Completed Exact Speakers

[BTW]

Hi,

Don't know if you guys remember, some time back Chris Witmer posted on the Japanese Exact Drivers , I then took a chance to buy a pair of Exacts from Mr Sano. Well, the box designed by Mr Sano is finally completed with the help of my good friend and mastercraftsman Tony Wong.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

The box has a fixed sloping port on the right, there's a PVC telescopic zoom port on the left, which we fabricated locally .
The cabinets have cherry wood veneer.

Here's a shot of the inside back panel showing the pleated cloth stapled to the back, the squared hole is for the single front to back brace. The spk wires are vintage WE type cloth wires.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

Here's a shot from the top showing the cross brace before the top is attached.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

Sonically, the Exact drivers are excellent, up there with the best fullrangers like Lowther etc..

 

[one1speed]

That's very cool. Do you feel your truly getting full range out of these drivers?

Also wondering if Mr. Sano uses any sort of phase plug with those. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BTW]

That's very cool. Do you feel your truly getting full range out of these drivers?

Also wondering if Mr. Sano uses any sort of phase plug with those. Thanks for sharing.

I'm using the Exact without the EI control, the EI control AFAIK is a type of shelving network to boost the lows.. As it is currently, the high frequency IMO is about the best you can get with a fullranger, much better than say the Coral Beta 8, which I also own. The lows are there but slightly rolled ie you can heard the drums pretty well but you can't get floor rumbling type of bass.
IMO using phase plugs is one method of getting more highs from a fullrangers, Exact's method is yet another different method... a very thin aluminium or gold dust cap(mega $$ versions) is used to produce the highs... you can think of it as a sort of mechanical coaxially mounted tweeter diaphragm.

 

[Taperwood]

I like the look of the cabinets very much. They match the drivers perfectly. Excellent job!

I'm sure they sound wonderful.

Nicest outdoor pool speakers I've ever seen

Doug

 

[Godzilla]

Two ports.... one fixed the other telescoping?

 

[BTW]

Two ports.... one fixed the other telescoping?

Yes, the port on the left is the telescopic port. It's fabricated from PVC pipe. We managed to get a vendor who can do PVC welding so we got him to weld the PVC pipe to a PVC flange.

 

[Godzilla]

And you slide that port on the left in or out to adjust the sound?

Do you think it works effectively?

 

[BTW]

And you slide that port on the left in or out to adjust the sound?

Do you think it works effectively?

Unfortuantely we didn't spend that much time playing with the telescopic port... we spent a lot more time find out which amplifer was a better match .... the 300B SET turned out best. However, the telescoping port does seem to work but it's more for fine tuning the bass.

 

[doorman]

Nice! How much a pair are those drivers?

 

[planet10]

Nice! How much a pair are those drivers?

From what i understand lots... something like $2-10k depending on driver? I saw one for auction and figured the pair would be $5k landed.

dave

 

[BTW]

I paid $2K+ for my pair.

 

[fred76]

Hi BTW,

So you just tap the dual-voice coils together w/out using the "passive network"... If you can get to measure the T/S maybe it could work better basswise in another type of enclosure (eg, ml-tqwp, backhorn, etc.)

Hope you can post close up pics of the drivers.. both front and back. Thanks.

fred

 

[BTW]

Hi BTW,

So you just tap the dual-voice coils together w/out using the "passive network"... If you can get to measure the T/S maybe it could work better basswise in another type of enclosure (eg, ml-tqwp, backhorn, etc.)

Hope you can post close up pics of the drivers.. both front and back. Thanks.

fred

Actually, one of the main reason I decided to give the Exact Drivers a try was they were not designed for BLH.. I'm not very fond of BLH spks.

Here's a back view showing the dual voice coils... it was then wired in parallel ie 4 ohms

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

Here's a front closeup of the driver.

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.

 

[fred76]

Thanx for the driver pics... If blh is not ur thing, a pipe or ml-tqwp may be another alternative to mess around with if tuning for 'ballsier' bass.

Anyways, you're lucky to have access to high quality plywood there.

 

[Audiophilenoob]

very interesting... looks good keep up the work

 

[BTW]

Thanx for the driver pics... If blh is not ur thing, a pipe or ml-tqwp may be another alternative to mess around with if tuning for 'ballsier' bass.

Anyways, you're lucky to have access to high quality plywood there.

The box is made from "marine plywood" and yes the quality of the marine plywood is very good and reasonbly priced as well.

 

[Taperwood]

Now how come all drivers don't have those knurled knobs for hooking up the wires? Although the ones in the picture are probably higher quality than practical, it shouldn't add too much to the cost.

 

[cdwitmer]

Beautiful ! You've done a great job. Although you obviously have to recall from memory, how do you compare the sound in these cabinets to the sound when you had them in front horns?

By the way, not too long ago on a local auction I picked up a pair of ancient "damped labyrinth" (which may perhaps be thought of as a variant of the transmission line or TQWT type) enclosures that Mr. Sano designed for his 16cm drivers back in the late 1970s. But I don't have my 16cm drivers yet! As usual, everything is running behind schedule at the Sano residence. (I swear, he should be a software developer, he is so good at missing deadlines. "Deadlines? Love 'em! They make the neatest sound as they go whooshing by!") Anyway, I should have my 16cm drivers Real Soon Now, which I hope means during the first half of 2006. When I do eventually get the drivers, it will be interesting to hear how they sound in these old enclosures. The price was right so I figured it was worth taking a gamble.

And finally, there is a pair of old Exact 16cm drivers (single voice coils) up for sale on the local Japanese Yahoo! auction right now. Not as nice as yours, but interesting:

http://page10.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/m29224365

With three days left, the price stands at 25,500 yen for the pair. (About US$200.) This auction is set up in such a way that last-minute sniping can be effective, so I expect the price to shoot up in the final seconds. Mr. Sano could easily rebuild these into something mechanically comparable to one of his current fullranges.

 

[BTW]

Beautiful ! You've done a great job. Although you obviously have to recall from memory, how do you compare the sound in these cabinets to the sound when you had them in front horns?

Hi Chris,

Thanks, good to hear from you... That's a very interesting question ...... The Exact sounded really excellent on the Azura front horns, front loading the Exacts really gave a very huge soundstage and a sweet sounding tone as well.... Mr Sano should seriously look into making drivers for front horn as well.....
In the Exact box the soundstage is much smaller than the front horn, unfortuantely the Exact spks are still at my friend's place. The Exact are currently placed away from the walls , so it's not positioned like Mr Sano's recommendations. I'll bring them back next week and set them up in my room as per Sano's recommendation, we'll see......

 

[bappe]

HIi!

Nice ti see that you have them up and running! (thanx for the e-mail). The cabinets look very nice indeed. I will be in Singapore with some spare time on the 14th of May, maybe we could get together and listen to them? I don't have my mu:exacta drivers yet but it should not be to far now.......The drivers I'm getting will fit very nicely into a good front horn, even if that is not the exact way I'll be using them.

BR,
Anders