Seaton Submersives & Rockport Arrakis & Mira Grands

Mark Seaton

WBF Technical Expert (Speaker & Acoustics)
May 21, 2010
381
141
390
47
Chicago, IL
www.seatonsound.net
Sub measurements & optimization

I had a moment and wanted to throw up a few measurements to show what I did with the 3 SubMersive HP's and how I used the QSC DSP-30 to integrate them in the room. These measurements are directly into the DSP-30 with no low pass in the mix yet:

No matter how good the room, its rare for one location to deliver the entire range below 100Hz evenly to the listening position. Here we can see the response of each location. You can see that my choice of the rear left subwoofer location has strengths where the front pair locations are weaker:
Arrakis-SM-HPx3-01.jpg
Note these measurements are single SubMersive HP's all driven with the exact same level. This is a great demonstrations that location alone can make for gains or losses of 10+dB over limited frequency ranges.

Here we see what happens when you combine all 3 holding the identical levels to the above curves. The orange curve shows a strong cancellation at 43Hz occurring from our starting point. The white curve is the result of adding 6.5ms to the rear subwoofer. The blue curve is the final result after I separately applied a little EQ to the front pair and rear sub, and maybe a couple filters on the set as a whole:
Arrakis-SM-HPx3-02.jpg
 

Mark Seaton

WBF Technical Expert (Speaker & Acoustics)
May 21, 2010
381
141
390
47
Chicago, IL
www.seatonsound.net
Here's one more to show how important the interaction of the subwoofers can be. To be clear, all that changes between these 5 curves is the delay applied to the rear left SubMersive HP. Each subwoofer is producing the exact same acoustic power in every case. I left this one a bit larger for more detailed viewing, we'll see how the forum handles displaying it:
Arrakis-SM-HPx3-03.jpg
 

NMMark1962

New Member
Jun 29, 2013
116
0
0
61
Santa Fe, NM
WOW, looks threatening....just curious, where can someone go to hear the big Rockport Arrakis speakers?? I would love to hear them as part of the list of speakers on my audition list....I suspect that I could see if any of the smaller Rockport's will be at RMAF this year. What I would like to know from people who are familiar with the Rockport line....are the sound characteristics of the speakers the same from the smallest to the largest?? For instance, I am VERY familiar with the Focal line and at one point, I had heard basically every Focal speaker, from the smallest to the Nova Utopia Be, just one down from the previous Grande Utopia Be model....there was a consistent enough sound throughout the range that I would have bought the monster Grande's unheard if they sounded as consistent as the smaller speakers....does this make sense?? Thus my question about Rockport. If one were to love a smaller Rockport, would one feel comfortable buying the Arrakis??? MANY thanks,

Cheers,
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
WOW, looks threatening....just curious, where can someone go to hear the big Rockport Arrakis speakers?? I would love to hear them as part of the list of speakers on my audition list....I suspect that I could see if any of the smaller Rockport's will be at RMAF this year. What I would like to know from people who are familiar with the Rockport line....are the sound characteristics of the speakers the same from the smallest to the largest?? For instance, I am VERY familiar with the Focal line and at one point, I had heard basically every Focal speaker, from the smallest to the Nova Utopia Be, just one down from the previous Grande Utopia Be model....there was a consistent enough sound throughout the range that I would have bought the monster Grande's unheard if they sounded as consistent as the smaller speakers....does this make sense?? Thus my question about Rockport. If one were to love a smaller Rockport, would one feel comfortable buying the Arrakis??? MANY thanks,

Cheers,

I think the dealer nearest you, Esoteric Audio, closed after the owner retired? He had a pair of Arrakis...maybe Cake Audio in CA now? One very, very consistent observation I keep hearing about Rockport is how consistent the sound is across the family...thus, if you are smitten with Rockport and have the room, yes, I probably would take the bet and go for Arrakis.
 

AMP

Member
Feb 27, 2011
299
2
16
Esoteric is still open and the Arrakis are still there. Gary spends most of his summers in Montana, but he should be back in town next week. It's the only pair of Arrakis on dealer display in the US. Feel free to PM me if you'd like more info.
 

LL21

Well-Known Member
Dec 26, 2010
14,411
2,509
1,448
great news...I think Esoteric Audio is in AZ, so not too far from NMMark1962.
 

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