advertisement


Sonab OD-14

jtrade

jtrade

pfm Member
I have this summer added a beautiful pair of teak Sonab OA-14 to my Carlsson mini-collection.

https://screenshot.net/1v4l0h5
Password 1234

I LOVE the look of these speakers : to me they are '70s Scandinavian design icons : I feel sure that Shahinian Arcs must be much better speakers, but they look like very expensive swing bins in comparison !

I like these so much that I am planning a refurb / upgrade process and have been using Google Translate to the max on several Swedish forums.

Phase 1 : replace all 4 tweeters with modern T22 replacement units from Hifikit.se; rewire and reseal inside of enclosures; replace DIN connectors. NB. My speakers have the original (but refoamed) Mk 1 Peerless SC165 6.5" mid/bass driver with Alnico magnets.

Phase 2 : replace SC165 units with SB Acoustics Satori MW16P-8, presently in Falcon Acoustics' summer sale. According to some of the Carlsson cognoscenti, these Satoris are the Holy Grail for the OA series speakers (& also the OD-11 cubes). If I still want more (inevitable in due course) :

Phase 3 : either upgrade crossovers or, possibly, consider going active (could get expensive & unnecessarily complicated).

Phase 4 : fit the Phase 2-replaced SC165 as downward-firing woofers, just as in the next model up OA-116. This will require a custom-made, MDF base board & I would propose to run the bass drivers free from the main crossover, with just the appropriate cap or resistor to limit response above a certain frequency.

Well, no harm in starting with a plan, even if serioulsy OTT compared to my actual capabilities :)

Edit : OA-14 specs etc https://www.carlssonplanet.com/en/speakers/produced/sonab-oa-14/

Edit2 : oops, thread title incorrect <red face>, should be OA-14, not OD-14, pls correct if you see this, mods !
 
Last edited:
Those look really nice, hard to find them in decent shape these days, at least here in the States. Certainly wouldn't hurt to plan on the update/upgrade, would be interesting I would think! And you already have heard Larsen in your space, so an interesting comparison, even if not a side by side thing. Have fun with them and keep us posted!
 
Well, Tim, I was thinking of you and your Larsens just the other day !

I felt my Larsen 4 were very much the most "even & unobtrusive" speakers I have owned : they just stay out of the way, which in some ways is a wonderful attribute.

Are you still using a Uniti as a one box solution, I wonder ? That is an aesthetically attractive proposition if I ever get off my present vintage amp kick (I really must sell a few off soon)...
 
J-My Uniti1 is still in service and doing a fine job. It works well as a one-box solution with the Model 4's.

I will say this though, After having the Uniti1 for about a year, I ended up buying a NAP-100 to see what advantage(?) it might make in offloading the amp portion of the Uniti. In my mind and with my ears, it was a subtle but worthwhile thing to do. If you read though, there are others that think it takes something away from the sound quality of just the one-box setup. Mileage as always varies.

Then about two years into it, I got one of those too good to pass up deals on another NAP-100, and I split it via a nicely made up SNAIC DIN cable, and I use one channel from each NAP-100 as quasi monobloc amps. Yes, sounds ridiculous, but it brings about cleaner drive, just sounds a bit more dynamic and open. The setup takes two shelf spaces and I am pleased. It has been my setup as is for the better part of almost three years, with the Larsens/Uniti now about five years.

I could probably live with the one-box Uniti solution though, after listening to several of the higher end Naim streamers, and the fairly ridiculous prices for them, I see no reason to go any further for myself at this point in time. About the only itch really is moving into the Larsen 6, but seems to me a better switch would be leap-frog the 6 into the 8. That might possibly entail a change of amplifier and I just don't care enough to go to those expenses when I sit and listen and think I really need go no further, this is plenty well good enough! FWIW....Hope everything else is good with you!
 
Thanks for the response, Tim : I would love to hear the Larsen 8 !

And I think I know what you mean about the the quasi-monobloc use of your NAP100s : I ran 2 x Linn LK100 power amps some years back like this after seeing a recommendation on a Linn forum. It makes sense : driving just one channel effectively means that the power supply is doubled in size (very unscientific assessment from yours truly !)...
 
Yes, so would I. Someday maybe-or then again, maybe it is good I just stay away from the Model 8....

The monobloc NAP-100's at first thought was a bit strange for me, as I usually say use the money to buy a better stereo amplifier-or better amplifier/streamer, before doing things like this. But when you end up with a pair for a good deal less than what the next logical step up in the NAP-200 would cost, I thought why not try? I see several NAP-110's being used in this fashion, so give it a go.

After borrowing a NAP-200 later in the game just to do some comparisons, I do like the mono 100's better all around. It isn't any OMG type of thing, more subtle ease of drive, and seems to be a bit more spacious and detailed, again, to my own ears.

Another possible advantage(?) is if I were to step up to the Larsen 6, I could even biamp them with the pair of NAP-100's. The Model 4 only has single wired connections, but Models 6 and 8 can be biamped. I have no idea if this would actually be better or not. All just a bit of conjecture and maybe a lot of foo too.

As to your vintage amp kick, I say who cares, have fun and enjoy it!
 
Update : I never made a single mod to my OA-14s as outlined in the first post, having decided it was more cost-effective to look for a pair of OA-116, which add a downward firing 6.5" driver to beef up the bottom end plus 2 extra tweeters per speaker https://www.carlssonplanet.com/en/speakers/produced/sonab-oa-116/ .

However, these are hard to find outside Sweden in good condition at a sensible price & it suddenly occurred to me that my unused pair of OA-12 have exactly those additional drivers. I also recalled the best setup for my former Kans in my relatively large living room was - most unusually - with them well away from the wall to clear the large stone fireplace surround, but with my now long-gone Larsen 4 in the corners, behind large plants. Peculiar soundstage, but great overall sound for the room.

So yesterday I wired the OA-12s in parallel to the OA-14s (my JVC AX-Z711 can handle down to 2 ohms without problems & the Sonabs are all nominally 8 ohms, so 4 in parallel) & so far I am loving the broad, expansive sound (OA-12s right in the corners behind plants, almost out of sight). Two of my reference CDs are LC's "Ten New Songs" and Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" : they both sounded wonderful, the opera reaching amazing crescendos with considerably less volume gain than with 2.0 (is it +3db with 4.0 ?). My two visitors yesterday evening did not notice the extra speakers and were blown away at the "amazing sound dispersion" !

It's interesting how often people ask what to buy next to get a "bigger sound, but the same" as their existing small speakers, but rarely add another pair - especially as stacked Quad 57s are so sonically successful (albeit very large).
 
interesting, I have something similar. I listen to music fwith a single instrument to full (and very large) symphony orchestra, and I am aware that the sound stage can be quite different for those two examples. To try to accommodate both, I am developing a loudspeaker which will have variable sound staging, I hope. They are going to comprise two mid range units with a Fountek 3cd real ribbon tweeter between them. All these will be mounted above a box containing an Epos 10 incher, per side. Each mid range unit will be fed from a separate amplifier, and the top unit will have its volume set at the power amplifier. All boxes will be closed types, which I much prefer, all except the tweeters, which will have no sides, as they have neo magnets, and need a breeze blowing through (and their temperatures monitored). The four amplifiers feeding the mid rangers are of the VSSA type, with current feedback. Each bass 'speaker in driven by a 300 watt class D amplifier.
 
Just goes to show, one never knows if something will work or how well or not it will, until you try! Fashion be damned!
 
ha ha, yes, never been a 'dedicated follower of fashion'. But would disagree slightly with your idea of not knowing 'til you try: if the science/engineering are known, it should be possible to do something with some confidence. I know about dispersion from drive uits, and how it can affect FR, and how it might dictate crossover frequency, so we will have to see. ;)
 
I should probably have made my response more to jtrade, as that was my intent, however yes, I agree with what you said. Have fun with your system too!
 
Helen Bach said:
interesting, I have something similar. I listen to music fwith a single instrument to full (and very large) symphony orchestra, and I am aware that the sound stage can be quite different for those two examples. To try to accommodate both, I am developing a loudspeaker which will have variable sound staging, I hope. They are going to comprise two mid range units with a Fountek 3cd real ribbon tweeter between them. All these will be mounted above a box containing an Epos 10 incher, per side. Each mid range unit will be fed from a separate amplifier, and the top unit will have its volume set at the power amplifier. All boxes will be closed types, which I much prefer, all except the tweeters, which will have no sides, as they have neo magnets, and need a breeze blowing through (and their temperatures monitored). The four amplifiers feeding the mid rangers are of the VSSA type, with current feedback. Each bass 'speaker in driven by a 300 watt class D amplifier.
Click to expand...

Very interesting project - would love to hear how it turns out !

And ahoy to Tim across the waters...
 
monstrous lie said:
Is the OA-14 model a significant step forward from the OA-5 Type 2?
ML
Click to expand...

It's too many years since I last heard the OA-5 II, but if starting from scratch, I would definitely go for the OA-12 or 14 : next generation drivers with mid/woofer angled outwards (the speakers are left & right handed).

Btw, some prefer the OA-12 to the OA-14 and I would say that they are equally good. If you already own a pair of OA-5, it might be worth restoring them. Plenty of information on the Carlsson Planet website linked above, including its forum (some threads are in English, most in Swedish, so lots of copy pasting into Google Translate required !).
 
That's interesting - thanks!

if the OA-14 cabinets are designated right or left hand, does that mean they are no longer true omni-directional speakers like the OA-5 II ? Are they (the OA-14s) designed to be listened to from a specific position in relation to the speakers?
ML
 
monstrous lie said:
true omni-directional speakers like the OA-5 II ?
Click to expand...

As far as I understand, Stig Carlsson did indeed move away from the term "omni-directional", which can in any event be a misleading term, and emphasised the "ortho acoustic" principles of his designs (download link to an interesting paper here : https://www.carlssonplanet.com/en/d...rs-design-and-performance-principles-english/). The OA-12 and OA-14 were a continuation of his developments & generally accepted as quite a step forward from the horizontally-aligned, directly upward firing earlier models.

There is a new version of the OA-5 (OA-5 MMX) now in limited production ! Swedish only, I'm afraid : https://www.carlssonplanet.com/hogtalare/producerade/carlsson-oa-5-mmx/ . There is at least one long thread on the forum discussing the challenges being faced in getting the balance of the speaker right - it's a work in progress. The flat surface of the OA-5 is much easier to produce in low volume.

As an update to my post of a few days ago, I am LOVING my OA-12 +14 4.0 set up, it really works in my barn-dimensioned living room (I'm not saying it's super accurate, but it is all enveloping in a lovely way, so we are enjoying it at volumes low, high & in-between :)).
 
In the ‘70s I really fancied a pair of OA-14s. A ( better off ) neighbour owned a pair and I was rather envious.
Time passed and I bought a pair of Spendor BC1s, being better off a few years later.
I forgot about the Sonabs until we were invited by the neighbour ‘for drinks.’
He had moved on (!) to a Mini System and the OA14s were shoved behind the sofa, unused.
I wonder if they’re still there...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


advertisement


Back
Top