Fostex 166ES-R BLH
: http://home.earthlink.net/~conartonj/
I've had these up and running since last April.
These are my first attempt at building a serious BLH.
I used Baltic Birch ply wood, wood dowels and biscuits
and no metal fasteners at all.
Sound; a midrange to die for, extended highs and
great bass power that lets you follow along easily
with great drive and dynamic power.
If I could get my hands on another pair of drivers I would
stash them away. Can you tell I love these.
driving them with 8 watts of 300B power also pictured.
: http://home.earthlink.net/~conartonj/
I've had these up and running since last April.
These are my first attempt at building a serious BLH.
I used Baltic Birch ply wood, wood dowels and biscuits
and no metal fasteners at all.
Sound; a midrange to die for, extended highs and
great bass power that lets you follow along easily
with great drive and dynamic power.
If I could get my hands on another pair of drivers I would
stash them away. Can you tell I love these.
driving them with 8 watts of 300B power also pictured.
Attachments
Time to share mine, right out of the workshop (the varnish is still a wee-bit fresh) 
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Hi Simpleton
After looking at your speakers I got curious about the drivers, they seem to be three way, with the midrange and tweeter installed on the oval woofer.
What kind are they, at first they reminded me the ovals KEF 139
but of course, they are not. Or are they KEF's but another more
recent model?
Não dá para distinguir o nome que está no woofer....
Thanks for informing me, obrigado....
After looking at your speakers I got curious about the drivers, they seem to be three way, with the midrange and tweeter installed on the oval woofer.
What kind are they, at first they reminded me the ovals KEF 139
but of course, they are not. Or are they KEF's but another more
recent model?
Não dá para distinguir o nome que está no woofer....
Thanks for informing me, obrigado....
Jmateus, the drivers are from BM Boschamnn , for car use, 4-way XLR-9948. I haven't listened to them yet, but will post my impressions in this thread
Se precisar de mais alguma coisa, é só dizer
Se precisar de mais alguma coisa, é só dizer
Jrook,
That has to be amongst the nicest looking speaker cabinet I've ever seen in plywood. Really, that rear horn looks sweet!
I hate working with the stuff but perhaps it is because I've never used 'good' plywood. The only stuff I've used has voids and comes apart and makes messy ragged edges. As a result I stay completely away from plywood. I like MDF for it's affordability, machinability and damping qualities, shrinkage, dust and fragility issues aside.
That has to be amongst the nicest looking speaker cabinet I've ever seen in plywood. Really, that rear horn looks sweet!
I hate working with the stuff but perhaps it is because I've never used 'good' plywood. The only stuff I've used has voids and comes apart and makes messy ragged edges. As a result I stay completely away from plywood. I like MDF for it's affordability, machinability and damping qualities, shrinkage, dust and fragility issues aside.
rcavictim,
Thanks for the compliment. I originally built up a set of cabinets out of MDF as a practice run just to work out the kinks. I listened to them for about 60 days but they sounded...... lifeless, uninvolving etc. I was fortunate enough to find some top of the line furniture grade baltic burch plywood for less than the cost of the MDF. It was an overun that was ordered by a contractor that didn't need the whole lot. This was the smoothest perfectly void free wood I ever saw. The difference in the sound quality was night and day. After a few hundred hours the speakers really came to life. I thought maybe the drivers themselves breaking in was the factor for the dramatic sound improvement so I swapped them back into the MDF cabinets and the same old lifeless sound remained. I was floored!! I couldn't believe the material I chose could make such a huge difference. I have read a few posts that have strongly advised against the use of MDF but I never thought there would be such a drasitic difference in the sound.
Cheers,
Jrook
Thanks for the compliment. I originally built up a set of cabinets out of MDF as a practice run just to work out the kinks. I listened to them for about 60 days but they sounded...... lifeless, uninvolving etc. I was fortunate enough to find some top of the line furniture grade baltic burch plywood for less than the cost of the MDF. It was an overun that was ordered by a contractor that didn't need the whole lot. This was the smoothest perfectly void free wood I ever saw. The difference in the sound quality was night and day. After a few hundred hours the speakers really came to life. I thought maybe the drivers themselves breaking in was the factor for the dramatic sound improvement so I swapped them back into the MDF cabinets and the same old lifeless sound remained. I was floored!! I couldn't believe the material I chose could make such a huge difference. I have read a few posts that have strongly advised against the use of MDF but I never thought there would be such a drasitic difference in the sound.
Cheers,
Jrook
Simpleton
Thanks for the information, in fact I didn't know the brand name,
being more aquainted with drivers for home use I feel a little
aqwuard and away from car speakers.
But anyway it's good to know these things and not to mix up
Kefs with car speakers....
Thanks and.....keep it going, nothing like a diyer in this life,
what I wonder sometimes is almost everything is imported in Portugal, right? In my time there, only the rich could afford certain
things and those were really expensive. Now is different and I get surprised every day with things that I never heard of.
Enfim, é a vida, e ela muda constantemente para todos, agora
que a economia global assiste e confunde todos os países.
Uma coisa nunca muda, é a paixão pelo futebol, o Benfica enfim!
Perdoe-me se não for, todos têm o direito ao seu clube, e eu,
depois de 35 anos neste país, continuo a ser um adepto...
É também a vida!
Cheers
Thanks for the information, in fact I didn't know the brand name,
being more aquainted with drivers for home use I feel a little
aqwuard and away from car speakers.
But anyway it's good to know these things and not to mix up
Kefs with car speakers....
Thanks and.....keep it going, nothing like a diyer in this life,
what I wonder sometimes is almost everything is imported in Portugal, right? In my time there, only the rich could afford certain
things and those were really expensive. Now is different and I get surprised every day with things that I never heard of.
Enfim, é a vida, e ela muda constantemente para todos, agora
que a economia global assiste e confunde todos os países.
Uma coisa nunca muda, é a paixão pelo futebol, o Benfica enfim!
Perdoe-me se não for, todos têm o direito ao seu clube, e eu,
depois de 35 anos neste país, continuo a ser um adepto...
É também a vida!
Cheers
Infelizmente por cá é assim, tudo importado... é por isso que a economia vai de mal a pior É a vida!
Quanto ao futebol, não se preocupe, não sou grande fã por isso está à vontade. Ao menos é um elo que temos, por vezes o único, com o nosso país.
I'm a bit more at ease with car-audio, as it's my basic starting point, having a friend that knows a lot about the subject (and home audio too) and i'm pretty munch on the early learning stage.
I'll keep DIYing, don't worry, it's one of the good things in this life.
Um abraço e um Santo Natal!
É a vida!Quanto ao futebol, não se preocupe, não sou grande fã
por isso está à vontade. Ao menos é um elo que temos, por vezes o único, com o nosso país.I'm a bit more at ease with car-audio, as it's my basic starting point, having a friend that knows a lot about the subject (and home audio too
) and i'm pretty munch on the early learning stage.I'll keep DIYing, don't worry, it's one of the good things in this life.
Um abraço e um Santo Natal!
Jrook said:rcavictim,
Thanks for the compliment. I originally built up a set of cabinets out of MDF as a practice run just to work out the kinks. I listened to them for about 60 days but they sounded...... lifeless, uninvolving etc. I was fortunate enough to find some top of the line furniture grade baltic burch plywood for less than the cost of the MDF. It was an overun that was ordered by a contractor that didn't need the whole lot. This was the smoothest perfectly void free wood I ever saw. The difference in the sound quality was night and day. After a few hundred hours the speakers really came to life. I thought maybe the drivers themselves breaking in was the factor for the dramatic sound improvement so I swapped them back into the MDF cabinets and the same old lifeless sound remained. I was floored!! I couldn't believe the material I chose could make such a huge difference. I have read a few posts that have strongly advised against the use of MDF but I never thought there would be such a drasitic difference in the sound.
Cheers,
Jrook
Sounds like you got a real deal on that plywood. I sure wood like to know (sp. pun intended) what is the reason behind your discovery that the MDF cabinet sounds lifeless and the Baltic Birch ply version is musical. I know that the use of certain woods, chosen for their resonance qualities is essential in the manufacture of some musical instruments where the vibration of the case itself contributes to the harmonic tone structure of the instrument, but that is the opposite of what we want in a good loudspeaker cabinet. In this instance, as we know, we strive to avoid cabinet vibrations and resulting 'colorations'. Still in the end the proof is in the pudding and if the plywood cabinets make magic for you and the MDF ones miss the mark then you should IMO consider yourself very fortunate having been sucessful in your goal after making only two practice cabinets. Magic tone in audio is elusive, but well worth the quest.
Mr. pikkujöpö
Yes, the solution MDF + Hardwood (glued with vinilic glue is one of the best possible solution for a cabinet, but it's quite difficult to realize without the right tools.
By the way, if you can, use multilayer wood, it' s quite expensive but the results are really OK (also the weight is low compared to other solutions).
Hope this will help....bye
Yes, the solution MDF + Hardwood (glued with vinilic glue is one of the best possible solution for a cabinet, but it's quite difficult to realize without the right tools.
By the way, if you can, use multilayer wood, it' s quite expensive but the results are really OK (also the weight is low compared to other solutions).
Hope this will help....bye
pikkujöpö said:
Haven't tried that... so no optionion -- althou i think Scott (aka SCD) used a similar technique on his Brines FE167 ML-TLs. He used Douglas Fir (a softwood) that has been curing for 100 years. He also milled the resulting boards into a trapezoidal cross-section, so the MDF layer was non-uniform thickness. I've heard them but once, with unfamiliar electronics & source, They system quite enjoyable.
I've also seen a "plywood" made with the outer layers of MDF. Haven't tried it either.
dave
Mixed materials
Hello all:
Yes I did make a set of cabinets with a mixture of MDF and Douglas-fir. It was a bit of extra work effort as I had to glue up and let dry for an extra night. If you are going to attempt this I suggest either a lot of clamps or gluing and screwing the two pieces together then removing the screws. I went a step further and ran the pannels through the thickness planer with the MDF side to the cutters. I cut that face at a 9:1 taper with the result being a non parralel internal cabinet. I then sealed the frsh cut surface with three coats of thinned down white glue. I also added vertical pannel bracing to change the resonant frequency.
In the end it was not real complicated it just took a while to think out the process. There is a thread somewhere in here that I sent in to describe the technique I used.
The outcome is a very solid stable cabinet. It does not vibrate at all at normal listening levels. I can make the cabinet purrrr a little if I crank up the volume. The effort was worth the challenge in my opinion. I have since moved to other forms of cabinet bracing that are a little quicker. In a large pannel I think you have to adress resonance or you will be disapointed.
I hope this helps
Hello all:
Yes I did make a set of cabinets with a mixture of MDF and Douglas-fir. It was a bit of extra work effort as I had to glue up and let dry for an extra night. If you are going to attempt this I suggest either a lot of clamps or gluing and screwing the two pieces together then removing the screws. I went a step further and ran the pannels through the thickness planer with the MDF side to the cutters. I cut that face at a 9:1 taper with the result being a non parralel internal cabinet. I then sealed the frsh cut surface with three coats of thinned down white glue. I also added vertical pannel bracing to change the resonant frequency.
In the end it was not real complicated it just took a while to think out the process. There is a thread somewhere in here that I sent in to describe the technique I used.
The outcome is a very solid stable cabinet. It does not vibrate at all at normal listening levels. I can make the cabinet purrrr a little if I crank up the volume. The effort was worth the challenge in my opinion. I have since moved to other forms of cabinet bracing that are a little quicker. In a large pannel I think you have to adress resonance or you will be disapointed.
I hope this helps
re post #142
I have finally plugged them in to the 2A3 amp.
WOW
they sound sooooo great ! One thing i had already noticed with the amp on another set of speaker was the amazing depth of mids and highs and the linearity of the whole freq range. These drivers show that exactly well and with a lot of detail.
Gotta make a new set of these
I have finally plugged them in to the 2A3 amp.
WOW
they sound sooooo great ! One thing i had already noticed with the amp on another set of speaker was the amazing depth of mids and highs and the linearity of the whole freq range. These drivers show that exactly well and with a lot of detail.Gotta make a new set of these
Re: re post #142
Happy to hear that
P.S. This is a fullrange forum and photo gallery.
Nice job anyway,it's always interesting to see different speakers,thumbs up.
Simpleton said:I have finally plugged them in to the 2A3 amp.
WOW
Gotta make a new set of these
Happy to hear that
P.S. This is a fullrange forum and photo gallery.
Nice job anyway,it's always interesting to see different speakers,thumbs up.
