I've tended to use a more simple holey brace than the full-blown recommended brace. The recommended brace not only couples the front baffle panel to the rear panel, but in many cases has a cut-out which couples the back of the driver to the rear panel as well.
I've found it difficult in the past to get the depth between rear of driver and rear panel correct...if the brace is not deep enough it doesn't couple with the back of the driver, if brace is too deep you cant get the driver in deep enough to the baffle.
My compromise is to create one section of brace from bottom of cab to bottom of driver (off center to the left) and a second short section of brace from the top of the driver to the top of the cab (off center to the right). Simply determine the depth of the cabinet and cut the depth of the brace accordingly.
Mario
I've found it difficult in the past to get the depth between rear of driver and rear panel correct...if the brace is not deep enough it doesn't couple with the back of the driver, if brace is too deep you cant get the driver in deep enough to the baffle.
My compromise is to create one section of brace from bottom of cab to bottom of driver (off center to the left) and a second short section of brace from the top of the driver to the top of the cab (off center to the right). Simply determine the depth of the cabinet and cut the depth of the brace accordingly.
Mario
It is a little difficult to match the brace to the back of the driver, so I made up the difference from brace to back of driver this way, I made sure there was at least 1/8" difference between the two, put some silicone on brace , small bit of wax paper on silicone then mounted driver-- until silicon set up. done.
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Fitting the brace between the rear of the cabinet and the rear of the driver was a bit of a trick for me when I build my center channel. I ended up cutting the brace a bit short and using a pair of wooden shims with a bit of glue. I screwed the driver in place, then adjusted the shims so that they were nice and snug. I don't think I would have been able to do it any other way - there are too many variables for me to get an accurate measure.
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I've used piano front rail key punchings (shims). Easy to fine tune 
the fit. They're about 7/8" dia. Key Shims – Vintage Vibe. If you know a piano tuner they may give you a few. You could put 2 or 3 stacks in a row.
the fit. They're about 7/8" dia. Key Shims – Vintage Vibe. If you know a piano tuner they may give you a few. You could put 2 or 3 stacks in a row.
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Ok came to a conclusion . I have a new set of MA12p's . the aveburys ARE TO BIG. The very large pensils are also very Large. Damn those braces . So there has to be a Frugal horn to fit in there somewhere . Sharpen your pensils Scott, Dave and Chris and at least show us what they would look like. looking at the pensils in it's iterations you surely have to have thought about this. maybe you even have the drawings in a safe somewhere. the final frugal Horn!!!!!
It's not an official Frugal-Horn, but maybe someone could sim your MA12p drivers in this enclosure:
Pappa's TL
Pappa's TL
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Frugel-Horn for the A12p has been explored more than once, all sorts of reasons we aren’t going to see one. I suggest Pensil or SuperPensil.
I am playing with the idea of Alpair Monoliths (have sketched the one for A10x), but they too arre large, and i would guess, harder to build than Pensil.
dave
I am playing with the idea of Alpair Monoliths (have sketched the one for A10x), but they too arre large, and i would guess, harder to build than Pensil.
dave
Those prices are simply the logistics of hacing to pay for overhead, multiple profit margins, and multiple sets of shipping… your FHXL are direct from the “factory” to your living room. If they were in a retail shop they would be at least $10K. A UK manufacturer was/is charging something like £5k for FH3 (mind you in solid french oak)
dave
dave
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Just spent some time tweaking my filter network for my FH 10.3 center speaker and the FHXL 10.3 left and right speakers. As per usual with my graphs, please ignore the dB scale on the left hand side of the response plots. The point is merely to compare the relative SPL across the frequency range. Listening reveals that these speakers are indistinguishable from one another.
I just keep getting more and more impressed with this design! One thing that stands out: these drivers are very revealing - poor quality broadcasts/recordings just don't get any love. But throw on a well recorded CD or album and they just come alive! Wow!
I just keep getting more and more impressed with this design! One thing that stands out: these drivers are very revealing - poor quality broadcasts/recordings just don't get any love. But throw on a well recorded CD or album and they just come alive! Wow!
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Hi all! Wonderful community here! I'm glad to be able to extend my DIY hobby to this area as well. I just recently acquired my copy of the plans for the FHXL, and will start my build soon. Just found some nice old elm, which should turn into nice front baffles! I'm still deciding how exactly to make the rest of the cabinets. I will try and report on my progress here. By the way, should one make an own thread for an individual build?
Anyhoo, I wished to ask what sort of amplifiers are people using and recommending for these speakers? The thing is, I am currently using active studio monitors with a Khozmo passive preamp. My sources are a Project Debut Carbon with a Hagerman Cornet phono stage and a Schiit Modi DAC. I don't have a speaker amp at all. I was planning on building a tube amp to drive these, and was looking at the Elekit kits in particular. However, at that kind of prices (700-1000 euros) there are pretty nice other options on the market as well. A Schiit Vidar, for example. It's quite different from a tube amp as far as design goes, and perhaps too powerful? Or, offering enough headroom to get the most out of the FHXL?
I apologise if I come across as totally dense, but I have not been in the market for a speaker amp in quite a while, and have very little expertise to try and find the perfect companion for the coming speakers. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Suggestions are welcome also outside of the two amps that I mentioned, they were meant as examples of my thought process.
Anyhoo, I wished to ask what sort of amplifiers are people using and recommending for these speakers? The thing is, I am currently using active studio monitors with a Khozmo passive preamp. My sources are a Project Debut Carbon with a Hagerman Cornet phono stage and a Schiit Modi DAC. I don't have a speaker amp at all. I was planning on building a tube amp to drive these, and was looking at the Elekit kits in particular. However, at that kind of prices (700-1000 euros) there are pretty nice other options on the market as well. A Schiit Vidar, for example. It's quite different from a tube amp as far as design goes, and perhaps too powerful? Or, offering enough headroom to get the most out of the FHXL?
I apologise if I come across as totally dense, but I have not been in the market for a speaker amp in quite a while, and have very little expertise to try and find the perfect companion for the coming speakers. Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Suggestions are welcome also outside of the two amps that I mentioned, they were meant as examples of my thought process.
You want a good amp. People seem to be using a wide variety of amps to drive these. At least 3 “locals” with these and the amps are HK HT receiver, Rotel integrated, and an EL34 SE amp. I currently use a pair of Pass ACA amps… the latest version will hit the diyAudio store real soon now (i have 2 more on the way here). A small but stunning amp — and dirt cheap.
dave
dave