New Alpair 7, small OB project

[Monte Verdi]

Well, took the plunge and did a simple design of an L shaped OB panel to sit on my subwoofers made out of solid White Ash. Phil Townsend did all construction assisted by his shop slave . I did all the finish work using a black dye stain, Seal Coat then four passes of Behlen's String Instrument Lacquer. All work was done to optimize performance of the Alpair 7. They simply sound wonderful, in fact I would say they sound better in terms of height and width dispersion than the Maggie 1.6's that I once had not to mention they have beautiful tonality and that is only after 70 hours break in time. Here are a few photos.

Ramon

[planet10]

Is that you "holding up" the unfinished baffles?

dave

[Monte Verdi]

No that is Phil.

[Monte Verdi]

Also, I should mention that Phil has built countless Full Range cabinets and is now focused on OB designs. No metal screws were used in this project just glue and wood dowels and rear speaker surround is tapered to allow more air on backwave.

Ramon

[planet10]

Thanx... certainly the kind of grin i'd imagine Phil having

dave

[Monte Verdi]

Yeah, he truly is a gem.

Ramon

[Monte Verdi]

Here are some more photos.

Ramon

[c2cthomas]

Hi Ramon - Very sweeeeeeeet! Did you build the subs yourself and if so how about some info on 'em? How are you doing your xover to the sub's and at what freq?

BTW - is that a HDD interface cable you are using to drive the 7's with????

[lazyfly]

Nice work, great finish. I love white ash, we use that at work a lot (furniture). It's quite a pleasure to work with. I may have to try these puppies on OB myself

[Monte Verdi]

c2cthomas,

Subs are the NHT Sub Two system with two 10 inch drivers driven with ( Sunfire/Carver plate amps @ 250 wpc @ 8 Ohms. Crossover is reversed phase at 130-150 Hz I believe, been moving it around as amp is slightly dull and room is heavily damped. Alpair currently run off a mid - Fi Marantz integrated full range. I am working on my Blue Circle BC2's as I am confident these will take sound too a far more intoxicating level directly to Alpair 7 full range. Current preamp is custom Perreaux SM2. I also have a restored custom Scott 222C that is spectacular, unfortunately this is on the bench as well. I can never leave well enough alone) have to customize and that spells mistakes and learning curve without your favorite system at times, sucks. Cables are a DIY copper ribbon with long silver terminations, medical tape and cotton linen jackets.

lazyfly, yeah love the White Ash, real simple and beautiful stuff. Took dye, shellac and lacquer like a charm.

I will get more into sound disscussion as I swap in better gear soon and speakers break in more, but I must admit it sounds damn good even with this limited amp.

Ramon