Hi all: well, my BiB with Fostex FE167E are set and playing as I type this. Albeit, on temp. bases! I'm 'burning-in' to see if I like the sound.......I'll post a picture once I work out how to attach it as a smaller size!
Gosh, the sound is big and mellow, with such deep deep bass...I can't believe it! All driven by a 12 wpc channel Yaqin valve amp affectionately known as: "the beast"!
Thanks to all who have been involved with the development of these...(you guys know who you are)...sad about Terry though..R.I.P.
Now for the question....I might be needing a bit of high Freq. boost...as I have the gear set up in a notoriously shocking (flat ) room. I would be looking at either a super- tweeter or the horn tweeter from Fostex with an attenuator/control. What size cap. or resister do I place in the circuit?
Once this is sorted, I'll pull them apart and 'dress' them up to look great! I made them out of 12 ply 'speaker' plywood...which is very pale. Anyway, thanks all.
Regards: Dave
Amazing sound .....but I've already said that!
Gosh, the sound is big and mellow, with such deep deep bass...I can't believe it! All driven by a 12 wpc channel Yaqin valve amp affectionately known as: "the beast"!
Thanks to all who have been involved with the development of these...(you guys know who you are)...sad about Terry though..R.I.P.
Now for the question....I might be needing a bit of high Freq. boost...as I have the gear set up in a notoriously shocking (flat ) room. I would be looking at either a super- tweeter or the horn tweeter from Fostex with an attenuator/control. What size cap. or resister do I place in the circuit?
Once this is sorted, I'll pull them apart and 'dress' them up to look great! I made them out of 12 ply 'speaker' plywood...which is very pale. Anyway, thanks all.
Regards: Dave
Amazing sound .....but I've already said that!
Hi Alex: the plywood I purchased from a second-hand timber dealer/recycler down here in Melbourne. He had a mountain of this 16mm 10 or 12 ply plywood that was used for speaker manufacturing prior to the 'dreaded' MDF taking over. It's good stuff...but as you would expect, hard to cut straight without burring the edges when you cut. And I don't have a saw bench, so I had to mount steel straight edges etc along the lines and use my trusty circular saw. I didn't do a bad job. Most are pretty good. One piece did warp a bit after I cut it...but that's another story!
The measurements for the "Bigger is Better" I got from the internet site hosted and supported by ZillaAudio.com (Godzilla). You'll find some pictures, and in the "how to" section a new list of dimensions to suit a lot of single drivers ie; Fostex, Jordan etc. The measurements are all in inches...and they have internal and external measurements depedning obviously on the dimensions of your timber, and the baffle sizes to suit, packing the dacron, driver placement etc. There's a few pictures of construction, but really you have to make it up as you go. It isn't too bad...just big as you'd expect and bloody heavy! Mine stand about 1.7 mts high and weigh around 50kgs!!!!
re some pix, I can't shrink the photos down so that they will be accepted on the site.....mine are jpeg files. I'll get some posted for you on the weekend....brother-in-law is a computer whiz!
Kind REgards: Dave
The measurements for the "Bigger is Better" I got from the internet site hosted and supported by ZillaAudio.com (Godzilla). You'll find some pictures, and in the "how to" section a new list of dimensions to suit a lot of single drivers ie; Fostex, Jordan etc. The measurements are all in inches...and they have internal and external measurements depedning obviously on the dimensions of your timber, and the baffle sizes to suit, packing the dacron, driver placement etc. There's a few pictures of construction, but really you have to make it up as you go. It isn't too bad...just big as you'd expect and bloody heavy! Mine stand about 1.7 mts high and weigh around 50kgs!!!!
re some pix, I can't shrink the photos down so that they will be accepted on the site.....mine are jpeg files. I'll get some posted for you on the weekend....brother-in-law is a computer whiz!
Kind REgards: Dave
Hi TTan98: mmmmmmmm, I'll post a note to you when I get the BiB's looking a little better! Obviously I'm always concerned about my address/contact being posted over the site...but I'll let you know! A friend of mine and a couple of guys who build their own speakers live nearby....and we are thinking about having a 'night' in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne. I'll keep you posted...have to arrange a room at one of the local clubs and enough notice so that people can plan moving some of their gear. Mine would need a horse float! I know a couple of guys who have built Jordan single driver gear who are keen to get together. Some others that have built their own amps etc. A sort of local 'Burning Amp" festival.....stranger things have started from simple beginnings!
Also, once I can work out how to get the pictures down to an acceptable bit rate, I'l get some pictures posted.
One last thing...my FE167e have now played for about 20 hours and I think they are starting to open up in the highs a bit...either that or I'm getting used to the single driver sound!!!! I'm about to unplug "the beast"...(all 12 watt of Yaqin valve amp) and plug in some variations of SS gear to see what happens. .....ahhh; the fun, the fun!
Kind Regards: dave
Also, once I can work out how to get the pictures down to an acceptable bit rate, I'l get some pictures posted.
One last thing...my FE167e have now played for about 20 hours and I think they are starting to open up in the highs a bit...either that or I'm getting used to the single driver sound!!!! I'm about to unplug "the beast"...(all 12 watt of Yaqin valve amp) and plug in some variations of SS gear to see what happens. .....ahhh; the fun, the fun!
Kind Regards: dave
You're welcome!
You will have to set the level, then try different caps till you find what sounds best to you in your room, so grab a 0.5 and 1 uF to see if going lower or higher is required and go from there.
WRT setting the level, best to use a cheap adjustable L-pad and measure it to get the values to make good quality fixed ones.
GM
You will have to set the level, then try different caps till you find what sounds best to you in your room, so grab a 0.5 and 1 uF to see if going lower or higher is required and go from there.
WRT setting the level, best to use a cheap adjustable L-pad and measure it to get the values to make good quality fixed ones.
GM
Your BIB's look really great Dave. Thanks for sending me a pic. It looks like they are angled in towards the listening position. This will minimize the need for a tweeter of some kind.
http://www.zillaspeak.com/systems.asp
Mine are angled in slightly with a super tweeter on the back. I used a .47uf cap with a Radio Shack pod super tweeter. I recommend the $37 Fostex (which is not the same but similar) as a super tweeter with your 167e. If you wanted to buy one of the freestanding super tweeters from Fostex (expensive but excellent) you could build a slim stand and place them next to the BIBs. Just a suggestion. If you are enjoying the sound without the tweeter i suggest keeping them exactly the way they are until you really feel the need (or save up the $$$) to 'enhance' their sound.
Godzilla
http://www.zillaspeak.com/systems.asp
Mine are angled in slightly with a super tweeter on the back. I used a .47uf cap with a Radio Shack pod super tweeter. I recommend the $37 Fostex (which is not the same but similar) as a super tweeter with your 167e. If you wanted to buy one of the freestanding super tweeters from Fostex (expensive but excellent) you could build a slim stand and place them next to the BIBs. Just a suggestion. If you are enjoying the sound without the tweeter i suggest keeping them exactly the way they are until you really feel the need (or save up the $$$) to 'enhance' their sound.
Godzilla
Hey guys: thanks for the replies! Hey Alex, there's a response there from Godzilla....get onto his site and check out the "Bigger is Better" site and see the specs for the various single drivers. There's also some really great pix of fantastic BiB speaker cabinets from builders around the globe! Simply inspiring stuff! As I stated, as soon as I dress them up a bit I'll have an 'open day' for people who want to come and have a beer...I mean, a listen! There's a few guys from 'Stereonet' that want to come over as well. I'll keep you posted.
Kind Regards to all: Dave
Kind Regards to all: Dave
WOW!!! BIBs are great!
I built a pair of BIBs using Zilla's Excel spread sheet. I am amazed at the sound that comes out of them. Column Z on my copy of the spreadsheet allowed me to put in my own speaker parameters. I had a couple of old MCM 5 inch drivers laying around, so I put them in the spreadsheet and built the boxes accordingly.
WOW! For a pair of $14 speakers, I can hardly believe the sound. They sound FAR better than the cost would lead a guy to believe. I haven't "finished" the boxes yet, I've been enjoying them without them looking "pretty." I have a pair of Radio Shack 1354s I was going to build some "straight pipes" for, but I've been rethinking that after hearing the BIBs.
I am definitely a believer in these boxes!!!!!!
My hat is off to Godzilla for a great project.
I built a pair of BIBs using Zilla's Excel spread sheet. I am amazed at the sound that comes out of them. Column Z on my copy of the spreadsheet allowed me to put in my own speaker parameters. I had a couple of old MCM 5 inch drivers laying around, so I put them in the spreadsheet and built the boxes accordingly.
WOW! For a pair of $14 speakers, I can hardly believe the sound. They sound FAR better than the cost would lead a guy to believe. I haven't "finished" the boxes yet, I've been enjoying them without them looking "pretty." I have a pair of Radio Shack 1354s I was going to build some "straight pipes" for, but I've been rethinking that after hearing the BIBs. I am definitely a believer in these boxes!!!!!!My hat is off to Godzilla for a great project.
Thanks for the props Mikje but i can't take credit for the BIB design or the spreadsheet. All i did was put the website together. Enjoy your BIBs!
I love my BIBs too and really enjoyed the collective effort that went into developing them. There are some amazing people in this world all working towards making it a better place for everyone. I'm sure i'd still be listening to low eff box speakers costing several hundred dollars to build if it were not for this site and others like it (www.fullrangedriver.com is another great source of shared information).
It wouldn't surprise me if you $14 speakers sounded like $1000!
Godzilla
I love my BIBs too and really enjoyed the collective effort that went into developing them. There are some amazing people in this world all working towards making it a better place for everyone. I'm sure i'd still be listening to low eff box speakers costing several hundred dollars to build if it were not for this site and others like it (www.fullrangedriver.com is another great source of shared information).
It wouldn't surprise me if you $14 speakers sounded like $1000!
Godzilla
As you are dressing up (reassembling?) your BIBs I'd wonder if you have considered the Enabl treatment on the BIB box. I have been lobbying for some exploration of that.
Previously I had used the GM tweak of the BIB 'pennant' which was aimed at clarifying what LF comes out of the horn end.
Since mine (built for the FE127e) is all glued up and the treatment wouldn't show and I have a 167e to experiment with down the line the Enabl box treatment seems like a non invasive modification.
Alex has offered some plans on this. I'm still fence sitting about taking pen and paint to my speakers.
Previously I had used the GM tweak of the BIB 'pennant' which was aimed at clarifying what LF comes out of the horn end.
Since mine (built for the FE127e) is all glued up and the treatment wouldn't show and I have a 167e to experiment with down the line the Enabl box treatment seems like a non invasive modification.
Alex has offered some plans on this. I'm still fence sitting about taking pen and paint to my speakers.
Hi all: (hi loninappleton)
I hadn't thought about the Enabl treatment! I'll have to give it a bit of a read. Alex from oz mentioned it somewhere else and I have been reading. My BiB are glued on the sides (and the baffle obviously) but I have left the bottom free to either stuff with wool or reduce it. I haven't found any 'feet' that I like and with a solid wooden plinths for a base they are starting to look like monoliths! I was expecting slim and tall columns...like in many of the other driver dimensions....but mine are short and fat: I'm starting to wonder if speaker cabinets are like dogs and take on their owners looks!!!???? So anyway, I could lie them over on their side and go ahead with the Enable treatment....but bass isnt my main problem...it is the high frequ from the Fostex that I'm struggling with. However, I may as well consider Enable...what have I got to lose? So far the sound is great and I like them very much...apart from friends comments whom noted the similarities in appearance mentioned above! Thanks for your comments. Rgds: Dave
I hadn't thought about the Enabl treatment! I'll have to give it a bit of a read. Alex from oz mentioned it somewhere else and I have been reading. My BiB are glued on the sides (and the baffle obviously) but I have left the bottom free to either stuff with wool or reduce it. I haven't found any 'feet' that I like and with a solid wooden plinths for a base they are starting to look like monoliths! I was expecting slim and tall columns...like in many of the other driver dimensions....but mine are short and fat: I'm starting to wonder if speaker cabinets are like dogs and take on their owners looks!!!???? So anyway, I could lie them over on their side and go ahead with the Enable treatment....but bass isnt my main problem...it is the high frequ from the Fostex that I'm struggling with. However, I may as well consider Enable...what have I got to lose? So far the sound is great and I like them very much...apart from friends comments whom noted the similarities in appearance mentioned above! Thanks for your comments. Rgds: Dave
Alex from Oz has a current picture thumbnail on one of these threads
and there is an Enabl calculator not far away as well. The calculator is a bit fussy though and I have not been able to load it due to a strange file extension or maybe an unknown one.
(Again, I wisht all this BIB stuff were in the main BIB thread so it's together.)
I have one short but not really fat BIB which I call the Bib Jr. I used the calculator at Zilla speak for that and using an inexpensive Pioneer 4 inch and some off-cuts and short pieces of glued up shelving.
My take on the BIB is that the driver has to sim to a long line length and that's where you get those nice lower piano registers.
I've found that changing the room can make quite a difference as well.
But we all live within our limitations.
The BIB Jr. is coming down in favor of an MLTL Fostex 167e.
and there is an Enabl calculator not far away as well. The calculator is a bit fussy though and I have not been able to load it due to a strange file extension or maybe an unknown one.
(Again, I wisht all this BIB stuff were in the main BIB thread so it's together.)
I have one short but not really fat BIB which I call the Bib Jr. I used the calculator at Zilla speak for that and using an inexpensive Pioneer 4 inch and some off-cuts and short pieces of glued up shelving.
My take on the BIB is that the driver has to sim to a long line length and that's where you get those nice lower piano registers.
I've found that changing the room can make quite a difference as well.
But we all live within our limitations.
The BIB Jr. is coming down in favor of an MLTL Fostex 167e.
ahhhh...loninappleton: the MLTL...was quite a lust for me as well! I was going to follow some of MJKing (what a man!?) and build similarly for the Fostex FE167E, but also, I liked the Bob Brines unit...it was/is simply superb...(I bought the plans and have something else to go in them!!!???)....and simple. I went for the FE167e due to so many good remarks about their clarity...even Mr Pass likes them..so I kinda figured that I couldn't lose...with such a superb design as the BiB with the "highs" of the Fe167e I reckoned I had it all covered....anyway.....I liked Decware's modified Fe206...that is what we all should base our next BiB's around! Gosh, I'd like to see/hear a pair of these in a Frugal Horn...could you imagine Curvy Chang with a pair of Decawares 8inch full range...would have to be close to (dare I say "Nirvana??)...great sound???? I have to waite until the blasted Australian dollar comes back..it was trading rather well with you guys in the good 'ole' USA, but it has died over the past months....................and therefore made buying it a stressful event.
Anyway, thanks so much for responding...I've got to arrnage some L-pads and tweeter horns for my BiB to 'rail' the highs.....and now, work out how to Enable the blasted boxes!!!!
Regards: Dave
Anyway, thanks so much for responding...I've got to arrnage some L-pads and tweeter horns for my BiB to 'rail' the highs.....and now, work out how to Enable the blasted boxes!!!!
Regards: Dave
>>> My take on the BIB is that the driver has to sim to a long line length and that's where you get those nice lower piano registers.
Yes, BIBs to great piano. If you like piano the BIB is one of the best speakers to reproduce it properly. I grew up with a piano in my house and know its sound.
After hearing some recordings with piano (just about any jazz recording, etc.) with BIBs and then going back to typical box speakers you realize what the BIB is doing right very quickly. The size of a piano is conveyed more realistically. Everything just sounds bigger with a BIB!
Godzilla
Yes, BIBs to great piano. If you like piano the BIB is one of the best speakers to reproduce it properly. I grew up with a piano in my house and know its sound.
After hearing some recordings with piano (just about any jazz recording, etc.) with BIBs and then going back to typical box speakers you realize what the BIB is doing right very quickly. The size of a piano is conveyed more realistically. Everything just sounds bigger with a BIB!
Godzilla
davethomp said:
Before you add tweeter horns, ideally wait until you get at least 100 - 200 hours on the FE167E's.
You will find that cabinet EnABL on the baffles and external cabinet edges will improve the clarity of the highs.
Also, if you EnABL in the mouth it should make the bass faster and cleaner - which makes the highs easier to hear.
If the bottom of your cabinets is still unglued, try applying EnABL to the entire bottom panel and the inside walls of the cabinet as far up as you can reach.
Have a look here (if you haven't already done so).
Can I suggest that you consider EnABLing the drivers before springing for new ones (or just buy some planet10 EnABL'd ones instead).
Cheers,
Alex
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