Solstice MLTL Measurements

[SnoopKatt]

I recently finished building some Solstice MLTL speakers (parts express kit designed by Jeff Bagby - https://www.parts-express.com/Solstice-MLTL-Reference-Tower-Speaker-Kit-300-708) and some individuals were curious about measurements. I'm in the processing of figuring out active EQ and tweaking the stuffing so figured I'd share!

Right now, they have stuffing spread equally throughout, but have heard that stuffing the top half of the speaker improves the bass (the instructions state to stuff evenly). I don't have a great room to measure in, so I bet I'm getting some room modes (8 ft ceiling). Placement probably isn't ideal either, but sadly these speakers have been banished to the office.

I have a laptop running REW, which is connected to an SMSL M500, which has its XLR outputs connected to a Audiophonics MPA-S250NC.

The measurement setup is shown as below. I have a UMIK-1 propped up on my chair to get close to the acoustic center. I did the same for both the right and left speakers. I used the psychoacoustic smoothing in REW.

Left:

Right:

While Parts-Express doesn't have the frequency response posted anymore, I found the original frequency response tucked away in an old forum post for the Solstice MLTL, which is super flat:

Measuring and building these was a lot of fun, and they sound great to me, but I am definitely off from the original spec. I thought I followed the build pretty closely, but are there any tell-tale signs of me building/measuring this wrong? I'm pretty new to this and happy to learn, so any advice is more than welcome

Thanks!

 

[Music1969]

but are there any tell-tale signs of me building/measuring this wrong?

Distortion plots might add more info to the overall picture?

At 2 or 3 different SPLs like amir does?

Also show FR with 1/12 smoothing perhaps.

 

[Colonel7]

I recently finished building some Solstice MLTL speakers (parts express kit designed by Jeff Bagby - https://www.parts-express.com/Solstice-MLTL-Reference-Tower-Speaker-Kit-300-708) and some individuals were curious about measurements. I'm in the processing of figuring out active EQ and tweaking the stuffing so figured I'd share!

Right now, they have stuffing spread equally throughout, but have heard that stuffing the top half of the speaker improves the bass (the instructions state to stuff evenly). I don't have a great room to measure in, so I bet I'm getting some room modes (8 ft ceiling). Placement probably isn't ideal either, but sadly these speakers have been banished to the office.

I have a laptop running REW, which is connected to an SMSL M500, which has its XLR outputs connected to a Audiophonics MPA-S250NC.

The measurement setup is shown as below. I have a UMIK-1 propped up on my chair to get close to the acoustic center. I did the same for both the right and left speakers. I used the psychoacoustic smoothing in REW.

View attachment 116499

Left:
View attachment 116501

Right:
View attachment 116502

While Parts-Express doesn't have the frequency response posted anymore, I found the original frequency response tucked away in an old forum post for the Solstice MLTL, which is super flat:
View attachment 116500

Measuring and building these was a lot of fun, and they sound great to me, but I am definitely off from the original spec. I thought I followed the build pretty closely, but are there any tell-tale signs of me building/measuring this wrong? I'm pretty new to this and happy to learn, so any advice is more than welcome

Thanks!

That build looks sharp! Thanks for doing this. I wouldn't put too much faith in the old measurement from PE because it looks very smoothed. Your measurements are kind of in-between the typical in room from main listening position and doing a nearfield to eliminate reflections that needs 5 feet or so from reflective surfaces to be able to gate them (quasianechoic). @napilopez had a nice post summing up the premise here. He's really proficient at it and has had a lot of experience with it

 

[SnoopKatt]

Distortion plots might add more info to the overall picture?

At 2 or 3 different SPLs like amir does?

Also show FR with 1/12 smoothing perhaps.

Thanks! Good advice. Will have to do some more measurements soon.

 

[SnoopKatt]

That build looks sharp! Thanks for doing this. I wouldn't put too much faith in the old measurement from PE because it looks very smoothed. Your measurements are kind of in-between the typical in room from main listening position and doing a nearfield to eliminate reflections that needs 5 feet or so from reflective surfaces to be able to gate them (quasianechoic). @napilopez had a nice post summing up the premise here. He's really proficient at it and has had a lot of experience with it

Thanks!

And thank you for the info - I will peruse their posts...

 

[Colonel7]

Thanks!

And thank you for the info - I will peruse their posts...

You should check out this more detailed link from today and the few posts above it about how to do gated measurements. It'll be great when he posts a detailed guide. Wishing I had a Umik-1 right now

 

[sully45]

Thanks for posting. Solstice is near the top of my list for my eventual 2 ch music/gaming setup. Room is small making subs unlikely, so the footprint and F3 are super appealing on this.

I'd love to hear impressions when you finish.

 

[Colonel7]

Thanks!

And thank you for the info - I will peruse their posts...

Have you had a chance to listen and enjoy? How do they sound serious up in your room? In looking at your measurements above it's very consistent between the speakers from 1k and above (and looks like it would sound good midrange through treble) and the other differences in bass and lower mid could be chalked up to not exactly the same speaker positioning during measurement.

 

[SnoopKatt]

Have you had a chance to listen and enjoy? How do they sound serious up in your room? In looking at your measurements above it's very consistent between the speakers from 1k and above (and looks like it would sound good midrange through treble) and the other differences in bass and lower mid could be chalked up to not exactly the same speaker positioning during measurement.

I have, and they are very enjoyable. Probably some of the best speakers I've heard... I haven't been to any audio shows and heard every speaker out there but I've heard a few different showrooms (I recently visited the Schiit showroom in Santa Clarita) and I genuinely think there is more detail and clarity in these Solstice speakers than the sets of speakers Schiit was using (they had some Mirage, KEF LS50, and a couple others). I do not hear any distortion whatsoever. It just seems like recordings play exactly how they are intended to play. No sub needed unless you're a real basshead!

 

[sully45]

No sub needed unless you're a real basshead!

Great! Now I just need for everything in my life to align the next time PE has stock available. Bonus points for beating out speakers auditioned in a highly treated room.

 

[SnoopKatt]

Great! Now I just need for everything in my life to align the next time PE has stock available. Bonus points for beating out speakers auditioned in a highly treated room.

I put my order in when it was shown as backordered, and it eventually shipped 6 or 7 weeks later. I think it's just a running backorder at this point.

I am in the process of adding some room treatment, especially to break up that bass hump. I put in a shag rug from Costco and I hear a difference, so I'm curious to see what that translates to with respect to frequency response. Guessing there will be a smaller hump but we'll see!

 

[sully45]

I'm planning to do room treatment first. Planning on buying 'Bass Eliminator' from a place in the twin cities called Acoustic Geometry. Its 4" bonded accoustic cotton that I'll stuff into 4" panels in every corner I can manage. I'm planning 2" panels at first reflections and hoping that's good enough.

Good luck on your stuff too!

 

[q3cpma]

With such a design, I fear poor directivity.

 

[Balrog]

I recently finished building some Solstice MLTL speakers (parts express kit designed by Jeff Bagby - https://www.parts-express.com/Solstice-MLTL-Reference-Tower-Speaker-Kit-300-708) and some individuals were curious about measurements. I'm in the processing of figuring out active EQ and tweaking the stuffing so figured I'd share!

Right now, they have stuffing spread equally throughout, but have heard that stuffing the top half of the speaker improves the bass (the instructions state to stuff evenly). I don't have a great room to measure in, so I bet I'm getting some room modes (8 ft ceiling). Placement probably isn't ideal either, but sadly these speakers have been banished to the office.

I have a laptop running REW, which is connected to an SMSL M500, which has its XLR outputs connected to a Audiophonics MPA-S250NC.

The measurement setup is shown as below. I have a UMIK-1 propped up on my chair to get close to the acoustic center. I did the same for both the right and left speakers. I used the psychoacoustic smoothing in REW.

View attachment 116499

Left:
View attachment 116501

Right:
View attachment 116502

While Parts-Express doesn't have the frequency response posted anymore, I found the original frequency response tucked away in an old forum post for the Solstice MLTL, which is super flat:
View attachment 116500

Measuring and building these was a lot of fun, and they sound great to me, but I am definitely off from the original spec. I thought I followed the build pretty closely, but are there any tell-tale signs of me building/measuring this wrong? I'm pretty new to this and happy to learn, so any advice is more than welcome

Thanks!

Fun stuff. There's a guy who swapped the tweeter with this: Satori TW29N-B Beryllium. It would be interesting to see how that changed his measurements. Is the original kit an example of a good basic design with excellent speakers? There's something to be said about how this kit stacks up to the five and six figure speakers manufacturers.

 

[Balrog]

With such a design, I fear poor directivity.

Clarification: what do you mean, directivity?

 

[SnoopKatt]

Fun stuff. There's a guy who swapped the tweeter with this: Satori TW29N-B Beryllium. It would be interesting to see how that changed his measurements. Is the original kit an example of a good basic design with excellent speakers? There's something to be said about how this kit stacks up to the five and six figure speakers manufacturers.

That would be interesting to compare! That Satori tweeter is much more expensive so hopefully it does improve things (and significantly).

Nearly a year later I'm still pretty floored with these speakers. Can't say I have much to compare them with in those higher price ranges, as I haven't listened or measured speakers that cost that much. But it's honestly not a difficult kit to put together, and I truly think you won't find a speaker that sounds better for the money (and your labor). Sadly the price has increased significantly but even at the current price ($800 per speaker) I think it's still much worth it.

One EQ tweak I did was I used a HifiBerry DSP module to add some sub-bass, and that really brought things up a notch. It seems like the woofers can play low without distorting noticeably, so while the transmission line design adds bass, eq is yet again our friend

Had a kid so I haven't gotten a chance to do more measurements though. I am very curious to measure the distortion.