Just finished two Zaph projects!

[gab]

I wanted to post some pictures of the finished product and to thank Zaph for his great designs.

My first DIY loudspeaker was the Seas L15RLYP / 27TFFC System. I built these originally in the PE enclosures and like them so much I decided to build my own boxes for them. ( I also decided to sell all my Norh systems 4.0 and 6.9's and replace them with zaph designs).

While I was building the L15 enclosures I decided to start on the ZD5. Since I had never built a speaker enclosure and was not sure how the L15 box would turn out I decided to have the ZD5 box built by a professional. I contacted and Lee Taylor and soon had both projects moving along.

It goes without saying the sound from both is phenomenal!

Here are the final results.

Enjoy!

[weinstro]

That look pretty nice. I've been thinking about the L15 project for some time now.

Some quick questions:
- Did you deviate from Zaph's design in any way?
- What did the total cost end up being?
- How many hours did the construction take?
- Did you do any measurements to validate performance or conformance with design?

[gab]

I followed the design as closely as I could. I keep to the same baffle dimensions but made the internal walls 1.25 inch thick which meant I had to make the box deeper. Everything else followed the design.

Given this was my first project it took me some time to build. I had the shop where I bought the wood cut it into 8x14 rectangles. Then I cut one very carefully to use as a template on the router table. Using the template I cut the rest of the pieces. It took me about 8 hours but again this was my first project and my first time using a router / router table.

I bought all the parts from Madisound except for the Cardas terminals and sonic barrier damping material.

I used 1.5 sheets of birch plywood at $55 per sheet and the shop charged $20 to cut it into 8x14 pieces.

Overall it was very reasonable and the sound is incredible. I would highly recommend building these. They sounded wonderful in the PE boxes, I really just wanted the plywood look after seeing others use it.

Here are some more pictures...

[gab]

Some more pictures including some of the ZD5..

L15 side

L15 back

L15 System


ZD5 front

ZD5 side

ZD5 back

ZD5 system

[Salas]

Great looks. Can you subjectively describe ZD5's sound?

[Ray Collins]

How did you do with the crossovers....they are a little more complex than most?

Ray

[peter_m]

Was there a reason you chose the L15 over his L18 design? It was supposed to have a newer, slightly better tweeter, with more base due to the larger woofer.

Nice work. Do they sound as good as they look?


Peter

[gab]

The ZD5 crossovers were very complicated. I used Solen caps. Both the resistors and inductors were purchased from Lee Taylor (who also made the enclosure).

The hardest part on the crossover was getting it to fit in the available space. I built separate boards for the tweeter and woofer. Still both were massive! They are standing vertical, side by side in the bottom of the box lined with foam.

I wish I had taken pictures of the final completed crossovers but it looks like I overlooked that step. Here are a few from the initial building steps. You can see most of the components and the size of them within the pictures. Fitting 100 and 80 uF caps along with 1.8mH made from 10awg wire was very difficult. They barely fit in the bottom of the enclosure.






On the L15...I choose this design over the L18 primarily because of the smaller size. I was planning to use these in the bedroom and really wanted the smallest speaker I could find but that still had reasonable bass and could be run full range. The L15 went way beyond my expectations.

I hate to try and describe the sound but to answer a previous question around how they subjectively sound to me...

The L15 are amazing speakers for the size and cost. They are very detailed and image well. Everyone who has heard them is amazed at the amount of bass they are producing (until they hear the ZD5). Vocals are also very impressive and natural. I have to add that I originally built the L15 with the high pass response shaping network using the 27TDFC. This was too laid back for my liking and I was a little disappointed. Once I removed this part of the crossover the top end was perfect and had great sparkle. After extended listening I was concerned that the ZD5's could not sound considerably better.

However the ZD5 does improve across the board, but to me and my wife the difference outside of bass is subtle. Vocals sound cleaner, bass is deeper and tighter. There seems to be a much better separation of instruments/sounds. All of the music seems to be heard in both but the ZD5 just sounds cleaner, more distinct and overall better. Keep in mind most of my friends that come over and listen only notice the stronger bass.

In short I highly recommend both and would definitely build them again if I had to do it over.


Here is one more L15 assembly photo that I found while looking for crossover photo's

[69stingray]

Great looking projects!

Is that a veener on the ZD5's?

I think Zaph has a link on his website for photos of completed projects.

[sdclc126]

Which speaker do you feel has superiour sound, or is it too close to call?

P.S. - I'd like to compliment you not only on the speakers but on your taste in interior design!