Ladies & Gentlemen - The Emken

Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
what sort of finish is on the surround?

I haven't looked closely -- accordian.

I'm wondering if treating it and the first inch or so of the cone and maybe the lip of the whizzer would benefit from a sticky coating like used to seal Altec/GPA or similar cloth surrounds and on some cheap paper hinged 'FR' drivers to protect them from early failure.

The stuff we are using these days is ZIG 2-way glue.

dave
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
Dave, whats the little fella in front of your Emkens on the bench? Great pic for scale comparisons

That is the µFonkenSET. Uses the 3" FF85wKeN. A real stunner those. Currently listening to a pair sitting on top of the woofTs we built for for the Mar-Kel70wT (xoed at 100Hz -- a bit low but what was installed)

uFonkenSET-yew-comp.jpg


dave
 
Let's say the first date certainly revealed there's no disguising this driver's provenance as a PA driver, and yes it reminds me of many of the things I didn't care for with both the Silver Iris coax (with the cheaper compression driver) and the Hammer Dynamics Super12 - both of with employ Eminence based drivers.

when i first heard my FANE clones i thought 'these are terrible'. i was still thinking that they were going to be fairly short lived even after i phase plugged them and the sound improved. after just leaving them to play some music (whilst occupied during another task), i found i was less inclined to notice their faults and usually become entirely immersed in the size of the sound drivers of this size produce. its almost like having headphones on (but without the same accuracy). i had some MA drivers at the same time i got these, the MA are undoubtedly very good drivers they just sounded small. they got loud but never seemed to be effortlessly loud, to the point i usually noticed their faults consistently because of the lack of saturation.

these PA type drivers are not the best in the world but they've certainly made my mind up that i am going to be buying a driver as close to 12" as i can for my real drivers. i'm hoping the EMS LB12 can produce the same experience but with more lifelike representation. failing that the sonido swr-300 has a very wide band range that should be able to have super tweeter assistance and give me the same kind of big sound experience.
 
Last edited:
effortless certainly does describe part of what they do so well -for me the big effort is enduring them for any length of time :h_ache: :eek:


Just kidding; I'm sure they'll settle down a bit, and the earlier point about habituation with smaller drivers is well made - I must have well over 5000 lifetime listening hours to that weight class alone. Even so, they haven't a chance of passing the DAF at my place - a not so subliminal factor in my assessment of any component, but might make a cute little bedroom speaker for Cal.
 
Even if all tweaks to "The Emken" fail, or put it better, come short of accomplishing a satisfying performance, then...they can serve up to 300-400 or so in a F.A.S.T. with uFonken on top on them :). The downside would be reduced efficiency and...there are better 12" drivers for bass duty than the Lta...
Or, perhaps go the Econowave way...
Nevertheless, it is Fun exploring the limits of tweaking this one...even if it ends like this:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/pass...igh-end-off-topic-thread-579.html#post3009337 :D
 
Chris and Dave, the speakers look great!

JRKO, remember, they don't have any tweeters hooked up yet. They are listening to the drivers all by themselves and they are propped up on tables without proper room placement. Just placing them on the floor will change their sound. I'm sure they sound terrible right now. Wheels and a handle might help for moving them around. I'd love a pair!

Funny that i have a pair of old KLH's just like the one hanging on the wall. They don't sound very good to me compared to anything I've recently heard. But i was recently in a store where they were playing records (Rock & Soul on 7th Ave, NYC) and i much preferred the old pro sound speaker to the more modern KRK's or whatever they had drilling holes in my ears.
 
oooooh the toys you chaps have!!! I wish you were just down the road from me.

My two jug ears and cat with no taste for classical music are the most accurate measuring systems I have

Does distance from speaker have any effect/affect on the beaming of the larger driver?
 
oooooh the toys you chaps have!!! I wish you were just down the road from me.

I'm only $150 into my rig :eek: (excluding laptop and amplifier costs). It's not that expensive. That said though, some people measure with a $2 panasonic capsule. And it works darn good too. You could do it too :)

Does distance from speaker have any effect/affect on the beaming of the larger driver?

According to the microphone no. Beaming is only related to angle. However, the closer you are, the more small movements change angle. With that though, the further back you are, the more the reflected sound can impact the tonal balance.

So yes, distance matters, but it's all related to the room, speaker location, listening position, etc.
 
frugal-phile™
Joined 2001
Paid Member
I'm not sure you need this help, Dave, but if you want I can measure them to see where the high end starts dropping and where the woofer starts to beam. Might help decide what kind of tweeter to go with.

I could bring my rig over and do it outside at your house.

I was planning on contacting you anyway to come out and vet me on some other measures (nearfield measures & interpretation) having 2 sets of kit would be interesting.

dave
 
Status
This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.