Berkeley vs. Lancaster

[s1h1]

I was at a friends studio yesterday, and admiring the super reds in the green room. Anyway he's loaned me a pair of Berkeleys.

The low end is going to be too much for this room. I have to use the Quad's 100Hz step-filter to control things, but still need to push them back into the corners more.

How would the Lancaster's bass compare? I don't really have the option to raise the Berkeleys.

 

[Tony L]

I suspect you will find the Golds/Lancaster's bass a good bit leaner. The Berkley has a reputation for having slightly odd port math and too large a driver for the box volume, so dies put out rather too much upper bass (that driver is a lot happier in the Arden). They work in some rooms though. The 15" Lanc is not ported, though it would be wrong to refer to it as a sealed box, the 12" has quite a gentle slot vent and both speakers have the hard-edge cone. I have heard 15" Lancasters sounding very nice in the alcoves of a smallish living room. Due to the smallish cabinet and lack of venting the 15" doesn't actually go very low, which again makes it easier to site. The 12" Lanc is considered the better speaker of the two though as the cabinet size is more appropriate to the driver size, though I've not spent much time with them. Anyway I'd bet either were a lot easier to integrate into a typical room than Berks.

 

[ToTo Man]

I'm no expert, but I believe the 15" MG in its sealed Lancaster box (the vent internally sealed off with plywood) results in a Q of approximately 0.5, which gives a near perfect transient response for the Lancaster's internal volume (which is anywhere between 75L and 100L depending on who you ask!). Compared to HPD drivers or MGs in vented designs, the bass is on the lean side and does roll-off earlier. However, being sealed the roll-off is gentle, i.e. it does not suddenly fall off a cliff, and there is no port to cause booming. What bass is there is nice and quick and IMO is more than ample for modest sized rooms (my room is 4.2m x 3.8m x 3.25m). I had mine on 16-inch stands, 12 inches from the back wall, but well away from corners. So if you plan on siting yours on the floor and near the corners then you should be able to harness more room gain and extend/increase their low-frequency output a little more whilst avoiding unwanted boom.

 

[Tony L]

My first pair of 15" Golds were in exceptionally heavy and solid sealed DIY corner cabs built by their first owner. Exactly as stated above they didn't dig especially deep, but the bass in my typically smallish UK living room was superb. I've never beaten it to be honest, just so tight and controlled and it seemed to roll off at the point I got room gain giving me some very deep yet controlled bass. My current cabs are at the other extreme at about 250 litres, and while the overall sound is bigger and easier, the bass is neither as tight nor ironically, as extended. Infinite baffle cabs do go very, very deep even at a reduced volume. It has to be said standard rectangular Lanc cabs are far less effective than the ones I had, so don't have he control or cleanness, but I certainly think the math that a Gold 15" should be in a 75L sealed or a 200+L vented cab is correct. I don't know the math for the 12" Gold, but I get the impression the Lancaster works well with this unit. To my knowledge it should be a hard-edge 12" Gold fitted to a Lanc, not the rubber edge unit that is fitted to the Chatsworth (Cheviot predecessor), i.e. best to check the right drivers are in the right cabs!

 

[cooky1257]

Plugging the numbers in to winISD. They are tuned to 37 hz. I'd plug the ports and see how they sound. I do think the bass drone has a lot to do with the Berkley cabs.

 

[anubisgrau]

just dont forget that the surrounds that get stiff over the years affect the Fc of the driver dramatically, sometime even lifting it to 80-ish hz or so...

 

[s1h1]

Interesting and very helpful replies. Thank you.

I need to move a bookcase from an alcove over the weekend and see how they go. I may be able to borrow some 15" Lancasters in a couple of weeks to compare.

I've spent all day listening to these. Vocals can seem quite recessed (compared to my little Harbeths) Sitting on the floor helps, so stands may be needed. I am finding myself turning these up more than than my usual listening level.

I'm using a Quad 34/306. The pre only arrived today, but the tone controls have proved invaluable. The stepped volume control is too coarse though.