The speaker looks fantastic! Nice job on the bracing, strings, and overall fit. I like how it looks - a serious size with serious sound 
The height of the driver looks perfect. I can't wait to hear your first listening impressions. Will you be able to remove a panel to adjust stuffing or will it all be done through the driver cutout? Not a big deal since the hole is 8 inches and easy to put your arm through. Congratulations! 
The height of the driver looks perfect. I can't wait to hear your first listening impressions. Will you be able to remove a panel to adjust stuffing or will it all be done through the driver cutout? Not a big deal since the hole is 8 inches and easy to put your arm through. Congratulations!
I listened to the finished speaker for a couple minutes. The bass does reach 35-40 hz pretty easily and it was LOUD for one driver. I only allowed myself 10 minutes because I didn't want to 'break in' one driver more than the other.
I will finish the other one today. Just have wiring, stuffing, attaching the other side and cabinet feet to go.
I will finish the other one today. Just have wiring, stuffing, attaching the other side and cabinet feet to go.
First Listening Impressions
First impressions in three words: Loud, bassy, detailed.
First impressions in more detail: The main selling point of the WiBAQ, going off of the feedback from people here, was its potential for strong bass. It sure delivers. The bass is clear, concise, and boom-free. And deep. Using a test CD I made, it was just possible to feel bass as low as 10 Hz. Around 20 Hz it becomes more noticeable, around 30 Hz its now safe to call 'loud', and by about 40 Hz it reaches just about as loud as it would get for the rest of the frequency sweep. The bass, despite its good extension and it being a mass loaded system, does not have the rumbling and boomy sound associated with most ported systems.
Now for the mids and highs. There is an extraordinary amount of detail, and the highs are well extended, which I was afraid they wouldn't be with an 8" driver. the mids are a bit "shouty" for my taste at high volume, and the highs a bit harsh. I think this is mainly because the drivers are not broken in yet. I bought them used here on the forum, but the seller said he bought these Betsy Ks with some regular Betsys to experiment with. He preferred the Betsys in his Rondo cabinet and only put a couple hours on the Betsy Ks. I will probably put in 25 hours or so of moderate-volume music to break them in before I start doing some more involved listening.
The music I used for this test varied widely. I started with 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire, which is more acoustic and complex in nature. Next I went to the other end of the scale, with 'Of The Blue Color Of The Sky' by Ok Go. This album is extremely bass-heavy, with complex distortions used on the vocals and instrumentals. Songs such as 'White Knuckles' and 'This Too Shall Pass' tend to make speakers fall flat on their face by simply overwhelming them, but these stood up very well. 'Skyscrapers' really highlights the clarity and detail of the bass.
Next I moved onto some of my favorite music; just about anything by Jack White. The White Stripes, by nature, were very simplistic but distortion heavy music. 'Im Slowly Turning Into You' off of 'Icky Thump' is a revealing song, where the drums and bass can interfere with the vocals at high volumes. This has been an issue on many speaker I have listened to, but not this pair. 'Instinct Blues' off of 'Get Behind Me Satan' has the same effect. With White's more complex music, such as that off of 'Blunderbuss', the speakers also shine.
With more simple acoustic-guitar-and-vocals type music, the speakers sound extremely lifelike, with voices being airier and natural, not so 'plasticy' like I have sometimes noticed. The guitar sounds like it's in the room with you, and not at all colored by the speakers.
So in conclusion: The speakers are very detailed and lifelike, and have extraordinary frequency extension. The highs and mids shout and are a bit harsh at high volumes,though this listening test was done with drivers that are not broken in. With the speakers costing my about 250 dollars for the pair, and being so simple to make, this was a great beginners project and a fantastic speaker design overall. Credit for the fantastic design has to go to Bjorn.
Next step would be to finish the cabinets once the weather warms up in New England and I can do it outdoors. Also, if the mids and highs don't calm down once the drivers have broken in like I am hoping, I might attempt to Enabl the drivers.
First impressions in three words: Loud, bassy, detailed.
First impressions in more detail: The main selling point of the WiBAQ, going off of the feedback from people here, was its potential for strong bass. It sure delivers. The bass is clear, concise, and boom-free. And deep. Using a test CD I made, it was just possible to feel bass as low as 10 Hz. Around 20 Hz it becomes more noticeable, around 30 Hz its now safe to call 'loud', and by about 40 Hz it reaches just about as loud as it would get for the rest of the frequency sweep. The bass, despite its good extension and it being a mass loaded system, does not have the rumbling and boomy sound associated with most ported systems.
Now for the mids and highs. There is an extraordinary amount of detail, and the highs are well extended, which I was afraid they wouldn't be with an 8" driver. the mids are a bit "shouty" for my taste at high volume, and the highs a bit harsh. I think this is mainly because the drivers are not broken in yet. I bought them used here on the forum, but the seller said he bought these Betsy Ks with some regular Betsys to experiment with. He preferred the Betsys in his Rondo cabinet and only put a couple hours on the Betsy Ks. I will probably put in 25 hours or so of moderate-volume music to break them in before I start doing some more involved listening.
The music I used for this test varied widely. I started with 'Funeral' by Arcade Fire, which is more acoustic and complex in nature. Next I went to the other end of the scale, with 'Of The Blue Color Of The Sky' by Ok Go. This album is extremely bass-heavy, with complex distortions used on the vocals and instrumentals. Songs such as 'White Knuckles' and 'This Too Shall Pass' tend to make speakers fall flat on their face by simply overwhelming them, but these stood up very well. 'Skyscrapers' really highlights the clarity and detail of the bass.
Next I moved onto some of my favorite music; just about anything by Jack White. The White Stripes, by nature, were very simplistic but distortion heavy music. 'Im Slowly Turning Into You' off of 'Icky Thump' is a revealing song, where the drums and bass can interfere with the vocals at high volumes. This has been an issue on many speaker I have listened to, but not this pair. 'Instinct Blues' off of 'Get Behind Me Satan' has the same effect. With White's more complex music, such as that off of 'Blunderbuss', the speakers also shine.
With more simple acoustic-guitar-and-vocals type music, the speakers sound extremely lifelike, with voices being airier and natural, not so 'plasticy' like I have sometimes noticed. The guitar sounds like it's in the room with you, and not at all colored by the speakers.
So in conclusion: The speakers are very detailed and lifelike, and have extraordinary frequency extension. The highs and mids shout and are a bit harsh at high volumes,though this listening test was done with drivers that are not broken in. With the speakers costing my about 250 dollars for the pair, and being so simple to make, this was a great beginners project and a fantastic speaker design overall. Credit for the fantastic design has to go to Bjorn.
Next step would be to finish the cabinets once the weather warms up in New England and I can do it outdoors. Also, if the mids and highs don't calm down once the drivers have broken in like I am hoping, I might attempt to Enabl the drivers.
This is whats needed for a 3db attenuation. Probably a better bet for this speaker design with the front port.
So, I had an idea. If I were to purchase an L-pad, is it possible to use this in place of the resistor for adjustable attenuation? Usually when I have played with the calculators the attenuation is changed by changing the inductor and resistor. Can it be changed by only adjusting the resistor?
The R & L values are not truly independent but to first order the L controls freq range and the R controls the level of attenuation of the higher frequency range. You can read more about it here, but it basically says that you can adjust the R independently if you feel you have cut the HF too much that it feels lifeless, or if you feel bass is too weak then you need to increase R. So an L pad should work as long it has the approximate range of R's you need.
From mh-audio.nl - Home
"1. Adjust the value of Rbsc
a) If the bass is still too weak, then the amount of attenuation is too little. The value of Rparallel should be increased until the bass seems to be balanced with the rest of the SPL spectrum.
b) If the speaker sounds dull and lifeless, the value of Rparalllel is too high. Reduce the value of Rparallel to bring life back into the music.
c) Continue adjusting Rparallel until the speakers sound right to your ears. It is probably best to use acoustic music as a reference during this adjustment period.
d) To remove the effect of the baffle step correction circuit completely, substitute a piece of speaker wire for Rparallel.
2. Adjust the value of Lbsc
a) Depending on the final value of Rparallel, the original calculated value of LBSC might need to be changed slightly. This sets the frequency range over which the baffle step filter attenuates the midrange and high frequencies. If the mid bass sounds depressed, then a lower value of LBSC should be used. I typically perform this adjustment last once I am satisfied with the balance, between the very low bass and the midrange, I have achieved with the resistor.
b) Decreasing the value of LBSC will tend to warm the sound of the speaker if the previous value produced a depressed mid bass response.
c) Always round down to the next available inductor size, having too low of an inductor value is a lot less problematic then having too large of an inductor value."
From mh-audio.nl - Home
"1. Adjust the value of Rbsc
a) If the bass is still too weak, then the amount of attenuation is too little. The value of Rparallel should be increased until the bass seems to be balanced with the rest of the SPL spectrum.
b) If the speaker sounds dull and lifeless, the value of Rparalllel is too high. Reduce the value of Rparallel to bring life back into the music.
c) Continue adjusting Rparallel until the speakers sound right to your ears. It is probably best to use acoustic music as a reference during this adjustment period.
d) To remove the effect of the baffle step correction circuit completely, substitute a piece of speaker wire for Rparallel.
2. Adjust the value of Lbsc
a) Depending on the final value of Rparallel, the original calculated value of LBSC might need to be changed slightly. This sets the frequency range over which the baffle step filter attenuates the midrange and high frequencies. If the mid bass sounds depressed, then a lower value of LBSC should be used. I typically perform this adjustment last once I am satisfied with the balance, between the very low bass and the midrange, I have achieved with the resistor.
b) Decreasing the value of LBSC will tend to warm the sound of the speaker if the previous value produced a depressed mid bass response.
c) Always round down to the next available inductor size, having too low of an inductor value is a lot less problematic then having too large of an inductor value."
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