CSS EL70

[epilou]

Hi to everyone. I've been lurking for a while and I've searched and read many threads on small full range speakers, including all of the boombox stuff. I'm not looking for a beach blaster.

I was wanting to try some EL70's, one each in some simple rectangular .5 Cu.Ft. vented enclosures, maybe a little smaller if I can. These don't have to be the perfect setup just something to listen to fairly close by when working around the house.

Can I get away with going a little smaller say .4 Cu.Ft..

I know these don't have a real high spl but I was hoping to use an Amp 6 from 41hz, about 15wpc or so. Will that be enough to drive them?

All I'm looking to do here is to out do the $100 plastic Sony 2.3w max. portable I'm replacing. That thing was well engineered with two little cheapy 4" 3.2 ohm drivers in small .05 maybe enclosures with a port coming off the rear of each and it had an unexpected rumble to it for what it was.

I appreciate your help,

Lou

[Cal Weldon]

Hi Lou,

If you look at the last two pics in post 238, 8th Annual Vancouver Island diyFEST 2011 you will see an Onken style cabinet and a smaller one with the slots at the bottom (both are on the black stands) that both sounded quite good. The larger one is what made me decide to buy a couple of those which then became this: the Frugel Horn Mk. III. It's probably bigger than you want but it shows that it's a versatile driver

[tuxedocivic]

You'll beat the Sony

As for a smaller enclosure, Sure. What's the port tuning though? As Cal pointed out, it's very versatile and you can build big or small. I'm building very small with it right now.

[epilou]

Thanks alot guys. Those look great btw Cal. I would really like to go even smaller than my original post say 1.8 or so. I would like to stay simple with the enclosure vs. some of the really cool but more involved slotted ones.

I have modeling software would play around with fill and porting to get what sounds good to me. I just want to make sure that I'm not committing any definite no, no's with these.

How hard is anyone driving them?

[planet10]

I have fit EL70 in 4.7 and 13 litre boxes. 13 litre (0.46 ft^3) is as large as i will go. In the small box they sound good but like they are held back (part of the point of the demo Cal pointed to). I expect it will work in any size between those 2 limits.

Comments i just made on the bigger one may be of interest. Alpair 7 & cabinets - opinions sought

I think you will be very happy with the improvement over your Sonys.

dave

[epilou]

Thanks Dave. And I have looked at the post Cal mentioned and I alreadly have been studying the MarkEL70 and mMarkEL70. I was hoping to do a simple box with a tube port but if it's really worth the effort and a little extra weight I could definately make one of those enclosures instead.

I know it's a big variable but how many watts are you using?

[planet10]

Every box i've heard the EL70 in with a simple port has ended up with a "sock" in the port.

My amp is usually used in its 20w triode mode. Downstairs, the LM1875 has about the same power. Last weekend we were powering microTowers (outside) with 10w/channel TAmp.

dave

[zman01]

Epilou,

The P10 Ken boxes with their slot ports provide very nice bass articulation. I was surprised after making one. They disappear very well too.

[KyleinCowichan]

I am going to build the smaller mMar enclosure this fall, it fits my space better. Cal is right on though when he said that the larger of David's -ken enclosures sounded better. It had this magical quality. The music just popped when he switched from the mMar to the Mar.

KM

[Cal Weldon]

Originally Posted by epilou

Those look great btw Cal.

Thank you but the credit goes to others. The only thing I did was pick the finish.

chrisb did the veneering and managed to mirror match it extremely well
planet10 did the cone treatment, sound good as always
Mark Audio made the drivers to CSS specs
Scottmoose designed the cabinets.

How hard is anyone driving them?

I find they sound a bit closed and lacking in the high end until you give them a little juice. The bass is fine, even for a big woofer guy like me. It is better than expected from a 4" driver. I may end up putting a tweeter on the back, we'll see. Others may not need that extra top end but I like it.