
Audiophile

Posts: 1130
Location: Midwest
Joined: October 19, 2002
 I would consider an infinite baffle but the larger barn space is at a right angle to the room. The rear wall only has a 14 ft width across from it and the 59 ft goes down the L shape of the barn, so I'm fairly well stuck with the 24 ft length of the first room, if I use it. Also, I already have the JBL 18” drivers from another project.

 

As to "hot rodding"..., posted on October 28, 2010 at 19:23:23
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37666
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 that is now a factory option that I chose. It involves the addition of Jenson caps, Vishay resistors and Sledgehammer chokes.

Plus, one could always beef up the frame for more rigidity.

The three inch steel tube frame of the U-1 is pretty rigid as is and allows for further damping via filling with sand or steel shot. I don't know how one would add more rigidity to the one hundred pound frame.

Anyone ever try adding a plasma / ion super tweeter?

I don't know of anyone who has attempted such. As for me, I'm a big fan of the inherent coherency of using a single driver. They have response beyond my hearing capability.

rw

 

RE: Just acquired that set of SoundLab M-2s that were recently up for sale,, posted on October 28, 2010 at 19:24:15
josh358
Industry Professional

Posts: 12332
Joined: February 9, 2010
 Well, I certainly wouldn't complain about 24'. As long as you can get the JBL's to mate with the Sound Labs . . . not necessarily easy . . .

 

LOL, unfortunately, no and wasn't the original photo , posted on October 28, 2010 at 19:37:18
cfb
Audiophile

Posts: 1130
Location: Midwest
Joined: October 19, 2002
 from Phil Greenspun?

 

RE: As to "hot rodding"..., posted on October 28, 2010 at 20:05:07
cfb
Audiophile

Posts: 1130
Location: Midwest
Joined: October 19, 2002
 Interesting, in regards to the Sledgehammer choke why not a very large air-core copper foil inductor?
On the frame mods, I was thinking more along the lines of their old wood framed series; which could use a little more rigidity to them. Even with the steel tube frame you might try bracing between the top of the speaker and the ceiling. Sort of like spikes coupling the speaker to the floor, bracing the top frame of panel speakers to the ceiling helps to lock in imaging.

 

RE: As to "hot rodding"..., posted on October 28, 2010 at 20:28:07
josh358
Industry Professional

Posts: 12332
Joined: February 9, 2010
 I've thought of doing the ceiling mount thing with the Maggies. But I can never keep them in the same place long enough. Maybe something like those twist-to-expand columns with rubber bumpers that are sometimes used to support lights? Twist clockwise to lock to the ceiling, counterclockwise if you want to move the speakers.

 

RE: LOL, unfortunately, no and wasn't the original photo , posted on October 29, 2010 at 04:54:31
thetintdoctor
Audiophile

Posts: 292
Location: North Carolina
Joined: April 24, 2009
 I'm not sure about the original photo; I think you're right. I just remember seeing that ad so many years ago and grabbed that photo somewhere on the web. I hoped you would appreciate it :-), as you had all the other accessories. Huge congrats on the speakers: it sounds like you got a fantastic deal!
Since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception...Music,when
combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallor. Man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb. Edgar Allen Poe

 

RE: As to "hot rodding"..., posted on October 29, 2010 at 06:25:17
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37666
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 ...why not a very large air-core copper foil inductor?

That's a great question for Dr. West.

Even with the steel tube frame you might try bracing between the top of the speaker and the ceiling.

With some Maggies and my old Acoustats, that would have been helpful. You could push the frame with a finger and make it rock back and forth. That is not at all what happens with the massive U-1 frame.

rw



 

Probably some concerns over the increase to the retail price., posted on October 29, 2010 at 09:25:24
cfb
Audiophile

Posts: 1130
Location: Midwest
Joined: October 19, 2002
 Erse or Goertz inductors would add $100 to the parts cost over the Sledgehammer coils and that would translate to an increase of around $400 to the retail or maybe they are reserved for the next model upgrade to the back plates?

 

That is a reduced version, posted on October 29, 2010 at 18:29:59
Brian Walsh
Distributor or Rep

Posts: 10768
Location: IL
Joined: December 6, 1999
 of the same on Philip Greenspun's stereo web page. It was never in any Sound Lab advertising.


Brian Walsh

 

RE: Congrats, posted on October 30, 2010 at 13:13:53
telko


 
Have you been a prick your entire life or has it been a progression?

 

Welcome to the asylum, posted on October 30, 2010 at 14:25:26
E-Stat
Audiophile

Posts: 37666
Joined: May 12, 2000
Contributor
  Since: April 5, 2002
 Nice first post.

rw

 

RE: That is a reduced version, posted on October 31, 2010 at 11:49:51
thetintdoctor
Audiophile

Posts: 292
Location: North Carolina
Joined: April 24, 2009
 I had never seen this "Philip Greenspun" website. I can't say I'm any better off for having seen what he wrote ca. ten years ago...

The picture you posted, the picture I got from elsewhere on the web, and the picture on the website are exactly the same size (453x753 pixels). I'm not sure what you mean by "reduced version".

I was commenting in fun and congratulating a fellow member on his awesome purchase.


Thanks for the valuable insight, though. I'll keep a keen eye out for more of your insightful contributions.
Since the comprehension of sweet sound is our most indefinite conception...Music,when
combined with a pleasurable idea, is poetry. Without music or an intriguing idea, color becomes pallor. Man becomes carcass, home becomes catacomb. Edgar Allen Poe

 

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