I think you tried to tell me how to do this before, and my head almost exploded...
I think you tried to tell me how to do this before, and my head almost exploded...
Nah I don't think that was me. I was the one who said grab a resistor and download a computer program and it does it all for you
Nah I don't think that was me. I was the one who said grab a resistor and download a computer program and it does it all for you
Indeed, this was the advice that boggled me. If it isn't obvious yet, I have no education in electronics whatsoever, so I need the "dummies" version (but I also like to understand WTF I am doing
).
LOL. My wife just looked over my shoulder and referred to this as my "habit". She meant hobby (english is not her first language) but perhaps she was correct
This is very addictive stuff. I am already thinking about my next 2 projects...
Oh, and I need to make a correction to a previous post. The port is actually 2.5 inches from the base plate, not 4 or 5.
This is very addictive stuff. I am already thinking about my next 2 projects...
Oh, and I need to make a correction to a previous post. The port is actually 2.5 inches from the base plate, not 4 or 5.
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So it is quite close to the bottom. If my limited understanding of MLTLs is correct, then placing it closer to the bottom of the cabinet would have more TL effect then if the port was located somewhere near the top. I could be wrong.
Saying that you have zero knowledge regarding this kinda stuff isn't really gonna cut it You're obviously not stupid and rigging together a simple measurement system with something like LIMP is extremely easy, it tells you how in the help file. If you have a windows machine with a sound card I am sure you could be making impedance measurements easily within a couple of hours of trying. Maybe you'd need to buy a resistor, but that ain't so hard, nor expensive. If you have questions about things you don't understand then do feel free to ask, it is after-all one of the main reasons why DIYaudio exists, to exchange and pass on knowledge to others.
I'd say that DIYaudio for me isn't a habit or a hobby, it's a way of life
Saying that you have zero knowledge regarding this kinda stuff isn't really gonna cut it
You're obviously not stupid and rigging together a simple measurement system with something like LIMP is extremely easy, it tells you how in the help file. If you have a windows machine with a sound card I am sure you could be making impedance measurements easily within a couple of hours of trying. Maybe you'd need to buy a resistor, but that ain't so hard, nor expensive. If you have questions about things you don't understand then do feel free to ask, it is after-all one of the main reasons why DIYaudio exists, to exchange and pass on knowledge to others.I'd say that DIYaudio for me isn't a habit or a hobby, it's a way of life
OK, here it is in action: "nanoTower" Tang Band W3-881SI Demo - YouTube
It obviously won't sound so great if you listen to it on computer speakers, and my video camera only has a tiny mono mic, but you should be able to get an idea of the bass extension if you listen on something half-decent, despite the fact that both the video and audio has been transcoded both by me and by YouTube
It obviously won't sound so great if you listen to it on computer speakers, and my video camera only has a tiny mono mic, but you should be able to get an idea of the bass extension if you listen on something half-decent, despite the fact that both the video and audio has been transcoded both by me and by YouTube
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Pretty impressive I have to say! I think I may just pick up a set of these little guys
...and they are an order of magnitude better live, in person.
I think I may be closer to understanding why these little buggers are pleasing me so much. I've just used WinISD's tone generator and my SPL meter to explore the bass (extensively enough to thoroughly annoy my wife).
I used WinISD's "connect to graph pointer" option (or whatever it is called) so that I could control the tone by dragging my mouse on the current graph.
Concentrating on the response between 200hz and 20hz, what I found was that the SPL meter readings were strongest at around 170hz (83dB) and 46hz (81dB), with a gradual dip in between (down to about 76dB somewhere in the high 60s). So my actual response is stretched out (when compared with the WinISD graph of the theoretical enclosure). I hit my first high point sooner (140hz), the dip is deeper (5dB), and the second high point comes later (46hz).
So, it seems my resonant frequency is right around 46hz, and I have to say that the bass is very evident down into the mid 30s.
I am sorry, but this just stuns me. Based on my findings, I re-EQed to compensate more for the peaks and the lull and I am in awe. $10 each?
The catch is, of course, SPL. This performance is only coherent at moderate SPL (which is still far more SPL than what I have planned for them). I also have to say that when I was reading 81dB at 46hz, the excursion did not seem excessive. Lets just say I have pushed these cones quite a bit more than that in the short time that I have owned them.
I used WinISD's "connect to graph pointer" option (or whatever it is called) so that I could control the tone by dragging my mouse on the current graph.
Concentrating on the response between 200hz and 20hz, what I found was that the SPL meter readings were strongest at around 170hz (83dB) and 46hz (81dB), with a gradual dip in between (down to about 76dB somewhere in the high 60s). So my actual response is stretched out (when compared with the WinISD graph of the theoretical enclosure). I hit my first high point sooner (140hz), the dip is deeper (5dB), and the second high point comes later (46hz).
So, it seems my resonant frequency is right around 46hz, and I have to say that the bass is very evident down into the mid 30s.
I am sorry, but this just stuns me. Based on my findings, I re-EQed to compensate more for the peaks and the lull and I am in awe. $10 each?
The catch is, of course, SPL. This performance is only coherent at moderate SPL (which is still far more SPL than what I have planned for them). I also have to say that when I was reading 81dB at 46hz, the excursion did not seem excessive. Lets just say I have pushed these cones quite a bit more than that in the short time that I have owned them.
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Yup, I'm going to order up some of these tomorrow
Well, I really have no idea what I am doing compared to some of the other people around here, but I think luck was on my side on this one. I've been listening to them all afternoon (I am at home with a cold) and I like them more and more. They are certainly breaking in nicely.
My only regret is that I didn't buy 3 sets at once and save on shipping.
Well your methods if done in the listening position will also have room modes thrown in for good measure, so you'll be measuring dips and peaks because of those too. Of course EQing things to sort that out should also make it sound better regardless of how the peaks/dips are created.
As to the listening levels. Those things have 0.5mm of xmax. In the video you posted you are exceeding that, so no doubt they only sound good at low levels
As to the listening levels. Those things have 0.5mm of xmax. In the video you posted you are exceeding that, so no doubt they only sound good at low levels
Well your methods if done in the listening position will also have room modes thrown in for good measure, so you'll be measuring dips and peaks because of those too. Of course EQing things to sort that out should also make it sound better regardless of how the peaks/dips are created.
As to the listening levels. Those things have 0.5mm of xmax. In the video you posted you are exceeding that, so no doubt they only sound good at low levels
It was a fun exercise to check to make sure I wasn't going crazy. The SPL meter confirmed what I thought; solid bass into the mid 40s and usable bass much lower.
Regarding Xmax in the video, I was running at about 90% of what I consider the bleeding edge of these drivers. I was exceeding Xmax indeed, but the sound quality remains acceptable to me at that level (nearly impossible to tell from the video). I know that another brief turn of the volume knob will result in bad sound, then knocking and then failure shortly after that, but I have run these drivers at that 90% mark a number of times and they sound really, really good (again, for what they are). (note: I would never treat my EL70s like this
)Having said that, I plan to run them at about 60% of that (at the most) when they reach their final home, which should never push beyond Xmax. This is why I find it acceptable to use these drivers for this application, in this manner.
Others will say that I should have tuned the boxes higher, for better fidelity, and then added a sub. Perhaps this would be the case if a combination of high SPL and audio nirvana were the main goals. They were not. The goals were tall, narrow, inexpensive, truly full range at low SPL and excellent sound quality. These speakers do exactly that, and they do it far better than I could have imagined.
I've created another video of the "nanoTowers" in action in their final destination; our bedroom. I received the little Lepai LP-2020A+ today, connected it up to the WDTV Live+ and did some testing. As you will see, I try to show in the video that there is no subwoofer in the room. Just the WDTV streaming files from my home network into the Lepai amp which is driving the nanoTowers.
The bass response, imaging, and sound stage is unreal. They really do dig down as low as they sound on the video. Even lower, really.
This is exactly what I had hoped it would be, and all for $98 (speakers and amp, including tax and shipping!). Man, I love this hobby
nanoTower Part II - Tang Band W3-881SI - YouTube
P.S. I know many of you are/were/ skeptical about the performance of these speakers, based on the modelling and my lack of experience. That is entirely fair, of course, but I hope you will see/hear in this video why I am so happy with my results. Here they are playing quite a bit louder than I will normally play them and they are super clean and punchy. The theme song when "Dexter" begins sounds at least 1000x better than the TV speakers
The bass response, imaging, and sound stage is unreal. They really do dig down as low as they sound on the video. Even lower, really.
This is exactly what I had hoped it would be, and all for $98 (speakers and amp, including tax and shipping!). Man, I love this hobby
nanoTower Part II - Tang Band W3-881SI - YouTube
P.S. I know many of you are/were/ skeptical about the performance of these speakers, based on the modelling and my lack of experience. That is entirely fair, of course, but I hope you will see/hear in this video why I am so happy with my results. Here they are playing quite a bit louder than I will normally play them and they are super clean and punchy. The theme song when "Dexter" begins sounds at least 1000x better than the TV speakers
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Very cool! My wife likes them too
Thanks!
The GUI is just the default that comes built into the WDTV Live+ (Western Digital TV Live Plus). I believe the WDTV uses some form of embedded Linux, but I believe this GUI is WDTV-specific.
I just started using the WDTV for music about 10 minutes before creating that video, so I don't have a whole lot of experience with the GUI. One thing that bugs me so far is that it won't play nested folders. In other words, if you have a "Pink Floyd" folder, with subfolders of all the different albums, you cannot just click "play" on the master folder; the result is "no media files found". So you can't just queue up all your Floyd and put it on shuffle.
No big deal, though, because this sound system is mostly for movies and TV shows palyed from the WDTV, and music sessions will generally be limited to an hour or two at a time. Easy enough to select a different album once in a while. For a bedroom system, that fact that the WDTV and the Lepai amp are so small and so affordable just makes it ideal, in my mind.
Regarding sound quality; I am using the WDTV analog outs direct into the Lepai amp and I must say I am pleasantly suprised by the sound quality. Whatever DAC is in the WDTV is doing a more-than-adequate job for my limited needs. I am considering getting some double-sided foam tape and sticking the WDTV and Lepai together. I am also thinking I might disable the blue LED in the volume knob. It is super effing bright...
I've never heard of that before, I'll have to check it out! It seems pretty cool ... I actually meant what OS are you using in the first post where you have your screenshot of your WinISD model
And yes, the Lepai LED is SUPER bright. I have one I'm using at work on my desk and even during the day under fluorescent lights its still pretty blue. I'm sure at home at night its really bright!
Scott
And yes, the Lepai LED is SUPER bright. I have one I'm using at work on my desk and even during the day under fluorescent lights its still pretty blue. I'm sure at home at night its really bright!
Scott
I've never heard of that before, I'll have to check it out! It seems pretty cool ... I actually meant what OS are you using in the first post where you have your screenshot of your WinISD model
And yes, the Lepai LED is SUPER bright. I have one I'm using at work on my desk and even during the day under fluorescent lights its still pretty blue. I'm sure at home at night its really bright!
Scott
Ah, the GUI in the first post is Ubuntu Linux running the standard Gnome desktop on my wife's netbook. WinISD (and many other Windows apps) run perfectly on Linux in WINE. I use Linux exclusively at home. Even my young daughters use Linux.
If I end up hacking the Lepai to kill the LED, I'l photodocument it and post it. I am pretty sure many others have done this before me, so there might already be info available out there.
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