I hear ya. I've been silently debating being the first to build the Maeshowe but given the rest of my kit (not so great) and my lack of experience, my feedback to the community would be of minimal value.
But maybe my lack of experience is also a great reason to take the dive and try something new: if it turns out to sound worse than any of the other similar designs I won't be able to tell. That is, it won't make me sad because I won't know any better. Not yet anyway.
In that case I have a couple questions about the Maeshowe; How critical is the curved mouth? What might be the best way to cut the mouth if I can't cut it rounded? Any good suggestions/techniques on how to cut it neatly rounded? If left to my own devices I'd probably sketch the curve out from a grid and use a jig saw which I'm sure would turn out like crap.
Also any thoughts on how the EL70 might perform compared to the CHR-70 in the Maeshowe? I know that none have been built, but any thoughts from the theoretical perspective?
Is there any good potential for loading two drivers in that box? I might like to shoot for 8 ohms. Or is the lotus the better design to go to for this kind of configuration?
Thanks again!
The Maeshowe horn looks really great!
CrookedChris, maybe you can also consider using some of the lesser expensive TangBand drivers. The 4" bamboo driver is excellent as is the titanium. But for your room and your amp i would also consider something like the Bob Brines Straight Pipe:
http://www.geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/Straight_Pipe.html
If you like the 4" Fostex drivers you can also consider the Horn Shoppe horn if you can corner load... or the Frugal horn project which is similar. I am not crazy about the sound of Fostex running on solid state personally tho some here i respect disagree... just my experience... tho i do need to tell everyone about the Onkyo TX-5000 receiver i found in someones trash last week... 30 years old and works perfectly... full, rich solid state sound. Maybe they sounded better back then? I am still evaluating its sound but having too much fun playing them thru the Pioneer/Piezos... which is another option to consider with solid state since it sounds very good that way too.
Keep us posted on your progress. There are no bad choices here yet that will not sound very good in your space... tho with your solid state NAD i would gently push you towards drivers from TB or the Alpairs... or the Pioneer B20 (which does not sound as good but could offer you up a project for peanuts to enjoy as you peruse the many fine options out there these days).
Godzilla
CrookedChris, maybe you can also consider using some of the lesser expensive TangBand drivers. The 4" bamboo driver is excellent as is the titanium. But for your room and your amp i would also consider something like the Bob Brines Straight Pipe:
http://www.geocities.com/rbrines1/Pages/Straight_Pipe.html
If you like the 4" Fostex drivers you can also consider the Horn Shoppe horn if you can corner load... or the Frugal horn project which is similar. I am not crazy about the sound of Fostex running on solid state personally tho some here i respect disagree... just my experience... tho i do need to tell everyone about the Onkyo TX-5000 receiver i found in someones trash last week... 30 years old and works perfectly... full, rich solid state sound. Maybe they sounded better back then? I am still evaluating its sound but having too much fun playing them thru the Pioneer/Piezos... which is another option to consider with solid state since it sounds very good that way too.
Keep us posted on your progress. There are no bad choices here yet that will not sound very good in your space... tho with your solid state NAD i would gently push you towards drivers from TB or the Alpairs... or the Pioneer B20 (which does not sound as good but could offer you up a project for peanuts to enjoy as you peruse the many fine options out there these days).
Godzilla
It can't be that old Jeff... in 1979 the models were TX4500/2500/1500 (or the next which appended an II). When we were selling these we thot they were a clear winner over the other Japanese faire... i have a 2500 Mk II and an older 10W one that was a real sleeper. Excellent tuners in the x500 series.
dave
http://www.soundsclassic.com/listings/1249.html
Thanks Dave, I am not sure how old it is but when i Googled it i found this page. not much info on it out there. Mine is pretty much picture perfect with a few tiny scratch marks near the balance knob. Otherwise, 9 out of 10. The tuner still works too! When i found it, it was filthy and wife did not want it in house. A small cap of rubbing alcohol cleaned it up nicely. Everyone asks "Where did you get that?" when they see it behind me in the office. I think it's beautiful. Streaming Brandi Carlile as i type.
Godzilla
Thanks Dave, I am not sure how old it is but when i Googled it i found this page. not much info on it out there. Mine is pretty much picture perfect with a few tiny scratch marks near the balance knob. Otherwise, 9 out of 10. The tuner still works too! When i found it, it was filthy and wife did not want it in house. A small cap of rubbing alcohol cleaned it up nicely. Everyone asks "Where did you get that?" when they see it behind me in the office. I think it's beautiful. Streaming Brandi Carlile as i type.
Godzilla
That is 1 gen later than TX4500 II (which we were still selling when they say this was out). Updated cosmetics, slighly cheaper looking knobs, digital tuner readout. From the back you could hardly tell it is a different model.
dave
What kind of effects could I expect if I corner-loaded one Maeshowe and backed the other against a flat wall? Is that a "no-no"? Just to be clear, the Maeshowe is going to be more relaxed as compared to the dynamic Saburo correct? You mention differences in LF gain w/ the 126; given the CHR-70 has the same Fo of 70Hz as the 126 is it safe to assume it would suffer the same loss of LF in the Maeshowe? Might the EL70 with it's Fo of 64Hz be better?
Got a chapter of my thesis to write, so v. quickly
All other things being equal, one will have more gain than the other, so they won't be balanced properly (i.e. not a great idea); yes, that's the general idea; no, by that I meant that the 126 in Maeshowe requires corner-loading to provide sufficient LF gain, while the CHR70 & EL70 only need 1/4 space placement and no; the EL70 will not be 'better.' It will be 'different' -extension is basically the same with all of the drivers.
All other things being equal, one will have more gain than the other, so they won't be balanced properly (i.e. not a great idea); yes, that's the general idea; no, by that I meant that the 126 in Maeshowe requires corner-loading to provide sufficient LF gain, while the CHR70 & EL70 only need 1/4 space placement and no; the EL70 will not be 'better.' It will be 'different' -extension is basically the same with all of the drivers.
And now for something completely diferent...
Scott Do you have any thought of how the CHR-70 would perform in a BIB? I might just build one and find out because it looks so cheap and simple.
I'm leaning towards buying the CHR-70s because in all the reading I've done I can't seem to find any really good reasons to justify the higher cost of the EL70 or Fostex drivers.
Scott Do you have any thought of how the CHR-70 would perform in a BIB? I might just build one and find out because it looks so cheap and simple.
I'm leaning towards buying the CHR-70s because in all the reading I've done I can't seem to find any really good reasons to justify the higher cost of the EL70 or Fostex drivers.
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Should work fine.
As for the rest, it's not really a matter of justifying anything; they're different drivers, designed for subtly different purposes & offer different things, so YMMV as always. The EL has greater sensitivity than the CHR & a slightly different balance; in the Fostex drivers, efficiency is still higher & the balance is different again. And so on & so forth. You pick & choose what's right for your particular needs.
As for the rest, it's not really a matter of justifying anything; they're different drivers, designed for subtly different purposes & offer different things, so YMMV as always. The EL has greater sensitivity than the CHR & a slightly different balance; in the Fostex drivers, efficiency is still higher & the balance is different again. And so on & so forth. You pick & choose what's right for your particular needs.
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Fair enough. No easy answers here. As an engineer I want it to be cut and dry, good vs. bad. Obviously given we're talking about human perception it can't be that simple. This is going to be a long journey. I can already hear my wallet emptying and my wife groaning.
Well. I did the calcs for a CHR-70 based BIB and if I trim 0.8 inches off the calculated height I can get two cabs out one one 4x8 sheet. So I might just whip a pair of those together as my introduction to this hobby and to have something decent to run with my NAD.
In the mean time I'll definitely look more into the Maeshowe and Lotus and perhaps the Frugel-horn or whatever else pops up.
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Scott, quit throwing my world into a tizzy.
I'm only really familiar with the design on the zillaspeak.com website which is upward firing and which is also where I got the spreadsheet for doing the dimensional calcs. What's the minimum height to couple with the room I described in my first post? Is it a function of room size and/or ceiling height? Can you point me in the direction of something downward firing or can I simply flip the upward design on it's head with some feet?
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