166es-r in a austin a166 & construction ?

[mp9]

any folks out there using the 166es-r in a austin ? where any desgine changes required ? do you know how they sound with the es-r's in comparison to the fostex rec. nagaoka blh cabs. ? i haven't built the rec. blh and an would like to know which of the two designs would be better for a small room of 13.5'x9.5'x8' ? i considered the frugal and prob. still will build them but i like the higher sens. of the 166es-r driver . also looked at the spawn family hiro/iris but and correct me if i'm wrong ( they are not as deep and would fit better than the fostex rec, cab. ) but i think that they would have too much bass output to couple with a room of this size.
if i decide to build an austin for my 166es-r , the cnc'ed version looks best but not the use of mdf . can anybody tell me how deluded i am to think of utilizing a template and router to cut the lengthwise x side cross-sections from @3/4" b.birch ? would the sonic advantage if any vs. the standard construction version be worth the trouble ?

[planet10]

I seem to recall Ron had some comments on this. IIRC he suggested a slight CC adjustment might be required. FE166eSR should go REALLY well in A166.

dave

[mp9]

thanks for the reply . happy to know that you think they'll be a good combination . do you think the austin 166 would be a better choice than the fostex rec. blh for the es-r in my small room ? can you or ron post plans detailing the austin's c.c. mods for 166es-r here or on the frugal-horns site ?

[planet10]

Originally posted by mp9
do you think the austin 166 would be a better choice than the fostex rec. blh for the es-r in my small room ? can you or ron post plans detailing the austin's c.c. mods for 166es-r here or on the frugal-horns site ?

I'd guess A166 is the better. We'll have to wair for Ron to weigh in (or find his post -- here or on the Full Range Forum)

IIRC he didn't specify anything specific, but i seem to remember him saying it would probably need to be smaller. You might build the CC a little big and add blocks to fill it until tight.

dave

[mp9]

Are there any plans in the works for a 166 frugal ? If you could do a cad model for a wedgie version frugal to use with the 166es-r I'd build it . The a166 make sense as i will be putting them in the corner's of the room . I especially like that the a166 would not weight as much as the fostex rec. blh . The more i think about doing the layertone version of b.b. the less sense it makes (because of the orientation of plys ) . Would like to hear from Ron or anyone who has built a a166 for use with the fe166es-r . I read a few post about the a166/es-r but they all lacked details or results .

[serenechaos]

I built a pair.
Highly recommended.
Absolutely the best speakers I’ve ever heard.
I’ve tried various OBs, ML TLs, HDTs, Nagaoka Super Swans, & other horns, and personally like these better than anything else.
Excellent imaging and solid bass doesn’t start rolling off ‘til 40hz.
– e.g. My wife was noting how you can hear just WHERE the timpani’s are in the orchestra.

I ask Ron about mods for the es-r driver & he said the compression chamber may have to be adjusted "by ear," it would take a "buncha" sims to account for everything (exact room, amps, etc.), but it may have to be made smaller.

Make the rear deflector as a square (looking from the top) instead of a triangle, and the right distance from the corner is built in.
I built the speaker & deflector in two seperate pieces; the sand filled deflector is REALLY heavy, the speaker is pretty easy to carry from the back panel.
Robert

[planet10]

Originally posted by mp9
Are there any plans in the works for a 166 frugal ?

More corner horns await Martin using the FH he is getting to advance his models to cover corner loading.

dave

[hifiZen]

Well, it only took a year, but I finally got 'round to re-drawing the Austin A166 plans in AutoCAD.

I had a difficult time reconciling the dimensions spread across the four pages of the rev G PDF plans from planet10's site. So I don't think it's quite correct, per the original drawing. But, I tried to account for all the dimensions that were shown, plus the correction noted on the front page, in some cases compromising or splitting the difference from what was shown and what came up in CAD when I actually drew it out. So far, just a 2D side view plan, and not dimensioned yet... I'll add dimensions shortly (tomorrow, if I get time).

[hifiZen]

I took the time to accurately draw the FE166ES-R as well, so I could model how it would fit in the baffle.

And as you can see, I also made the side profile more rectangular, instead of truncating the 45-degree bend at the upper rear. Two reasons... I prefer the look of it this way (less "hunchback"), but also because I may eventually want to experiment with a rear-facing tweeter, so the extra chamber would be useful for that. If not, it can be filled with damping material, which hopefully won't make the whole thing too top heavy.

I intend for the suprabaffle to be removable via 4 large bolts, which will double as magnetic attachment points for a fabric grille. I like magnetic-attach grilles, since they can be left in place for protection / dust cover most of the time, and easily popped off for listening.

With the suprabaffle unbolted and moved forward, the top panel will also unbolt, to provide direct access to the CC and rear chamber... this should be a big aid when tweaking, and then I won't worry about gluing up both sides straight away.

[mp9]

Thanks! I look forward to the measurements and will build a pair based on them. I'll use ~3/4" baltic birch ply so i may wait till it's finalized but I'm really feeling like building something now.
If it helps any a while back Ron Clarke ran the numbers for me and came up with, "CC volume=2.74 liters when a 12.7"x12.7"baffle is used for that driver. Either that or a 12.7 "round baffle."
Would be interesting and great if Ron C. were to give us his opinion of the new es-r revision.