The Boominator - another stab at the ultimate party machine

[Flipboy02]

Hi everyone, I'm new to this DIY audio hobby and am truly impressed with Saturnus' design and how everyone here have such a passion for his boominator. I was wondering if the the Audax PR125T1 horn tweeter (The Madisound Speaker Store) can be a good-enough replacement for the P.Audio PHT-407N? These have an SPL of 96db and has a freq. range of 2k?-18kHz?
I actually started putting together a boominator, but I find the piezos a little harsh and not quite as smooth with audio detail. I already have the Goldwood 1058 with the amp6b and the cabinets loosely assembled (held together tightly with various wood clamps). I have done the 100 hours of burn-in, but I am not quite satisfied. So I'm trying to find a suitable replacement for the PHT-407N since none are available here in the U.S, according to P.Audio-Thailand. Has any one looked at any high efficiency ribbon tweeters like the Fountek NeoCd3.5H Horn Tweeter (The Madisound Speaker Store). Any help will be greatly appreciated.

[Saturnus]

Originally Posted by Flipboy02

Hi everyone, I'm new to this DIY audio hobby and am truly impressed with Saturnus' design and how everyone here have such a passion for his boominator. I was wondering if the the Audax PR125T1 horn tweeter (The Madisound Speaker Store) can be a good-enough replacement for the P.Audio PHT-407N? These have an SPL of 96db and has a freq. range of 2k?-18kHz?
I actually started putting together a boominator, but I find the piezos a little harsh and not quite as smooth with audio detail. I already have the Goldwood 1058 with the amp6b and the cabinets loosely assembled (held together tightly with various wood clamps). I have done the 100 hours of burn-in, but I am not quite satisfied. So I'm trying to find a suitable replacement for the PHT-407N since none are available here in the U.S, according to P.Audio-Thailand. Has any one looked at any high efficiency ribbon tweeters like the Fountek NeoCd3.5H Horn Tweeter (The Madisound Speaker Store). Any help will be greatly appreciated.

I really find it amazing that after 6 years no one in the US has taken up importing the right drivers for this project yet.

There is a specially designed piezo underway but if you really don't want piezoes and want something that is better without costing an arm and a leg, I'd recommend these Constant Directivity Horn 270-049. Please note the comments and follow the recommendations in those unless PE have improved QC themselves by now.

For while the drivers you link to are indeed nice and good drivers. They're both unfortunately not suited for the Boominator as one of the most important aspects is very wide dispersion on both axes. As close as possible to 90 degrees to be exact. Both wider and narrower than 90 degrees is equally bad. Especially ribbon tweeters unfortunately have atrocious vertical dispersion. Typically only 5-10 degrees.

With the PE CD horns, you might have to play around with filtering, and experiment with bypassing the dampening resistor with a capacitor to get the high frequency lift at 13-15Khz that a CD horn needs.

Incidentally, the custom designed piezo has a horn guide that is (more or less) identical to the PE CD horn, just with a quality piezo driver.

It is however not to be confused with PRV Audio NEODT3000 1" Neo Horn Driver with Horn Combo 294-2831 which has a much narrower dispersion on both axes, although having the same mouth dimensions.

[Saturnus]

Originally Posted by floxer

Thanks for your answers !

No worries.

1) Yes
2) I believe that filter is for the Boominator LITE with Basslite S2010 woofers.
3) Yes

May I inquire what the purpose of your "halfinator" is? I've recently designed the Boominator MINI for people that find the full Boominator too large, too heavy, and too expensive. I've not yet built one so a full test might change a few minor details but all simulations have been satisfactory so I have full confidence that it is extremely close to the final design.

Have a look here. Boominator MINI (development thread) - Speakerplans.com Forums - Page 1

[Flipboy02]

Thanks for giving the specific reasons for not using those other drivers, Saturnus. I'm sure other people have been wondering about those other kinds of tweeters.

I forgot to mention that I did purchase the KSN-1001A from PiezoSource a few months back (they didn't have the KSN-1005A at the time), because I thought this was the recommended piezo to buy since the zomax no longer was in production. I also did the dampening with all the caulking on the back side of the horns and the driver. I have to say, that when all is connected, the boominator is really loud! I even used the new Fiio Alpen DAC/headphone amp to do the DAC (via the dock port not the headphone jack) for my iPhone before connecting to the amp6b. It does make the sound much clearer and gives more definition than without it.

So should I replace the KSNs with the PE CD or should I wait? I'm not really in a hurry to finish, as it is still winter here in Maryland.

What would be your time estimate on that custom designed piezo? Will it be available to us US boominator fans when it is available? Thanks again.

[Saturnus]

Originally Posted by Flipboy02

So should I replace the KSNs with the PE CD or should I wait? I'm not really in a hurry to finish, as it is still winter here in Maryland.

Maryland, eh? I got friends in Hagerstown.

Frankly. Though both the PE CD horn and the custom piezo would be an improvement over the KSN's, I'd really advice trying to get the 407N's if you're looking for something that is a significant improvement.

Surely, a company like US SPEAKER PARTS - Speakers, Speaker Cabinets, Guitar speakers, Bass speakers, , Woofers, HF Drivers, speaker upgrades and replacement speakers. Eminence Speaker, JBL speakers, 18 Sound, B&C, EV, Tannoy, Peavey, Celestion, RCF, Jensen, Beyma, Fane, P or other p.audio importer will offer a competitive price on these if you ask them. Maybe you can also get them to import the HP10Ws as well. I'm sure that there are many equally frustrated US builders out there. As the design has been a huge success in Europe and Australia I'm sure there is a market.

This last bit is a message to any potential reseller of parts.

I'll be happy to advice you on what to stock and general information regarding the design. This is my hobby. I do not ask for or accept any commission. If you feel like I should be entitled to some, donate it to a charity of your choice.

[Flipboy02]

Hagerstown? Do they have boominators? That's only 40min from me.

If I can get the 407Ns, would the amp6b at 12v be adequate?

And would I also need a filter/capacitor of some kind that would work with the Goldwood 1058s? If so, how can I make one if I didn't want to use the minidsp?

[Flipboy02]

I saw a filter for the 407N that Floxer had you confirm, but it was mated to the HP10W drivers. Would anything change with the filter since I have the 1058s? And is there info about how to build a low DCR coil or is that something I can buy with the correct mH value? Again, forgive me since this is all still all very new to me.

[Saturnus]

Originally Posted by Flipboy02

I saw a filter for the 407N that Floxer had you confirm, but it was mated to the HP10W drivers. Would anything change with the filter since I have the 1058s? And is there info about how to build a low DCR coil or is that something I can buy with the correct mH value? Again, forgive me since this is all still all very new to me.

No. The filter Floxer posted was for an Eminence Basslite S2010 and a 407N. Not sure if I made one for use with a HP10W or G1058? It might be somewhere in this thread though, I'll search. The G1058 and HP10W is pretty much identical. You do need a coil on the G1058 even when crossing to a piezo as the high end is not as controlled in roll off as the HP10W.

[UBERHAXXOR]

I have now ordered 2 P.Audio HP-10W aswell as 2 Monacor MPT-001 for a "halfinator" build. I've understood that seting everything up stereo is the best way to go, is this correct?

I'm also curious about crossover filter/resistors as i'm not very familiar with soldering and electronics. Is it correct that i should solder the tweeter to the subwoofer and then the subwoofer to the amp and everything will work or do i need some kind of filter/resistors in between?

[UBERHAXXOR]

Originally Posted by UBERHAXXOR

I have now ordered 2 P.Audio HP-10W aswell as 2 Monacor MPT-001 for a "halfinator" build. I've understood that seting everything up stereo is the best way to go, is this correct?

I'm also curious about crossover filter/resistors as i'm not very familiar with soldering and electronics. Is it correct that i should solder the tweeter to the subwoofer and then the subwoofer to the amp and everything will work or do i need some kind of filter/resistors in between?

Quick edit: Is this the proper way of wiring with tweeters being mounted positve to positve etc. on the subwoofers?

http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchf..._8-ohm_2ch.jpg

The image states that the total impedance would be 4 ohm but i've read somewhere in this thread that the total impedance would be 16 ohm so i'm guessing there's a problem somewhere?