Here ya' go Cal,
I got pictures of most of the speakers (no humans). There were 8 entries. I think I missed Howard's curvy 4-ways, and Jay's Satori 2-ways.
Anyway, in order from left to right
Robert's Open Baffle 3-way
Howard's Open Baffle 4-way (yes, Howard has 2 pairs of 4-ways!)
Jay's MTM 2.5-ways
Dana Olson's 3-ways (front and rear pictures)
Dave R's Thor MTM kit (floor standers), and TerryO's Kepler 2-way kit (toward back of rug)- both in last picture
Most of the speakers this year were quite large, and all sounded good in their own respect. Some did certain things better than others, and some performed well in every aspect.
Dana Olson's 3-ways got best sound of the day, as it was a true do-it-yourself effort. The Thor's and Kepler's kept close company in the scoring, but being kits, they are exempt from the diy recognition.
It was a fun day. Hope others had more chance to take pictures -- possibly with some evidence of humans!
I got pictures of most of the speakers (no humans). There were 8 entries. I think I missed Howard's curvy 4-ways, and Jay's Satori 2-ways.
Anyway, in order from left to right
Robert's Open Baffle 3-way
Howard's Open Baffle 4-way (yes, Howard has 2 pairs of 4-ways!)
Jay's MTM 2.5-ways
Dana Olson's 3-ways (front and rear pictures)
Dave R's Thor MTM kit (floor standers), and TerryO's Kepler 2-way kit (toward back of rug)- both in last picture
Most of the speakers this year were quite large, and all sounded good in their own respect. Some did certain things better than others, and some performed well in every aspect.
Dana Olson's 3-ways got best sound of the day, as it was a true do-it-yourself effort. The Thor's and Kepler's kept close company in the scoring, but being kits, they are exempt from the diy recognition.
It was a fun day. Hope others had more chance to take pictures -- possibly with some evidence of humans!
Attachments
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This year, the number of competitors was down , but the the workmanship and sound quality of the entries went through the roof! I'll go so far as to say that there wasn't a single poor sounding pair of speakers entered in the contest. In fact, any of this year's entries could have gotten a grand prize in previous contests.
Way to go Guys!
Terry
Way to go Guys!
Terry
The Thor's are a kit by SEAS. You can find info on them at Madisound, etc.
I can tell a little about Jay's MTM. For drivers, Jay chose 18Sound 6ND430 for midwoofers, and Hiquphon OWII for tweeters. The cabinet style was modeled after HumbleHomemadeHifi's "Concerto". Mike D built the cabinet, 2" thick bubinga for the front baffle, and the rest is a palm veneer over 2 (or 3?) layers of mdf. Around the drivers, a layer of wool felt. Mike D's woodworking skills are responsible for their beautiful looks, but they need 2 men and 4 boys to lift them.
As for Jay's MTM crossovers, the top midwoofer and tweeter combine in a series crossover, and the lower midwoofer acts as a helper (in parallel with the other two), so a 2.5-way configuration overall. Easy load for tubes, and quite revealing.
I can tell a little about Jay's MTM. For drivers, Jay chose 18Sound 6ND430 for midwoofers, and Hiquphon OWII for tweeters. The cabinet style was modeled after HumbleHomemadeHifi's "Concerto". Mike D built the cabinet, 2" thick bubinga for the front baffle, and the rest is a palm veneer over 2 (or 3?) layers of mdf. Around the drivers, a layer of wool felt. Mike D's woodworking skills are responsible for their beautiful looks, but they need 2 men and 4 boys to lift them.
As for Jay's MTM crossovers, the top midwoofer and tweeter combine in a series crossover, and the lower midwoofer acts as a helper (in parallel with the other two), so a 2.5-way configuration overall. Easy load for tubes, and quite revealing.
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Jay mentioned to me that his speakers may have audibly rolled off bass in a large room, but in his smallish listening room they actually sound quite well balanced. This would certainly suggest that "Room, or Cabin Gain" serves to correct the frequency balance of the bass in his listening room.
As Dave noted, they are very heavy and solid, as well as being quite attractive! Overall, a very nice pair of speakers.
Best Regards,
Terry
As Dave noted, they are very heavy and solid, as well as being quite attractive! Overall, a very nice pair of speakers.
Best Regards,
Terry
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Olson speaker details
I am not a great wood worker and consider any project a success when I still have all ten fingers at the end. As you can see from the photos, I didn't get the sides put on in time for the contest. There should be a two foot section of 6" diameter plastic pipe cut in half and attached to each side of the top baffle to complete the unit. This would reduce the diffraction and lower the frequency response ripple a bit in the mid range. I was hoping to top it off with a Japanese Zen Sand Garden, but that's not very portable, and I would end up with sand in the mid range voice coil gap. Thanks to Howard Grim for cutting the wood for the first mid range box.
Drivers: ScanSpeak Discovery 30W/4558T 12" Subwoofer 4 Ohm (Madisound)
Dayton Audio RS180-8 ( 295-355 Parts Express)
AuraSound Cougar NSW1-205-8A 1" Extended Range Driver 8 Ohm ( 296-250 Parts Express)
Cabinets: 4.7 cu,in / tweeter, 2 liter mid range, 70 liter woofer:
~BOM: 2 x sheets 4x8' 3/4" Birch plywood, 1 x 25 lb Barbell, 4 x 6" x 1" ID Steel Pipe, 4 x Rubber stoppers, Acoustic foam rubber, Hot glue, poster putty. 2' section of 6" ID plastic drain pipe, two half pipes per side (Home Depot), 3" Flared Port tube kit (268-350 PE) Cut to approximately 9".
Crossover: 150 Hz, 700 Hz Mid range low pass is 4th order, the other sections are second order. Tweeter high pass was supposed to be 3rd order, but implementation mistake, it went out the door 2nd order.
Attempted to tune box to 24 Hz. I think it is around 28 Hz now.
Tools: Jeff Bagby Baffle Edge Diffraction Simulator 1.20 (Baffle size / location)
VISATRON Boxsim V1.20 (Crossover design)
WinISD pro Alpha (woofer box simulation)
Bill "Collo" Collison: Boxnotes (midrange, woofer box resonance calc)
Leonard Audio: Transmission Line [Beta] ( tweeter tubes sim)
In the center of a large room, the bass was strong. In my living room, near any wall it is too much. At home I plugged the woofer port tubes and it is pretty good. Dynamic range is limited by the tweeters. Four more would be good, if you can figure out a good placement. A higher crossover point would increase the power handling at the expense of running the mid range into the first box resonance which I expect is around 950 Hz. Not measured it yet.
Dana
I am not a great wood worker and consider any project a success when I still have all ten fingers at the end. As you can see from the photos, I didn't get the sides put on in time for the contest. There should be a two foot section of 6" diameter plastic pipe cut in half and attached to each side of the top baffle to complete the unit. This would reduce the diffraction and lower the frequency response ripple a bit in the mid range. I was hoping to top it off with a Japanese Zen Sand Garden, but that's not very portable, and I would end up with sand in the mid range voice coil gap. Thanks to Howard Grim for cutting the wood for the first mid range box.
Drivers: ScanSpeak Discovery 30W/4558T 12" Subwoofer 4 Ohm (Madisound)
Dayton Audio RS180-8 ( 295-355 Parts Express)
AuraSound Cougar NSW1-205-8A 1" Extended Range Driver 8 Ohm ( 296-250 Parts Express)
Cabinets: 4.7 cu,in / tweeter, 2 liter mid range, 70 liter woofer:
~BOM: 2 x sheets 4x8' 3/4" Birch plywood, 1 x 25 lb Barbell, 4 x 6" x 1" ID Steel Pipe, 4 x Rubber stoppers, Acoustic foam rubber, Hot glue, poster putty. 2' section of 6" ID plastic drain pipe, two half pipes per side (Home Depot), 3" Flared Port tube kit (268-350 PE) Cut to approximately 9".
Crossover: 150 Hz, 700 Hz Mid range low pass is 4th order, the other sections are second order. Tweeter high pass was supposed to be 3rd order, but implementation mistake, it went out the door 2nd order.
Attempted to tune box to 24 Hz. I think it is around 28 Hz now.
Tools: Jeff Bagby Baffle Edge Diffraction Simulator 1.20 (Baffle size / location)
VISATRON Boxsim V1.20 (Crossover design)
WinISD pro Alpha (woofer box simulation)
Bill "Collo" Collison: Boxnotes (midrange, woofer box resonance calc)
Leonard Audio: Transmission Line [Beta] ( tweeter tubes sim)
In the center of a large room, the bass was strong. In my living room, near any wall it is too much. At home I plugged the woofer port tubes and it is pretty good. Dynamic range is limited by the tweeters. Four more would be good, if you can figure out a good placement. A higher crossover point would increase the power handling at the expense of running the mid range into the first box resonance which I expect is around 950 Hz. Not measured it yet.
Dana
Dana, I think you might need a larger cocktail napkin upon which it would nice if you scribble a few more notes on the total design process and construction details ( was it white PVA or yellow cabinet makers glue on those plywood boxes?)
Sounds like it worked well enough
Terry / DaveR, et al nicely done - one of these years I should try to make it down there for a day or so of apparently more tidily venued and systematically operated an event of this type than I've been used to.
Sounds like it worked well enough
Terry / DaveR, et al nicely done - one of these years I should try to make it down there for a day or so of apparently more tidily venued and systematically operated an event of this type than I've been used to.
Come on down! Behind the façade, it really is more of a "come as you are" event. You could probably show everyone a lesson or two on single driver, full-range speakers. And I'm sure you could find someone to put up with you, err . . . uhh . . . I mean . . . put you up for a few days!
Share the results
Hey, you guys collected a lot of data and loaded it all into a spread sheet during the contest. It would be much appreciated if you would share it. Sad to have it all sit on one guys computer never to be seen again. I'm sure everyone would love to see how the kits stacked up against the DIY stuff and how different tweeters were scored etc, etc, etc.
Hey, you guys collected a lot of data and loaded it all into a spread sheet during the contest. It would be much appreciated if you would share it. Sad to have it all sit on one guys computer never to be seen again. I'm sure everyone would love to see how the kits stacked up against the DIY stuff and how different tweeters were scored etc, etc, etc.
Sorry for the delay, finally got time to post the results
There were 8 entries total, 2 kits and 6 honest-to-goodness diy efforts. Overall, both of the kit entries scored slightly higher than the best original design. However, only original designs can be awarded Best sound. Dana’s 3-ways claimed Best Sound of the Day for his original design.
Most of the speakers this year were LARGE, only 2 smaller entries in the stand-mounted variety. It’s always fun to hear the more room-filling sound from a large speaker. All of the speakers, whether kit or original design, sounded good. Congratulations to Dana and all of the contestants for their outstanding efforts.
None were of the 1-way (full range) persuasion this year. Maybe some of our friends from north of the border can show us how it’s done next time!
There were 8 entries total, 2 kits and 6 honest-to-goodness diy efforts. Overall, both of the kit entries scored slightly higher than the best original design. However, only original designs can be awarded Best sound. Dana’s 3-ways claimed Best Sound of the Day for his original design.
Most of the speakers this year were LARGE, only 2 smaller entries in the stand-mounted variety. It’s always fun to hear the more room-filling sound from a large speaker. All of the speakers, whether kit or original design, sounded good. Congratulations to Dana and all of the contestants for their outstanding efforts.
None were of the 1-way (full range) persuasion this year. Maybe some of our friends from north of the border can show us how it’s done next time!
3 of the entries were in the 2-way class.
Dave R’s Thor kit by SEAS (MTM floor standers in the 1st photo).
TerryO’s Kepler kit by Exodus Audio (bookshelf pair shown next to black stands). Design by Kevin Haskins, previous proprietor of Exodus Audio.
Jay’s diy 2-ways using Satori drivers. (one box of pair shown, as they emerged from the sawdust-making shop) Series crossover designed by Dave R. Sealed box, ~ 17.5 liters. Laid back sound, easy to listen to. Awarded best sounding 2-way original design.
If anyone has better pictures of any of the entries at the contest, pleas share. Guess we need someone assigned to official task of photographer in the future
Dave R’s Thor kit by SEAS (MTM floor standers in the 1st photo).
TerryO’s Kepler kit by Exodus Audio (bookshelf pair shown next to black stands). Design by Kevin Haskins, previous proprietor of Exodus Audio.
Jay’s diy 2-ways using Satori drivers. (one box of pair shown, as they emerged from the sawdust-making shop) Series crossover designed by Dave R. Sealed box, ~ 17.5 liters. Laid back sound, easy to listen to. Awarded best sounding 2-way original design.
If anyone has better pictures of any of the entries at the contest, pleas share. Guess we need someone assigned to official task of photographer in the future
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In the 3-way category, there were 3 entries, all original design.
Dana’s 3-ways, 1st place in the 3-ways, as well as Best Sound of the Day (both front and rear shown). Each section (bass, mid, tweeter) housed separately. Maybe Dana can pitch in to elaborate more on the design.
Jay’s 3-ways, MTM arrangement in a 17.5 liter sealed box with 2.5-way crossover came in 2nd place in the 3-ways. Kind of in the mid-size category, but very stout cabinets, made by Mike D. Front baffle is 2" thick bubinga, with palm veneer over 2" thick walls. Very nice workmanship.
Robert’s Open baffle 3-ways brought in 3rd place in the 3-ways. Eminence Alpha 15 for bottom end, an MCM mid, and not sure what's on the top end with the waveguide lens. Vocals sounded especially nice.
Dana’s 3-ways, 1st place in the 3-ways, as well as Best Sound of the Day (both front and rear shown). Each section (bass, mid, tweeter) housed separately. Maybe Dana can pitch in to elaborate more on the design.
Jay’s 3-ways, MTM arrangement in a 17.5 liter sealed box with 2.5-way crossover came in 2nd place in the 3-ways. Kind of in the mid-size category, but very stout cabinets, made by Mike D. Front baffle is 2" thick bubinga, with palm veneer over 2" thick walls. Very nice workmanship.
Robert’s Open baffle 3-ways brought in 3rd place in the 3-ways. Eminence Alpha 15 for bottom end, an MCM mid, and not sure what's on the top end with the waveguide lens. Vocals sounded especially nice.
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I would like to thank everyone who pitched in to help out again this year. There were several regulars who were not able to attend, and some short notice for volunteers and organizing. All in all, everything went well, and I think everyone who attended had some fun. Now, it's time to hatch plans for next time . . . .
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