1st FR project - TangBand W3-1364 3" Monitor using Dick Smith box

[gainphile]

This was my first foray into the FR world and it turned out to be really pleasant. I found a spare Tangband 3" speaker and a Dick Smith bookshelf monitor box lying around. It is the old version, but the new one looks similiar. I enlarged the tweeter hole to 7.5mm and closed the woofer with small mdf board.

Pluses:
- Very coherent due to no crossovers
- Very clean due to low distortion above 70Hz
- Midrange! vocal is glorious. Very realistic
- Small size

Drawbacks:
- Low efficiency
- Box signature unavoidable
- Box quality is poor - may need bracing




I utilise Dick Smith 5" monitor bought at ebay auction for $10. With the Tangband bamboo driver it was a lucky match! Ignore the magnitude, it's not a 100db efficiency but observe the driver rolloff which is then extended to about 45Hz by the port tuning. In fact this loudspeaker low extension is fine and I don't feel the need for a subwoofer. In my 3x4m room they are loud enough. The TangBand is very flat, but my measurement was not ideal as it was taken in front of the grill and there are diffraction effects. Also the drivers are not flush-mounted (yet).





Harmonics distortion measurement at 40Hz shows reasonable H2 and H3 at 80 and 120Hz. Ignore that peak at 5kHz as it is my computer fan noise being picked up by the microphone. First audible signal is heard around 40Hz. There is no audible sound at 20Hz (as it should) and 30Hz.




More comprehensive distortion measurement. At around 70Hz the 2nd and 3rd harmonic distortion drops to about 1% level which explains the cleanliness of the sound. Most of the time H2 dominates which is normal cellulose cone behaviour and gives somewhat warm sound. H2 or 2nd harmonics is more pleasant than 3rd some says.




Photo of the dicksmith box. It is not well-braced and that's next on my to-do list. The measurement is:

Width: 160mm
Height: 330mm
Depth: 230mm
(outside measurement, panel thickness is 12mm)

Port diameter: 50mm
Port length: 110mm, flared on the outside




Closeup of the TangBand W3-1364 3" speaker. The cone is made from bamboo fiber and the chassis is cast metal (!). Very well made. This driver is highly regarded albeit the cost. See full review at ZaphAudio and his measurement results.




The measurement lab. As usual everything here are prototypes, temporary, and utilise anything available in the garden shed

[TheSeekerr]

Hi Gainphile,

A little offtopic, I'm crossposting here from your blog just incase you're more likely to keep an eye on this -

Where did you get the WM-61A's you use for measurement? I've been looking for a local / price not dominated by shipping source for ages.

Thanks

BTW, interesting project....I have some similarly dodgy bookshelf cabinets that I might do something similar with, the current woofer distorts like crazy, and the tweeter is tinny to the point of having to equalise it out.

[gainphile]

Originally posted by TheSeekerr
Hi Gainphile,

A little offtopic, I'm crossposting here from your blog just incase you're more likely to keep an eye on this -

Where did you get the WM-61A's you use for measurement? I've been looking for a local / price not dominated by shipping source for ages.

Thanks

BTW, interesting project....I have some similarly dodgy bookshelf cabinets that I might do something similar with, the current woofer distorts like crazy, and the tweeter is tinny to the point of having to equalise it out.

I imported few with very good shipping deal from Canada, it was an ebay seller. Could not see anymore around. Import price from PE and alike are ridiculous.

PM me if you're interested.

[ttan98]

gainphile,

Looks like you have bitten by the speaker building hobby.

Happy building and enjoy hand build speakers.