crazy idea - stacking identical speakers (JBL A130ies)

[dasdoing]

well, I see floor standing speakers with multiple mids ans tweeters all the time. you only will have cancelations verticly. nobody listens to music standing. you sure don't want them side by side though.

 

[richard12511]

How many audiophiles are need to stack a couple of B&W 801s?

Is that the B&W 1602?

 

[Doodski]

Is that the B&W 1602?

A 1602 is a fitting name. I would love to hear that 1602 configuration. The 801 in single configuration has a good thump and nice snappy mids and I think a 1602 would be great for loud and proud rock and roll.

 

[DavidMcRoy]

It works very well with stacked JBL 305P MKIIs. Imaging is subjectively very good with the top speakers upside-down.

 

[dasdoing]

A 1602 is a fitting name.

I would call it 80108

 

[EJ3]

I don't see the "way higher price" of a single pair of A170s vs. two pairs of Stage A130s. In fact at msrp a pair of A170s sells for $600, exactly the same as two pairs of A130s. Crutchfield currently has a JBL sale going with Stage A130s selling for $200 per pair and A170s for $360 per pair, so two pairs of A130s cost $400 or $40 more than a pair of A170s. I'd expect a pair of 2.5-way A170s to provide better overall performance than two pairs of stacked 2-way A130s.

Good idea BUT It seemed to me that this person is not in the USA (Crutchfield's main selling location) by them having said: "but the bigger stages like the A170 are way more expensive here". Emphasis on the word "here". To me it indicates that they are not in the USA.

 

[More Dynamics Please]

Good idea BUT It seemed to me that this person is not in the USA (Crutchfield's main selling location) by them having said: "but the bigger stages like the A170 are way more expensive here". Emphasis on the word "here". To me it indicates that they are not in the USA.

Yep, I addressed that in post #36. When asking for local purchasing advice on global forums it's important to include one's location due to pricing variations in different countries. "Here" could be anywhere.

 

[EdTice]

But I do wonder if nine A130s driven by a Denon X-4700H with Auro upmixing would sound better than any $1000 pair of stereo speakers. This would not be an easy thing to test. I suppose to take low frequencies out of the comparison, it should be nine A130s and two subs compared to a $1000 pair of speakers with the same two subs.

If you are going to "upmix," this is a different discussion. If you have an X-4700H, you can use a second set of speakers as either presence speakers (front height) or surrounds, depending on where you want to place them. But you won't stack the speakers. You would want the second set to be a meter or so above the primary set. I particularly like upmixed music and so does my family. Some people hate it. But upmixed music with presence (front height) or surrounds is not the same as hooking up two stacked speakers to the same output.

 

[375HP2482]

If this is for personal listening, the interference issues should be minimal if the speakers are aimed precisely at the MLP.

I would turn them on their sides and stack them, with the tweeters in a vertical line. Not unlike the vertical column modules used everywhere in pro sound these days. Cross-firing them in their normal positions might be interesting too as it would maximize bass response.

Should make for more of everything, possibly a bit more bass extension due to mutual woofer coupling (raised radiation resistance, possibly a slight bump up in the combined LF impedance dips).

 

[Head_Unit]

Can you run them in series?

While the Earth would not stop rotating, due to differing impedances from sample to sample, the engineer part of my brain says [vomit emoji]. It'll work though. Then again, unless* one is slamming the amp into clipping, parallel will be fine.
*ha ha that's a big qualifier though isn't it?!?

 

[Head_Unit]

store manager...lied about everything, when he wasn't threatening me (I was 14 at the time).

Do tell!!! Inquiring attention-span-challenged, reality-TV-warped minds want to know!!!

 

[ahofer]

Do tell!!! Inquiring attention-span-challenged, reality-TV-warped minds want to know!!!

A year after I stopped working there he stole all the inventory and skipped town. Real class act, that guy.

 

[mhardy6647]

Now we're talkin'...

Although the top pair of Nineteens should probably be flipped onto their tops, for best results.

 

[rdenney]

Been there, done that.

Each pair of Advents was driven by its own B&K amp. (The electronics pic was what I was playing with at the time I stacked the Advents—mostly different now). This adds 9 dB of output power compared to one speaker, and still keep each speaker in its operating envelope. My assessment:

Pros:

-sheer dynamics.
-loud.
-no, louder.

Cons:

-be prepared to adjust your head position. An inch makes a difference. But if it’s loud enough, who cares?
-imaging? Uh, no. Not the point of that setup. But the high placement is at least partly to blame.

The preferred approach is to stand them vertically, with the upper cabinet upside down to bring the tweeters as close together as possible. In the horizontal arrangement, the tweeters are on the outside, and about as close to each other as in a vertical arrangement.

The justification is that the stacked pairs did something unexpectedly nice, but 3 dB and more headroom could explain that.

I will stack these Advents again (vertically this time) with the B&K amps, but the main system is running Revel F12 towers in an appropriate placement, now with a Buckeye 502 amp. Those are also loud, but they also do imaging…really well.

Rick “when more is…more” Denney

 

[EdTice]

While the Earth would not stop rotating, due to differing impedances from sample to sample, the engineer part of my brain says [vomit emoji]. It'll work though. Then again, unless* one is slamming the amp into clipping, parallel will be fine.
*ha ha that's a big qualifier though isn't it?!?

I'm not sure the variation between samples matters that much. If you can drive any one of the samples with an amp rated for 8 ohms, you can drive the pair in parallel with an amp rated for 4 ohms. The only challenge is that if either unit is actually defective and you've now doubled that possibility.

 

[EdTice]

Now we're talkin'...

Although the top pair of Nineteens should probably be flipped onto their tops, for best results.

When the speakers are this tall, vertical dispersion really isn't an issue!

 

[amper42]

I stacked a pair of Revel M105 on top of a pair of BMR monitors today and powered them with an ADI-2 DAC FS using XLR "Y" cables to two NC502MP Buckeye amps. It sounded pretty great for a fun hack. The volume increased by 3dB when turning on the stacked M105 speakers. It also added a bit of height to the sound. While I wouldn't run this combo on a regular basis it was fun for the afternoon.

 

[Hapo]

Now we're talkin'...

Although the top pair of Nineteens should probably be flipped onto their tops, for best results.

...excactly...get them 6" off the floor...