my Pluto build diary (aussie)

[gainphile]

having lived with cheap OB system for quite sometimes and enjoy its characteristic, I am intrigued what has been said about Linkwit's pluto. It looks small enough for my room and many have compared it to the much more expensive Orion (cost $2000 just for the drivers).

being experimental, I need to make this as cheap as possible so the approach will be:

- no PCB, simplified diagrams - $44
- PVC, etc is not expensive - $50 from bunnings
- 4 channel gainclones already available - $0
- I have spare 5" drivers but not the peerless (P13WH)

Unfortunately Aura NSW2 tweeter is specific and needs to be imported from the US $80 including shipping.

Hopefully someone can point me to the right direction here

[gainphile]

First of all, strip off all the non-necessary asp part. Hopefully nothing important here

The 24db/oct 1Khz filter values have been changed to R=20k, C=56nF as they are simpler to obtain than the original values



Parts:
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[ttan98]

You can simulate most if not all the filter requirements using DCX2496, saves time and headache and QUICK, by just pushing the button.

I mention this before in previous forum, if you like the speaker design and the sound appeals(different type of drivers give different sound even the x-over maybe the same) to you then build the passive equivalent if you care or incline to.

go to Ebay in the States, you can get one at a good price/cheap, the resale value of this unit is very good, quickly snap up, and don't lose much money.

I am still using mine. You will not regret it, some people use them permanently by upgrading it approx. US$250.

cheers... happy speaker developing.

[Davey]

If you're not going to use the Peerless drivers there's quite a few more items you can strip out of the crossover.

Dave.

[ttan98]

I starting developing speakers as a hobby amore than 6 months ago.

This is my experience, you can take it what you like.

I believe there are a few things you need that will make your speaker development/redesign(following Linkwitz design by changing drivers is considered as a redesign) smooth and effective.

1. An active, digital x-over, DBX,Behringer etc. hence avoid lots of soldering and resoldering, very time consuming.
2. Microphone for measuring the freq response, microphone and preamp combo is quite cheap. you can get free s/w from the the net eg.ARTA. I was able to use Soundeasy(SE) s/w from a friend.
3. s/w that will allow you to design passive x-over as well. There free s/w available as well, SE can do that too. SE is not cheap, but very powerful.

One drawback there is a learning curve for all the above.

cheers.... happy development.

[gainphile]

Hi ttan, yes I was following your advise. I want to buy DCX2496. I hate soldering in fact I'm doing things on veroboards now...

Willl look into ebay then

[ttan98]

A suggestion, rather than building the Pluto, you want to look at this project, it looks interesting to me and cheaper. It will use passive x-over, and high spl, >=92dB.

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthr...t=29988&page=1

It will be dynamic and open, the bass(ported cabinet/enclosure) may sound different to an open baffle bass.

[gainphile]

Yes I've tried few variants of OB such as u-frame, h-frame, also hybrid with closed box. However I always went back to simple OB within a day or two. There is something about that deep clean OB bass.

Was interested in aether's look as well but that still need a fairly sizable room. My study room is only about 3x4m in size and pluto seems so smal it would fit right in.

Anyway I've finished the active xo, well almost silly me I forgot to buy 2.7nF ...

[peter_m]

Looks awesome!

Are you aware the Aura tweeters are in shortage or are they back on the shelfs? Are you going to use the SEAS mid-woofer? Do keep us updated.

Peter

[gainphile]

Yes after some torturous wait the AURA NSW2 are back on the shelves. Mine are leaving Madison, WI as we speak, destination: Melbourne

For the woofers australian shops actually still stock the original nomex peerless which already discontinued in the US. But I have a pair of P13WH which should do the job fine (I think). I don't have measurement kit which makes it difficult.

The physical build of the Pluto is very easy. PVC easily cut with handsaw. The pair is mounted on paving block which is significantly heavy. The bases are simply glued using that silicone stuff which seems very sturdy and strong after few hours. I added the length of the pipes by 4.5" just to adjust the base height differences with original plutos and to experiment with them. They can easily be cut later.

Challenging part was mounting the woofers. I did not want to simply glue them, so had to construct a ring. They started with two circular cutout with different diameter, the inner fits the rubber mounting and clamped, then cut holes throught it using jigsaw. I'll post a closeup of it later.



I fitted some spare tweeters and woofers I have laying around. Initial impression is very promising. Although it's basically a closed box woofer they don't project that narrow closed box feeling. They sound open like OB. Bass seems to go quite deep but far from perfect, understandably the woofers have not even been screwed in