Hi, New member here. I want to build a Karlson cabinet for sub woofer use in a 2.1 vintage stereo setup. I would like to know what would be the best Karlson plan to use use for using a 12" to 18" woofer. I am also building this in memory of my father who built one of these back in 56 in cherry wood and it was beautiful. Depending on what driver I choose would I have to use some sort of crossover or just run the straight wire to the sub out on the amp which I also need to get based on an 8ohm system. I am a 70s guy so I need all the help and advice I can get. Thanxs
A classic form factor Karlson won't play low bass as one would expect from a true subwoofer, but can be quite powerful from ~50Hz and up. Some have tuned K15 lower to apparently good effect. YMMV.
Modern high-aspect designs based on 12" or 15" drivers might do better in the 30-40Hz range, but I have not built any of these.
Modern high-aspect designs based on 12" or 15" drivers might do better in the 30-40Hz range, but I have not built any of these.
cello and bass viola with a good Karlson 15 setup sound great and often better than horns (better than any horn I have - EV - Sentry Klipschorn - Peavey FH1 - several custom horns) K15 is excellent on vocals, sax, piano, harpsichord.
It can be used as a subwoofer per John Tucker's Exemplar sub by using two right angle 3"IC pvc plumbing elbows mounted on a plate and that plate can be mounted right over the original K15 port allowing conversion back and forth.
The new fb with those pvc elbow is about 28Hz so apply some boost at that area such as one would with a 6th order reflex. An Altec 416-8a or low fs 515 will work. I don't think it makes a lot of sense as seems like the front coupler would be out of action - but sounds amazing and supports to ~22Hz.
K12 with port sealed using the DVC 12" used by the late Marshall Leech in a sub sat project, makes a nice punch woofer - if not extended much below 40Hz - hope that speaker is still sold.
TB46 came up with a tiny offset driver Karlflex tuned low for 15" - can't remember tuning offhand so will have to check my Hornresp records
xrk971 could probably come up with a nice Karlsonator subwoofer alignment if you pick or already have an appropriate driver. GregB came up with the Karlsonator variant. The stock Karlsonator12 tunes to ~37Hz.
It can be used as a subwoofer per John Tucker's Exemplar sub by using two right angle 3"IC pvc plumbing elbows mounted on a plate and that plate can be mounted right over the original K15 port allowing conversion back and forth.
The new fb with those pvc elbow is about 28Hz so apply some boost at that area such as one would with a 6th order reflex. An Altec 416-8a or low fs 515 will work. I don't think it makes a lot of sense as seems like the front coupler would be out of action - but sounds amazing and supports to ~22Hz.
K12 with port sealed using the DVC 12" used by the late Marshall Leech in a sub sat project, makes a nice punch woofer - if not extended much below 40Hz - hope that speaker is still sold.
TB46 came up with a tiny offset driver Karlflex tuned low for 15" - can't remember tuning offhand so will have to check my Hornresp records
xrk971 could probably come up with a nice Karlsonator subwoofer alignment if you pick or already have an appropriate driver. GregB came up with the Karlsonator variant. The stock Karlsonator12 tunes to ~37Hz.
TB46's Karlflex plan above appears to be tuned to about 40Hz.
Also, for K's, xrk971's "XKi" approach could be appropriate for
some subwoofer duty. The vent might be long.
Maybe a tall offset driver tapped ppie with K-aperture would be
cool for subnwoofer duty - tuned to 30 or mid 20's.
here's a rough comparison of 15pzb40 in two K cabinets of similar size:
TB46's Karlflex vs Acoustic Control 115BK. I think MMJ's constricted transflex
kludge for 115BK works pretty well and illustrates how some woofers might not have adequate
midrange balance in a K. For traditional Karlson, I usually pick low moving mass
and low inductance.
This B&C 15pzb40 woofer has around 130g moving mass and thick cone - fullrange
it might not sound balanced in a K (IIRC the frame won't fit my X15 cabinet - ?)
I tired Dayton's PA310 in a K12 knockoff and felt too ill defined compared to pym1298 (which
is pretty much a Kappar 12A) the old Eminence B102 sounds good in a K12.
Also, for K's, xrk971's "XKi" approach could be appropriate for
some subwoofer duty. The vent might be long.
Maybe a tall offset driver tapped ppie with K-aperture would be
cool for subnwoofer duty - tuned to 30 or mid 20's.
here's a rough comparison of 15pzb40 in two K cabinets of similar size:
TB46's Karlflex vs Acoustic Control 115BK. I think MMJ's constricted transflex
kludge for 115BK works pretty well and illustrates how some woofers might not have adequate
midrange balance in a K. For traditional Karlson, I usually pick low moving mass
and low inductance.
This B&C 15pzb40 woofer has around 130g moving mass and thick cone - fullrange
it might not sound balanced in a K (IIRC the frame won't fit my X15 cabinet - ?)
I tired Dayton's PA310 in a K12 knockoff and felt too ill defined compared to pym1298 (which
is pretty much a Kappar 12A) the old Eminence B102 sounds good in a K12.
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and here's how JBL's M151 sims in those two K
IF MMJ's constricted transflex fudge is good enough and same for TB46's assumption, then
it shows more punch for the regular Karlson type .
115BK is the same bulk as Karlson's X15 but has a tapered
rear chamber and much larger vent - its a very good design
for a midbass K.
IF MMJ's constricted transflex fudge is good enough and same for TB46's assumption, then
it shows more punch for the regular Karlson type .
115BK is the same bulk as Karlson's X15 but has a tapered
rear chamber and much larger vent - its a very good design
for a midbass K.
So I should build the K15 with mods? Can someone send me the plans that are easy to read? And thanxs freddi- was hoping to get with you on this project. I am tempted to build two one for subwoofer duty and the other for full range because I live the sound of these as well. But I am going to have to either get someone to build for me or go to a local college and do it that way. With the drivers you suggested will I have to come up with a crossover for it?
K15 is alright if you have a 15 with specs something like an Altec 416A - then it will work - apply boost at ~30Hz.
if you build K15 to original spec, then there's plenty of room to keep its original port of 4/5" x 9" and mount a board with the two 3" Id right angle pvc elbows over the port - that way if you wish to run K15 in its regular mode, then you can.
are these images readable ? - my CRT monitor is outta whack
http://i.imgur.com/oRygnBt.png
http://elektrotanya.com/PREVIEWS/63...lson_esearch_k15_loudspeaker-box_sm.pdf_1.png
a long path folded tapped pipe with a K-ish-aperture would be another consideration. There should be someone in the subwoofer forum who can come up with a good one quick.
you could ping xrk971 and ask what his choice for a K-aperture subwoofer would be.
Here's a subwoofer I have, designed by TB46 and built by TheJessMan - its almost flat to 20Hz, has an offset 12" cheap woofer. A 15 inch version might be pretty interesting.
TB46 designed that cabinet with a round aperture - I went with a Karlsonesque opening
-the round port might exhibit less turbulence if driven hard with sine-wave
Plan:
if you build K15 to original spec, then there's plenty of room to keep its original port of 4/5" x 9" and mount a board with the two 3" Id right angle pvc elbows over the port - that way if you wish to run K15 in its regular mode, then you can.
are these images readable ? - my CRT monitor is outta whack
http://i.imgur.com/oRygnBt.png
http://elektrotanya.com/PREVIEWS/63...lson_esearch_k15_loudspeaker-box_sm.pdf_1.png
a long path folded tapped pipe with a K-ish-aperture would be another consideration. There should be someone in the subwoofer forum who can come up with a good one quick.
you could ping xrk971 and ask what his choice for a K-aperture subwoofer would be.
Here's a subwoofer I have, designed by TB46 and built by TheJessMan - its almost flat to 20Hz, has an offset 12" cheap woofer. A 15 inch version might be pretty interesting.
TB46 designed that cabinet with a round aperture - I went with a Karlsonesque opening
-the round port might exhibit less turbulence if driven hard with sine-wave
Plan:
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This makes the most sense to me for a K-slot woofer or even wide range for that matter if a duplex, triplex or at least strong rising on axis driver such as Loather or similar.
Your low Fs, Qts specs with a 10:1 tapered TQWT would be my preference, i.e. any driver that 'demands' a long, large vent to have a low vent mach at high power in a ducted port alignment.
GM
XK-4
Hi
Some years ago, I posted my built of a XK-4 on a dedicated Karlson site.
Since then, these have been working like charms and give a lot of pleasure to listen to so I think it could be a good idea to post here.
XK-4 is a rather small enclosure but deliver great sound, small enough to placed a bit anywhere in a flat.
An ACA amp is plenty to feed them and with a Shiit Sys preamp, you have a solid system for your bucks, just chose your source.
In fact at first I didn't know anything about K's speakers and didn't want to spend much on trial.
So I recover 9mm OBS from a transport pallet and small Bouyer's speakers and built the box.
The result being promising, I bought two Fostex FF105WK and adapted the holes to fix them.
Then I started listening and ajusted the vent with cardboard sliders to get the final opening. I listen to a long while and compare them with Rogers LS3/5 to avoid bumps somewhere in the range.
It come out they were better than the Rogers in that they get much lower, they are a lot more sensitive and far less critical for the listener position.
The picture is also wider.
At that point, I was a bit pissed off of having using junk material to built !
So I decided to make them pleasing looking but add more difficult material like plexi front & back!
Finally there is no absorbant material at all, no filter, just the box and the Fostex and I am a happy listener.
Notes : Dimensions in the PDF file are in millimeters
Hi
Some years ago, I posted my built of a XK-4 on a dedicated Karlson site.
Since then, these have been working like charms and give a lot of pleasure to listen to so I think it could be a good idea to post here.
XK-4 is a rather small enclosure but deliver great sound, small enough to placed a bit anywhere in a flat.
An ACA amp is plenty to feed them and with a Shiit Sys preamp, you have a solid system for your bucks, just chose your source.
In fact at first I didn't know anything about K's speakers and didn't want to spend much on trial.
So I recover 9mm OBS from a transport pallet and small Bouyer's speakers and built the box.
The result being promising, I bought two Fostex FF105WK and adapted the holes to fix them.
Then I started listening and ajusted the vent with cardboard sliders to get the final opening. I listen to a long while and compare them with Rogers LS3/5 to avoid bumps somewhere in the range.
It come out they were better than the Rogers in that they get much lower, they are a lot more sensitive and far less critical for the listener position.
The picture is also wider.
At that point, I was a bit pissed off of having using junk material to built !
So I decided to make them pleasing looking but add more difficult material like plexi front & back!
Finally there is no absorbant material at all, no filter, just the box and the Fostex and I am a happy listener.
Notes : Dimensions in the PDF file are in millimeters
Attachments
I just noticed a close similarity of this (post #8) very tall stuffed hybrid design (and with great results) to my 17-foot sub. See post 20:
Long pipe to sequester rear wave
B.
Sides are parallel, top and bottom as well, I have tried stuffing behind the driver with polyfill, it made no improvement to my ears at least, so I took it off.
hi Tooppy - that's a pretty way to make a K. Here's two recordings of my XK8 with Tangband W8-1772. The cut with saxaphone is from Parson's "Sound Check" and recorded "dry" with no effects. The drum work is Steve Clarke and appears to have some reverb added for sweetening. "Sound Check" has a track of Luciano Pavarotti which is useful.
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