bloozestringer said:
Omce i have another pair of the DCA4 measured i'll be looking at some boxes for them. My goal is come up with something smaller that goes lower than the ziggie -- it is an enclosure design best described as "shot in the dark"
Since the sub needs to reach up to 80-100 Hz the sub(s) need to reach up quite a bit higher than that, so typically something based on an 8' or a really extended 10" is recommended... not really subs but woofers. The SDX7 is known to work well, but it is perhaps a bit pricey for the application. The Silver Flute 6.5 and 8 have caught our attention but so far we are only playing with the 5.5.
dave
planet10 said:
That was my conclusion as well. I designed and built the "Hi-Tweek Black Box" enclosures as a result, attempting to gain some semblance of tonal balance. The "Fat-Boy" style was used to get the greatest wavelaunch possible within reason.
The "Hi-Tweek" speakers don't image as well as the Ziggys did, but to my ears, they are much better balanced in the lower midrange and upper bass. Dan Wiggins measured them with Praxis and they were flat to 65Hz, which matched my modelling exactly (that doesn't happen very often, unfortunately).
I personally like Dave's Fonken design with a Fostex as one of the best all round single driver speakers.
Best Regards,
TerryO
DCA4 Zigmahornets
Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm going to go ahead and build the Zigmahornets with DCA4s, because I think at this stage of my audiophile life I'm most interested in good imaging. More importantly, the plan looks doable for someone who's never sawed wood in his life.
I do hope that my t-gen and playstation are sufficient to take advantage of whatever this speaker can do.
I know "better" and "worse" are difficult to say because sound can be subjective, but just to clarify: am I saving money by building speakers? I think I'd build them regardless just because I'm excited about the project.. but I wonder what I could expect to pay at a store or online for speakers of the level that these zigmahornets would be.
Gonna place an order with two bald men today!
Akash
Thanks everyone for your advice. I'm going to go ahead and build the Zigmahornets with DCA4s, because I think at this stage of my audiophile life I'm most interested in good imaging. More importantly, the plan looks doable for someone who's never sawed wood in his life.
I do hope that my t-gen and playstation are sufficient to take advantage of whatever this speaker can do. I know "better" and "worse" are difficult to say because sound can be subjective, but just to clarify: am I saving money by building speakers? I think I'd build them regardless just because I'm excited about the project.. but I wonder what I could expect to pay at a store or online for speakers of the level that these zigmahornets would be.
Gonna place an order with two bald men today!
Akash
Got the DCA4s!
Hi everyone, I got the DCA4s in the mail, and building begins this weekend.
I'm quite intimidated. I know the Zigmahornets are supposed to be easy to make, but like I said, I had no idea what a miter joint was before this. I was surprised that the plans are so sparse.
I have some panifully newbie questions. I really appreciate any kind soul's help.
1) I know I'm going to need glue, not sure if there is a specific kind?
2) I know I'm going to need to locate a "miter jig". Wil it effect the sound if I don't use miter joints and just connect things in a "t interface"? I don't plan on doing this because I imagine it doesn't look good, but in case I get really overwhelmed and desperate..
3) I've heard birch is the right material for this and I have an idea for what size I need things to be in every dimension except thickness. 12mm thick is what the schematic says, but I'm guessing that 1/2 inch will be close enough?
4) Is there a module for making speaker connectors in the back, or is simply connecting wires with electrical tape sufficient?
Hopefully these will be my only questions! I'm pretty excited!
Thanks a lot!
Hi everyone, I got the DCA4s in the mail, and building begins this weekend.
I'm quite intimidated. I know the Zigmahornets are supposed to be easy to make, but like I said, I had no idea what a miter joint was before this. I was surprised that the plans are so sparse.
I have some panifully newbie questions. I really appreciate any kind soul's help.
1) I know I'm going to need glue, not sure if there is a specific kind?
2) I know I'm going to need to locate a "miter jig". Wil it effect the sound if I don't use miter joints and just connect things in a "t interface"? I don't plan on doing this because I imagine it doesn't look good, but in case I get really overwhelmed and desperate..
3) I've heard birch is the right material for this and I have an idea for what size I need things to be in every dimension except thickness. 12mm thick is what the schematic says, but I'm guessing that 1/2 inch will be close enough?
4) Is there a module for making speaker connectors in the back, or is simply connecting wires with electrical tape sufficient?
Hopefully these will be my only questions! I'm pretty excited!
Thanks a lot!
1) Any home improvement store should have a good supply of yellow carpenter's glue
2) If it is easier for you to glue together with flat joints it will not affect the sound at all as long as the dimensions are held.
3) 12mm or 1/2" is basically the same thing. Baltic Birch ply is said to be the best for use in this design.
4) Check out a Radio Shack store. I'm sure there are better ones available but they have a good choice and are inexpensive.
2) If it is easier for you to glue together with flat joints it will not affect the sound at all as long as the dimensions are held.
3) 12mm or 1/2" is basically the same thing. Baltic Birch ply is said to be the best for use in this design.
4) Check out a Radio Shack store. I'm sure there are better ones available but they have a good choice and are inexpensive.
The Zig has only two mitered joints. That's four cuts, six if you count the angles on the side pieces. I used a Delta power miter saw for these, but a steady hand with a circular saw, even a jig saw, can do almost as well. Cut a smidge over the required dimensions and use a sanding block to dress the edge more precisely. A belt/disc sander is nice to have here. Of course, if you have a table saw, this is all moot.
Much more important (because there are more of them and they're bigger), are the straight edge cuts. Something like this:
http://wayneofthewoods.com/circular-saw-cutting-guide.html
will ease that task immensely.
Yellow carpenter's glue will do fine. Elmer's, Titebond, etc. If your joints are less than precise,a urethane glue (Gorilla Glue) will fill small gaps and make up for less than perfect joinery. Beware though, the stuff is miserable to work with (messy). Also, be sure to follow package directions for preparing porous surfaces if you use urethane glue.
Be sure to cut your baffle holes and chamfer the back side before assembly.
Much more important (because there are more of them and they're bigger), are the straight edge cuts. Something like this:
http://wayneofthewoods.com/circular-saw-cutting-guide.html
will ease that task immensely.
Yellow carpenter's glue will do fine. Elmer's, Titebond, etc. If your joints are less than precise,a urethane glue (Gorilla Glue) will fill small gaps and make up for less than perfect joinery. Beware though, the stuff is miserable to work with (messy). Also, be sure to follow package directions for preparing porous surfaces if you use urethane glue.
Be sure to cut your baffle holes and chamfer the back side before assembly.
jrn77478 said:
There are any number of easy ways to make this cabinet ; it uses less than a full sheet of plywood, and could just as easily be fabricated from 3/4" pine shelving material or "1x6" stock. It'll take less than 50 lineal feet, for the enclosures, and a piece of larger stock or tile, etc for the base. These will be verry tippy.
Just be sure to adjust cutting plan to retain internal dimensions exactly.
A power miter chop saw would come in very handy. Once the material is dimensioned and dry fit, stack the pieces that make the side panels. There'll likely be some minor tear-out on the bottom piece, so cut in alternate directions and match up to hide the tear-outs on the inside.
If you don't have a buddy or cousin, etc with one, you can probably rent for a few bucks, although the drive to the rental shop will take longer than all the cuts you'll need to make.
The angled piece for the top panel will be the single hardest piece to cut. If you don't have access to a table saw for the bevels, cut it long, and take your time filing/sanding it flush to the front and back panels.
The last sentence in the above post is the most import step to not overlook. Make sure the chamfer is deep enough to allow "free breathing".
I always only use solder connections at both speaker and input terminals, and the cheapy input terminal cups that should still be available at Radio Shack, or car audio install shops is plenty adequate ; something like these - a 2" hole saw is all you need for this particular model.
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bloozestringer said:
We've found less metal mass in the signal path the better, at both ends of the systems, and particularly with small full range drivers
The small cheap input cups use short, small diameter threaded posts & thin solder tabs.
Of course, we're also big fans if small wire, as in #24 (i.e. CAT5); single strands on even FE167s etc / 4 strands on woofers, as well as the Pomona dual banana jacks, which make for pretty quick connections, and are a lot harder to short out than spades.
AFAIC, multiple plating layers including rare, precious metals and massive construction are simply overpriced bling.
I've actually had some guys tell me they prefer the sound of phenolic strip screw terminals over all else, but they are a royal PITA to use, and risk of shorts.
bloozestringer said:
Less metal the better. Until you can afford to get some of the purpose built stuff (ie Eichmann or WBT's response to the Eichmann) it turns out that often the cheapest stuff is the best... for instance when buying RCA jacks the cheapest Radio Shack ones (8 or 10 for $5 in many colours) are amounst the best you can get... cheap then metal, plastic jackets)
dave
bloozestringer said:
Pomona - we use the red & black - other colours available, as well as gold plated, solder turrets instead of set screws (which can easily get lost) and other options.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
and some prefer the Swithchcraft 3501 / 3501MC plugs ( #1 & #2 below)
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
and 3501F (#1)
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
the last 2 items look a bit "hair shirt" for me, and the local distributor doesn't stock them, so I've not had the opportunity to try new pieces.
I couldn't find pictures of speaker screw terminal strips, but you get the idea
back to topic
Connecting the driver to the binding post
Wow. There had been no email telling me further posts had been made on this thread, so I assumed no one had replied to my newbie questions. Turns out you guys answered everything thoroughly.. thanks so much!
However, I had forged ahead before reading all this. I cut four boards to specs using 45 degree angles at the edges of each panel. That's my understanding of a miter joint. I haven't glued things together yet because I have to make the hole for the DCA4. I also was not sure what to use to connet the driver to the binding posts. I've never soldered before.. my understanding is you melt some metal over two other pieces of metal such that when it cools, it serves to attach the two pieces of metal.
My father-in-law of a few months is quite handy and has been helping me. This has been a great bonding experience.
1) So my question is, what kind of wire should I use to connect the driver and binding post? I have very very very cheap speaker wire but it seems like wires are supposed to make a big difference with sound...
Hopefully I can pick up a binding post at radio shack. I would hate to have to wait for Parts Express to ship it!
I think when I make the second speaker, I'm going to avoid the miter joints and just put the side panels perpendicular to and beind the front panels. That will be so much simpler. It may not be pretty, but I'm more interested in sound.
JM4788 what do you mean by only 2 miter joints? Which pieces are miter jointed together?
Wow. There had been no email telling me further posts had been made on this thread, so I assumed no one had replied to my newbie questions. Turns out you guys answered everything thoroughly.. thanks so much!
However, I had forged ahead before reading all this. I cut four boards to specs using 45 degree angles at the edges of each panel. That's my understanding of a miter joint. I haven't glued things together yet because I have to make the hole for the DCA4. I also was not sure what to use to connet the driver to the binding posts. I've never soldered before.. my understanding is you melt some metal over two other pieces of metal such that when it cools, it serves to attach the two pieces of metal.
My father-in-law of a few months is quite handy and has been helping me. This has been a great bonding experience.
1) So my question is, what kind of wire should I use to connect the driver and binding post? I have very very very cheap speaker wire but it seems like wires are supposed to make a big difference with sound...
Hopefully I can pick up a binding post at radio shack. I would hate to have to wait for Parts Express to ship it!
I think when I make the second speaker, I'm going to avoid the miter joints and just put the side panels perpendicular to and beind the front panels. That will be so much simpler. It may not be pretty, but I'm more interested in sound.
JM4788 what do you mean by only 2 miter joints? Which pieces are miter jointed together?
I was referring to the piece that forms the angled top. You are correct. The cuts for these pieces are more correctly referred to as bevels, rather than miters. At any rate, aside from any aesthetic considerations, your speakers won't care if you use butt joints or miters to join the fronts and backs to the side panels, as long as the internal dimensions remain the same.
Yes, your understanding of soldering is essentially correct, but you'll want to Google up a tutorial on technique and tools before you proceed. Be sure to select solder that is suitable for electronics applications.
Yes, your understanding of soldering is essentially correct, but you'll want to Google up a tutorial on technique and tools before you proceed. Be sure to select solder that is suitable for electronics applications.
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