Howdy fellas, it's been awhile, need some advice.

[Rick J. B.]

Well to keep it short I've sold off my DX-3 Lowthers and ended up building a set of Silver Iris open baffle speakers with the augie woofers. These turned out to be great speakers for rock, pop, or just about anything I've tried them with. They're really pretty impressive for the money invested.

But, I really got the itch to build another set of speakers just for the sheer joy of the build. I'm sure many of you understand.

What I'm really contemplating is going with one of the larger full rangers, like an 8" or bigger. And I think I'd like to try my hand at a double horn, kinda like the late Terry Cain's awesome Big Ben. I just love the cool factor those speakers possess.

But first I'd like your guys input on drivers, I think I'll steer clear of the Lowthers due to cost, so I'm thinking about the Fostex offerings or something similar. What are your guys opinions on the Fostex speakers or the other brands of the type that aren't priced too high? Keep in mind I'd like to end up with something with good bass response, I'd really hate to have to augment the bottom end, I'm hoping a dbl horn will take care of that.

Now once the various drivers get discussed, how about the enclosures? I''m a cabinetmaker by trade so this is no problem, but what I'm not is an acoustical engineer so in that area I will need your experience.

So what do ya say fellas, can you help a brother out?

Much thanks in advance!

Rick

[hm]

Hello,
merry Xmax,
my double horns would be a good solution
to get bass and soundstage
look my SAxophon and the RDH20

audio Nirvana 8"
Fostex Fe206E
Sica 8" 38/1100
good value for the price

[rjbond3rd]

The Spawn Family of Double Horns
Brines Acoustics

Some smaller fullrangers have a surprising amount of bass, by the way (but less sensitivity). So if you have the watts, you might want to go with a smaller driver.

[Rick J. B.]

Originally Posted by hm

Hello,
merry Xmax,
my double horns would be a good solution
to get bass and soundstage
look my SAxophon and the RDH20

audio Nirvana 8"
Fostex Fe206E
Sica 8" 38/1100
good value for the price

And a merry Christmas to you as well HM. Thanks for the input, I spent some time looking through your site, very interesting I must say.

What I think I'm most interested in for this build is one of the taller double horns with a mouth opening at the top as well as the bottom.

I see you have experience with the Audio Nirvana 8". What is your impression of that unit?

And again thanks for getting this thread rolling.

Rick

[Rick J. B.]

Originally Posted by rjbond3rd

The Spawn Family of Double Horns
Brines Acoustics

Some smaller fullrangers have a surprising amount of bass, by the way (but less sensitivity). So if you have the watts, you might want to go with a smaller driver.

Okay now, those Spawn family designs are what I was thinking of, the curvy change design really catches my eye ascetically! Seriously I really like the look of that one. Have very many people built those? Of the drivers listed for it what's the consensus on which one works the best with it?

Also power consumption is an issue, I'm only pushing around 2 or 3 watts.

Thanks for the input rj.

Rick

[Rick J. B.]

Gosh, while I appreciate the input I've received thus far, I was hoping for more. I like the look of the Spawn family horns but don't know anything about which enclosure works best with which drivers.

Anymore input you could share fellas?

Rick

[chrisb]

Originally Posted by Rick J. B.

Gosh, while I appreciate the input I've received thus far, I was hoping for more. I like the look of the Spawn family horns but don't know anything about which enclosure works best with which drivers.

Anymore input you could share fellas?

Rick

"Best"? no such thing

It's probably fair to say there are enough fans of Fostex drivers herein to provide lots of advice, but certainly no consensus - it's certainly no secret which are my favorites.


If this project is as much an entertaining diversion as I take your post to suggest, then you might want to consider something at the other of the size scale from the Hawthornes, although many of the enclosures will be somewhat more complicated than an OB.

For bang for buck and flexibility of enclosure styles, I think it's fair to say the Fostex FE127 / 167E or Mark Audio CHR70 / CSS EL70 represent a wide range of choices. As some of the larger "SPAWN" designs of Scott's require a certain amount of space to really blossom, the intended application/room would be a good starting point.

[AdamThorne]

I helped a couple of friends, one built a half chang and one built the full chang. Both with the Pioneer B20 + PE tweeter. Both designs sounded bad in my room, across the short dimension of a long narrow room. The bass was way too much, it consumed the midrage. In the larger room for the chang they sound much like people describe the B20 - robust and fun with party bass, if a little down in the mids. The guy with the half changs had higher fidelity in mind than the pioneers were prepared to support, he damar and puzzlecoated them, then added a sub, then moved on. He also had a smaller room.

I like my fostex based speakers just fine, but I've only heard the b20's in the changs. I'd say make sure you won't be sitting too close to them, and that you can restrict the ports some if you have bass resonances in your room. They're certainly impressive objects, and the box supports the B20 speaker well in the right space.

[Rick J. B.]

Originally Posted by chrisb

"Best"? no such thing

It's probably fair to say there are enough fans of Fostex drivers herein to provide lots of advice, but certainly no consensus - it's certainly no secret which are my favorites.


If this project is as much an entertaining diversion as I take your post to suggest, then you might want to consider something at the other of the size scale from the Hawthornes, although many of the enclosures will be somewhat more complicated than an OB.

For bang for buck and flexibility of enclosure styles, I think it's fair to say the Fostex FE127 / 167E or Mark Audio CHR70 / CSS EL70 represent a wide range of choices. As some of the larger "SPAWN" designs of Scott's require a certain amount of space to really blossom, the intended application/room would be a good starting point.

Chris, much of your insight is spot on. I'm wanting to build something cool, for lack of better phrasing, but obviously I want them to sound good as well. I'm a cabinetmaker by trade so none of the enclosures I've seen intimidate me it's just I'm not up enough on the various drivers in the different boxes to know what direction to take.

The drawings I've seen off the curvy Changs really caught my eye. Those just look awesome. Are there plans with dimensions available for the Changs that a guy could start with and change ascetically to suit?

I intend on placing these in our front room which is 15' x 25'.

I've also wondered about the drivers from Markaudio, those certainly look to be a nice driver.

Since you mentioned the Hawthorns I've been working on a new design for baffles for those. Something a little more furniture grade than the originals I built to get them up and running. Right now I've been working on some sketches with a Greene Bros. flavor.

Thanks for the input.

Rick

[Rick J. B.]

Originally Posted by AdamThorne

I helped a couple of friends, one built a half chang and one built the full chang. Both with the Pioneer B20 + PE tweeter. Both designs sounded bad in my room, across the short dimension of a long narrow room. The bass was way too much, it consumed the midrage. In the larger room for the chang they sound much like people describe the B20 - robust and fun with party bass, if a little down in the mids. The guy with the half changs had higher fidelity in mind than the pioneers were prepared to support, he damar and puzzlecoated them, then added a sub, then moved on. He also had a smaller room.

I like my fostex based speakers just fine, but I've only heard the b20's in the changs. I'd say make sure you won't be sitting too close to them, and that you can restrict the ports some if you have bass resonances in your room. They're certainly impressive objects, and the box supports the B20 speaker well in the right space.

Adam, is my memory correct that only the Pioneers and Fostex drives have been used in the Changs to date?

Thanks for your first hand observations.

Rick