More modern design, and I have been wanting a big Karlsonator
But, of course, the old adage "just because you could, didn't mean you should" applies.
I've had a real stiffy for karlson types of speakers lately
I would say go for it! Why you may ask, fair enough here is my reasoning. I got a pair of 0.53x Karlson's with 5" Dayton PA130-8. The speaker itself is really small and it sounds like a big speaker when located properly near a corner. I also got a pair of these 15" Fane's (still) playing around free-air. I've never heard anything quite similar with any speaker in free-air. So much clean and clear sound. If I had really big room with really big volume level needs, I would most definitely build a pair of Karlson's for the Fane's.
That does not depend on the room, that only works if the sub is directly below what's playing over it.
I`ve been listening for a few days and am still impressed with how they sound. These drivers are made for instruments that can dig down and have big dynamic range like a piano, cello or tenor sax. I cut the baffles down to 24x40 inches (60x100 cm) and put them on 6 inch (15 cm)legs. Also made an open back box the depth of the drivers because I`d like to hide them. Would have a grill on the front and cover the back with fabric. This seems to have helped the high end as cymbals are more evident on jazz recordings. Hasn`t affected the low end to my ears. Will upload pics as soon as I can find young person to help me.
Little update. Now couple hours of listening with an open baffle setup. Baffles are really simple 18 mm birch plywood, two of them stacked measuring 60 cm wide, 120 cm tall and the center of the drivers are approx 40 cm from the top.
How do they sound? Absolutely brilliant! All the good things, that have made full range speakers so popular are there, with the beauty of an open baffle speaker. One thing that is really impressive is the sheer amount of volume that these speakers can deliver with which seems to be no effort at all. I personally really enjoy how these speakers fill the room with sound. I don't mind listening these speakers as they are, there is plenty of bass, but I can definitely see that there is still room for subwoofers. If you haven't heard any big full range speakers, that is something that I can highly recommend trying out. At the end of the day these speakers did cost me less than 300 euros for the pair and that includes everything.
How do they sound? Absolutely brilliant! All the good things, that have made full range speakers so popular are there, with the beauty of an open baffle speaker. One thing that is really impressive is the sheer amount of volume that these speakers can deliver with which seems to be no effort at all. I personally really enjoy how these speakers fill the room with sound. I don't mind listening these speakers as they are, there is plenty of bass, but I can definitely see that there is still room for subwoofers. If you haven't heard any big full range speakers, that is something that I can highly recommend trying out. At the end of the day these speakers did cost me less than 300 euros for the pair and that includes everything.
As the drivers break in they sound better and better. I have 2 full range and 2 LF 15 inch Fane drivers which cost me $760cad, a minidsp $150cad and Baltic birch ply, cut at the lumber yard, for the final cabs $93cad for a total of almost exactly $1000cad. I had to buy a second amp, a Crown D75, more cables and connectors but expect the total to be under $1500cad. A great price to performance ratio.
I keep hoping for updates in this thread and reading more and more experiences. I was expecting more mixed reviews, and some sort of indication that it's for very specific use cases or tastes. But so far, experiences seem to indicate it sounds good and isn't hard to live with. Very nice!
I keep getting mental images of the Jensen corner imperials, Tannoy horns etc. I'm finalizing a smallish off-set driver backloaded horn that looks nice in hornresp and maybe I will even order a pair of these drivers.
I keep getting mental images of the Jensen corner imperials, Tannoy horns etc. I'm finalizing a smallish off-set driver backloaded horn that looks nice in hornresp and maybe I will even order a pair of these drivers.
Would you mind sharing some info about those hornresp sims?
... And smallish is somewhere under 200 liters, right?
Sure, I'll share.
Smallish is about 315 liters. Maybe not your definition of smallish. (It's "just" 120 cm high instead of the 216 cm BiB of the same footprint I have now.)
It's standalone, though. In combination with room gain, it gets down below 30 Hz. No direct need for a sub.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
This is the closed side.
Long story short, it's essentially a reverse-engineered Olson backloaded corner horn, which was then re-engineered as an off-set driver pipe horn with parabolic expansion (a BIB but with less volume) and folded into a rectangular box. The mouth fires down and exhausts to the sides and back. Response is smooth and rolls off gently towards the lower range. With room gain, extension should go below 30 Hz. I'll show a sim next and an interior view. I am still working out a bracing scheme.
Size is 43.6 cm wide, 120 cm high, 60 cm deep.