My 'Moon-Onken'

[Bigun]

Hi,

I've finished a new pair of Onken style speakers designed for HT. My first project uses the FE127E. I decided on a 6L box size to reach a hoped-for 80Hz cut-off (where the HT sub should take over). Dimensions were chosen based on convenient lumber sizes and to suit the final location I have in mind. I also made some aesthetic choices in terms of the shape & size and number of port vents.

I've had a lot of inspiration and help from the forum (such as Dave, Chris, Bob and others), the last thread I created in this regard is at: I've started my first project...

Since this speaker is designed as an HT satellite I've named it after one !

And in case anybody likes the design I'll post my drawings (but do go and see what they're doing at planet10 where there is a wealth of design information and perhaps something more suited for your application)

[dear moderator, let me know if this is out-of-line, but I'm starting this new thread because the old one has a generic subject title that will soon get lost in the mists of time...]

[Bigun]

and the drawings - styled for Dave

[Bigun]

last page...

[Godzilla]

I love your Moon's! Beautiful job! What will you be using as the sub?

Godzilla

[Bigun]

Thanks for the positive feedback...

The sub is still on the drawing board. I am leaning towards something based on the SDX-7 (again, inspiration coming from Planet10). I have to decide if I want a floorstander for the front which will be based on the Moon + sub, or if I want more Moon's and a separate sub. What's your advice ?

I'll throw in a another photo of the Moon...

[planet10]

[chrisb]

Originally posted by Bigun
Thanks for the positive feedback...

The sub is still on the drawing board. I am leaning towards something based on the SDX-7 (again, inspiration coming from Planet10). I have to decide if I want a floorstander for the front which will be based on the Moon + sub, or if I want more Moon's and a separate sub. What's your advice ?

I'll throw in a another photo of the Moon...

A couple of thoughts, but in the spirit of full disclosure, I've become far less of a fan of the HT experience as time passed by; wherein the full body immersion, sensory overload and frequently distorted perspectives of exaggerated sound and visual effects swamp the actual art of story telling, so I'll admit to a bit of a jaundiced attitude on the subject.

So... depending on how "extremis" you want to get, a single SDX7 / FE127E per side would certainly be a great combination start. Assuming your HT processor / receiver has appropriate bass management, you could even experiment with the "need" for a separate dedicated LFE woofer. (as in NOT)

i.e. When I last played with my Denon HT receiver ( at least 3 yrs ago - several lifetimes in this niche), I'd set the mains to small, which would feed the LF signals from those channels as well as the "LFE" information to the sub line level out. Of course the problem here is that you loose stereo separation of "regular" LF information from the generally non directional LFE "stuff"


If the room allows placement for dispersion, you could easily side mounting the woofers in an enclosure with the same footprint and profile as the Moonkens (sorry, but how could I resist) . They could be built either as a separate enclosure, or integrated into a single full height unit. (see the Planet10 Tysen design for such a configuration with a smaller wide band driver, the FF85K)

If your circumstances require the woofers to be forward firing, it would take a bit more aesthetic creativity to fit the SDX7 into the same profile cabinet, but I'm sure you could come up with something workable.

Parts to achieve XO dividing networks for the L&R mains channels at your chosen frequency won't be inexpensive, and there is the substantial difference in sensitivities between the FE127 and SDX7 to contend with.

Bi-amping, with either active or passive line level XO`s would be the ideal solution; if your processor or receiver has line level outs for those channels, you could use any adequately powered SS amp to power the woofers. Alternatively, there are any number of sub-woofer plate amps that include all the appropriate circuitry, but be advised that without modification, the XO stage of these would become the weakest link in your system.

Do any current receivers allow for the flexible configuration of bi-amping the front channels by looping through an external XO, and using either a separate power amp, or a couple of unused internal surround channels. I`ve seen some rigs with as many as 7.1 channels, who really needs 4 channels of rear and center surround

[GM]

What LF stereo separation? Movies, multi-channel recordings are spec'd mono below 120 Hz and as high as 150-160 Hz on vinyl, tape, CD.

GM

[planet10]

Originally posted by chrisb
Do any current receivers allow for the flexible configuration of bi-amping the front channels by looping through an external XO, and using either a separate power amp, or a couple of unused internal surround channels. I`ve seen some rigs with as many as 7.1 channels, who really needs 4 channels of rear and center surround

The entry-level Denon TrueHD 7.1 receiver i just set up has provision for using the 2 rear channels to "biamp" the mains, but it wasn't clear whether they had an active XO internal or whether passive bi-amping is intended -- i get the felling it was the latter.

dave

[chrisb]

Originally posted by GM
What LF stereo separation? Movies, multi-channel recordings are spec'd mono below 120 Hz and as high as 150-160 Hz on vinyl, tape, CD.

GM

thanks for help making the point