"nanoTower" - Tang Band W3-881SI

[NotWisely]

cutting the dustcaps off strangely improved the high frequency extension and smoothness. i still need to get some phase plugs made but just not having the cap there is a slight improvement.

 

[patrickm]

Exactly. I will have to look at the Needle, I don't know if it was ever modeled for this driver or if something would need to change or not

if you tried this out in the needle, i'd be interested in your impressions... this might make a good gift project. i've made a few in the past and had good luck with them.

otherwise, maybe i'll order a pair anyhow and make some nano towers...

 

[NotWisely]

just had a revelation with the 881si's yesterday. my friend has been making a few different enclosures for them and noticed the same thing. no dustcap improved mids and bass but the treble was cut significantly. we fished around in my garage for some type of phase plug. strangely enough we found that these fit perfectly Amazon.com: Chrome 9pt Tech-Drive Tuner Lug Nuts 12x1.5 16 piece: Automotive

may be a bit heavy, but man did the highs shine.

 

[Bjohannesen]

I have simulated W3-881SI in my TABAQ and it will do very well

Hi from
Bjorn J

 

[skeeter99]

if you tried this out in the needle, i'd be interested in your impressions... this might make a good gift project. i've made a few in the past and had good luck with them.

otherwise, maybe i'll order a pair anyhow and make some nano towers...

I didn't. I'm building a dual tower with one facing forward and one up and am going to use them as surrounds. Haven't finished them yet so no impressions to give

Scott

 

[skeeter99]

Finally at least got to hear them today! They image like crazy and amazing go really low. When I first heard the drivers I was more than unimpressed; now ... they're rockin! I played everything from Jazz to Rock to Techno through them and of course they didn't have super low punch but they still hit the notes and with surprising authority. I've now moved them to surrounds where they will reside and am about to watch Immortals which should have some good surround effects, we'll see how they do Here are some pics of them RAW and completely unfinished. I wanted to hear them before putting any effort into finishing them so please excuse the poor pics and raw images ...

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.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[Nanook]

simplest hack...

The hack we used on the over-bright blue LED on the KingRex was a small piece of black electrical tape.

dave

Just got an update here, and looked over the thread again.I think an even simpler "LED brightness attenuator" is the sparingly use of liquid (electrical) tape. and it looks better too

Many of these micro-towers are very nice to see. I may have to try some true micro-towers as per Castle type.

I did manage to get hold of some very good cardboard tubes (6" ID, 1/4" thick highly compressed walls) to put the Vifas into. Then I don't have to use any dampning material (right dave?). A fellow I know runs a car audio place and makes tons of enclosures. He has pre-made (mdf, I know, I know...) circular speaker baffles. If a router can be used then I can mount the baffles nicely to the tubes. I'll stick with the existing tuning I have though (37" long pipe). The tubes sound pretty good and image well, but I have always felt they could be much better based on enclosure materials. Then come up with a good cosmetic finish for the tubes. Anyone tried to veneer cardboard tubes?

 

[krakatoa]

Can you give some information on the towers? type of enclosure, tuning frequency? how big are they (internal volume)?
Did you use any BSC?
How low will they go? do you feel they need subwoofer assistance?

I was thinking of building a similar 2 drivers/tower TL based design with this TangBand model.

 

[jrockvideo]

Details

Hi all, thanks for posting pics of your projects. I would like to build the nano towers and had some questions. Where is the port located? Is it at the bottom rear sort of like the zigmahornet? Thanks for your help.

 

[jrockvideo]

Figured it out, please disregard previous question

Figured it out, please disregard previous question

 

[000zero]

Desktop Enclosure for Tang Band

I have a pair of these Tang Bands and I wanted to build some enclosures to use on a desk as computer speakers. I would like to have as much air space as the Nano towers, or close to it. I have attached a very ugly design, but was looking to get some feedback before I start. This will be my first cabinet construction so any advice is welcome.

 

[Octavia]

Zero - flip them upside down and use that sealed tube as a stand

 

[flea132435]

Hello all. I've read this thread several times, but I've never posted. I was inspired by the design at the beginning of the thread, and I wanted to share my experience with it. I modified the original design to fit in an old floor model Philco that I found in an antiques store. The tube amp was beyond repair, so I gutted the interior and built a couple boxes of the same volume of the original poster's nano towers. I filled the boxes with poly-fil, and modified a lepai ta2020 to fit the original control panel (basically I just extended all of the controls about 6" from the unit). The unit sounds great, and people are always interested to see how I am able to play my iPad through a 1937 radio.

Thanks to the original poster for the design!

 

[skeeter99]

I'm listening to my version of the towers right now playing Chris Isaak's Forever Blue album. With the way they recorded this album slightly holographic and diffuse to begin with, they diffuse nature of my versions really add an incredible sense of space to the album. These really are great little drivers and for so little money they're an incredible value. Anyway, just wanted to post my thoughts.

Scott

 

[DYNABLASTERTUNERS]

holographic you say?
Tang Band W3-1797S Breitbänder - Hobbyhifiladen
that's his middle name
http://oaudio.de/Loudspeaker-DIY-kits/New-Kits/Hot-Spot-4-Holograph-Kit::4888.html
this name is also very apropriate
http://oaudio.de/Loudspeaker-DIY-kits/New-Kits/Captivator-Kit::4887.html

 

[skeeter99]

holographic you say?
Tang Band W3-1797S Breitbänder - Hobbyhifiladen
that's his middle name
Hot Spot 4 Holograph Bausatz - Lautsprecherbau von blue planet acoustic
this name is also apropriate
Captivator Bausatz - Lautsprecherbau von blue planet acoustic

Those drivers are literally 10x the price of the little TB in our nano builds so I sure hope they sound better!

 

[DYNABLASTERTUNERS]

"better" isn't adequate word, I would say totally different

 

[Quba123]

Are they any DIY plans for these speakers available?

 

[skeeter99]

I can give you the specs of what I built but I never drew up any plans. Mine was a very easy build!

Scott

 

[Nanook]

nano towers...

everyone: seems like the TB get good use here. Way to go guys.

Dynablaster: please PM me, (I'm a "deviant" too, but trying to learn basic digital illustration techniques. Yours look quite good). The speaker illustrations are nice as well .

Guys, remember to compare apples to apples and oranges to oranges. Comparing über (okay, not über, but certainly comparably very expensive) is a little unfair. I think the goal is to show how good inexpensive drivers can sound. If wanting something better, see if anyone is doing a micro-tower or nano-tower using the Mark Audio drivers or planet10's eN versions. Not really cheap, but really good (my biased opinion only).

I have always loved the Castle Acoustics TQWP (twin quarter wave pipe as used in the Howards) enclosures and want to build a set of those using the MA drivers (or maybe some Jordans Dave) as resources allow.