Sachiko vs. Chang

[apleschu]

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"?

[planet10]

I suspct that you could well be the 1st.

dave

[skeeter99]

Ooh very cool! Which Changs are you building?

[apleschu]

Originally Posted by skeeter99

Ooh very cool! Which Changs are you building?

A G-Chang, very simple, much faster and easier to build than the Sachikos.

[skeeter99]

Originally Posted by apleschu

A G-Chang, very simple, much faster and easier to build than the Sachikos.

Nice! That's a very cool looking design!!

[Scottmoose]

Thanks.

[woodturner-fran]

My sachiko pair sound great - I'll be watching your comments with interest....

[apleschu]

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 ...

[planet10]

Originally Posted by apleschu

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.

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

[apleschu]

Originally Posted by planet10

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.