Hi Pekar, I'm happy with the way they turned out & sound, especially considering these speakers along with the tube amp I built to go with them was my first attempt at building this type of gear and I rushed it abit in my excitment to get everything done!
I'm using the stereo as a portable system that I hook up my small am/fm & shortwave eton e-5 reciever, it's has a line out jack that goes right into the inputs on the amp. Another use is to hook it up to my computer, or the kids for their ipods, cd players etc.
I still have to work out a few more details for the amp like making a better one piece ventilated lexan cover for it as the current two piece is a temporary fix.
I hope the picture shows up as I'm new to this posting stuff.
I'm using the stereo as a portable system that I hook up my small am/fm & shortwave eton e-5 reciever, it's has a line out jack that goes right into the inputs on the amp. Another use is to hook it up to my computer, or the kids for their ipods, cd players etc.
I still have to work out a few more details for the amp like making a better one piece ventilated lexan cover for it as the current two piece is a temporary fix.
I hope the picture shows up as I'm new to this posting stuff.
Hi gofar99, The amp is actually an aes K-502 model I think it's essentially the same as a k-12. The cover is made from lexan ( a type of plexiglass) i mentioned earlier it's a temporary two piece as I'd like to make a ventilated one piece next week some time. When i first built the case the front portion was rounded too keep the lexan away from the heated tubes but i had a hard time getting the lexan to have a flush fit with that rounded shape so I cut it on an angle.
Incase your wondering thin lexan is fairly flexible when heated with a heat gun you just have to be careful not to overheat it as it well bubble on the surface and spoil the appearance. I ran out of time trying to make the new cover so just made a quick two piece (top & front) for now.
Thanks for the kind words about my woodworking, It's amazing how an angled, low resolution picture can make almost anything look perfectly acceptable!
Incase your wondering thin lexan is fairly flexible when heated with a heat gun you just have to be careful not to overheat it as it well bubble on the surface and spoil the appearance. I ran out of time trying to make the new cover so just made a quick two piece (top & front) for now.
Thanks for the kind words about my woodworking, It's amazing how an angled, low resolution picture can make almost anything look perfectly acceptable!
shallbehealed said:
If it is not on the datasheet, you would have to measure it. Prehaps someone else can measure and post it.
However, you only need Lvc to calculate components sizes for the Zobel circuit. For the BSC, all you need is a baffle width and DCR of the driver.
http://www.quarter-wave.com/General/BSC_Sizing.pdf
http://www.quarter-wave.com/General/BSC_Calculator.xls
Hi okmrbh, You are correct. The 502 and 12 are clones. They change the name when you get it from some companies. On the Lexan face, have you considered having a lexan front and a screen top. I have covered a few things with metal screen such as hardware stores sell for kick plates on the lower part of screen doors. It is usually light guage metal and comes in many patterns. On piece is good for several projects. It is paintable also. IMO If you made a flexible fabric hinge at the top of the lexan and a painted metal cover over the top of the amp it would look kind of neet. A different possibility might be to use a fan from a computer and force cooling air into the case. Perhaps from the bottom with small vents near the top. It might allow you to still use a clear top and not have a melt down. Beware however of the possibility that some fans generate electronic noise that could crud up the sound. Keep posting the photos, it's good to see quality work.
Good listening
gofar99
Good listening
gofar99
Hello gofar99, thank you for the good ideas.
Yes I was thinking of something like that and actually checked a few hardware stores to see if there was anything but I didn't see anything at the time too bad I didn't know about your kick plate material earlier.
My initial idea was just to build the kit on the supplied pine board to see if it would actually work, then build a fancier case for it later. I was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the kit open like that so I picked up a few pieces of cheap pine board just to sort of box it in. Then I thought about putting a Plexiglas cover over it because I like the look of the tubes. So what started out as a temporary case looked better than I expected when the stain was applied.
I plan on drilling and or milling vent slots on my permanent cover for ventilation I have vent holes on the side and bottom of the case as well, it's still a bit experimental, right now my priorities are/were
1: will it work?
2: will it sound good?
3: will it melt down or catch fire!
4: what can I do for improvements?
So right now I'm hovering around # 3 & 4. Funny you mention fans I was thinking about it for my fancier case but being new to the audio diy I thought I should stick to the basics for now.
Yes I was thinking of something like that and actually checked a few hardware stores to see if there was anything but I didn't see anything at the time too bad I didn't know about your kick plate material earlier.
My initial idea was just to build the kit on the supplied pine board to see if it would actually work, then build a fancier case for it later. I was uncomfortable with the idea of leaving the kit open like that so I picked up a few pieces of cheap pine board just to sort of box it in. Then I thought about putting a Plexiglas cover over it because I like the look of the tubes. So what started out as a temporary case looked better than I expected when the stain was applied.
I plan on drilling and or milling vent slots on my permanent cover for ventilation I have vent holes on the side and bottom of the case as well, it's still a bit experimental, right now my priorities are/were
1: will it work?
2: will it sound good?
3: will it melt down or catch fire!
4: what can I do for improvements?
So right now I'm hovering around # 3 & 4. Funny you mention fans I was thinking about it for my fancier case but being new to the audio diy I thought I should stick to the basics for now.
Hi okmrbh,
My K-12 runs pretty hot. I'm sure that if I covered mine with lexan, it would only be about half an hour and I would have a melted goo pile followed, shortly by a fire or such. I originally built a cover for mine with the kick plate material and it looked good. (unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it) I eventually broke down and bought the case from S5.
Good listening
gofar99
My K-12 runs pretty hot. I'm sure that if I covered mine with lexan, it would only be about half an hour and I would have a melted goo pile followed, shortly by a fire or such. I originally built a cover for mine with the kick plate material and it looked good. (unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it) I eventually broke down and bought the case from S5.
Good listening
gofar99
Hi gofar99, I hope to finish up my new and improved cover tonight. Yeah I'm a little concerned about the heat but hopefully my cover will work, if not I already have a few ideas...
You said you have a k-12 do you like it? Are you going to build the delsol speakers I'm really impressed with them and did not find them that difficult to build at all. If you want I could send you some tips that I found helpful, especially if your like me and lack some T.T.S ( tools, time and skills)!
It's a shame you didn't get a picture of what you had I would have liked to have seen it.
You said you have a k-12 do you like it? Are you going to build the delsol speakers I'm really impressed with them and did not find them that difficult to build at all. If you want I could send you some tips that I found helpful, especially if your like me and lack some T.T.S ( tools, time and skills)!
It's a shame you didn't get a picture of what you had I would have liked to have seen it.
Hi Barry,
The K-12 / K-502 amps run hot. Suspecting DC in the AC mains, I tried the DaBlok, but it did not help with temperature. The tubes simply put out a lot of heat and the transformer is very near rated capacity so it also adds some heat.
The K-12 kit sound is very impressive, even more so when you consider the low cost.
Cheers,
Gio.
The K-12 / K-502 amps run hot. Suspecting DC in the AC mains, I tried the DaBlok, but it did not help with temperature. The tubes simply put out a lot of heat and the transformer is very near rated capacity so it also adds some heat.
The K-12 kit sound is very impressive, even more so when you consider the low cost.
Cheers,
Gio.
Howdy again, A number of us have K-12s and love them. With certain modifications they have an aluring sound quality. How far you wish to modify the amp is up to you. It is not a complicated process. There are a number of variations on the same theme for the mods. I suggest you visit the www.diyaudioprojects.com site for some examples. There are at least three different variations of mods there. I have one, the host (who has also replied to this thred ) has at least one as does another contributor to the site. There are several links to variations not shown on the site. Any of us will be glad to assist. Email me direct if you chose. I also suggest that we shift the posts to the tube amplifier section as we have wandered away from full range speaker systems.
Good listening,
gofar99
Good listening,
gofar99
That is a very handsome setup, okmrbh, congrats.
My personal goal is to optimize the sound via mechanical, rather than electrical modifications, but feel free to post any modifications you guys come up with.
I'm still playing around with the damping. My original speakers have thick felt padding on the back wall of the speaker only. I have
found this is too bright, especially for close proximity listening. I
have since added the same padding on one side wall as well. The
response is flatter, but the bass is now somewhat reduced.
I have not had any success with box stuffing.
My personal goal is to optimize the sound via mechanical, rather than electrical modifications, but feel free to post any modifications you guys come up with.
I'm still playing around with the damping. My original speakers have thick felt padding on the back wall of the speaker only. I have
found this is too bright, especially for close proximity listening. I
have since added the same padding on one side wall as well. The
response is flatter, but the bass is now somewhat reduced.
I have not had any success with box stuffing.
Hi pekar thanks for the nice words, I'm new to this so I'm going to rely on others for tweaking ideas. One thing I was thinking about would be puttig duct seal on the speakers back frame, looked like a quick & easy to do, do you think it would make a difference?
I dont really find the speakers overly bright ( I think this means stronger on the higher freqs?). For me, I'm just judging them by how well they reproduce the sound of the instruments. My ear tells me that these do it quite well as long as the original recording was done well. Drums, guitar and piano all sound quite good.
For back dampening I used a piece of industrial "rough top" conveyor belting basically it's a piece of rubber conveyor belt smooth on one side & rough on the over sort of looking like a 1/4" thick floor mat.
Thanks again for sharing your plans with us & keep us posted on any tweaks you come up with.
I dont really find the speakers overly bright ( I think this means stronger on the higher freqs?). For me, I'm just judging them by how well they reproduce the sound of the instruments. My ear tells me that these do it quite well as long as the original recording was done well. Drums, guitar and piano all sound quite good.
For back dampening I used a piece of industrial "rough top" conveyor belting basically it's a piece of rubber conveyor belt smooth on one side & rough on the over sort of looking like a 1/4" thick floor mat.
Thanks again for sharing your plans with us & keep us posted on any tweaks you come up with.
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.