OK, so I got one Chang ready to be listened, not yet finished, but the sound isn't going to change dramatically, and so I thought I'd give it a listen, carried it out of the workshop into the family room, unplugged the left Sachiko and plugged the Chang in its place.
I KNOW this is bad practice, I just wanted to hear SOMETHING. So far the Sachiko(undampened) with FE206E drivers is more efficient than the Chang (lightly dampened) with FE207eN drivers. I had to play with the balance to get them to the same volume. After that is seems that the Chang is very linear, goes down a shade further than the Sachiko into bass, but I really have to get the second one built to really compare them side by side.
Anybody tried that already? A side by side comparison "in the flesh"?
I KNOW this is bad practice, I just wanted to hear SOMETHING. So far the Sachiko(undampened) with FE206E drivers is more efficient than the Chang (lightly dampened) with FE207eN drivers. I had to play with the balance to get them to the same volume. After that is seems that the Chang is very linear, goes down a shade further than the Sachiko into bass, but I really have to get the second one built to really compare them side by side.
Anybody tried that already? A side by side comparison "in the flesh"?
The Sachikos sound great, but they are the first pair I built and so I still have to learn a LOT about woodworking, what to do and what not to do. Kind of getting the Zen of building the cabinets. My goal at the end is to build 3 pairs (the ones I am build right now not included) after I learned how to build them in a way that they also look good.
Right now I am using simple plywood, because that's cheap and easy to get, but the final versions I intend to build from a more refined wood. I love wood and so I don't really like to hide wood behind paint.
Anyway, the plan currently is to build one pair of Sachikos for a set of FE206E (to test, done) one pair of Changs for a pair of FE207eN, (in progress) out of plywood. Then switch material to ... not yet clear. Currently I am thinking of some fine bamboo, but sheets of bamboo are outrageously expensive. No maybe I will just be using 3/4" Bamboo flooring and glue up my sheets the sizes I need to. Not sure yet about that part. And then rebuild both pairs out of finer materials. And finally build a set of c-horns, but for that I will need to find someone with a CNC router in Houston, and I need to save up some money, those plexi sides are pretty expensive ...
Right now I am using simple plywood, because that's cheap and easy to get, but the final versions I intend to build from a more refined wood. I love wood and so I don't really like to hide wood behind paint.
Anyway, the plan currently is to build one pair of Sachikos for a set of FE206E (to test, done) one pair of Changs for a pair of FE207eN, (in progress) out of plywood. Then switch material to ... not yet clear. Currently I am thinking of some fine bamboo, but sheets of bamboo are outrageously expensive. No maybe I will just be using 3/4" Bamboo flooring and glue up my sheets the sizes I need to. Not sure yet about that part. And then rebuild both pairs out of finer materials. And finally build a set of c-horns, but for that I will need to find someone with a CNC router in Houston, and I need to save up some money, those plexi sides are pretty expensive ...
Bamboo is a nice material for speakers. But they are not all created equal. The best (and what we are now restricting ourselves to) is the 3 layer stranded block core. Single ply bamboo flooring is probably the least effective variation.
The 10x cost differential (5x once you add in veneer cost) vrs utility grade BB restricts it to special builds.
dave
Thats the thing: When I looked up bamboo flooring (basically a 3 ply bamboo with tongue & groove) it is at about $2 - $3.5 / sqft.
Compare that to a sheet of BB $50/sheet -> 24/25sqft the price difference is not THAT much any more. Granted if you buy the flooring you'd have to glue up your own planks, but at almost the same price as BB that's almost becoming a no brainer. I'll report back about how that works once I have done it at least once.
Whoah....are saying that you can make bamboo cabs from bamboo flooring?!?!?!?
you feel its better than mdf or ply, are anything else avalable at, say lowes?
The 3-ply stranded core certainly is. I'd actually have to do a build to compare flooring to BB -- the bamboo wouldn't need veneer. With a hot enuff fire, MDF burns nicely
Attached is a teaser. I haven't done the colour matched drivers yet. We also have a set of FonkenPrime, and dMar-Ken7 made from the same neopolitan stranded bamboo.
dave
Attached is a teaser. I haven't done the colour matched drivers yet. We also have a set of FonkenPrime, and dMar-Ken7 made from the same neopolitan stranded bamboo.
dave
Attachments
Back to the original question: The Changs vs. the Sachikos. I just finished the the second Chang and of course I was unable to wait for anything, mounted the FE207 in there, set it up and ...
Well, They sound ... different. I have a hard time describing the difference, it has to be heard, I will try.
Please keep in mind that they are also having different drivers, they have drivers that are supposed to be in the cabinets, meaning the Sachikos have a pair of stock FE206e drivers mounted, whereas the Changs have a pair of FE207eN fully tricked out by planet-10 as the sound producing element. So some of the differences will have to be attributed to the difference in drivers, some are not.
The Sachikos have a full sound, they paint a picture very vividly. They are efficient, they are loud, they are colorful.
The first thing that immediately comes to mind is that the Changs seem to be less efficient. They are at least 6db quieter than the Sachikos. The Changs paint a picture which is very clear, very precise, very crisp. When building these I was a little bit concerned that the big chamber would create too much of an echo and in order to get rid of that I would have to dampen the hell out of it. For that reason and in order to stabilize the internals and make that big chamber less of a passive speaker I put a number of stabilizing small sound diverting baffles into the bass chamber. Just before I came up to write up my experience I took out all of the stuffing and even though I can now hear that the highs better and crisper the Changs could definitely do with a T90A tweeter to help those highs a bit. I may have to put back a *LITTLE* bit of stuffing but right now I am running no dampening, just relying on the sound diverting baffles.
Overall I would say each one is a great design, and if you can't listen to them side by side each one sounds terrific.
Well, They sound ... different. I have a hard time describing the difference, it has to be heard, I will try.
Please keep in mind that they are also having different drivers, they have drivers that are supposed to be in the cabinets, meaning the Sachikos have a pair of stock FE206e drivers mounted, whereas the Changs have a pair of FE207eN fully tricked out by planet-10 as the sound producing element. So some of the differences will have to be attributed to the difference in drivers, some are not.
The Sachikos have a full sound, they paint a picture very vividly. They are efficient, they are loud, they are colorful.
The first thing that immediately comes to mind is that the Changs seem to be less efficient. They are at least 6db quieter than the Sachikos. The Changs paint a picture which is very clear, very precise, very crisp. When building these I was a little bit concerned that the big chamber would create too much of an echo and in order to get rid of that I would have to dampen the hell out of it. For that reason and in order to stabilize the internals and make that big chamber less of a passive speaker I put a number of stabilizing small sound diverting baffles into the bass chamber. Just before I came up to write up my experience I took out all of the stuffing and even though I can now hear that the highs better and crisper the Changs could definitely do with a T90A tweeter to help those highs a bit. I may have to put back a *LITTLE* bit of stuffing but right now I am running no dampening, just relying on the sound diverting baffles.
Overall I would say each one is a great design, and if you can't listen to them side by side each one sounds terrific.
Andreas,
Your FE207eN only measure ~1 dB less than a stock FE206e. Apparent loudness differneces likely arise from the more extended (& peakier) high frequencies of the FE206e. Most people find the top on the FE207 needs augmentation. FT17 is most commonly used. If FT96 is within budget it is what i'd go with. If you can find a set, the Foster tweeter out of the Radio Shack pods, fits in quality between the 2 and costs less than the FT17, specially the older aluminum body one, but the plastic body one works well too (i have some of those available)
dave
Your FE207eN only measure ~1 dB less than a stock FE206e. Apparent loudness differneces likely arise from the more extended (& peakier) high frequencies of the FE206e. Most people find the top on the FE207 needs augmentation. FT17 is most commonly used. If FT96 is within budget it is what i'd go with. If you can find a set, the Foster tweeter out of the Radio Shack pods, fits in quality between the 2 and costs less than the FT17, specially the older aluminum body one, but the plastic body one works well too (i have some of those available)
dave
Dave,
yes, know that from the spec sheet one should not expect that difference in efficiency, yet its there. I would venture a guess that this is due to the difference in theory those cabinets work on. After all the Sachikos are Olsen style horns, which work with completely differently than bass reflex cabinets, which is what Changs in all reality are. Very well designed BR but BR nonetheless. I guess the slow coupling a horn does has some advantages.
yes, know that from the spec sheet one should not expect that difference in efficiency, yet its there. I would venture a guess that this is due to the difference in theory those cabinets work on. After all the Sachikos are Olsen style horns, which work with completely differently than bass reflex cabinets, which is what Changs in all reality are. Very well designed BR but BR nonetheless. I guess the slow coupling a horn does has some advantages.
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